Future of Jurassic Park River Adventure

[DodgsonHere]

I really don't think a retheme of the land to Jurassic World is necessary at all. The last Jurassic World movie probably had more plot connections to Jurassic Park than the first Jurassic World. Just keep giving people dinosaurs on the loose and 90% of them won't care if the arches say Park or World. I really like the current setup of the land right now with two dedicated Park and World attractions. Neither feel out of place next to each other and the land still fits within the general design philosophy of the Islands at IoA.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I think some measure of desire for a Jurassic World retheme comes out of a sense of desperation. The only sure thing that would guarantee the ride receives the time and attention it needs would be a complete retheme. If there's no incentive to fix the ride in its current state, what other set of circumstances besides a retheme would galvanize them to do so?

 

[Mad Dog]

I really don't think a retheme of the land to Jurassic World is necessary at all. The last Jurassic World movie probably had more plot connections to Jurassic Park than the first Jurassic World. Just keep giving people dinosaurs on the loose and 90% of them won't care if the arches say Park or World. I really like the current setup of the land right now with two dedicated Park and World attractions. Neither feel out of place next to each other and the land still fits within the general design philosophy of the Islands at IoA.

Yea, I'd think most of the GP couldn't care less on JP or JW theme, and probably wouldn't know the difference either. They probably just want a well maintained, fun, entertaining attraction that has some cool dinos.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

After the success of the JP tribute store, they have more reason to show Comcast Execs that maybe there’s no need to force synergy with the newer films and that the ride will do fine with either theme.

What’s sad is that I don’t see them plopping down the animatronic overnight, so hopefully we get it during the refurb next year. That’s nearly a year with the ride in a poor state. Unacceptable.

 

[biggerboat16]

After the success of the JP tribute store, they have more reason to show Comcast Execs that maybe there’s no need to force synergy with the newer films and that the ride will do fine with either theme.

What’s sad is that I don’t see them plopping down the animatronic overnight, so hopefully we get it during the refurb next year. That’s nearly a year with the ride in a poor state. Unacceptable.

Does anyone know how the wait times have been? You’re right about the tribute store proving that JP is still very popular. If the attendance for the ride has been poor that might be a good thing for universal to see. If they were just shown how popular a property is but the ride associated is a ghost town that means it’s an issue with the ride rather than the IP. Hopefully that would prompt them to do something, but we’re coming on a year of unacceptable show

 

[Mad Dog]

Does anyone know how the wait times have been? You’re right about the tribute store proving that JP is still very popular. If the attendance for the ride has been poor that might be a good thing for universal to see. If they were just shown how popular a property is but the ride associated is a ghost town that means it’s an issue with the ride rather than the IP. Hopefully that would prompt them to do something, but we’re coming on a year of unacceptable show

I just checked back on the past three week wait times on Touring Plans. Even though IOA has been slow most days, the JPRA continues to have posted wait times in line with their moderate historical wait times. So, it's looking like it's still quite popular.

 

[Disneyhead]

I know it's in rough shape now, but there is already a scheduled refurb. But I have to believe that the Ultrasaur has been sent back to Santa's workshop, and will be ready to install during that downtime. If it reopens with the ivy covered chain link fence where the Ultrasaur used to be, I will be stunned.

 

[OrlLover]

I know it's in rough shape now, but there is already a scheduled refurb. But I have to believe that the Ultrasaur has been sent back to Santa's workshop, and will be ready to install during that downtime. If it reopens with the ivy covered chain link fence where the Ultrasaur used to be, I will be stunned.

Yep it’s not like they are completely ignoring it. Universal is not stupid they know they are going to have do something with this ride soon.

However it’s a high capacity attraction so I think they hesitate to commit to the huge refresh it needs.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Yep it’s not like they are completely ignoring it. Universal is not stupid they know they are going to have do something with this ride soon.

However it’s a high capacity attraction so I think they hesitate to commit to the huge refresh it needs.

IOA has enough capacity to take on any losses.

 

[biggerboat16]

IOA has enough capacity to take on any losses.

A 1999 IOA might’ve had a tough time with River Adventure going down for an extended period but the park has grown so much that it probably wouldn’t be a very big deal now

 

[Mad Dog]

A 1999 IOA might’ve had a tough time with River Adventure going down for an extended period but the park has grown so much that it probably wouldn’t be a very big deal now

Definitely, concerning 'rides'. Three D/E tickets that are additions, and not just replacements....Potter, Kong, Velocicoaster. One replacement that's even more popular than it's predecessor, namely Hagrid's coaster. And the Seuss Trolley C/D ticket attraction. Plus the Storm B ticket. Only real loss is PF and the shows.. Damn, that's a tremendous expansion lineup, in a park that had an excellent lineup when it was built.

 

[OrlLover]

IOA has enough capacity to take on any losses.

I definitely agree but maybe in Universal’s eyes they must think different considering they are still running the ride while it’s not in the best shape.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

On our trip a few weeks ago it consistently had wait times of 20-40 minutes, and it was very slow that week.

As someone mentioned, the success of the Tribute Store should tell them something - JP is a timeless IP that will never lose popularity. To have a Tribute store be so popular that they have to extend its life? That's big.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I definitely agree but maybe in Universal’s eyes they must think different considering they are still running the ride while it’s not in the best shape.

Has nothing to do with capacity, they just didn't plan on having a massive refurb this year so they took show elements out and kept the ride running while they figured out what to do.

 

[belloq87]

I think it's debatable whether or not leaving the broken elements in place would have been better or worse than what they've done.

The ride shouldn't be operating in either scenario.

 

[Rhian]

Unless I'm misremembering which is totally possible: Disney has (or had?) a system for determining if a ride was show-ready for guests and if key things were down the ride didn't open until it was fixed. Did Universal ever have something similar?

 

[Jamesh22]

For reference the USH Jurassic World retheme was roughly $150M ,

That's a lot of blue paint.


The only thing that makes me more on the side of a JW retheme is the convaluted theming between velocicoaster which is clearly set in JW and RA which is clearly set in JP.

IMO there is no need for a replacement of the first JP scene. It's everything that happens in the showbuilding that really makes USH's JW.

 

[belloq87]

Unless I'm misremembering which is totally possible: Disney has (or had?) a system for determining if a ride was show-ready for guests and if key things were down the ride didn't open until it was fixed. Did Universal ever have something similar?

I'm not aware of anything actually set in stone for either company. I've always thought it was an unwritten Disney rule that there is a certain point beyond which an attraction is not show-ready.

They both should have a system like that.

 

[Mad Dog]

Seems like the standard, for both Disney & Universal, has slipped in the past decade. It might have something to do with crowds being larger than they were previously, and the resultant capacity shortage.

 

[Casper Gutman]

IOA is having a rough time all over - it’s not just JP. Next door, the outdoor portion of Kong hasn’t been running for many months, and employees are being told it’s because necessary maintenance isn’t part of the budget. Maintenance seems to be something of an issue parkwide - as I write this, Popeye, Hulk, and Kong are down.

While regular maintenance is both desirable and understandable, at the moment large portions of Marvel, Toon, and Seuss are behind construction walls. For Seuss, this means Trolley is only running one track. This is all on top of LC being, essentially, completely closed. It leaves only Port of Entry, Potter, and JP without huge stretches of walls (and JP has its own issues). And let’s not forget the three huge performance spaces sitting vacant.

We all know Uni is getting ready to open EU, ride downtime happens, and regular upkeep is a good thing. But guests are still entitled to a good show. Uni is not only charging full price for tickets but, in fact, recently raised some ticket prices dramatically. It’s fair to say the state of IOA is an issue.