Tear it down....

[Nitro_230]

I'm really curious why there seems to be a constant push to tear down or close and re-do everything at Universal.

Here's what I've seen needs to be either torn down, or closed and completely re-done.

IOA: All of toon, River Adventure, Pteranodon Flyers, Anything in JP that generates revenue, Forbidden Journey, Dragon Challange, All of Lost Continent, Sneetch Beach, Green Eggs and Ham

USF: Rockit, Twister, Shrek, T2, Gardens of Allah, ET, Kidzone, Barney, Animal Actors, Fear Factor, Disaster, Beetlejuice


That's over half of each park. I mean in all honesty if it's all that bad, why go?

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

Is that list created based on what you believe Universal wants to change or what the members of this forum want?

 

[Cupcakes]

Yeah, no offense, but this whole post here just screams "flamebait!", whether or not that was your intention.

 

[Nitro_230]

It's what I've read on the form over the last month or so. And it's an honest question as to why everything seems to be being viewed so poorly.

 

[Cupcakes]

Well still, it sounded as if you were trying to instigate something, especially with that last line.

 

[Nitro_230]

I'll agree it's a blunt question, but there is no intent to instigate. It's an honest curiosity of mine if things at UO are really viewed that poorly. And if someone really thinks things are that bad, what keeps them coming back.

I mean a good number of threads on here turn into something needing to be torn out. I'm fairly certain I'm not the only once that's noticed that seems to be a common response.

I think it's fair for me to ask the question. I'm not singing any one person out, I'm just throwing it out there.

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

Well, I think a lot of people just want things to update and change. You're forgetting that Universal has been pretty dead for a very long time, it's only getting the love it deserves now. Also, not everyone wants ALL of those rides to change or be replaced.

Speaking for myself, Rockit isn't going anywhere but it should. To me, Rockit is a huge, ugly red symbol of Universal's dark days. Shrek needs to go because it takes up a lot of place and it's just not as entertaining as it once was. ET needs some love and I'm not sure how anyone can deny that. I honestly vote for it to be replaced, but eh. I was also never a fan of T2. I think most of us just love the parks and want it to be the best it can be. You really think that KidZone, Beetlejuice, Disaster, Fear Factor, Barney, Toon Lagoon, River Adventure and JP as a whole doesn't either need to be replaced or updated?

I don't think it's complaining to complain, I think we want the park to change for the better and that means getting rid of the dusty, unloved attractions. No one is going to stop going to Universal because KidZone is a mess, because 90% of the park is great, it's the other 10% that needs a bit of work. Nothing is perfect.

 

[Nitro_230]

Well, I think a lot of people just want things to update and change. You're forgetting that Universal has been pretty dead for a very long time, it's only getting the love it deserves now. Also, not everyone wants ALL of those rides to change or be replaced.

Speaking for myself, Rockit isn't going anywhere but it should. To me, Rockit is a huge, ugly red symbol of Universal's dark days. Shrek needs to go because it takes up a lot of place and it's just not as entertaining as it once was. ET needs some love and I'm not sure how anyone can deny that. I honestly vote for it to be replaced, but eh. I was also never a fan of T2. I think most of us just love the parks and want it to be the best it can be. You really think that KidZone, Beetlejuice, Disaster, Fear Factor, Barney, Toon Lagoon, River Adventure and JP as a whole doesn't either need to be replaced or updated?

I don't think it's complaining to complain, I think we want the park to change for the better and that means getting rid of the dusty, unloved attractions. No one is going to stop going to Universal because KidZone is a mess, because 90% of the park is great, it's the other 10% that needs a bit of work. Nothing is perfect.

Wanting things to be at their best is fair. And I agree that things need to be changed out from time to time. Do I agree that Barney, Toon, River and JP in general need to be replaced or updated? No, not really. They are all very popular. In fact fear factor for being a dead franchise seems to pull the people in fairly well. Beetlejuice does as well. And I know that falls under the my opinion category, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

[Mad Dog]

At WDW a 40 year old ride is considered a classic . But some of the posters here consider 15 year old Universal attractions over the hill & fit for the scrapyard. I can never understand that concept. A good attraction never gets old, they age like a fine wine. Sometimes, due to space restraints, there's no choice but to tear down to rebuild. But that's the exception. Now that the Universal parks' are more tourist oriented , tourists that come once every few years don't get tired of the same attraction. That's why audiences still cheer Shrek even though most locals seem to dislike the attraction. Locals who attend parks often get tired of the same attraction & want something new, but the economic realities are that you can't tear everything down every decade. But I don't see the Disney fan community clamoring to tear down, Pirates, Splash Mt., Space Mt., Peter Pan, Tower of Terror etc. because they're more than 15 years old. Nitro does have a good point. Everyone is, of course entitled, to their opinion, but lets get real.

 

[Nitro_230]

At WDW a 40 year old ride is considered a classic . But some of the posters here consider 15 year old Universal attractions over the hill & fit for the scrapyard. I can never understand that concept. A good attraction never gets old, they age like a fine wine. Sometimes, due to space restraints, there's no choice but to tear down to rebuild. But that's the exception. Now that the Universal parks' are more tourist oriented , tourists that come once every few years don't get tired of the same attraction. That's why audiences still cheer Shrek even though most locals seem to dislike the attraction. Locals who attend parks often get tired of the same attraction & want something new, but the economic realities are that you can't tear everything down every decade. But I don't see the Disney fan community clamoring to tear down, Pirates, Splash Mt., Space Mt., Peter Pan, Tower of Terror etc. because they're more than 15 years old. Nitro does have a good point. Everyone is, of course entitled, to their opinion, but lets get real.

That's what I was going for, you put it perfectly. Mr. Toad was an old, out of date, antiquated ride. I know many that are still quite mad that it got pulled out. Heck in Jaws is a great Universal example of that. The flame bars were off most of the time, the ride is nothing compared to it's original form. Yet today someone put (RIP) after their reference to jaws.

 

[Cupcakes]

At WDW a 40 year old ride is considered a classic . But some of the posters here consider 15 year old Universal attractions over the hill & fit for the scrapyard. I can never understand that concept. A good attraction never gets old, they age like a fine wine. Sometimes, due to space restraints, there's no choice but to tear down to rebuild. But that's the exception. Now that the Universal parks' are more tourist oriented , tourists that come once every few years don't get tired of the same attraction. That's why audiences still cheer Shrek even though most locals seem to dislike the attraction. Locals who attend parks often get tired of the same attraction & want something new, but the economic realities are that you can't tear everything down every decade. But I don't see the Disney fan community clamoring to tear down, Pirates, Splash Mt., Space Mt., Peter Pan, Tower of Terror etc. because they're more than 15 years old. Nitro does have a good point. Everyone is, of course entitled, to their opinion, but lets get real.

People aren't clamoring to get rid of Fear Factor, Shrek, KidZone, Beetlejuice, and whatnot removed because they're over ten years old. They're clamoring to get them removed because, in a lot of people's view, they're all lackluster attractions, especially when compared to the better attractions in the park.

 

[Frogki]

Listen, I don't think anyone's actually calling for all of the things you posted to be replaced entirely. However, I think that we're all looking at the parks and realizing, some of these things just don't belong here anymore, and not for lack of heart, but a lot of them have not been maintained nearly as well as they should have been. Disney was at least maintaining the really old rides before a decade or two ago.
Also, a lot of the things in Kidzone are outdated. Do not tell me Barney is relevant, because any kids IP could go in there and be relevant (and bearable for parents). And I personally would love to see some portion of Curious George stay along with E.T. When I first went to Universal 2006, things like Woody Woodpecker and Fievel weren't all that familiar (and I actually watched some of those when I was a little kid!).
I think that we need quite a bit of updating and replacing to bring every attraction up to par. This means replacing what brings the least ROI and updating what attractions are either falling apart or showing their age.
I don't think anyone hates old Universal. But we've seen the new toys that Uni can create and honestly, it's beautiful. I think everyone just wants to see more of that. Unfortunately, that means giving up some classics (which, I might add, hardly brought people to the parks)... And I might add, many of the attractions we've been mentioning aren't the most wonderful attractions anyway. I definitely wouldn't ever consider spending time watching Fear Factor Live or going to watch Shrek when I've got things like Springfield, Diagon Alley, the Mummy, and Kong to enjoy.

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

At WDW a 40 year old ride is considered a classic . But some of the posters here consider 15 year old Universal attractions over the hill & fit for the scrapyard. I can never understand that concept. A good attraction never gets old, they age like a fine wine. Sometimes, due to space restraints, there's no choice but to tear down to rebuild. But that's the exception. Now that the Universal parks' are more tourist oriented , tourists that come once every few years don't get tired of the same attraction. That's why audiences still cheer Shrek even though most locals seem to dislike the attraction. Locals who attend parks often get tired of the same attraction & want something new, but the economic realities are that you can't tear everything down every decade. But I don't see the Disney fan community clamoring to tear down, Pirates, Splash Mt., Space Mt., Peter Pan, Tower of Terror etc. because they're more than 15 years old. Nitro does have a good point. Everyone is, of course entitled, to their opinion, but lets get real.

And Disney has a bunch of land and they can easily keep their old rides and continue to build new ones, Universal cannot. Also, Disney isn't doing all that well right now, so I'm not sure if their business model is something that Universal should be recreating.

Barney needs to go because I dare you to find a child that would rather watch Barney as opposed to...I dont know, Spongebob. Barney is not bringing in guests. Toon Lagoon is also not bringing in guests and is an overall waste of space. Lots of places to eat and spend money, but Springfield is a better example of how to create a street that rips money from guests pockets. River Adventure should not be replaced, but there are a lot of issues with that ride. What's the problem with making it better?

Opinions like "I don't like T2" is just an opinion, yes. If T2 is still popular and not falling into disrepair, it should not be replaced. If it is starting to show it's age, though, then yes, it should probably be updated to make it better. If there's an attraction out there that is not bringing in guests, not that great of an attraction, and is also seriously outdated, it would make sense to replace it with something bigger and better. Kong got replaced with Mummy and Mummy is a much better attraction. JAWS is being replaced by an entire Harry Potter section. You don't think that when rides get replaced that their replacements aren't usually much better?

 

[Mad Dog]

People aren't clamoring to get rid of Fear Factor, Shrek, KidZone, Beetlejuice, and what not removed because they're over ten years old. They're clamoring to get them removed because, in a lot of people's view, they're all lackluster attractions, especially when compared to the better attractions in the park.

I don't think Nitro was referring to weak attractions like Fear Factor and parts of Kidzone. My read was that he was trying to make a point that you can't just tear down an attraction because it's X number of years old. And I believe there is a large difference between attractions tourists like and locals like/dislike. Sometimes constant repetition and familiarity breed dislike and a want for a replacement for something new and fresh. And I understand that outlook from the view of a local who spends a lot of time in the parks. But I'm sure attractions like Shrek, T-2 & Beetlejuice, while unpopular with locals, are still tourist favorites. And the bottom line is that Universal is morphing into a tourist centric resort, and decisions will probably be made with that fact in mind. Often an attraction just needs a small refurb to return to it's full glory. And yes , Disney has lots of space, but it appears they are reluctant to extend their parks beyond their present infrastructure. So basically, they too, only expand into areas previously occupied by another attraction. New Fantasyland is a good example. If they would have expanded past the service road on the border they could have had a few more attractions and a great addition. But they basically just used the area that was shut down the past decade or so. They're doing the same with Avatar and probably the rumored Star Wars. Just using areas occupied by other attractions.

 

[TheMackMachine]

Let's not forget that everyone has an opinion, and we should respect those opinions.

With that being said, I would keep most of the attractions there (including Toon Lagoon), update show like Beetlejuice, Animal Actors, something other than Barney, and change out Fievel. Other than that, they should just use any available space for new attractions, and then focus on the water park.

 

[USO92]

As I stated in the HRRR thread...

This entire push by Uni to usher in a new age has not only given them big heads but has done the same to us as well. In my opinion..

Disney=Nostalgia

Universal=Next best

Hence why its ok for Disney not to tear down 40 year old rides. Also Disney can afford not to due to the incredible amount of expansion space they have.

 

[Oscar]

Only things I think Universal Orlando have got wrong are getting rid of Jaws (I know its for Potter) but Jaws was a classic ride in the sense it didnt need tech to be good its a big rubber fish attacking a boat timeless!!, also the other one that annoys me is Twister I was there the year it opened and never liked it from day one!!

PS I think the Rockit is excellent

 

[batsmouth]

This thread is amazing, so true. People seem to criticise too much on rides.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

For Universal I'd get rid of these attractions.

USF: Twister Because I dislike attractions where I have to stand. Not really an attraction Worth the time IMO.
T2: 50/50 . like the attraction but if they could replace it with something else more of a draw I'm all for it.
All of kidszone. So many more popular kid characters to model these days.
Animal Actors - I say just relocate it if possible. Use that space for more of kid zone.
FearFactor. Obvious reasons.

IOA:
Storm Force: No comment.
Toon Lagoon Theatre: Nice sized space.
Dragon Challenge: They don't duel anymore so why not? Takes the experience away. Or at least retheme them if anything.
Sinbad: I like the show but again maybe something else can be more of a draw. Perhaps a show with different endings?
SuessHighInTheSky: Not so much as get rid of it but maybe make it a bit longer and interactive.

Just my opinions

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

Only things I think Universal Orlando have got wrong are getting rid of Jaws (I know its for Potter) but Jaws was a classic ride in the sense it didnt need tech to be good its a big rubber fish attacking a boat timeless!!, also the other one that annoys me is Twister I was there the year it opened and never liked it from day one!!

PS I think the Rockit is excellent

They had to close Jaws because it was a money pit. It didn't make sense for them to continue spending money to keep it running when they could barely fill the boats with butts. Universal is a business. No business is going to keep pouring money into something unpopular only because it's nostalgic.