The New Age of Theme Park Rumors and Discussion

[Brian G.]

After the brief detour in the Potter thread - let's talk about it.

Do we know too much, or at least think we do? Is it the fault of the readers for clamoring for everything and anything ASAP?

I know the use of "BREAKING!" has been teased before, since if everything is BREAKING, nothing is BREAKING - but that's just one example.

Please, share thoughts of the positives and negatives of how we now discuss theme parks.

 

[P@n!K_Sw1tC#]

The juicy info is what keeps people engaged. There's no point in having a community like this if we can speculate and talk about nerdy construction details. I say celebrate what you have. More Alicia, more HTF, more Teebin, more YOU.

 

[Alicia]

I tend to share EVERYTHING I hear, regardless of the source. Sometimes I'll say, take this with a grain of salt it was just an anonymous comment or similar. Or sometimes I'll say, multiple sources have indicated to me... But nearly everything I hear, I post in the appropriate thread, (unless it's already been posted before).

I never think to use a spoiler tag, mainly because I'm never sure what is and isn't true. I remember when Skull Island was under construction, we pretty much knew the entire ride layout before it was even half-built. But I also remember early rumors of a "running animatronic." Of course, we didn't get a running animatronic, and you gotta wonder if that was just an incorrect rumor, or, maybe it was something they had planned to have early on, but was cut, either for financial reasons or logistics or whatever.

Part of the reason I like sharing EVERYTHING I hear with everyone on the forum, is to gauge reactions and see if anyone else had heard the same thing. Often times this helps us all locate a source of a rumor, which can help us weed out bad rumors or verify good ones. This is great for me and my reporting on my YouTube channel and website. I feel like it's good for conversation too because it keeps conversation from getting too far off topic. I'm not saying I'm Snopes for new theme park rides, but I'd like to think getting to the bottom of where a particular rumor starts is important to me.

I get a lot of positive feedback on the forum, as well as my Twitter, YouTube and through the contact form on my website. I'm proud of how far I've come in the last few years of reporting about theme parks. I understand right now is exciting with all the new developments, and there's no shortage of rumors for sure.

Should I change the way I talk about rumors here on the forum? Should I stop discussing EVERYTHING I hear? I try to make it clear when I'm guessing or speculating vs reporting something I have heard, but I will attempt to make it even more clear going forward. I'm usually pretty careful with words and will say when it's something I have heard and when it's a guess. But I'll attempt to make even more of effort of clarifying these thoughts going forward.

I enjoy discussing rumors and speculation with this group. And in case y'all don't know, this is the only forum I use. And you've all been like my family for several years now.

 

[JungleSkip]

Personally, as someone who has “leaked” things (both right and wrong) in the past, I think Universal brings this on themselves. The stinginess of info and announcements makes people antsy, those that “know” and those that don’t.

Unless I’m certain of the info, I’ll preface it with “grains of salt” and all that.

But I feel like the discussion, at least on the Uni side, would be really barebones without information from Alicia and the like.

 

[Mad Dog]

I tend to share EVERYTHING I hear, regardless of the source. Sometimes I'll say, take this with a grain of salt it was just an anonymous comment or similar. Or sometimes I'll say, multiple sources have indicated to me... But nearly everything I hear, I post in the appropriate thread, (unless it's already been posted before).

I never think to use a spoiler tag, mainly because I'm never sure what is and isn't true. I remember when Skull Island was under construction, we pretty much knew the entire ride layout before it was even half-built. But I also remember early rumors of a "running animatronic." Of course, we didn't get a running animatronic, and you gotta wonder if that was just an incorrect rumor, or, maybe it was something they had planned to have early on, but was cut, either for financial reasons or logistics or whatever.

Part of the reason I like sharing EVERYTHING I hear with everyone on the forum, is to gauge reactions and see if anyone else had heard the same thing. Often times this helps us all locate a source of a rumor, which can help us weed out bad rumors or verify good ones. This is great for me and my reporting on my YouTube channel and website. I feel like it's good for conversation too because it keeps conversation from getting too far off topic. I'm not saying I'm Snopes for new theme park rides, but I'd like to think getting to the bottom of where a particular rumor starts is important to me.

I get a lot of positive feedback on the forum, as well as my Twitter, YouTube and through the contact form on my website. I'm proud of how far I've come in the last few years of reporting about theme parks. I understand right now is exciting with all the new developments, and there's no shortage of rumors for sure.

Should I change the way I talk about rumors here on the forum? Should I stop discussing EVERYTHING I hear? I try to make it clear when I'm guessing or speculating vs reporting something I have heard, but I will attempt to make it even more clear going forward. I'm usually pretty careful with words and will say when it's something I have heard and when it's a guess. But I'll attempt to make even more of effort of clarifying these thoughts going forward.

I enjoy discussing rumors and speculation with this group. And in case y'all don't know, this is the only forum I use. And you've all been like my family for several years now.

This.:thumbsup:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

After the brief detour in the Potter thread - let's talk about it.

Do we know too much, or at least think we do? Is it the fault of the readers for clamoring for everything and anything ASAP?

Every industry has speculation, insider information leaks, deliberate leaks, accidental leaks, covert photos, etc. Bio in a 'copter is no different than taking photos at a set of a movie or of a sports personality at an airport in a city they're rumored to be traded to. If rumors and speculation are not someone's jam that's ok just as it's ok for others to discuss said rumors and speculation.

I know the use of "BREAKING!" has been teased before, since if everything is BREAKING, nothing is BREAKING - but that's just one example.

This has little to do with the rumors posts IMHO and is instead a symptom of social media and news aggregation sites. It's like "You Won't Believe xxxx" posts from a few years ago. Let the sites that peddle in that do what they wish, they have egg on their faces.

Please, share thoughts of the positives and negatives of how we now discuss theme parks.

Rumors and insider information spared for many reasons: people working on the project want to act like hot shots, creatives want to share what they're working on with friends, people with ideas and plans leak to get their project noticed and talked about (*cough* Disney stuff *cough*), and many many more. Those not happy with leaks usually are attached to the project in some form and have other motives than the fan community.

In the end information being spread is fine as long as the intent is to offer a look at the industry and the progress on a project. My issues come when information is spread maliciously to cause financial or professional harm. Thankfully we have no seen that.

 

[belloq87]

I’ll preface my comment by saying that I’m very thankful for any information that anybody with knowledge decides to share, and I’m fully comfortable policing myself when it comes to deciding when I’m hearing and learning too much that might “spoil” a given attraction. These boards are a great place, and the rumors/speculation/inside info discussions have, I think, only made me a more engaged fan.

The only thing I would say about the subject at hand is that I think, for those of us who don’t have access to truly inside connections within the company, it can sometimes be frustrating to see those who do have those connections or that knowledge tell us publicly on these boards that they have information or knowledge... that cannot be shared. It can sometimes come across as “I know something you don’t know!”

Just for an example, I don’t particularly think there needs to be any more talk about supposed ride-through animatics of SLOP that have been floating around unless you (the royal you) are willing to describe in some detail what you’ve seen or are willing to share the actual item in question.

It can almost seem like there are two separate conversations happening in parallel in the same space -- the conversations between people who have inside knowledge, and the conversations that involve those of us who only have access to a sliver of that knowledge because of what that first group decides to explicitly share with us. But when both types of conversations happen in full view of each other, it kind of leads to the feeling of, “Hey, how come everybody’s vaguely referencing this ride-through that almost everybody has apparently seen... but nobody will actually describe it for the tiny minority of the rest of us who haven’t been given access to it?” And no, I’m not begging for leaked material!

Ultimately, is this that big a deal? No, but I do think that if the subject is something you don’t feel can be talked about publicly in these threads, perhaps it shouldn’t be referenced at all.

 

[Scott W.]

If getting ‘spoiled’ is the cost of admission to these forums then so be it.

It’s a very simple choice and this extends to all forms of entertainment if you want to have a behind the scenes look.

 

[Alicia]

If getting ‘spoiled’ is the cost of admission to these forums then so be it.

It’s a very simple choice and this extends to all forms of entertainment if you want to have a behind the scenes look.

I don't follow any of the film or TV threads until after I watch something, just in case. That's the one thing I actually don't want to be spoiled on, even a little.

 

[Imperius]

There are no spoilers for a ride that isn’t built yet IMO. Everything has been fine for speculation and rumors and should stay the same. Spoilers are for opened attractions and media.

 

[JoeCamel]

I kinda like how it has been. Ebb and flow it's all good.
Many thanks to all those who share good and bad info here. As always it is up to the reader to decide what to take in and what to reject as dreaming or trolling.
If you don't want to know about a ride or show til you experience it just stay out of that thread. The mods do a good job of segregating the discussion so that kind of info can be avoided if you wish.
Look at the HHN spec thread for people that bow out when they are getting too much info. Happens by the boatload. Anyone can do the same in the construction threads, just don't if it offends you. I like it all and don't take theme parks so seriously that I get upset if I miss some details or know before I go. I do this for entertainment after all I do have a life... (sure :afraid

 

[Scott W.]

I don't follow any of the film or TV threads until after I watch something, just in case. That's the one thing I actually don't want to be spoiled on, even a little.

It’s a lot easier to spoil a movie or tv show since it’s all about the story whereas a ride is about the experience.

Even watching a POV of s ride won’t spoil it as much as a single sentence of a movie.

 

[Happytycho]

I like getting information, and have spent much of the past year irritated by Universal's silence while anxiously awaiting the next set of aerials from bioreconstruct, because those were the most informative updates we were getting.

At the same time, I read about what Universal did 20 years ago with the IOA preview center, and wonder how everyone could have been happy seeing a massive model that spoiled nearly everything about the design of the new park before it was even being built.

I follow Universal and the building of their new attractions because I'm interested in the process and the reasons why things are doing the way they are. I enjoy looking at whatever confirmed information we have, submitted plans, aerial photographs, and solid rumors, and trying to infer the missing pieces and understand how it all fits into the bigger picture of the park or the resort. I do it for the challenge of the logical deduction - It's like a game of real life RCT to me.

When a photograph of a half-built Harry Potter coaster track is posted, I try to understand the rest of the layout, and guess about what the train type and intensity might be. When it moves to photos of theming and trees the speculation can move to making inferences about the location and storyline of the ride.

When universal submits plans for something relating to the new south resort, I look at them to try to understand what they are, as well as how the relate to the resort as a whole, with the intent being better able to diagram out what things are likely to go in which locations.

On the other hand, you have a project like the Terminator replacement, where they basically said it would be a new action type show themed to a universal IP, and then proceeded to go radio silent for over a year. After a few weeks of discussion to form a comprehensive list of what IP's it could be, I lost almost all interest in the project because there was nothing more to speculate on or try to figure out.

Because I normally focus on analyzing public information, I often try to explain my posts with enough reasoning for other members to understand where my conclusions are coming from. Some other people take an approach that involves more postings like "It's going to be/have _______(insert fairly specific detail)", and I can understand how this approach rubs some people the wrong wrong way because it easily lends itself to the feeling that inside information is being spilled, whether or not that's actually the case.

It's hard to strike a balance on exactly how much should be shared because while I do a appreciate a fairly steady drip of information, I don't want all the details revealed too early either. That being said, I really do like being a part of this active community where everyone works together to share their own ideas and bits of information to move towards the goal of better understanding what is happening at the Universal theme parks.

 

[natespf]

I find the process more interesting than the final result. As someone who doesn't make it out to the parks as often as others on this forum I love pictures, and I'm grateful for all who post. For me attractions are actually more enjoyable when I understand the inner workings. But hey, I'm a technology, themeing, infrastructure, even parking lot nerd ;-)

I also know how many magic tricks are done, but that does not ruin the performance of a talented magician. Though I do understand how it could for others, but no offense they shouldn't be looking up how magic tricks are done.