Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[tommyhawkins]

This is a fair point, but I feel if you're demolishing, you should be at that point where you have your plans ready to go largely.

They're demolishing LC because they cant build Pokemon without it being gone, who is telling you they dont have plans?

fear Factor is used for two months of the year, Supercharged is being used for HHN the plan was to close it when Fast opens in spring/summer. They were keeping it open because they felt they needed to, crowds are lighter, so they could well bring forward reskinning to January when the new FY kicks in. Toon theatre is used just not by obvious guests.

I personally, feel like it's bad show to have guest facing structures be closed with no active replacement. The average guest can still look at the Toon Lagoon theater, Fear Factor, now Supercharged, and soon Animal Actors and not access those spaces with no publicly available plans for redeveloping any of these spaces. It's more than a "super fan" issue because I think it looks bad on the "world class" status the Universal parks want to have all of these closed with no development. Same goes for Disney and how they've handled Wonders.

For example, right now we have the Muppet Courtyard blocked off at DHS but they have the plans for Monsters on those walls, why can't we say, have that for Supercharged? Put a decal of a tornado, shark, giant Japanese lizard, great dane, animatronic bear, drug-using teddy bear, etc and communicate to guests that "yes this ride is closed, but here's what's coming in the future".

Disney's marketing strategy is to announce concepts of a plan, two years later re-announce the same plans as new, then two years later flash part of a model with no realistic date of when to expect something. We're four years into Villains land hype and only have a vague idea of what theyre doing. And its in all likelihood to be another 3 years before it opens. Maybe Universal just want to pitch their ideas to the target demographic who will still be that target age when the thing opens?

If they don't want to commit to anything, fine, but it shouldn't be closed if they aren't committing to anything. Dinoland didn't close until they publicly committed to Tropical Americas, Tom Sawyer didn't close until they publicly committed to Cars, Muppets didn't close until they publicly committed to putting Monsters in that space, hell, God damn Star Wars: Launch Bay got the privilege to have a replacement communicated when it's closure was announced. I feel the same should be done at Universal, and the fact we had an open casket funeral for LC for about a decade without anything was just sad, and the fact they're still playing coy on what's going anywhere, is frankly disappointing.

Again, what is closed that isn't getting replaced?

 

[Mad Dog]

Patience is a virtue.

I know as super fans we get angsty and can become very pessimistic based on previous precedents set by these companies.

But we have to try to stay positive as well as hopeful that Universal knows what it’s doing.

and.... go to the parks.....even though we're not happy with mgt. decisions, the parks are still a lot of fun.....plus no crowds, no lines, is more enjoyable than crowded parks and long lines like 2022. Good hotel deals too, and getting better. I still have a great time when I go, which is often.

 

[moth]

They're demolishing LC because they cant build Pokemon without it being gone, who is telling you they dont have plans?




Again, what is closed that isn't getting replaced?

As far as the public knows, there's no replacements planned for the near future. That's the issue.

 

[Imperius]

And when you’re dealing with outside IPs, that might be their decision. If Pokémon is going into LC, I’m sure the rights holders are giving the timeline for announcements.

 

[tommyhawkins]

As far as the public knows, there's no replacements planned for the near future. That's the issue.

im a little confused what your issue is, but it seems to be a grievance with their marketing strategy? You're on a forum that openly discusses exactly what is going into the area, are you not happy with pokemon?

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I’m reminded of reading through the HHN forums from 2012-2016 where there was a lot of complaints about how HHN was marketing itself in Orlando. Or the lack thereof.

There’s more to do with life than just impatiently waiting for announcements.

 

[moth]

im a little confused what your issue is, but it seems to be a grievance with their marketing strategy? You're on a forum that openly discusses exactly what is going into the area, are you not happy with pokemon?

The issue is marketing strategy yes. That's the biggest issue right now.

I'm deeply in love with the idea of Pokémon replacing LC and I feel like Universal should go public with that and start Pokémon experiences ASAP. Get a Pokémon Center in Citywalk. Put a Snorlax blocking the Seuss to LC walkway once construction hits that point. Obviously they have to wait until The Pokémon Company says go, but hopefully that's sooner rather than later.

My main issue is marketing what's coming up, especially for a park like USF that, let's face it, needs a breath of fresh life in it. It'd be nice to have this closure coupled with "oh yeah we're doing a Shrek dark ride" or something. But we're coming off of Sinbad just now getting demo'd after almost a decade static, FFL largely unused, Toon Theater largely unused, obviously people here are going to be wary of the idea of yet another theater sitting vacant.

 

[tommyhawkins]

The issue is marketing strategy yes. That's the biggest issue right now.

I'm deeply in love with the idea of Pokémon replacing LC and I feel like Universal should go public with that and start Pokémon experiences ASAP. Get a Pokémon Center in Citywalk. Put a Snorlax blocking the Seuss to LC walkway once construction hits that point. Obviously they have to wait until The Pokémon Company says go, but hopefully that's sooner rather than later.

My main issue is marketing what's coming up, especially for a park like USF that, let's face it, needs a breath of fresh life in it. It'd be nice to have this closure coupled with "oh yeah we're doing a Shrek dark ride" or something. But we're coming off of Sinbad just now getting demo'd after almost a decade static, FFL largely unused, Toon Theater largely unused, obviously people here are going to be wary of the idea of yet another theater sitting vacant.

I have no issue with telling people when they actually need to plan when something new is coming. The Disney method, often elevates expectations excessively and honestly they dont do any better job of actually giving clear dates of when things will actually open than universal, its just unnecessary hype. The reality of it is, a kid that was ten when they began talking about Villains land, is going to be old enough to drive themselves there by the time it opens. What's the point of hyping something for that long?

To your other point, I agree and im not going to argue against building something over things being SBNO, there should always been more rides and attractions, I'm just saying there's going to be a bit of musical chairs and 4D chess going on with possibly what might be happening in North Campus parks - it feels like they are setting themselves up for things to happen quickly. I think they do recognise they can't just build a new park and expect people to spend equal time in the old parks when both of them have been severely lacking really since pandemic. I personally spent barely any time in USF on my last trip in 2024. and post-Fast, personally I think i would just be sessioning MiB, Mummy and Fast....maybe throw one trip to Bourne in.

 

[tyro]

....maybe throw one trip to Bourne in.

MAYBE???

 

[TheUniC6]

I'm deeply in love with the idea of Pokémon replacing LC and I feel like Universal should go public with that and start Pokémon experiences ASAP. Get a Pokémon Center in Citywalk. Put a Snorlax blocking the Seuss to LC walkway once construction hits that point. Obviously they have to wait until The Pokémon Company says go, but hopefully that's sooner rather than later.

With Pokemon supposedly opening this year at USJ, I find it somewhat bizarre that nothing has been announced considering the hype around it. Unless TPC is using this to coordinate an announcement for what Pokemon experiences are coming to Universal parks globally.

 

[Tobias]

I have no issue with telling people when they actually need to plan when something new is coming. The Disney method, often elevates expectations excessively and honestly they dont do any better job of actually giving clear dates of when things will actually open than universal, its just unnecessary hype. The reality of it is, a kid that was ten when they began talking about Villains land, is going to be old enough to drive themselves there by the time it opens. What's the point of hyping something for that long?

Agreed, since a thing to always remember is the general public are not fans who're constantly watching/getting informed of this kind of stuff. They don't have the investment that we do, and that's important when it comes to announcing things.

If you say a new land/attraction is coming and its opening "Next Year" or earlier, the public will get invested in it. But if the opening is anything longer than a year, that is NOT the answer they want, and it'll give the announcement a negative sting. Just look at the Avengers ride at DCA, there was a nice bit of excitement when they were talking about it at D23...and then they revealed its opening in 2028 and all that excitement was sighed right out of the room. A room full of fans gave that reaction, and you don't wanna' do that with the public.

 

[TheUniC6]

Agreed, since a thing to always remember is the general public are not fans who're constantly watching/getting informed of this kind of stuff. They don't have the investment that we do, and that's important when it comes to announcing things.

If you say a new land/attraction is coming and its opening "Next Year" or earlier, the public will get invested in it. But if the opening is anything longer than a year, that is NOT the answer they want, and it'll give the announcement a negative sting. Just look at the Avengers ride at DCA, there was a nice bit of excitement when they were talking about it at D23...and then they revealed its opening in 2028 and all that excitement was sighed right out of the room. A room full of fans gave that reaction, and you don't wanna' do that with the public.

The timelines aspect was the one part of D23 I found disappointing. Avengers should have been next year, but to give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they ran into technical issues? But then again others on WDWMagic have pointed out or claimed that 3 year builds seems to be Disney's way of spreading out funds and openings.

 

[Jake S]

I think a lot of people wishcasted Avengers opening in 2027 to the point that many started to believe it would happen.

 

[TheUniC6]

I think a lot of people wishcasted Avengers opening in 2027 to the point that many started to believe it would happen.

Some WDWMagic users like Disney Irish said a reason for the 2028 debut for avengers was due to it being a two in one build with both ID and SFL.

 

[tommyhawkins]

I think a lot of people wishcasted Avengers opening in 2027 to the point that many started to believe it would happen.

It was still foundations a little over a year ago, and to be fair , 3.5 years from starting is a Disney Rush. But it's not unusual to have unrealistic expectations when stuff is added to the hype train.

It's the same with the Avatar thing out there. I went on a deep dive with that project. A crazy amount of stuff needs to be moved around and built before they can even clear the land to build. That has now turned into "avatar is cancelled" . For the most part that event is all fluff and no substance. I can't imagine a scenario where Universal could run this type of event

 

[OrlandoGuy]

im a little confused what your issue is, but it seems to be a grievance with their marketing strategy? You're on a forum that openly discusses exactly what is going into the area, are you not happy with pokemon?

You’re not understanding the issues that you’re responding to.

Announcing or not announcing something…I agree that’s a super fan issue.

A closed attraction being empty/vacant/dormant vs being an active construction site is not a super fan issue.

If you see construction walls and activity, then it doesn’t matter what the announcement is or isn’t…it’s visible progress.

What we have right now are multiple theaters with no activity going on in/around them and Fast and Furious about to sit dormant, and no trust that that’ll change with/without any announcements because of the track record lately (sure, Lost Continent is moving now but how long was it a complete waste of space before that?). That has nothing to do with marketing strategy.

Defending this by saying “Universal purposefully holds off on announcements” doesn’t work precisely because of the Nintendo-to-Kidzone thing. Was it a blessing that they didn’t announce it in advance? Sure. But the point is, there was visible progress being made on that area. Kidzone never closed despite survey markers going into the ground. That’s a wholly different scenario than what we’re seeing with the venues people are dripping over.

 

[Legacy]

You’re not understanding the issues that you’re responding to.

Announcing or not announcing something…I agree that’s a super fan issue.

A closed attraction being empty/vacant/dormant vs being an active construction site is not a super fan issue.

If you see construction walls and activity, then it doesn’t matter what the announcement is or isn’t…it’s visible progress.

What we have right now are multiple theaters with no activity going on in/around them and Fast and Furious about to sit dormant, and no trust that that’ll change with/without any announcements because of the track record lately (sure, Lost Continent is moving now but how long was it a complete waste of space before that?). That has nothing to do with marketing strategy.

Defending this by saying “Universal purposefully holds off on announcements” doesn’t work precisely because of the Nintendo-to-Kidzone thing. Was it a blessing that they didn’t announce it in advance? Sure. But the point is, there was visible progress being made on that area. Kidzone never closed despite survey markers going into the ground. That’s a wholly different scenario than what we’re seeing with the venues people are dripping over.

This is a completely fair argument (visible progress versus “unused” space). I think when Disney has done this, they’ve been able to better hide the unused infrastructure than Universal is able to so the lack of accessibility isn’t as glaring (historically, the Odyssey restaurant was the biggest issue but they had several unused facilities for years). Even WoL, for as big an eyesore it “is” is positioned in a way where if you don’t really know it’s there you have to actively look through the trees to know it’s there.

The Lost Continent debacle is, unfortunately, a unique situation. Universal has known for years the land would go. Sindbad was an under-attended, poorly rated show that (from my understanding) needed infrastructure repairs to the stage. Poseidon had a significant guest-safety mold problem. I think both were forced to close before Universal would have “wanted” them to, but the question was “is the cost of the update for the short-term worth it?” Universal felt it wasn’t, and determined that “risk” of unused space on guest experience was maybe… negligible? The unused theaters have not seemed to negatively impact guests perception of the resort. Short of wider economic issues, they’re doing well.

In the grander scheme, I wonder how much of a deal-breaker that stuff is for casual guests. I don’t know if it’s a situation where, they don’t know about what they’re not missing so they don’t care or if. Maybe, because there’s a half dozen guest-inaccessible soundstages between the North Campus parks, guests improperly assume the unused theaters are related to that. Regardless, Universal seems to view any perception risks as acceptable.

In the grander scheme, I do think Universal has a plan and will be acting on them quickly. They’ve been aggressively since Comcast took over. And while the lull at the North Campus negatively impacted those parks, it was because Comcast was building a new park. We’re seeing active movement in a three parks now. It may not be the activity fans want to see now, and the end results may be more Superchargedes or Monsters Unleashedes, but the activity is happening.

 

[MrRoamer]

This is a completely fair argument (visible progress versus “unused” space). I think when Disney has done this, they’ve been able to better hide the unused infrastructure than Universal is able to so the lack of accessibility isn’t as glaring (historically, the Odyssey restaurant was the biggest issue but they had several unused facilities for years). Even WoL, for as big an eyesore it “is” is positioned in a way where if you don’t really know it’s there you have to actively look through the trees to know it’s there.

The Lost Continent debacle is, unfortunately, a unique situation. Universal has known for years the land would go. Sindbad was an under-attended, poorly rated show that (from my understanding) needed infrastructure repairs to the stage. Poseidon had a significant guest-safety mold problem. I think both were forced to close before Universal would have “wanted” them to, but the question was “is the cost of the update for the short-term worth it?” Universal felt it wasn’t, and determined that “risk” of unused space on guest experience was maybe… negligible? The unused theaters have not seemed to negatively impact guests perception of the resort. Short of wider economic issues, they’re doing well.

In the grander scheme, I wonder how much of a deal-breaker that stuff is for casual guests. I don’t know if it’s a situation where, they don’t know about what they’re not missing so they don’t care or if. Maybe, because there’s a half dozen guest-inaccessible soundstages between the North Campus parks, guests improperly assume the unused theaters are related to that. Regardless, Universal seems to view any perception risks as acceptable.

In the grander scheme, I do think Universal has a plan and will be acting on them quickly. They’ve been aggressively since Comcast took over. And while the lull at the North Campus negatively impacted those parks, it was because Comcast was building a new park. We’re seeing active movement in a three parks now. It may not be the activity fans want to see now, and the end results may be more Superchargedes or Monsters Unleashedes, but the activity is happening.

I totally agree with this. I've taken people that have never been to the parks and when they see something that looks like there is something there they go, and if they get there and there's nothing that's a huge let down. Disney's current biggest one IMO is Stitch. Universal's problem is a lot of these are massive buildings meant to invite a lot of guests. The 3 theaters are all very difficult to miss, but we all know there are plenty of other areas that are just as problematic.

Saying that they are being used partially is kind of a cop out IMO, if they are only used for competitions or a seasonal show then hide it or make it known what it is used for. You could make an argument that the World Showcase Pavilion is at minimum a theater, but again unless you know it's there it doesn't exist.

I think Universal has another problem in a similar thread with things under refurbishment forever and things that are broken but cost money.

 

[tyro]

Was the last time toon lagoon theatre was used the hulk refurb preview on the VR? Lol

 

[TheUniC6]

This is a completely fair argument (visible progress versus “unused” space). I think when Disney has done this, they’ve been able to better hide the unused infrastructure than Universal is able to so the lack of accessibility isn’t as glaring (historically, the Odyssey restaurant was the biggest issue but they had several unused facilities for years). Even WoL, for as big an eyesore it “is” is positioned in a way where if you don’t really know it’s there you have to actively look through the trees to know it’s there.

The Lost Continent debacle is, unfortunately, a unique situation. Universal has known for years the land would go. Sindbad was an under-attended, poorly rated show that (from my understanding) needed infrastructure repairs to the stage. Poseidon had a significant guest-safety mold problem. I think both were forced to close before Universal would have “wanted” them to, but the question was “is the cost of the update for the short-term worth it?” Universal felt it wasn’t, and determined that “risk” of unused space on guest experience was maybe… negligible? The unused theaters have not seemed to negatively impact guests perception of the resort. Short of wider economic issues, they’re doing well.

In the grander scheme, I wonder how much of a deal-breaker that stuff is for casual guests. I don’t know if it’s a situation where, they don’t know about what they’re not missing so they don’t care or if. Maybe, because there’s a half dozen guest-inaccessible soundstages between the North Campus parks, guests improperly assume the unused theaters are related to that. Regardless, Universal seems to view any perception risks as acceptable.

In the grander scheme, I do think Universal has a plan and will be acting on them quickly. They’ve been aggressively since Comcast took over. And while the lull at the North Campus negatively impacted those parks, it was because Comcast was building a new park. We’re seeing active movement in a three parks now. It may not be the activity fans want to see now, and the end results may be more Superchargedes or Monsters Unleashedes, but the activity is happening.

Alicia also seemed to hint at the future of the AA plot being touched on in a future rumor update. Here's hoping that comes some point in November.

If this winds up being phase 2 for DreamWorks, USF will finally get the SLOP type dark ride people here have craving, which in turn should tide the park over until Simpsons can finally kick the bucket for the next true big thing.