Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[Magic-Man]

Pure speculation... but what the heck... with so little details it’s fun for now:

What if the hub/spine serves a dual purpose... park hub during the day, pseudo-Citywalk by night. Each of the world/lands appears to have a choke-point entry/exit that could easily be gated off come typical park close leaving the hub alone open to everyone... and requiring no main gate fee. The few rides in the hub then become a separate pay-per-ride or night ticket. The dueling coaster sure has a high reride factor and the idea is similar to the rumors that once existed for RRR. I imagine a carousel and few other select rides could be the same. Mix in stores and dining in the hub and you have a nighttime complex that extends the options for on-site hotel guests into the evening. Seeing as how Universals trend as of late at Citywalk 1.0 is to reclaim leased space for themselves and develop and operate their own dining/retail concepts, it certainly would not require outside vendors to fill space/ideas.

Now that I could see. Question is, what happens when people attempt to sneak into the surrounding lands?

 

[RFRees]

Now that I could see. Question is, what happens when people attempt to sneak into the surrounding lands?

That would be like sneaking into USF from CW.

 

[belloq87]

I'm imagining they'll get an update, similar to when Hollywood enlisted Crash McCreary to help with the redesigns of the Monsters for Horror Nights.

Now, will it be those designs? Probably not, but I do think it'll be a modernification of the original designs from the original Monsters.

I think a midpoint between the original designs and the HHN designs would work well.

The majority of the merchandise being sold, I would assume, will have the original likenesses, so I don't think you can stray too far from those in the attractions.

What if most of the Classic Monsters Land was black & white like the old movies. Or is that just too far fetched. Just throwing that out there to see what you all think.

That would be a REALLY bold choice. I'd dig it, but I can't imagine Universal going that route.

I’m curious if we knew nothing of SNW and this is the first we were hearing of it if it wouldn’t be better than 3. for you and 2 for @belloq87

I think Nintendo would always be under the Universal Monsters for me, regardless of how much I knew about either land. Objectively, I think Nintendo will be a powerhouse area, and I have a lot of nostalgia for Mario and Zelda (and a whole bunch more) from playing the NES growing up... but the Monsters mean even more to me.

 

[Magic-Man]

That would be like sneaking into USF from CW.

Not exactly. There's four different lands people could sneak into and all the lands are directly connected to the hub unlike USF/IOA to CityWalk.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I wish I knew what a Sky Fly was.

Something I've noticed (which is kind of ironic) is that there isn't as many rumors for what will be found in the Wizarding World. Would we expect a Newt's suitcase kind of experience, maybe an omnimover?

 

[JungleSkip]

Hype Rankings:
1- Nintendo: I mean come on. It’s not even a competition at this point

2- HTTYD: Hearing the main ride is Hagrid-like, and a lineup of fun flat rides, not to mention potential for another main ride? Could possibly jump Nintendo depending on the final lineup

3- Ministry of Magic: Potter always delivers. And if the art is anything to go by this looks to be an expansive indoor experience, which is great

4- Universal Monsters: I think this will be really good...BUT as of now what I know about it makes it just a little too close to Hogsmeade to really rank it higher. Not that it won’t be great, just seems a little derivative. The rumored second ride could help it.

5- Hub (Celestial Gardens?): Beautiful, and the huge Racer coaster is exciting, but I need to know what other rides are in it

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I wish I knew what a Sky Fly was.

I think it was @JungleSkip who posted, but this is a Sky Fly.

 

[JunoSynth]

Will there be room for another park/water park outside the concept art?

 

[Awakening]

Question about the Yoshi ride, since it goes outside, does that mean that it will get shut down every time it rains in Florida?

 

[RFRees]

Will there be room for another park/water park outside the concept art?

Yes.

Question about the Yoshi ride, since it goes outside, does that mean that it will get shut down every time it rains in Florida?

Yes.

But more precisely, when there's lightning within a five mile radius ("white out").

I think it was @JungleSkip who posted, but this is a Sky Fly.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say...

The people of Berk will be using this ride as training to fly "real dragons" (the e-ticket attractions)

 

[Magic-Man]

My land rankings:

1. Hub - Yes, you read that right. The hub looks absolutely beautiful, and I'll spend more than a few hours exploring it. Water features are a welcome addition to any park, and the possibility of other rides outside of the amazing looking dueling coaster (DUELING COASTERS ARE BACK IN FLORIDA! YES!) and the carousel make this my most anticipated area.
2. How to Train Your Dragon - Eight rides in a single section of the park? A coaster similar to Hagrid?Some sort of water ride/water flat ride? Dueling Gestlauer Sky-Flies?! Yes please! Not to mention that I'm a big fan of the film franchise.
3. Fantastic Beasts/Harry Potter - Florida needs more indoor lands, and we're finally getting one here. The Potter attractions have been outstanding across all the Universal Parks. That's the IP that got us to where we are now, looking at a third Universal theme park. There's rumors going around of two E-ticket attractions in this section of the park, and both will deliver thanks to Universal Creative and JK Rowling. More Butterbeer is always a good thing.
4. Classic Monsters - This entire land is a big question mark at this point in time, and that's what is most exciting to me. The main things we know about (based on the concept art and rumors) are that there's a kuka-arm dark ride (Forbidden Journey is my favorite ride, so I'm excited as hell) and the stage show. Maybe another ride based on Scooby Doo or something as well. The land layout appears to be organic and feel like an actual village if you look at the concept art, so that's great. And it's the first horror-IP land in the world that I know of. Bring it on.
5. Nintendo - This probably will come as a surprise to most of you, but this is my least-anticipated land in the park as of right now. That's not to say that the land is bad or anything, because it looks spectacular, but it's a cloned land at the end of the day (DK excluded of course). There's no sense of wonder/exploration here if you go to the other versions of the land, or look at videos of it. It's not special and unique like the other lands in the park. So it's my least anticipated area.

 

[Stitch_101]

While there would be time period incongruities, I could live with that in order to get a Slaughtered Lamb. Complete with dartboard and occasional wolf howls off in the distance.

An arguement could be made that there already is a period incongruity if Gill Man is included in the land, seeing as Creature is by far the most contemporary (for its time) of the Universal monster films while the other play off the time periods of their source material. And that's not to mention the descrepancy of locations. It seems like the classic monster area will be an amalgamation of all the classic monsters, so as long as The Slaughtered Lamb visually matched the design aesthetic they are going for, which I think it very well could, I don't really see an issue.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I think it was @JungleSkip who posted, but this is a Sky Fly.

That's... interesting. I pictured a coaster. Lol.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

To give a list..

1: Monsters - This is my most anticipated of the lands. And it's because to me, the Monsters have such a fascinatingly rich level of potential, that it can really turn out to be a pure-blooded dark horse of the entire park. More-so than any other land, it's the one that has the most potential to do something truly amazing, that it could knock out all the past expectations.

Also, it's really depending of if certain people are on the project..

2: Dragon's - It was the first film I saw by myself, and my favorite of any series that DreamWorks has done. It has so much potential, and it looks to have already an insanely diverse group of attractions. Not to mention the potential with a family Night Fury coaster, this could really turn out to be one of the best lands of the park.

3: Hub - Yup, the Hub is above Nintendo/Potter, because look at how amazing it looks. I love the level of topography and terrain use, especially with the large amounts of water. Not to mention the dueling coaster and potential attractions to be scattered, it could be the best entry zone that Universal has made to date.

And that's not bringing up how great the Hotel looks so-far, from a visual standpoint.

4: Nintendo - I won't go over reasons, but it's there and it makes me..extremely happy. Especially with DK seemingly in the cards for Orlando at-least.

5: Potter - I do think this has the potential to be great. Especially with the concept of the Ministry..but It's down there, because I do have a lot of questions to how the Ministry may even be done, if that's the direction the indoor environment will take.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

The real question is how many rides will be Screen rides? A legitimate question knowing Universal’s history. I guess more than half. Not trolling just curious if they have learned from the past?

 

[Jamesh22]

Maybe some wild speculation here but...

What if the Hub is themed to different elements in nature (or the universe)?

• Earth (Plants/gardens)
• Water (the lakes and fountains)
  
• Fire (not sure where yet)
• Space/Air (that Observatory type building)

Perhaps I'm just seeing things that aren't there!

 

[AlexanderMBush]

The real question is how many rides will be Screen rides? A legitimate question knowing Universal’s history. I guess more than half. Not trolling just curious if they have learned from the past?

They mentioned at the meeting yesterday, that they are taking the lessons learned with the blending of practicality and screens from Hagrid, and translating it for Epic Universe.

I'd assume a few screen based rides are in-bound, especially for Ministry and Monsters..but I'm not sure about the rest.

 

[RFRees]

Maybe some wild speculation here but...

What if the Hub is themed to different elements in nature (or the universe)?

• Earth (Plants/gardens)
• Water (the lakes and fountains)
  
• Fire (not sure where yet)
• Space/Air (that Observatory type building)

Perhaps I'm just seeing things that aren't there!

Heart, go planet!

 

[Imperius]

I am going to fight the next person who doubts HTTYD. Someone actually doubted the meet and greet potential for Toothless. That’s just crazy.

 

[belloq87]

The real question is how many rides will be Screen rides? A legitimate question knowing Universal’s history. I guess more than half. Not trolling just curious if they have learned from the past?

I think the fact that the three Nintendo attractions are not screen-dependent (when they very easily could have been) says something about Universal's intentions for the park as a whole. Or at least I hope so.

I'd assume a few screen based rides are in-bound, especially for Ministry and Monsters..but I'm not sure about the rest.

The Monsters are tailor-made for animatronics and giant sets, though!