Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[Parkscope Joe]

I’m a casual gamer that played the hell out of Red when it was released. The only town I can name off the top of my head is Pallet Town—intentionally the most boring location in the game.

Ironically Pokemon could create a new Florida town location because it's more about the familiar options in the land (Gym, PokeCenter, PokeMart, etc) than the locations themselves.

 

[Dustin]

Y’all are acting like the media presentation of Star Wars and Pokémon are the same. Whereas Star Wars is full of lived-in planets, each featuring distinctive story beats and visuals for fans to cling to, Pokémon is a wash-rinse-repeat structure across countless games where the narrative is of little consequence to the mechanics. The only “known” Pokémon location that actually matters anymore is Ryme City, because it has displayed visuals beyond a tile-based, top-town land.

If the land mattered in Pokémon, they wouldn’t change the land in every game. As long as it has a Pokemart and Gym, people won’t care.

Just because it’s “wash rinse repeat” in games doesn’t mean that Pokémon hasn’t given us iconic locations to cling to. Yes, there are generalities like a mart, center, and gym in every city but there are also iconic locations, situations, and characters (especially from gen 1 games and the anime of the time) this can be argued about all day but to say that Pokémon doesn’t have iconic locations simply because the games repeat and have “minimal design to separate the cities” is wrong

 

[Legacy]

Just because it’s “wash rinse repeat” in games doesn’t mean that Pokémon hasn’t given us iconic locations to cling to. Yes, there are generalities like a mart, center, and gym in every city but there are also iconic locations, situations, and characters (especially from gen 1 games and the anime of the time) this can be argued about all day but to say that Pokémon doesn’t have iconic locations simply because the games repeat and have “minimal design to separate the cities” is wrong

What locations are “iconic” to people who never played Kanto region games? They’ve had eight regions across eight generations. It’s revisited in one other generation (Gold/Silver) and the Let’s Go spin-offs, but half of the video games have nothing to do with Kanto. In 22 seasons of the anime, only two take place in Kanto.

Structurally, Pokémon does not a ubiquitous, iconic location to build around. It just needs the iconic buildings (Gym and Mart).

 

[Brian G.]

What locations are “iconic” to people who never played Kanto region games? They’ve had eight regions across eight generations. It’s revisited in one other generation (Gold/Silver) and the Let’s Go spin-offs, but half of the video games have nothing to do with Kanto. In 22 seasons of the anime, only two take place in Kanto.

Structurally, Pokémon does not a ubiquitous, iconic location to build around. It just needs the iconic buildings (Gym and Mart).

Gotta agree here. The selling point is the Pokemon, themselves. As long as a version of the Gym, Mart, and other recognizable visuals are featured, no one will care about the location.

 

[Nick]

What locations are “iconic” to people who never played Kanto region games? They’ve had eight regions across eight generations. It’s revisited in one other generation (Gold/Silver) and the Let’s Go spin-offs, but half of the video games have nothing to do with Kanto. In 22 seasons of the anime, only two take place in Kanto.

Structurally, Pokémon does not a ubiquitous, iconic location to build around. It just needs the iconic buildings (Gym and Mart).

Gotta agree here. The selling point is the Pokemon, themselves. As long as a version of the Gym, Mart, and other recognizable visuals are featured, no one will care about the location.

After Batuu never really taking off and the negative feedback it got, something tells me Ryme City is probably most likely to be built. Why risk pissing people off when you can play it safe with a known location?

 

[Dustin]

What locations are “iconic” to people who never played Kanto region games? They’ve had eight regions across eight generations. It’s revisited in one other generation (Gold/Silver) and the Let’s Go spin-offs, but half of the video games have nothing to do with Kanto. In 22 seasons of the anime, only two take place in Kanto.

Structurally, Pokémon does not a ubiquitous, iconic location to build around. It just needs the iconic buildings (Gym and Mart).

Structurally, you are correct. But I’m referring to situations and ideas outside of the general copy and paste locations that are visible in every city. There are SOME locations and situations that are unique to different cities that are synonymous with Pokémon (Gym Characters and antagonist from original, maybe a safari zone, department store, a Snorlax blocking a fake path, professor oaks lab on the hill with the windmill )

If your argument wants to remain structurally, if any of you are caught up in that... the anime is relatively unique with most to every gym design. If I saw this, I would immediately know that I am at Brocks gym.

This land would have to be a mix and match of different cities so to what you guys are saying, maybe it is a unique land since squashed together best hits may be frowned upon. My argument was simply that there is more to pull from then gyms and pokemarts and that there is, in fact, some soul to most of the cities.

Are any of them as iconic as Diagon or Hogsmeade? Of course not.. I’m just saying if I walked in and saw a snorlax blocking a path to my left and a safari zone sign to my right, I would be incredibly happy because I am pulling those things from the source material and my experience with the game instead of characters I barely know and situations I have never seen like in Batuu

 

[Scott W.]

Exactly, you want that repeat business. What better reason to plan a new vacation as soon as you get back home than knowing that there's a new park being built? Or better yet, have a vacation booking desk INSIDE of the preview center.

If you're going to have a vacation booking desk, you could really take it to the next level by having a mock up of a room of the new hotel with a projected view out the windows of the new park. Show the park in day time/ night time with fireworks.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Structurally, you are correct. But I’m referring to situations and ideas outside of the general copy and paste locations that are visible in every city. There are SOME locations and situations that are unique to different cities that are synonymous with Pokémon (Gym Characters and antagonist from original, maybe a safari zone, department store, a Snorlax blocking a fake path, professor oaks lab on the hill with the windmill )
View attachment 11102
If your argument wants to remain structurally, if any of you are caught up in that... the anime is relatively unique with most to every gym design. If I saw this, I would immediately know that I am at Brocks gym.
View attachment 11101
This land would have to be a mix and match of different cities so to what you guys are saying, maybe it is a unique land since squashed together best hits may be frowned upon. My argument was simply that there is more to pull from then gyms and pokemarts and that there is, in fact, some soul to most of the cities.

Are any of them as iconic as Diagon or Hogsmeade? Of course not.. I’m just saying if I walked in and saw a snorlax blocking a path to my left and a safari zone sign to my right, I would be incredibly happy because I am pulling those things from the source material and my experience with the game instead of characters I barely know and situations I have never seen like in Batuu

This exactly. As I said, Universal seems set on Single IP driven lands currently with Beijing and Epic Universe proving that. They want you to feel immediate and deep connection to these fully fleshed out lands. I agree these locations aren't as "iconic" as Star Wars or Potter, but a new location Im not so sure would work 100% here, but hey thats just me. Ryme City would be like Diagon immersion, so it'd fit with what they're doing right now and with the future of their theme parks.

 

[Legacy]

I still stand by whatever Poke-thing they do being presented as a grab bag. “Pokémon Island” or “Pokémon Expo,” that sort of thing. Because another challenge of being tied to a particular region is that only certain Pokémon live in each region. If you want to be able to present every region, then the land has to be outside of every region. It’s a place where Pokémon are brought to instead of a place they organically live.

Ryme City is the wild card though.

 

[Brian G.]

After Batuu never really taking off and the negative feedback it got, something tells me Ryme City is probably most likely to be built. Why risk pissing people off when you can play it safe with a known location?

It's hard to really compare anything to Star Wars, and the problems with Batuu go beyond that, which I feel is one of the lesser issues.. Either way, I think we should look to how Super Nintendo World is being designed, featuring recognizable icons and buildings while not taking place in a specific land.

 

[Dustin]

I still stand by whatever Poke-thing they do being presented as a grab bag. “Pokémon Island” or “Pokémon Expo,” that sort of thing. Because another challenge of being tied to a particular region is that only certain Pokémon live in each region. If you want to be able to present every region, then the land has to be outside of every region. It’s a place where Pokémon are brought to instead of a place they organically live.

Ryme City is the wild card though.

It's hard to really compare anything to Star Wars, and the problems with Batuu go beyond that, which I feel is one of the lesser issues.. Either way, I think we should look to how Super Nintendo World is being designed, featuring recognizable icons and buildings while not taking place in a specific land.

“grab bag” seems likely. And I think most of us are okay with that as long as the bag has some nice and moderately recognizable surprises in it. The problem with a fully fleshed out singular Pokémon land true to the source material as you guys mentioned is the sectioning of Pokémon who live there among other obstacles. Basing it on one city also may not be strong enough to hold a land. For example, Potter really only has about 4-5 places that could have been worthy of a fully fledged out land and we got most of them already. Pokémon has well over 100 which makes all of them is a little less important.

I think my original argument was misunderstood. I wasnt necessarily looking for a specific city, I was looking for specific elements FROM those cities outside of the copy and paste locations from all cities.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I still stand by whatever Poke-thing they do being presented as a grab bag. “Pokémon Island” or “Pokémon Expo,” that sort of thing. Because another challenge of being tied to a particular region is that only certain Pokémon live in each region. If you want to be able to present every region, then the land has to be outside of every region. It’s a place where Pokémon are brought to instead of a place they organically live.

Ryme City is the wild card though.

Eh, Blue is in Jurassic Park, and it seems like Chris Pratt might be soon too with the new coaster. They may not care too much about about the continuity. Not saying thats necessarily the right way of thinking but it seems to be happening with one IP.

 

[Legacy]

Eh, Blue is in Jurassic Park, and it seems like Chris Pratt might be soon too with the new coaster. They may not care too much about about the continuity. Not saying thats necessarily the right way of thinking but it seems to be happening with one IP.

I’m not talking about Jurassic Park. I’m talking about Pokémon.

Never mind that the island in IoA is Isla Adventura—not Isla Nublar. Continuity-wise, they can do whatever they want there.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I’m not talking about Jurassic Park. I’m talking about Pokémon.

Never mind that the island in IoA is Isla Adventura—not Isla Nublar. Continuity-wise, they can do whatever they want there.

Right... but if we're talking about how they treat IPs, and how they wouldn't want people Pokemon from different regions, I'm just saying they don't seem to care about doing that at Jurassic Park at IOA. And yes I'm aware, but re-theming is clearly possible lol. If they really wanted to keep the IPs integrity, it'd likely be a different coaster or they'd re-do the area to JW. Obviously budgeting is a thing, but I'm just saying they may not really care where the Pokemon come from as long as they're together in one land.

 

[Macfr3ak]

Wait in Mario Kart virtual line
Go ride Yoshi
Go meet Mario
Go get a snack
Return to Mario Kart

I think that's a better experience than standing in Mario Kart physical line for 2 hours.

I always assumed that long lines were everyone's least favorite thing about theme parks until I started coming here.

I think on paper and intial thought this sounds very attractive. However, in practice, this has never been my experince with a virtual queue. Take VB for example.. Get in virtual line go ride other rides that possibly say ride now (other side of the park) tapu tapu says its ready to ride.. go to the other side of the park only to be in an area youve already seen as you finish the ride so walk all the way back to the other side you haven't seen. Sorry ink now this is an old post.. im just catching up lol

 

[Alicia]

I understand this has been asked before, and it may be difficult to answer until the final product is given, but from what insiders know, how accurate do we think this concept art overall is going to be? Judging Universal Beijing's announcement to the actual concept art its almost entirely different. Now, I'm not expecting that for Epic Universe, but I honestly haven't followed these type of announcements long enough to really have a clue. I was just shocked how not accurate the original Beijing concept art was in general. I understand that plans can change too, of course.

Epic Universe is closer to the real plans than Beijing was in its first release, since that held a lot of placeholders. I'd say maybe 80% accurate. Epic Universe's concept art is missing A LOT of details, and I bet much of the hub structures are temporary placeholders. I also expect the hotel's final look to be different, like Beijing's ended up different from the hotel in their early art.

However, the placement of the 4 main lands and the coaster seem pretty much locked in, especially given that they match a lot of the newer permits going through. (Now, if only the county would release those newer permits publicly, we'd have a much better idea of what is real and what is not!)

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Epic Universe is closer to the real plans than Beijing was in its first release, since that held a lot of placeholders. I'd say maybe 80% accurate. Epic Universe's concept art is missing A LOT of details, and I bet much of the hub structures are temporary placeholders. I also expect the hotel's final look to be different, like Beijing's ended up different from the hotel in their early art.

However, the placement of the 4 main lands and the coaster seem pretty much locked in, especially given that they match a lot of the newer permits going through. (Now, if only the county would release those newer permits publicly, we'd have a much better idea of what is real and what is not!)

Awesome, I appreciate your response! I know you've mentioned details on the lands are missing, especially HTTYD, but I just wondered if this design is relatively something we should be expecting. Sounds like it is. Ive heard and understand the concept art is not the end all be all, but with Beijing it was like just not even remotely the same really haha. Threw me off a bit

 

[Magic-Man]

Epic Universe is closer to the real plans than Beijing was in its first release, since that held a lot of placeholders. I'd say maybe 80% accurate. Epic Universe's concept art is missing A LOT of details, and I bet much of the hub structures are temporary placeholders. I also expect the hotel's final look to be different, like Beijing's ended up different from the hotel in their early art.

However, the placement of the 4 main lands and the coaster seem pretty much locked in, especially given that they match a lot of the newer permits going through. (Now, if only the county would release those newer permits publicly, we'd have a much better idea of what is real and what is not!)

Hmmm. I wonder if there are some dark rides that weren't visible on the concept art. Five full-fledged indoor dark rides (Mario Kart, Monsters, 2 FB, HTTYD) seems a bit low. Judging by what I see of course.

 

[Alicia]

Hmmm. I wonder if there are some dark rides that weren't visible on the concept art. Five full-fledged indoor dark rides (Mario Kart, Monsters, 2 FB, HTTYD) seems a bit low. Judging by what I see of course.

Cat in the Hat and Spider-Man are the only indoor dark rides that opened with IOA, right? Now that seems a bit low.

 

[Magic-Man]

Cat in the Hat and Spider-Man are the only indoor dark rides that opened with IOA, right? Now that seems a bit low.

True, but to be fair IOA was meant to be the opposite of USF. And IOA's biggest current complaint is lack of things to do in the rain, and they have four dark rides. This might have five which is not much better.