UO to discontinue Paper Park Maps

[PerceptiveCoot]

I'm kinda surprised park maps lasted into the 2020's to be honest. They're nice to have but people can't read maps, just as much as they can't read Apps or in-park navigational signs. So they end up just asking TMs where everything is anyway.

Can people really not understand how to navigate a loop?

I've seen quite a handful of TMs (former and current) make comments about how easily park maps were discarded, and not necessarily thrown away in the trash. I have no information on what the ratio is, but if only 1 out of 4 people kept the park map - I get it. I'll be grumpy about it... but I get it.

You know, in a way this is nice, because whenever I feel like I'm struggling with young adulthood, I can always be secure in the knowledge that I'm not someone who shaves their thick body hair at the gym shower or leaves park maps in theme park planters.

 

[IzzyB]

Here is the list of good theme park apps that are enjoyable to use...

And that's it! Thanks for reading.

I actually do have one. I have never had issues with the Dollywood app, but they just recently changed it, so I will see during my next trip.

I also never had issues with Disney app when we used to go there.

...but what happens if the TM isn't informed properly of updated info? Not even their Twitter has the most up-to-date information.

Yes! I asked a TM who was outside the wand shop with direct view of the castle show when the next show would be. They said every 20 minutes so the next one should be in 10 minutes on the hour. Then the castle show started right then and there and he goes, or I guess now. They had no idea when the shows were.

While I think losing the park maps stinks, especially if there aren't going to be any for seasonal events, we gotta look at it from the other angle.

I've seen quite a handful of TMs (former and current) make comments about how easily park maps were discarded, and not necessarily thrown away in the trash. I have no information on what the ratio is, but if only 1 out of 4 people kept the park map - I get it. I'll be grumpy about it... but I get it.

I honestly would have zero issues as I am pretty save the trees IF their app was better. We don't pick up maps at Dollywood because the app actually shows us what we need, the two younger kids grab one still though. Universal App is clunky which makes it harder. Hopefully they begin to improve the app for a better guest experience.

I do think all theme parks they should have a small fee option like $1 for maps so that kids can have them if a parent wants to get one. We pay for national/state park maps all the time just so my kids who don't have phones yet have something to use while in the park. I did have my kids all grab maps this last time and I will bring them with us as they like to look at them and decide what to do. Two of my kids are too young for phones.

 

[Mad Dog]

They actually killed a lot of the value of their park maps when they quit putting the show times on them a couple of years ago. That was always the quickest way to find out the times of the shows when you were in an area. Now, with the app, it takes forever, if you're lucky enough to find it, to navigate to the show times.....And their web site isn't much better than their app. It actually took a few steps back during the last redesign. The previous design was easier to navigate. The present is just a confusing mishmash that sends you all over the place. They really need to hire better designers, that have a modicum of common sense. Bet most of those designing the app and web site have never been in a Universal Orlando park.....and......................there's nearly always comments on how well the new Epic rides will operate during opening. I think an equally important issue is will Universal get their operations act together by then. Operations are still not up to their pre 2020 level. It's tough to find out when anything is and the employees seem to be generally poorly informed concerning park operations. It's long past due to keep blaming covid and the hurricane for closed attractions/shows, capacity issues, operation problems and shorter park hours.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Corporations are not your friends. More at 11.

Exactly my point. I'm simply pointing out that Universal operates like a corporation... purely for profit. They've been getting away with stuff like this for years because they've built some great goodwill over the past few years, but are finally "cashing in" on this goodwill by being greedy in some parts... and not a single peep from the fan community outside a few of us that are met with resistance.

Pair this with reduced entertainment offerings, increased prices (Universal increased tickets back in October... not a single complaint/outcry), and short park hours, you can see why some of us fans are starting to express our discontent towards Universal over the past year or so.

 

[Mad Dog]

Exactly my point. I'm simply pointing out that Universal operates like a corporation... purely for profit. They've been getting away with stuff like this for years because they've built some great goodwill over the past few years, but are finally "cashing in" on this goodwill by being greedy in some parts... and not a single peep from the fan community outside a few of us that are met with resistance.

Pair this with reduced entertainment offerings, increased prices (Universal increased tickets back in October... not a single complaint/outcry), and short park hours, you can see why some of us fans are starting to express our discontent towards Universal over the past year or so.

YES!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tbad556]

Genuinely asking as I’ve never had issues with the app, but keep seeing the discussions about it. What’s hard about the showtimes setup? The home page has a prominent “shows” button which then gives both a map and list option with showtimes. Within seconds, I was able to see that Bourne runs at 12:45, 1:30, 2:15, 3:15, 4, 4:45, 5:30, and 6:15 today. I feel like I'm missing something with all of these talks. It's the same amount of taps as the WDW app and more prominently displayed on the home screen. I get the nostalgia and collector elements of being sad that the maps are gone and it's not a masterpiece of an app or something, but I've never found it challenging to navigate.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Genuinely asking as I’ve never had issues with the app, but keep seeing the discussions about it. What’s hard about the showtimes setup? The home page has a prominent “shows” button which then gives both a map and list option with showtimes. Within seconds, I was able to see that Bourne runs at 12:45, 1:30, 2:15, 3:15, 4, 4:45, 5:30, and 6:15 today. I feel like I'm missing something with all of these talks. It's the same amount of taps as the WDW app and more prominently displayed on the home screen.

I get the nostalgia and collector elements of being sad that the maps are gone, but I've genuinely never once felt that the app was hard to use.

Sometimes the app just doesn't load information properly so showtimes don't appear as they should. They also don't allow you to view the next day's showtimes, so you can't plan in advance as Universal isn't very consistent day-to-day with showtimes. Same with operating hours of restaurants, I've seen them close restaurants earlier or later than what's on the app.

The issue isn't the app's design, but mostly the lack of (or outdated) information it provides... especially when it seems their policy now is to just refer to it for everything.

Example for today, Transformers M&G has "no posted showtimes" on its map banner, even though once you click on it for more information it has operating hours from 9AM to 8:40PM. A minor nitpick, but the moment you see that initial no-posted showtimes message, most guests are going to move on.

 

[Tbad556]

Sometimes the app just doesn't load information properly so showtimes don't appear as they should. They also don't allow you to view the next day's showtimes, so you can't plan in advance as Universal isn't very consistent day-to-day with showtimes. Same with operating hours of restaurants, I've seen them close restaurants earlier or later than what's on the app.

The issue isn't the app's design, but mostly the lack of (or outdated) information it provides... especially when it seems their policy now is to just refer to it for everything.

Example for today, Transformers M&G has "no posted showtimes" on its map banner, even though once you click on it for more information it has operating hours from 9AM to 8:40PM. A minor nitpick, but the moment you see that initial no-posted showtimes message, most guests are going to move on.

But none of that sounds like an issue of paper map vs app. A paper map is going to be just as outdated if not more in all of those scenarios. Like I said, the app is by no means a masterpiece, but it's not hard to navigate or lacking information the paper maps had. That's where my confusion is. The paper maps had that same "9 AM to 8:40 PM" information from every example I can find.

 

[paintervision]

Can people really not understand how to navigate a loop?

Where are the nearest bathrooms? What kind of ride is this? How long is the wait time (even if the sign is there) and is the queue indoors? How do the lockers work*?

* Especially confusing at IOA, where you have rides with required lockers for bags, water rides with optional lockers, rides with metal detectors and lockers outside the queue, and a ride with metal detectors and lockers are inside the queue (but not oversized lockers). I like maps but they were never great at pointing out all this nuanced stuff.

 

[Casper Gutman]

And today we get more significant entertainment cuts that make the parks less special - both of the Mel’s Drive-In shows, the New York singing competition, and (most depressingly) the great IOA streetmosphere (and there are other cuts, too). There is a very definite pattern here, one that has been evident for some time and that seems firmly linked to management changes. I didn’t start spending thousands each year at Universal because I’m such a huge fan of the Minions, I started spending that money because Uni offered a superior theme park product. They’re really moving hard in the other direction, right at the moment when they need to be maximizing the guest experience.

 

[queenmetroid]

I always hesitate to jump into these threads as I know few (if any) people will agree with me here, but this really comes off as whining.

I just don't like that enthusiasts are gatekeeping environmental improvements with arguments like, "I like souvenirs," "It's corporate cost cutting," and "The app is hard to use."

What most of these arguments boil down to is, "My convenience in an unnecessary leisure activity is slightly reduced and therefore I do not like it." Furthermore, it comes off as concern trolling and a "WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN GP?!?!" The irony here being that many people on this board look down the GP at that. My assertion is that theme parks are a high carbon activity and even small gains like this matter. As the US grid is now 40% clean energy and continues to improve, we have a chance to decarbonize even a small part of the theme park experience, and we were going to go there eventually anyway.

Reductions in our carbon footprint should be supported, even if we don't like the reasoning. I'm sure people will lambast this as greenwashing, but Universal has done things like make trams electric, which, even if fiscally motivated, I don't think anyone can argue as a bad move. We don't even have an idea of how much carbon this saves, so the criticism that printing out brochures is not a big deal are not necessarily founded in some sort of factual basis, and all we have to look at is our own individual experience. For all we know, Universal could have done a survey (and we know how they love those) and asked if people prefer the app.

Is this a defense of the app? Not really. I don't think it's the greatest app in the world either. However, I think it's important to examine our privilege in this respect when we partake in a leisure activity and make a small sacrifice that is not *really* that big of a deal.

 

[gator]

I'm not sure which side of the debate I fall on yet but I will say that my parents in their 60's will be an example of who gets left behind from this. I just "fixed" my dad's smartphone over the holidays by turning on mobile data that must have been off for nearly a year. He still doesn't understand the difference between mobile data and wifi after carefully explaining it. He regularly uses some apps but asking him to scan a QR code to download the UOR app would be like asking him to design a rocket ship.

 

[Mad Dog]

And today we get more significant entertainment cuts that make the parks less special - both of the Mel’s Drive-In shows, the New York singing competition, and (most depressingly) the great IOA streetmosphere (and there are other cuts, too). There is a very definite pattern here, one that has been evident for some time and that seems firmly linked to management changes. I didn’t start spending thousands each year at Universal because I’m such a huge fan of the Minions, I started spending that money because Uni offered a superior theme park product. They’re really moving hard in the other direction, right at the moment when they need to be maximizing the guest experience.

Yep, it all coincides with a certain top management change and their Chapek like philosophy. But even with all of their so called 'temporary' cuts, they still can't run operations as well as they were before 2020. As I said in another thread, I question whether they have the mgt. skills to turn around their operational issues and run a smooth day to day Epic operational opening, not even thinking about the new ride issues that normally crop up. If I was a Comcast Exec., I'd be concerned about the team in place and their philosophy, which isn't very guest friendly.

 

[Brian G.]

For the sake of sanity, can we please stop bringing up entertainment cuts in another freaking thread. Let’s keep it strictly about refurbs here and we’ll make a new thread for the park maps.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I always hesitate to jump into these threads as I know few (if any) people will agree with me here, but this really comes off as whining.

I just don't like that enthusiasts are gatekeeping environmental improvements with arguments like, "I like souvenirs," "It's corporate cost cutting," and "The app is hard to use."

What most of these arguments boil down to is, "My convenience in an unnecessary leisure activity is slightly reduced and therefore I do not like it." Furthermore, it comes off as concern trolling and a "WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN GP?!?!" The irony here being that many people on this board look down the GP at that. My assertion is that theme parks are a high carbon activity and even small gains like this matter. As the US grid is now 40% clean energy and continues to improve, we have a chance to decarbonize even a small part of the theme park experience, and we were going to go there eventually anyway.

Reductions in our carbon footprint should be supported, even if we don't like the reasoning. I'm sure people will lambast this as greenwashing, but Universal has done things like make trams electric, which, even if fiscally motivated, I don't think anyone can argue as a bad move. We don't even have an idea of how much carbon this saves, so the criticism that printing out brochures is not a big deal are not necessarily founded in some sort of factual basis, and all we have to look at is our own individual experience. For all we know, Universal could have done a survey (and we know how they love those) and asked if people prefer the app.

Is this a defense of the app? Not really. I don't think it's the greatest app in the world either. However, I think it's important to examine our privilege in this respect when we partake in a leisure activity and make a small sacrifice that is not *really* that big of a deal.

It's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but in a theme park forum it is. We're not running around our local Wal-Mart or public parks moaning about the loss of park maps... this is the only place in the world where it makes sense to discuss this.

 

[Brian G.]

Have at it.

 

[Casper Gutman]

For the sake of sanity, can we please stop bringing up entertainment cuts in another freaking thread. Let’s keep it strictly about refurbs here and we’ll make a new thread for the park maps.

These are new and quite significant cuts. Should they be confined to the “is entertainment universal” thread? It also seems relevant to note that some of us feel (controversially, I know) that there is a pattern effecting multiple linked aspects of the park and that discussing them each discretely obscures the larger issue.

 

[Mad Dog]

Probably should move our remarks from the refurb thread to here since we've already discussed just about everything that was pertinent to the 'map' subject, without repeating it all.

 

[Jake S]

I moved the majority of map-related or map-adjacent conversation to this thread. Let me know if y'all have any questions.

 

[graspthesun]

I was momentarily confused when I saw the thread because I didn't remember posting in it. lol

Is the app multi-lingual or are they still printing maps in foreign languages that can be picked up at guest services. If that's the case, maybe they could continue printing smaller batches for the die hards to grab maps?

I know we hate price increases especially when inflation has been pounding us since 2021, but ticket and pass price increases are an annual occurence. It's just a fact of theme park life.