Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem (USF)

[shiekra38]

I think Universal Studios should restructure their park a bit to solve 3 problems; the entrance and the ugly Shrek and Minions area and the saturation of screen based rides.
Close the gap between the Hello Kitty store and the Universal Studio Store. Use a fitting facade and you have your own main street themed to Hollywood.
That gives ample space to level Shrek and Minions and space for 2 medium sized dark rides using the second floor and shops and restaurants on the first floor. There is no need for the wide street that there is now and all that valuable space can be used for the rides. Only problem is the parade route so maybe no parade and create a new one for FW in the future.

I do wonder what kind of attraction could reasonably fit in the DM building

I really don't think they're going to re-configure the entrance due to the daily parade, Mardi Gras, Christmas, etc

 

[Nick]

I do wonder what kind of attraction could reasonably fit in the DM building

I really don't think they're going to re-configure the entrance due to the daily parade, Mardi Gras, Christmas, etc

Not to mention the crowds the park sees in Summer and during HHN.

 

[xxbrothawizxx]

Whatever the reason, this is a bad decision for me.

But maybe I'm not the one to ask because I love 3D. King Kong was breathtaking and most 3D experiences at the resort are much better than regular cinema 3D. I haven't ridden the new 120hz FJ, but I was begging for the 3D upgrade vs the original experience (it looked pretty bad in 2D to me tbh, and it almost made my brother sick). F&F is just worse without it. Bummer that what I assume is a minority kind of ruined things for everyone. But again, I'm probably not the one to ask. I actually put theme park 3D in a separate category and am always excited to see new 3D experiences because they get more immersive every time. Obviously Uni is more concerned with appealing to as many people as possible, and lacking 3D probably won't affect ridership for the group that matters. When I had my pass I never went on Minions anyway.

 

[shiekra38]

Whatever the reason, this is a bad decision for me.

But maybe I'm not the one to ask because I love 3D. King Kong was breathtaking and most 3D experiences at the resort are much better than regular cinema 3D. I haven't ridden the new 120hz FJ, but I was begging for the 3D upgrade vs the original experience (it looked pretty bad in 2D to me tbh, and it almost made my brother sick). F&F is just worse without it. Bummer that what I assume is a minority kind of ruined things for everyone. But again, I'm probably not the one to ask. I actually put theme park 3D in a separate category and am always excited to see new 3D experiences because they get more immersive every time. Obviously Uni is more concerned with appealing to as many people as possible, and lacking 3D probably won't affect ridership for the group that matters. When I had my pass I never went on Minions anyway.

Kong is a good attraction on its own merits you are 100 percent correct

I think it gets overshadowed by the amount of other attractions around the resort that repeat a lot of the same tricks

Spiderman was great because there was nothing like it at the resort, same with T2

Now there are a ton of rides that feel the same, especially to audiences that don't know any better

 

[xxbrothawizxx]

Kong is a good attraction on its own merits you are 100 percent correct

I think it gets overshadowed by the amount of other attractions around the resort that repeat a lot of the same tricks

Spiderman was great because there was nothing like it at the resort, same with T2

Now there are a ton of rides that feel the same, especially to audiences that don't know any better

But removing 3D doesn't really change that statement.

I've never heard about the 3D complaint until now (well, F&F). It just doesn't really do anything to fix the major "Screenz" complaint. KK gets hate for being another screen based attraction with a tease of what could have been (even worse for older people that remember Kongfrontation). I actually heard a teenager complain about it when I got off during previews. I've been to Uni with the majority of my extended family at one point or another and screens came up, but not 3D. There's definitely a lot more hate for it now though, at least when it comes to movies. Seems odd to complain when. It's a 4 min ride, but I can't understand because it doesn't affect me physically.

I thought the comparison to thrill rides was fairly apt, but slightly ignores the target audience of those rides, the purpose of a theme park, and uni's place in the market. I don't have young children though, and the advisories against didn't really exist (or weren't as readily available) when I was a kid.

While I'm not in the camp that thinks Uni's hasn't learned the right lessons from feedback, their decisions as of late are a bit baffling nonetheless. I think they genuinely thought Nintendo at USF would balance the mistakes, but now that it's going to a new park it's sad that it's going to stay in this awkward state for the foreseeable future.

 

[shiekra38]

But removing 3D doesn't really change that statement.

I've never heard about the 3D complaint until now (well, F&F). It just doesn't really do anything to fix the major "Screenz" complaint. KK gets hate for being another screen based attraction with a tease of what could have been (even worse for older people that remember Kongfrontation). I actually heard a teenager complain about it when I got off during previews. I've been to Uni with the majority of my extended family at one point or another and screens came up, but not 3D. There's definitely a lot more hate for it now though, at least when it comes to movies. Seems odd to complain when. It's a 4 min ride, but I can't understand because it doesn't affect me physically.

I thought the comparison to thrill rides was fairly apt, but slightly ignores the target audience of those rides, the purpose of a theme park, and uni's place in the market. I don't have young children though, and the advisories against didn't really exist (or weren't as readily available) when I was a kid.

While I'm not in the camp that thinks Uni's hasn't learned the right lessons from feedback, their decisions as of late are a bit baffling nonetheless. I think they genuinely thought Nintendo at USF would balance the mistakes, but now that it's going to a new park it's sad that it's going to stay in this awkward state for the foreseeable future.

The removal of 3D and the presence of screenz on attractions are two separate things that Universal has to tackle moving forward.

3D doesn't work for everyone and can lead to motion sickness

Screenz are used way too much as the source of action/simulated motion in Universal attractions

That being said, Kong is a good representation of the tech, though fatigue may cause it to appear less than stellar to people

 

[Skold]

So, it’s pretty weird now. The opening part about the glasses, and using them for nacho dip, has been replaced with clips. It flows, and I’m not sure I’d even notice if I haven’t seen it 20x before, but it stuck out to me.

The main film itself works pretty okay. The colors are more vibrant and I noticed a lot of background things that I had not seen before, but it is not nearly as kinetic.

All in all, a meh change to a nice ride. Wish they hadn’t done it, but no big deal really.

 

[Andysol]

I think Universal Studios should restructure their park a bit to solve 3 problems; the entrance and the ugly Shrek and Minions area and the saturation of screen based rides.
Close the gap between the Hello Kitty store and the Universal Studio Store. Use a fitting facade and you have your own main street themed to Hollywood.
That gives ample space to level Shrek and Minions and space for 2 medium sized dark rides using the second floor and shops and restaurants on the first floor. There is no need for the wide street that there is now and all that valuable space can be used for the rides. Only problem is the parade route so maybe no parade and create a new one for FW in the future.

Interesting. Explain this a bit more though. When you say "close the gap between Hello Kitty and Universal Studios Store", do you mean forcing everyone down Hollywood and the only way to New York would be to walk all the way around Mels and cut back behind Transformers? I can't really get on board with that.

DM is smaller then Fallon by a healthy degree and easily the smallest attraction space (outside of a kiddie ride) in the entire resort. It's closer to the size of Richter's Burger Company. So you have a few options:

1) Turn it into a QS or TS restaurant. My opinion is that this would make Monster's Cafe redundant, so you'd need to change that as well.
2) Turn it into a store. My opinion is that this would make Universal Studios Store redundant.
3) Leave it as is.

Truthfully, that whole area is just a mess, but DM being DM is simply just the best they can do with the space restrictions.

-----

Total blue sky here' but in my perfect world, I'd like to see Shrek be replaced with SLoP as a 2 story. Queue downstairs and ride upstairs. Have the exit go over an arched bridge/walkway to Monster's Cafe which is now a small SLoP store as well as the bulk of the building being a New York themed QS New York Pizza Place w/ an attached or separate Ice Cream Parlor (which would sell like hot cakes for those at the plaza).

Retheme SLoP back to New York and incorporate Music Plaza Stage into New York as well.

As for DM; well, leave that as it is. I suppose you could level the place and throw a carousel and/or kiddie ride or two over there as nothing else fits the space; but that doesn't seem ideal in my eyes.

 

[tielo]

Interesting. Explain this a bit more though. When you say "close the gap between Hello Kitty and Universal Studios Store", do you mean forcing everyone down Hollywood and the only way to New York would be to walk all the way around Mels and cut back behind Transformers? I can't really get on board with that.

Yes that is what I mean. It is the same as MK or AK. You can't go from Dinoland or Avatar to the exit. You have to walk back to the tree of life and than back to the excit.
It will free up the road between Shrek and Minions that adds a significant piece of land to the DM attraction. Especially when the coaster is removed so extra space is created at the back of DM.
It would also add a chunk of land between Fallon and Mummy where Ghost Busters could be build (a 2 level shooter with practical ghosts and musion effects).

 

[Brian G.]

I rode it yesterday. It was fine.

Not to draw this too off topic, but could a conversion to 3D still occur with relative ease and minimal expense at F&F?

A conversation or two may have happened on the future of F&F.

 

[MrTorrance]

I rode it yesterday. It was fine.



A conversation or two may have happened on the future of F&F.

Hopefully one of the conversations was to tear it down (F&F) and build something people would actually enjoy!

 

[Brian G.]

Hopefully one of the conversations was to tear it down (F&F) and build something people would actually enjoy!

Nope.

 

[belloq87]

Any changes to F&F short of replacement are basically equivalent to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic... ultimately unimportant.

F&F is fatally flawed in its very conception.

But anyway!

 

[Attraction Ideas]

I think Universal Studios should restructure their park a bit to solve 3 problems; the entrance and the ugly Shrek and Minions area and the saturation of screen based rides.
Close the gap between the Hello Kitty store and the Universal Studio Store. Use a fitting facade and you have your own main street themed to Hollywood.
That gives ample space to level Shrek and Minions and space for 2 medium sized dark rides using the second floor and shops and restaurants on the first floor. There is no need for the wide street that there is now and all that valuable space can be used for the rides. Only problem is the parade route so maybe no parade and create a new one for FW in the future.

Not a huge fan of this as it would only make crowding problems worse with Hollywood (now your only route to the rest of the park) being consistently mobbed. At least now if you don't intend on going directly to Production Central/New York right away you can take the Hollywood route to get to the other half of the park and avoid the Despicable Me and Shrek crowds.

Personally, I've always disliked the entrance paths at MK and AK. They both provide a great view, but are both incredibly crowded and obnoxious to maneuver.

 

[shiekra38]

I'll be ok with DMMM being a screen if Shrek gets replaced with something practical

Literally the only way that something significant could be put into Descpicable's spot is if you kill Rockit and expand the building outward, or if you reconfigure the entrance and loose you parade route

In other words, it ain't gonna happen

Now, if they swapped DMMM out with a special effect walkthrough show (like the one in USJ), and built a new Minion ride in FFL's plot, that could work

Also, they could ditch the building entirely

So essentially, when you boil it down, the simple answer of removing 3D seems like a logical move

 

[jrn14]

Anyone notice wait times have been way down for this since they removed the 3D? Whom could have seen this coming? WHOM?

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Anyone notice wait times have been way down for this since they removed the 3D? Whom could have seen this coming? WHOM?

Relax, it's the slow season.

 

[Mad Dog]

Anyone notice wait times have been way down for this since they removed the 3D? Whom could have seen this coming? WHOM?

Seems wait times were down on this at Orlando since they removed the 3D glasses, not only during the last slow month but also during the peak summer months. Heck, there's been times it's a walk on and I never saw that before the glasses were removed.

 

[jrn14]

Relax, it's the slow season.

Yeah, I know all wait times are down, but like Mad Dog I've noticed the pattern over the last couple of months and in comparison to the other rides at USF. Minions and Gringotts have seemed to always battle for longest wait, but now I'm seeing it at 25-35 minutes a lot while rides like Gringotts, Simpsons, Mummy, Transformers, MIB etc. are at 40-60 minute waits

 

[universal_fanatic]

I'm usually down in October for my yearly trip and I did notice that this year it was only 5 minutes when normally I've never seen it under 30 minutes.