Nope. BTTF & JAWS are STILL talked about & lamented by non-fanboys. The GP STILL asks where the JAWS Ride is 12 years later (and I hope they never stop)The parks need to realign their overall strategy to acknowledge that Universal no longer means Kong, Jaws, and Back to the Future (as much as I love those properties), it means Minions, Kung-Fu Panda, and Mario.
A 3hr ride is not practical for capacity..Or they could build an Oppenheimer ride
First look at the Trollercoaster train:
Since we don't have Alien Encounter anymore this is the next best thing. They don't even need to ride it just have them stare into its face as its coming down the hill. lolIf the little ones are being bad, threaten them with a ride on the mean scary Troller Coaster.
lol I like it
That's what the riders are for.I don’t think they placed the eyes yet. The sockets appear to be empty.
"You looked into my eyes! Your destiny now lies beyond the Gates of Doom!"They don't even need to ride it just have them stare into its face as its coming down the hill. lol
No one complains about the Mummy taking everyone's souls so I don't expect to hear anything about this."You looked into my eyes! Your destiny now lies beyond the Gates of Doom!"
Not going into the specifics of this land, I think its interesting to consider how archaic Universal's approach to family-oriented properties has become. In stark contrast to the company that opened the Florida park back in 1990, Universal is now overwhelmingly dependent on its family-friendly cartoon output. With Fast & Furious flailing and Jurassic... Whatever-it-Will-be lurching towards an unclear future, the studios most reliable, high profile franchise output is its Dreamworks and Illumination properties - Minions, Despicable Me, Kung-Fu Panda, Mario, etc. Those are the films currently defining the Universal brand. Remarkably, over the last couple years, Universal has made a very serious move to unseat Disney as the dominant family film studio. In light of that, the parks clinging to the "more adult" approach of the 90s is severely out of step with what the Universal brand actually is today. The parks need to realign their overall strategy to acknowledge that Universal no longer means Kong, Jaws, and Back to the Future (as much as I love those properties), it means Minions, Kung-Fu Panda, and Mario. At the most basic level, that means they need a lot more rides - major, E-ticket rides, as well as supporting attractions - with no height limits.
Or they could build an Oppenheimer ride and hope that that film launches a durable franchise. But I think the cartoons are probably a better bet.
It makes logical sense.As far as theme parks go, animation is the thing to keep an eye on. Animated properties are much easier to base theme park attractions on for a multitude of reasons.
It makes logical sense.
But at the same time, I'd be lying if I said I didn't sense that the IP composition has started to skew a little young, which I think has happened for two reasons:
1. Universal's recent live action film output -- while clearly filled with successful offerings -- doesn't really have any cultural mega-hits (like JAWS, BACK TO THE FUTURE, and E.T.) that also appeal to all ages, are ready-made for theme park implementation, and aren't already represented (i.e. the JURASSIC films, FAST & FURIOUS).
2. A general sense that kids want explicitly kid-centric properties to be more represented, which leads you animation as source material. I think that's a misread of kids' willingness to handle "older" IPs (I was a kid once, and I loved all the properties that were part of USF's first iteration, for example), but you can see how the thought process gets there.
I hope, despite some of my reservations about it, that Dark Universe is a huge hit at Epic Universe, because that's ostensibly a "live action" and more "adult" set of characters that can appeal to a wide age range.
That’s not really a Universal problem, though. No studios are putting out monster hits like the ones you mentioned. That’s more of a market issue than a theme park one.My point is that modern Universal does not have many additional BIG live action franchises to tap for theme park usage, so they're leaning more on animation, game, and licensed IP.
I would again point out that I've been pounding the table for a SLOP-esque family dark ride for years at this point, which would almost certainly be themed to an animated property of some kind, so I'm not making a value judgment about themes that have an explicit kid appeal.
(Though would I like it if there were more things like Jaws, Hitchcock, Earthquake, Ghostbusters, Twister, etc.? Of course.)
That's certainly true, but this is a Uni-centric thread, so I confined my commentary to that.That’s not really a Universal problem, though. No studios are putting out monster hits like the ones you mentioned.
I guess I should’ve specified that it’s not a problem specific to any theme parks with IP licensing agreements. The movie landscape is not as accommodating to the movies that gave us the best rides in the past, so the lack of new Jaws/BttF/Kong speaks more to that than to a shift in any park’s ideology.That's certainly true, but this is a Uni-centric thread, so I confined my commentary to that.
I would be happy to discuss how I think Disney should be responding to this issue elsewhere!
This, the only new live-action property I can think of from the last however many years that makes a great translation to theme parks is Guardians of the Galaxy, but even that is a spinoff of Marvel.I guess I should’ve specified that it’s not a problem specific to any theme parks with IP licensing agreements. The movie landscape is not as accommodating to the movies that gave us the best rides in the past, so the lack of new Jaws/BttF/Kong speaks more to that than to a shift in any park’s ideology.