How I see expansions going, roads being yellow(aha), landscaping green, new buildings teal, Walls red.
1. Dark Uni
- Black Lagoon is a shoe in, the people demand a water ride with outdoor/indoor elements + animatronics
- Due to pathing options around Burning Blade, you *could* have a smaller experience closer to LM or go all in and have a bigger, better, longer Lagoon, IDK not a very wide space and boats have little verticality to work with so they may need it.
2. LM
- could but absolutely does not need it own Portal, too redundant, has entrances/exits into both Dark and greater SNW
- current landscaping separating land from Celestial can have a moderate Celestial expansion instead.
- supplemented by a play area ala Berk/Mario based on Scarescraper, think high grade spooky McDs/Chuck.E.Cheese.
- Room for smaller Kiosk/snack carts similar to DK and an exit near Celestial NStore and SNWs exit.
2A. The Mansion
- SNW true E-Ticket, worlds most advanced shooter ride, the Iconic original Mansion, Disney HM competitor
- Facade visible from Dark-U and DK, built on artificial Hill, full mansion outer wall, Dark ride entirely indoors
- Underground E.Gadds Lab/Training Grounds as que, resurfaces to front of Mansion, single riders skip all that and can ramp straight to entrance.
- Riders get on in main foyer, travels through 2-3 floors + Basement including Fake back courtyard/graveyard.
- Tracks along wider hallways to fit 2x ride vehicles but otherwise very Intimate, low ceiling, doll house-esque (rooms missing walls for vision)
- Catch ghosts (VR w/ Animatronics) using Diegetic flash lights, photosensors, and Vacuum "IR/Gyro Ray Gun" interact with physical animatronic sets to find treasure and increase score.
- Classic picture on ride to gift shop scheme, except photos are ran through a painting Filter to make them portraits with the frame and everything
- Exit ride from basement "boss area" into E.Gadds Gallery/gift shop, then back outside.
3. Celestial Park Expansion Area right of SNW
- Unlike all other areas where you can tell they plan to connect to current lands, this has not been prepared in any shape or form to connect SNW
- Nintendo has no additional Mario adjacent IPs, and this is too small for Ns next biggest IPs in the form of Zelda/AC
- Is right across from Atlantis restaurant so return of Poseidon??
4. Hotel Expansion
- Dead obvious place to Hotel-ize their best and most popular IP
- exclusive restaurant, gate into HP Paris, right next to the Ministry, prime real estate for early access
- #1 Haven for Gen2 wand interactions - wand your TV, your AC, and even your Toilet!
5. HP Flex
- can expand Paris with another Dark Ride if it turns out the HP gravy train just doesn't stop.
- Can also be the flexible transition into similar IP 5th Portal, ala LM to Dark-U
6. Berk Expansion
- Berk needs a Dark Ride, Flight Sim is the only choice, this stuff builds itself
7. The 5th Portal
- awkward narrow entrance, no room for rides, Ideal for IP with strong and unique theming to jazz up what will basically be a hallway
IP requirements:
- IP should be able to produce multiple rides/experiences, outdoor and indoor
- Ideally can have thrills & family experiences, but Fam > Thrill by itself.
- IP thematically compatible to HP is a bonus
- IP fits Epic more than other two(three(four)) Parks
- Large Facades that can block the water treatment miasma are a bonus
IMO, the best fitting IPs are Zelda and Pokémon (duh) . They've been pegged to fill spaces in other parks but they make sooo much more sense in EPIC. If Universal cares about consistent theming at all, they'll keep the "Thrill Book park" the "Thrill Book park", the "Movie/City Park" the "Movie/City Park", and the "Video Game+ Park" the "Video Game+ Park". Double down I say, epic gamers rise up!!
Still, Why no Dreamworks you ask? Simply because there is no meaningful way to connect it to Berk and that will feel like a huge synergy fail with Nintendo and Dark-U collaborating to "put the square in the square hole" so to speak with LM. Shrek being based on Fairy Tales and pop culture belongs more to IoA and already has rep in Studios/alternate parks, so Kung Fu Panda is the only other shoe in if not in an actual Chinese park, but they've built themselves into a corner with Stardust Racers and Wing gliders blocking all connection (and frankly KFP4 was half-assed garbage which doesn't help). Aside from those, no other DW IPs are big enough to compete.
Wicked and LotR obviously have the biggest zeitgeists and few downsides BUT, they both thematically fit IoA better, and LotR specifically has less ride potential because its world is grand and iconic but not particularly fantastical from moment to moment, its more more medieval/feudal in aggregate and its rides it would have thrive on thrill as a more austere IP (D&D wouldn't have this problem, just saying). Thus IMO it would have greater utilization in IoA where it fits better and could have 1 great thrill ride, or in general at UUK where it could be a more expansive more vibey centerpiece that fulfills the same roll as Celestial Park with lots of iconic locations for food/leisure.
If I couldn't have Zelda or Pokemon, and IoA only has one spot to expand with LotR, Wicked would be my third choice as it has no other downsides and frankly unlike LotR it should not go to UUK specifically because its an Americana IP. Let me get Yellow Bricked up on the way to the Shiz Stage Show, Munchkin Munchies, Emerald Dark ride, and Flying Monkey Coaster. Hell, add more interactive wand locations in Oz, give us our moneys worth.
