Fast & Furious: Supercharged (Now Closed)

[OrlandoGuy]

RIP. I don’t have much good to say about this one. My best (maybe only) memory from it is hanging out around the back when the former COO officially handed the ride over to the Opening Ops Team. He said, “I know it’s a piece of s***, but try to make it the best piece of s*** you can.”

That could be an iconic start of a story for a ride that eventually found its footing but I guess it’s all for the best that this one came and went as quickly and quietly as it did.

 

[TheUniC6]

I'm not too worried about Universal's overall expenditures in Florida not being enough to compete with what Disney is opening over the next five years.

I am worried about USF continuing to get the short end of the stick (either in focus or quality). There are only so many clear and obvious spots in this park that are prime for redevelopment (Supercharged and Springfield being the two top and most obvious contenders), and if they can't come up with anything great for this very large piece of land... it's kind of perplexing and concerning.

If they still choose to let USF languish even if guests continue to bypass in it favor of IOA and Epic, their loss.

 

[belloq87]

My best (maybe only) memory from it is hanging out around the back when the former COO officially handed the ride over to the Opening Ops Team. He said, “I know it’s a piece of s***, but try to make it the best piece of s*** you can.”

That is simultaneously hilarious and infuriating. This whole thing could and should have been avoided.

They knew what they had was bad, and they did it anyway.

 

[Brian G.]

That is simultaneously hilarious and infuriating. This whole thing could and should have been avoided.

They knew what they had was bad, and they did it anyway.

I think that's oversimplifying it a bit. There's a reason they say you don't want to see how the sausage gets made.

One of my biggest memories from when I first moved to Orlando was talking to a former Disney CM. She asked, "Do you like Disney?" I said yes. Her response was basically, "Then don't work for them, because the magic will be gone."

She wasn't disparaging Disney. Her point was that once you look behind the curtain and see how decisions actually get made - the compromises, budgets, politics, etc. - some of that shine disappears. The same can apply to Universal.

That said, knowing the finished product missed the mark isn't the same as knowing from day one that it would. These projects and the decisions behind them are usually a lot more complicated than that.

 

[tyro]

They knew what they had was bad, and they did it anyway.

I mean it was too late in the game for them to do anything. It’s not like once companies finish building something they can just decide to not open/release it and get a massive tax write off. Oh wait….

 

[belloq87]

I think that's oversimplifying it a bit. There's a reason they say you don't want to see how the sausage gets made.

One of my biggest memories from when I first moved to Orlando was talking to a former Disney CM. She asked, "Do you like Disney?" I said yes. Her response was basically, "Then don't work for them, because the magic will be gone."

She wasn't disparaging Disney. Her point was that once you look behind the curtain and see how decisions actually get made - the compromises, budgets, politics, etc. - some of that shine disappears. The same can apply to Universal.

That said, knowing the finished product missed the mark isn't the same as knowing from day one that it would. These projects and the decisions behind them are usually a lot more complicated than that.

That's all true, but my point was more that they pretty much knew what they had from Hollywood, they knew how it was received, and they still brought it to Florida anyway.

Note: the "they" here are Universal execs, not the creative team (who presumably had very little say).

I mean it was too late in the game for them to do anything.

The Hollywood version was open before USF's was announced.

 

[Brian G.]

That's all true, but my point was more that they pretty much knew what they had from Hollywood, they knew how it was received, and they still brought it to Florida anyway.

Note: the "they" here are Universal execs, not the creative team (who presumably had very little say).

The Hollywood version was open before USF's was announced.

I still think it's applying a little too much hindsight.

Remember, Supercharged was originally supposed to open in 2017 before getting hit with several delays. The wheels were already very much in motion for Orlando. And while two years may sound like plenty of time, in theme park development, it really isn't.

Also, two months of GSATs - the timeframe of USH's opening to UO's announcement - probably isn't enough for a company to decide that a multi-million-dollar expansion already in development needs to be heavily altered or scrapped, unfortunately.

The USH version wasn't received particularly well, but it also didn't get anywhere near the level of hate that the Orlando version did. A lot of the criticism at the time was also about expectations, with people thinking Supercharged was going to be a separate ride rather than another segment of the Studio Tour.

But obviously, Thierry Coup's comments from a few years ago suggest there were people on the Creative side who ultimately wished they had pushed harder against it. I just don't think it's as simple as "they knew it sucked and built it anyway."

At this point, let's just be glad it was a lesson learned.

 

[TheUniC6]

At this point, let's just be glad it was a lesson learned.

Sometimes the best attraction fit for an IP is the most obvious. In this case a roller coaster.