Future of Toon Lagoon

[Galaxy Defender]

Maybe with F&F, Fallon, VB, 6th Hotel, CBBB Expansion, Planning for 3rd gate, etc all going on, they are expending all the funds they want to spend right now.

This was all budgeted for 2016 and 2017. F&F was originally 2017 so it should be out of that budget too. Nintendo is 2020.

We were told a big project a year would happen, so then we can look forward to projects started soon with completion dates of 2018 and 2019.

No reason we can't have two each year. Hulk and Kong were 2016 and Fallon/F&F were scheduled for 2017. Comcast can afford it. The attractions have brought good returns.

The overall plan is to keep growing. I don't see UO taking a break.

 

[fryoj]

This was all budgeted for 2016 and 2017. F&F was originally 2017 so it should be out of that budget too. Nintendo is 2020.

We were told a big project a year would happen, so then we can look forward to projects started soon with completion dates of 2018 and 2019.

No reason we can't have two each year. Hulk and Kong were 2016 and Fallon/F&F were scheduled for 2017. Comcast can afford it. The attractions have brought good returns.

The overall plan is to keep growing. I don't see UO taking a break.

Can afford and want to spend are two different things.

Regardless how they write these things off for fiscal years, these contractors and all of the materials aren't paid for when they project is greenlit. They are paid for as they go, or in chunks at least. They have at least 5 major projects going right now, and thats money going out. Adding more contractors from other areas costs them more than waiting for these projects to get done. And nothing says they have to have two rides per year or even going at the same time. Don't forget they opened a total of 0 rides in 2015.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

They opened 0 rides in 2015 after opening Diagon Alley in 2014. They built 2 major rides that year so that covers 2015 in my book.

Comcast has a history of being very aggressive and going for the jugular when it's exposed. I just don't see them slowing down now.

 

[fryoj]

They opened 0 rides in 2015 after opening Diagon Alley in 2014. They built 2 major rides that year so that covers 2015 in my book.

Comcast has a history of being very aggressive and going for the jugular when it's exposed. I just don't see them slowing down now.

So if 2 rides in 14 covers 15, why doesn't the 4 rides and new water park in 16/17/18 count for 18/19?

Don't forget that at some point we are getting a whole new park started and that has to come out of the budget too.

Not saying they won't start a slop ride or a dragons refurb/replacement, just that I could easily see nothing else started till a couple of these other projects are done.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

So if 2 rides in 14 covers 15, why doesn't the 4 rides and new water park in 16/17/18 count for 18/19?

Don't forget that at some point we are getting a whole new park started and that has to come out of the budget too.

Not saying they won't start a slop ride or a dragons refurb/replacement, just that I could easily see nothing else started till a couple of these other projects are done.

Final thought.

News reports at the time put the price of Diagon Alley at 400 million. Making it the most expensive project NBCuniversal had done to date. Pick your reasons, but after such a massive and expensive project they decided to take a break for a year. I have no reason to think they will skip a year again.

 

[Mike S]

Final thought.

News reports at the time put the price of Diagon Alley at 400 million. Making it the most expensive project NBCuniversal had done to date. Pick your reasons, but after such a massive and expensive project they decided to take a break for a year. I have no reason to think they will skip a year again.

I'm thinking F&F will be it for 2018 unless SLoP gets rushed. 2019 should be Avengers imo to ride the Infinty War hype train. After that is Nintendo and the beginning of the third park. During that time or perhaps earlier I think they should focus on major updates to existing attractions.

 

[Viator]

Personally speaking, we have to keep in mind that Nintendo for possibly USJ; USH and UOR, The NBCUniversal Evolution Plan back at Hollywood (Not even mentioning SLoP), UOR plans for many year's ahead (2017 with VB, Fallon and potentially TWDA, 2018 with F&F, most likely Adventura and potentially something for IOA if DC closes by late 2016, and the third gate in early development).

UC can't be another WDI, and to be honest; they need to allocate the resources appropriately and not go out of hand, atleast; as I would think.

 

[quinnmac000]

Its crazy that Beijing is one for 2020 and they haven't even broke ground yet....So I think we are underestimating the amount of plans already ready to go with the problem just being the execution as Teebin kept saying there wasn't enough resources and contractors were tapping out.

 

[Joel]

Its crazy that Beijing is one for 2020 and they haven't even broke ground yet....So I think we are underestimating the amount of plans already ready to go with the problem just being the execution as Teebin kept saying there wasn't enough resources and contractors were tapping out.

Doesn't Universal only own about 40% of Beijing though?

 

[lotusmad2001]

Just come back from universal, I must say, Dudleys either needs ripping down or have a major refurb. Just looks a complete mess, and nowhere near the themeing quality of any other ride in the park

 

[Joel]

Just come back from universal, I must say, Dudleys either needs ripping down or have a major refurb. Just looks a complete mess, and nowhere near the themeing quality of any other ride in the park

and yet its red the best water ride by the golden whatever awards.. complete joke those are

 

[lotusmad2001]

Yet Jurassic park is so awesome and it's older (I think?)

 

[Joel]

Yet Jurassic park is so awesome and it's older (I think?)

They're both part of the original lineup when the park opened.

 

[lotusmad2001]

Ok cool The starting animatronics on JP could do with updating but past that it is just awesome! I noticed something new every time!

 

[Living_Bread]

just a question. .

is this effect on Popeye's toned down now? I mean it seems like the tugboat doesn't get the boat all that much, just sprinkles it to the side, however in the photo it completely drowns the boat. It's not really important, I just get curious about what effects work and which one's don't.

 

[UniversalCityFL]

It's often broken, and it's also turned off in colder months. When it functions as intended it is a deluge of water blasting out of the steam pipe that douses everyone on the boat.

 

[uiwansonic88]

A relatively cheap thing they could do to change things would be to change Ripsaw Falls into a ride about Donkey Kong somehow. You don't even have to change the logs much to make them look like barrels. They could make Bilge Rat Barges into being based around the game Donkey Kong Country 3 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_Country_3:_Dixie_Kong%27s_Double_Trouble!) to some degree. You use an inflatable circular raft in the game and go in a cave in some levels in it. The ship that you can go onto in the area would be rethemed to look like one of the ships in the game or in the other Donkey Kong Country games.


Maybe this would be too much jungle stuff for the park, however. You would have it near Jurassic Park.

If they wanted to be even cheaper, they could make the area about Nintendo's arcade games or the big Nintendo games before Mario Bros was released (even though Popeye apparently wasn't super successful) because Nintendo actually released a Popeye game (Popeye (video game) - Wikipedia They could just leave Popeye's ride or just change it a little.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Looks good


Compare that to this

 

[Mike S]

Looks good


Compare that to this

Looks like Spongebob.

 

[uiwansonic88]

If the new Super Mario Odyssey ride is at least loosely inspired by the ancient Greek Homer's Odyssey, it might be acceptable according to the IoA idea of having attractions based on printed or written works. It also seems to have rabbit characters that might be inspired by Alice in Wonderland. I'm not sure that idea for IoA is still actually being followed, though. I imagine the game has to at least be not hated by many people or moderately successful for them to build attractions based on it.

New Donk City might make a good transition from Marvel Superhero Island. Although, it could also work as a replacement for part or all of the MSI area. The forest area with red metal structures might make a decent transition to the Jurassic Park area. Maybe they could build one or both of these areas in Toon Lagoon. New Donk City also has red metal structures in it that look especially like platforms from early Mario games, so that might help it blend with the forest area in some way if they were both built with red metal structures in them. Maybe they could also build a third area from the game in Toon Lagoon as well.

It's interesting that there seems to be at least one red tower structure in the forest area. It looks kind of like the Seattle Space Needle. Maybe they could move one of those MIB towers over to Toon Lagoon and change it to look like this red tower or maybe they'd just build the forest area over there at some point. The tower in the game looks like it maybe would have areas at the for people to go on to. If they built it in the park, maybe people could go to the top of it somehow and use it to get a look at the park. Maybe they could even have some attractions based on areas in the game in the studios park and some areas in IoA and have it kind of make sense because the game seems like it will have the idea of traveling be a major part of it.