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Let's play being head of Universal Creative...

Universal's Islands of Adventure "Realized"

Got bored, so decided to figure out what are some practical solutions to fixing IOA's problems:

One of the major items you'll notice is cutting/reducing the number of quick-service restaurants at IOA (IOA has 11 Quick Service Establishments - way too much, especially with the current staffing problems). The park has a surprising amount of them with most of them closed throughout the year, or closing early in the day. I would argue that Universal could benefit from replacing them with new concepts (below) and making the remaining restaurants more efficient, something Universal hasn't learned yet. (For example, No reason why Fast Food Boulevard should only have 2 cashiers, during the lunch rush.)

Most Important Solution:
Keep IOA Open, at a minimum, until 9:00 PM.

General Improvements
  • Nighttime Spectacular - the park needs one.
  • Improve turnstiles
  • Remove the ticket booths closest to the center walkway at the entrance - no need for these anymore, adds walking space and doesn't look all abandoned.

Port of Entry
  • Confisco Grille - seems like on most days there's little interest for this TSR, even though it is in quite an ideal location. The theming and location are all fine, so it might just be the menu items themselves. I would either convert this into a Pizza/Italian restaurant (more of a draw for most guests) or Universal's version of Oga's Cantina with nice lounge seating and an exclusive AP Lounge in the navigator's club. I think lots of people will enjoy a drink and an appetizer to get away from the heat in a park mostly outdoors.
  • No Name Store (the one with the random assortment of beach clothing) - shocked they haven't converted this store into another assortment of Universal branded merchandise. It's a ghost town most of the time.
  • Croissant Moon Bakery - even on the busiest days it closes at 4 PM, they need to convert this into a Today Cafe like CSR or a new concept.

Marvel Superhero Island
  • Replace Captain America's Diner with a permanent Meet & Greet location
  • (Personal Preference) lower the land's audio level just a bit lol
  • Spider-Man queue - improve the quality of the pre-show videos, touch up the place and add some theming/trees in the extended queue. I don't care for seeing backstage/ride buildings, but there's no attempt at hiding the Spider-Man show building from the main pathway. Let's plant some trees there that can at least try to hide it a bit and make the area look nicer.

Toon Lagoon
  • Convert Ripsaw Falls into Spongebob Squarepants (Ideally allow the ability for the level of "wetness" to be changed depending on temperate ala Splash Mountain. Crank it up in the summer, and reduce during the winter for a higher ride count.)
  • Keep Popeye's - Ideally limit how wet you get from external factors (aka waterfalls/random water fountains). You can't control the rapids, but at least turn off the waterfalls during the winter for more guest throughput.
  • Convert Comic Strip Cafe into the Krusty Krab - money maker
  • Replace the rest of Toon Lagoon with an assortment of recognizable characters Universal can utilize. (Scooby Doo's Scooby Snacks Stand replacing Blondie's, etc.) You don't have to replace all of the characters, but at least add popular ones.
  • Toon Lagoon theater - replace with a high-capacity dark ride targeted at families. That side of the park is a mixture of thrill rides and water rides. People need a break between thrills and getting wet.
  • Remove the carnival games

Skull Island
  • Some more theming/signage and a more obvious barrier between it and JP. (Preferably a rock structure of sorts)

Jurassic Park
  • Pizza Predatoria - the place is open for a few hours a day and I would much rather they make Burger Digs/Thunder Falls more efficient than having to operate 3 quick-service restaurants in one land. Convert this into Isla NuBAR, Universal's Trader Sams. Some nice theming, torches, etc. There's demand at the Universal parks for a drink and a show concept (Ocean Attack at Chez Alcatraz for example)
  • Remove the cheap & tacky rock climbing
  • Remove the carnival games
  • Add an In-Gen logo to the FJ show-building facing JPRA

Wizarding World
  • Hog's Head - a proper queue setup.
  • Not much else you can do with the limited space. (Should have taken the opportunity to expand the land and add a side street with more shops when Hagrid was under construction).
  • Whenever Lost Continent is replaced, make a proper berm between it and Hogsmeade Station.

Lost Continent
  • Complete replacement

Seuss Landing
  • Green Eggs and Ham - love the place, but I'm sure most of us would agree that it can be quite inefficient on most days. Also more seats with umbrellas/shade, please. Minor nitpick, I'm surprised they haven't added a nicer-looking sign by the land entrance/main pathway displaying the menu options making it easier for guests to see what's offered versus making them walk (yes, people are lazy).
  • Cat in the Hat Refurb - proper refurb ala the recent classic Disneyland Fantasyland dark rides refurbs. Improved sets with proper use of projections and new tech blended in with the practical effects.
  • Theater - 2 empty theaters in 2 lands that, possibly, are earmarked for replacement sometime in the future. Build a theater behind One Fish/Cat in the Hat and you can utilize it for a year-round Seuss show, Grinchmas, and (gasp) private events with direct access to CityWalk via Hard Rock without having to close down IOA.
  • Circus McGurkus - I think this restaurant needs an overhaul of the menu to be simplified. Right now it's Pizza, Burgers, and Fried Chicken.

As you can tell, I like efficiency and maximizing all the space you have. IOA is spreading itself thin by operating an excessive amount of quick service locations.
 
I think Far Far Away should one day takeover the MIB and FF plot. Plenty of room for a land and a big dark ride.

USF also needs additions (especially dark rides) instead of just replacements, though.

If you're going to replace an attraction for a dark ride, ideally it should be one of the screen-heavy rides.

Universal's Islands of Adventure "Realized"

Got bored, so decided to figure out what are some practical solutions to fixing IOA's problems:

One of the major items you'll notice is cutting/reducing the number of quick-service restaurants at IOA (IOA has 11 Quick Service Establishments - way too much, especially with the current staffing problems). The park has a surprising amount of them with most of them closed throughout the year, or closing early in the day. I would argue that Universal could benefit from replacing them with new concepts (below) and making the remaining restaurants more efficient, something Universal hasn't learned yet. (For example, No reason why Fast Food Boulevard should only have 2 cashiers, during the lunch rush.)

Most Important Solution: Keep IOA Open, at a minimum, until 9:00 PM.

General Improvements
  • Nighttime Spectacular - the park needs one.
  • Improve turnstiles
  • Remove the ticket booths closest to the center walkway at the entrance - no need for these anymore, adds walking space and doesn't look all abandoned.

Port of Entry
  • Confisco Grille - seems like on most days there's little interest for this TSR, even though it is in quite an ideal location. The theming and location are all fine, so it might just be the menu items themselves. I would either convert this into a Pizza/Italian restaurant (more of a draw for most guests) or Universal's version of Oga's Cantina with nice lounge seating and an exclusive AP Lounge in the navigator's club. I think lots of people will enjoy a drink and an appetizer to get away from the heat in a park mostly outdoors.
  • No Name Store (the one with the random assortment of beach clothing) - shocked they haven't converted this store into another assortment of Universal branded merchandise. It's a ghost town most of the time.
  • Croissant Moon Bakery - even on the busiest days it closes at 4 PM, they need to convert this into a Today Cafe like CSR or a new concept.

Marvel Superhero Island
  • Replace Captain America's Diner with a permanent Meet & Greet location
  • (Personal Preference) lower the land's audio level just a bit lol
  • Spider-Man queue - improve the quality of the pre-show videos, touch up the place and add some theming/trees in the extended queue. I don't care for seeing backstage/ride buildings, but there's no attempt at hiding the Spider-Man show building from the main pathway. Let's plant some trees there that can at least try to hide it a bit and make the area look nicer.

Toon Lagoon
  • Convert Ripsaw Falls into Spongebob Squarepants (Ideally allow the ability for the level of "wetness" to be changed depending on temperate ala Splash Mountain. Crank it up in the summer, and reduce during the winter for a higher ride count.)
  • Keep Popeye's - Ideally limit how wet you get from external factors (aka waterfalls/random water fountains). You can't control the rapids, but at least turn off the waterfalls during the winter for more guest throughput.
  • Convert Comic Strip Cafe into the Krusty Krab - money maker
  • Replace the rest of Toon Lagoon with an assortment of recognizable characters Universal can utilize. (Scooby Doo's Scooby Snacks Stand replacing Blondie's, etc.) You don't have to replace all of the characters, but at least add popular ones.
  • Toon Lagoon theater - replace with a high-capacity dark ride targeted at families. That side of the park is a mixture of thrill rides and water rides. People need a break between thrills and getting wet.
  • Remove the carnival games

Skull Island
  • Some more theming/signage and a more obvious barrier between it and JP. (Preferably a rock structure of sorts)

Jurassic Park
  • Pizza Predatoria - the place is open for a few hours a day and I would much rather they make Burger Digs/Thunder Falls more efficient than having to operate 3 quick-service restaurants in one land. Convert this into Isla NuBAR, Universal's Trader Sams. Some nice theming, torches, etc. There's demand at the Universal parks for a drink and a show concept (Ocean Attack at Chez Alcatraz for example)
  • Remove the cheap & tacky rock climbing
  • Remove the carnival games
  • Add an In-Gen logo to the FJ show-building facing JPRA

Wizarding World
  • Hog's Head - a proper queue setup.
  • Not much else you can do with the limited space. (Should have taken the opportunity to expand the land and add a side street with more shops when Hagrid was under construction).
  • Whenever Lost Continent is replaced, make a proper berm between it and Hogsmeade Station.

Lost Continent
  • Complete replacement

Seuss Landing
  • Green Eggs and Ham - love the place, but I'm sure most of us would agree that it can be quite inefficient on most days. Also more seats with umbrellas/shade, please. Minor nitpick, I'm surprised they haven't added a nicer-looking sign by the land entrance/main pathway displaying the menu options making it easier for guests to see what's offered versus making them walk (yes, people are lazy).
  • Cat in the Hat Refurb - proper refurb ala the recent classic Disneyland Fantasyland dark rides refurbs. Improved sets with proper use of projections and new tech blended in with the practical effects.
  • Theater - 2 empty theaters in 2 lands that, possibly, are earmarked for replacement sometime in the future. Build a theater behind One Fish/Cat in the Hat and you can utilize it for a year-round Seuss show, Grinchmas, and (gasp) private events with direct access to CityWalk via Hard Rock without having to close down IOA.
  • Circus McGurkus - I think this restaurant needs an overhaul of the menu to be simplified. Right now it's Pizza, Burgers, and Fried Chicken.

As you can tell, I like efficiency and maximizing all the space you have. IOA is spreading itself thin by operating an excessive amount of quick service locations.

Practical and realistic stuff.

I'd like to see how you'd tackle USF in this way, as it's the park I think needs considerably more work.
 
Pizza Predatoria - the place is open for a few hours a day and I would much rather they make Burger Digs/Thunder Falls more efficient than having to operate 3 quick-service restaurants in one land. Convert this into Isla NuBAR, Universal's Trader Sams.
What happens to The Watering Hole?
 
Universal Studios Florida "Realized"

Practical solutions to the problems that plague USF.

The identity of USF, in my book, has always been a celebration of the movies & tv - both making and experiencing. Problem is that the behind-the-scenes portion of it has been reduced to the Horror Make-Up show solely. When the park first opened, it was split between the production side (soundstages, Nickelodeon, Hitchcock, etc.) and the "ride the movies" side of it (Old West films, Jaws, King Kong, etc.).

USF suffers from having areas feeling cold, outdated, and without purpose. The park's entrance, for example, had the purpose of being the start of your movie-making adventure with its backlot theming and with the belief that you were in fact entering a real working studio.

General Changes
  • Cinematic Celebration - love the show, but really despise how Universal markets it. When it first opened, they spontaneously invited local outlets versus a big "hoorah" that it deserved. In the app they market it as a "music show" versus a nighttime spectacular with a music symbol icon. Unless you did research, you wouldn't know the main viewing area is in central park (they did a great job hiding it from the main central park pathway). I would add an obvious (themed) sign showing the show's logo with the showtime at the two central park locations as well as a much more obvious placement in the guide maps/app. Ideally, I would cut the F&F scene and move that pyro shot to the very beginning to show people that it is truly a fireworks show. Every time I watch it I always see somebody leave after a few minutes of just water screens.
  • For the love of god, stop using the food trucks and placing them in the most obscure locations. They are hideous and overpriced.
  • Repaint the soundstages to fit the color scheme from Japan's

Production Central/Park Entrance
  • Redo the park entrance and stylize it after Hollywood's redo a few years ago, essentially expanding the Hollywood section of the park
  • No need to touch/redo the arches or globe, leave it as is
  • USF needs a "thesis" attraction celebrating their heritage with a family dark ride. Place it at BMG and make it a high-capacity omnimover with scenes from Jaws, Back to the Future, etc.
Illuminations Blvd.
  • Really hope they don't go the lazy approach and, at the very least, take the time to modify the look of the soundstage for a better appearance and separate it from the other stages.
  • Hopefully they add back some trees and remove some of the asphalt in the area, the area can get really hot.
Music Plaza Stage
  • Some of you may hate me for this, but Rockit has become an icon for Universal. Love it or hate it, there's no denying it's a major talking point for lots of visitors. With that said, I hope they "Hulk-ify" it soon with improved track elements and updated songs (keep the vertical lift and non-inverting loop, everything else is fair game).
New York
  • Mummy queue receives back its extended queue
  • Officially move Transformers to NY
  • Not gonna happen because of how difficult it is to access, but a "rooftop" Rockefeller bar in the private lounge above Fallon would have been a great idea.

Hollywood/Central Park
  • With Kidzone now being worked on to be DreamWorks-focused, E.T. will be left in an odd location. I would move E.T.'s entrance/exit to the current NBC Media Center in Central Park and integrate it into the Hollywood section of the park (you can rename Central Park to "Spielberg Park" or something). The ride will receive an extensive refurb with improved effects, projections, and working animatronics.
  • Convert La Bamba into a "Trader Sams" bar with movie memorabilia and drinks themed after films.
  • Remove Tom Cruise Mummy segments/footage, replace it with the true Classic Monsters for synergy opportunities with Epic Universe.
  • Utilize Schwab's as the main seasonal food/snack location for whatever season the tribute store is doing.
  • Convert the Hello Kitty/Betty Boop store into a Universal Pictures Legacy Store/Museum.
  • Convert Brown Derby into Hello Kitty/Betty Boop
San Francisco
  • In a blue sky scenario I would demolish F&F, but a practical solution would be to convert it into a Back to the Future attraction. Replace the facade with the courthouse and convert the rest of San Francisco into Hill Valley in the 80s. The storyline could be that Doc has decided to become an entrepreneur and utilize the tech for time travel tourism. The simulated long tunnel could be utilized to speed the bus to 88mph before heading into the first stop in the tour (the first practical set could be Hill Valley set during the old west or future) before heading into the musion scene where Biff takes over. The 360 tunnel would then follow the original ride's idea of chasing Biff through the ice age, etc.
  • Convert Lombard's into Cafe 80s (yes, I know it's out of place in 1985, but who cares). Lombard's is nice, but there's no denying it is not very popular. Prime Time Cafe and Sci-Fi Dine-in at WDW are much more popular concepts.
  • Retheme Richter's to a restaurant inspired by Doc. Convert it into a chicken place serving tenders, chicken & waffles, sandwiches, and Mac & Cheese bowls since Universal is insistent on having the Mac & Cheese truck year-round.
  • Move Jaws next to the crepe stand

Diagon Alley
  • Expand the locker area into the exit/photos location. This is, arguably, one of the worst areas a guest can experience inside a theme park.

World Expo/Fear Factor
  • Give MIB a proper refurbishment with projection effects, animatronics, etc. Ironically, this attraction could actually benefit from the utilization of screens in windows to give it more depth. I know some of you will hate me, but I think they need to tone down the spinning (again) towards the end. 2 spins are fine, this is an interactive dark ride first, not a thrill ride.
  • In the short term, place a show inside the theater. In the long term, figure out what will happen with MIB and integrate this plot of land with it if they decide to can MIB. If MIB is properly refurbished, convert the theater indoors and theme the exterior as a generic theater set in its own land. Keep the theater generic so that it can be utilized for HHN and not tied to a single IP.

Springfield
  • In the short term, seeing that the Simpsons contract is still a few years away, I would take the time to make Fast Food Boulevard more efficient. The entire way the restaurant's ordering and payment setup is bonkers. Move the cashiers back to where those booths by the back wall are, and actually make a queue line people can follow. I like Seafood, but it's not really appetizing for theme park fast food, (and taking into consideration the Doc restaurant above) I would redo the entire area with an expanded Krusty Burger and Flaming Moe/beverage counter.
  • In the long term, I would take the opportunity to demolish the entirety of this land with Animal Actors and establish the potential for 2 new lands. One of which, Tokyo, will host a family-thrill Fast & Furious multi-launch coaster and the potential for a 2nd attraction.

Kidzone (finally don't need to speculate on this lol)


USF is a great park with stellar content that is held back by sub-par attractions and outdated experiences.
 
What happens to The Watering Hole?

I would just move the popcorn stand that's across the way there.

I'm glad this site is allowing this type of thing now, I remember posting my ideas and them being torn down every time lol

I think the problem is that a lot of times, Blue Sky ideas are so impractical that people forget that there are real-world limitations to what is achievable and draw somewhat fair criticism.
 
Hmmmm....I have some ideas to reshape the lower lot of USH. Also if anyone from UC is reading this, you have my full blessing to use my ideas. I'm helping you all out lol

Problem: The lower lot is a holdover from a bygone era of USH: a hodge-podge of different themes just mushed together. Cohesion is being squashed for the lazy excuse of "it's a studio with rides lol". Now that the park is clearly trying to have more cohesive theming with Springfield, Nintendo, Illumination, the new entrance, and Potter, I have some ideas that will bring some cohesion to the lower lot! It's literally the last place in the park that feels stuck in the 90's and 2000's with it's hodge-podge lack of cohesion. What I propose is what I would do to fix that:

The only real solution to fixing this issue would be to get rid of the Mummy. The reason why the lower lot feels so disjointed is likely because the Mummy is still there. It takes up too much presence to really fix the lower lot. The Mummy would be the main and only catalyst in fixing the lower lot problem. So here's what I would replace the Mummy with and then get to what In would do with the rest of the area:

I'm convinced part of the reason why they haven't gotten rid of the Mummy is because they can't make up their dang minds of what they want to replace it with! It's a good chunk of valuable space they have to work with, so they can't waste it. Would they replace it with just another indoor coaster? Would it be for a JW-themed dark ride? WOuld it be the space for a new show and Tour plaza? Or should they try to put another thrill coaster in that space? Well, here's my solution: The Mummy would be replaced with, not one, but two E-ticket rides! How the heck would that work? It's a lot of space, but not for two E-tickets! Well, here's what I would do:

The first E-ticket in the Mummy spot as you're coming down the escalator would be for a JW-themed thrill coaster. The entrance and decor would have a very similar feel to VelociCoaster, but the name would be changed to something different....like, I dunno, Raptor Rush or something. Maybe VelociBlast could be better. The station would consist of three floors with the total square footage taking up half or slightly less of the former Mummy footprint. First for queue line, second for more queue and lockers, then the third would be entirely used for loading/unloading and maintenance. The coaster would be another intamin launch coaster that would launch over the handicap access road, giving plenty of clearance as the track would be at least 30/35 ft high, and go through the hill by the escalators. To help with the issue of noise, there would be lot of rock work and trenches built into the hill that would look something like Taron at Phantasialand. I mean, if they're building a Fast and Furious coaster practically right next to where this would be, I can't imagine noise would be a chief issue here. The ride would feature several tight turns, airtime hills, barrel rolls, and maybe a corkscrew or two. It would be fast, fun, and thrilling. This right would unify the area immediately in front of the Starway to create a JW-themed mini land. The Studio Store would be rethemed into a JW store, and a brand new Starbucks would be torn down and rebuilt as a JW-inspired Starbucks. It would be slightly larger to accommodate demand. There would also be a little awning between the JW store and Sbucks to make a cleaner transition to the other part of the lower lot where Transformers is....

The other half of the lower lot would be a New York street. The awning overhead would have a JW inspiration going in, but when you look back, it will look like a subway bridge in New York. So what would the second E-ticket be in this area? Well it's New York, so it's gotta be something for that area. It would be a Ghostbusters shooting dark ride. Remember the old plans for SLoP that would have the queue for the first floor and the dark ride on the second? The plans would be reused here but in the form of a trackless shooting dark ride. Obviously the facade would be the firehouse with the Ghostbusters light up sign. The firehouse facade would be where the Transformers gift shop would be. The ride would be set in the 80's. You enter and walk past the iconic Ghostbusters Ecto-1. We would walk through different rooms of the firehouse that would show details like the coats that the Ghostbusters themselves wore, Egon's collection of spore, molds, and fungi, the reception room where Jenine takes calls, the door to Vekman's office that's spray painted the words "Burn in Hell Vekaman!" (But I would be surprised if they allowed that for daytime ops) the vault where they store the ghosts, the dinner table with some Chinese food and empty diet Coke cans leftover as well as a toaster on the counter (Might even catch Slimer getting a snack from the fridge!), a room with Ecto cannons hanging up. We would "leave" the firehouse into the "outdoor" part of New York kinda like the Toontown in Roger Rabbit at DL. We would pass some storefronts with old TVs playing new reports of an increase in paranormal sightings, 80's commercials, and of course see the Ghostbusters commercial. We walk inside the apartments much like SLoP and go through the halls of the complex. We get to enter Dana's apartment with the kitchen open. The kitchen would have a light and projection show that would go off every minute with a variation of different effects, but every five minutes, the refrigerator would open up giving us a glimpse into the Zuul dimension with one of the Gozer dogs popping up in the screen saying "ZUUUUUUUUULLL!!!" Then close again with the peaceful queue music as if nothing ever happened.

Finally, we would enter a warehouse where we would see videos on what the skinny is with the story of the ride and how to fire the weapons from the vehicles. It would also explain the ride vehicles being a new invention from Egon to help with the demand of the new recruits they need for the increase in paranormal activity. At this point, we would move upstairs to the second floor where the loading/unloading and the entire ride is. We enter the loading area where we would board the vehicles (Which would be the Mini Ectos. Seating six each with rows of two with three in each row) in the warehouse. Not going to break down each scene I had in mind with painstaking detail for the sake of this post getting really long, but basically, a general street scene where the dueling cars would go up to different parts of the room (Like the Heffalump room in Tokyo's Hunny Hunt ride) and we would get to shoot different targets. We would either end up in the Museum form the PS3 video game (Where we would also see Vigo the Carpathian), or the Hotel from the first movie. The cars would reconvene in a construction sight where there would be an effect (Like MIB but improved) where we would face our opposing car, but the people in that car become possessed by ghosts. We would shoot at each other and our car would spin to the next scene after we have "un-possesed" our opponents. Here we encounter Zuul in front of the gates and her dogs. She warns us that our destructor has been chosen. As we transition to the next scene, a kuka arm of the Stay Puft Marshmellow men comes down from the ceiling of a building under construction to try to grab us. The next scene we see Stay Puft in the flesh in AA form. After we "defeat" Stay Puft, some fog blasts, and we spin our way back into the warehouse where we were with marshmallow splatter everywhere. We get our final score with the Ghostbusters theme playing and we get to see mini stay pufts from Afterlife fool around. We hear Vekman address the mini Stay Pufts with the line "Eh, don't worry about them. We'll have lots of s'more tonight. We exit, head downstairs, down a long hallway to the gift shop which would be Ray's Occult from the second movie. Here we can get our GB merch. The storefront would be right next to the firehouse facade.

Whew that was long! Okay, now I will detail how I would fix the remaining part of the lower lot in the next post.
 
Okay, last part: What to do with that Panda Express? Tear it down, and build a two-story food venue like Springfield. Food service and some seating on the first floor with the entire second floor being used for seating. Restaurants would include three choices of eateries: Chinese food, New York pizza, and an Ecto Cooler station that would sell Ghostbusters-themed drinks and ice cream. For drinks, you can grab an Ecto Cooler (Yes, the original drink!), Ecto Cooler ice Cream, Stay Puft S'mores Sundae, an Ecto Cooler float, and a Stay Puft ale for the grown ups! The area where the outdoor seating would be right now to the left of the SNW entrance would be carved out for a Ghostbusters meet and greet with the Ecto-1, a Slimer puppet, and the four OG Ghostbusters there! The area between the Starbucks and the Ghostbusters firehouse and Ray's Occult would be the Transformers meet-and-greet (Which is currently at where I'm talking about). Speaking of Transformers.....

Despite me campaigning to replace, I'm going to opt to keep it.....with some changes. Facade would be changed to reflect that of Florida's (Complete with the Optimus Prime statue). Ride would essentially be the same, but I would update the projection technology with better quality projection and enhanced framerate. Would add some digital mapping to some places to enhance the scenes. If money allowed it, I would replace the final screen with an AA of Optimus Prime at the end.

So there you go. The lower lot would now have more cohesive theming and the Mummy's space will have been maximized. I crammed in a high thrill coaster as well as a high-class dark ride! Would do y'all think of these ideas?
 
Universal Studios Florida "Realized"

Practical solutions to the problems that plague USF.

The identity of USF, in my book, has always been a celebration of the movies & tv - both making and experiencing. Problem is that the behind-the-scenes portion of it has been reduced to the Horror Make-Up show solely. When the park first opened, it was split between the production side (soundstages, Nickelodeon, Hitchcock, etc.) and the "ride the movies" side of it (Old West films, Jaws, King Kong, etc.).

USF suffers from having areas feeling cold, outdated, and without purpose. The park's entrance, for example, had the purpose of being the start of your movie-making adventure with its backlot theming and with the belief that you were in fact entering a real working studio.

General Changes
  • Cinematic Celebration - love the show, but really despise how Universal markets it. When it first opened, they spontaneously invited local outlets versus a big "hoorah" that it deserved. In the app they market it as a "music show" versus a nighttime spectacular with a music symbol icon. Unless you did research, you wouldn't know the main viewing area is in central park (they did a great job hiding it from the main central park pathway). I would add an obvious (themed) sign showing the show's logo with the showtime at the two central park locations as well as a much more obvious placement in the guide maps/app. Ideally, I would cut the F&F scene and move that pyro shot to the very beginning to show people that it is truly a fireworks show. Every time I watch it I always see somebody leave after a few minutes of just water screens.
  • For the love of god, stop using the food trucks and placing them in the most obscure locations. They are hideous and overpriced.
  • Repaint the soundstages to fit the color scheme from Japan's

Production Central/Park Entrance
  • Redo the park entrance and stylize it after Hollywood's redo a few years ago, essentially expanding the Hollywood section of the park
  • No need to touch/redo the arches or globe, leave it as is
  • USF needs a "thesis" attraction celebrating their heritage with a family dark ride. Place it at BMG and make it a high-capacity omnimover with scenes from Jaws, Back to the Future, etc.
Illuminations Blvd.
  • Really hope they don't go the lazy approach and, at the very least, take the time to modify the look of the soundstage for a better appearance and separate it from the other stages.
  • Hopefully they add back some trees and remove some of the asphalt in the area, the area can get really hot.
Music Plaza Stage
  • Some of you may hate me for this, but Rockit has become an icon for Universal. Love it or hate it, there's no denying it's a major talking point for lots of visitors. With that said, I hope they "Hulk-ify" it soon with improved track elements and updated songs (keep the vertical lift and non-inverting loop, everything else is fair game).
New York
  • Mummy queue receives back its extended queue
  • Officially move Transformers to NY
  • Not gonna happen because of how difficult it is to access, but a "rooftop" Rockefeller bar in the private lounge above Fallon would have been a great idea.

Hollywood/Central Park
  • With Kidzone now being worked on to be DreamWorks-focused, E.T. will be left in an odd location. I would move E.T.'s entrance/exit to the current NBC Media Center in Central Park and integrate it into the Hollywood section of the park (you can rename Central Park to "Spielberg Park" or something). The ride will receive an extensive refurb with improved effects, projections, and working animatronics.
  • Convert La Bamba into a "Trader Sams" bar with movie memorabilia and drinks themed after films.
  • Remove Tom Cruise Mummy segments/footage, replace it with the true Classic Monsters for synergy opportunities with Epic Universe.
  • Utilize Schwab's as the main seasonal food/snack location for whatever season the tribute store is doing.
  • Convert the Hello Kitty/Betty Boop store into a Universal Pictures Legacy Store/Museum.
  • Convert Brown Derby into Hello Kitty/Betty Boop
San Francisco
  • In a blue sky scenario I would demolish F&F, but a practical solution would be to convert it into a Back to the Future attraction. Replace the facade with the courthouse and convert the rest of San Francisco into Hill Valley in the 80s. The storyline could be that Doc has decided to become an entrepreneur and utilize the tech for time travel tourism. The simulated long tunnel could be utilized to speed the bus to 88mph before heading into the first stop in the tour (the first practical set could be Hill Valley set during the old west or future) before heading into the musion scene where Biff takes over. The 360 tunnel would then follow the original ride's idea of chasing Biff through the ice age, etc.
  • Convert Lombard's into Cafe 80s (yes, I know it's out of place in 1985, but who cares). Lombard's is nice, but there's no denying it is not very popular. Prime Time Cafe and Sci-Fi Dine-in at WDW are much more popular concepts.
  • Retheme Richter's to a restaurant inspired by Doc. Convert it into a chicken place serving tenders, chicken & waffles, sandwiches, and Mac & Cheese bowls since Universal is insistent on having the Mac & Cheese truck year-round.
  • Move Jaws next to the crepe stand

Diagon Alley
  • Expand the locker area into the exit/photos location. This is, arguably, one of the worst areas a guest can experience inside a theme park.

World Expo/Fear Factor
  • Give MIB a proper refurbishment with projection effects, animatronics, etc. Ironically, this attraction could actually benefit from the utilization of screens in windows to give it more depth. I know some of you will hate me, but I think they need to tone down the spinning (again) towards the end. 2 spins are fine, this is an interactive dark ride first, not a thrill ride.
  • In the short term, place a show inside the theater. In the long term, figure out what will happen with MIB and integrate this plot of land with it if they decide to can MIB. If MIB is properly refurbished, convert the theater indoors and theme the exterior as a generic theater set in its own land. Keep the theater generic so that it can be utilized for HHN and not tied to a single IP.

Springfield
  • In the short term, seeing that the Simpsons contract is still a few years away, I would take the time to make Fast Food Boulevard more efficient. The entire way the restaurant's ordering and payment setup is bonkers. Move the cashiers back to where those booths by the back wall are, and actually make a queue line people can follow. I like Seafood, but it's not really appetizing for theme park fast food, (and taking into consideration the Doc restaurant above) I would redo the entire area with an expanded Krusty Burger and Flaming Moe/beverage counter.
  • In the long term, I would take the opportunity to demolish the entirety of this land with Animal Actors and establish the potential for 2 new lands. One of which, Tokyo, will host a family-thrill Fast & Furious multi-launch coaster and the potential for a 2nd attraction.

Kidzone (finally don't need to speculate on this lol)


USF is a great park with stellar content that is held back by sub-par attractions and outdated experiences.

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Some excellent ideas, particularly for what to do with F&F that is realistic (in terms of reusing the bones of what's currently there). I'd love to get a non-screen ride in that plot, but given that the (great) original BTTF ride was a simulator, it doesn't feel immediately disappointing to go that route again (albeit in a different form).
 
I finished a layout for a potential land based on Demon Slayer in Japan that can be ported to Orlando (Epic Universe) and Hollywood. The land will be themed to a Japanese village (including of the facades of the attractions) that are plagued with Demons. You can take a pic with your favorite character and the haunted Mugan Train! You can have a bite at a Japanese style Quick Service Restaurant insp

Attractions:
-POTR: Battle for the Sunken Treasure style boat ride: The Boat ride will be about Tanjiro and Nezuko telling riders what it will take to be part of the Demon Slsyer Corp. However, we go through a forest where we encounter various demons and 3 villains from the previous arcs ( Muzan Kibutsuji, Doma, and Akaza). Its up to you, Tanjiro, Nezuko and the rest of the Demon Slayer Corp. to slay these demons permanently. acts. It will include projection mapping and the most advanced animatronics at Universal. The boat will even take us through various scenes while it spins, tilts, and drop.

Nezuko Tea Cup Ride: It’s a traditional tea cup ride but the spinning vehicles are coal baskets. A huge statue of a floating Nexuko is seen on the ceiling of the attraction.

Demon Slayer Corp Training Street Show: Where volunteers go through obstacles like climbing rock walls, avoiding traps, and defeating demons. If the volunteer is better than the other, they will get a special sword and become a member of the Demon Slayer Corp.

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I'm just glad that outsourcing ideas is more accepted now is all. Clearly I was doing it at the wrong place / wrong time.
It’s more that not every thread regarding an attraction needs speculation about its inevitable replacement. Hence why I created this thread! Post your plans away!
 
Just made a layout if Universal made a land for Beastars, but this time in Japan. I compared it to the layout of the Japan layout to the Orlando port layout on the bottom. I have made a layout for Hollywood (Same with the Demon Slayer land layout and the Epic Universe Demon Slayer land) because of how the park is constructed and they can pick whatever plot of land to build this immersive experience! Also, the attractions will be the same as Japan in Orlando and Hollywood!
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Just made a layout if Universal made a land for Beastars, but this time in Japan. I compared it to the layout of the Japan layout to the Orlando port layout on the bottom. I have made a layout for Hollywood (Same with the Demon Slayer land layout and the Epic Universe Demon Slayer land) because of how the park is constructed and they can pick whatever plot of land to build this immersive experience! Also, the attractions will be the same as Japan in Orlando and Hollywood!
View attachment 18062View attachment 18063
Looking at Google Maps for the Japan land it appears to build this land you demo soundstage 11. If Universal would be willing to expand backstage and relocate those areas somewhere else (probably where Production Central is) they can build any themed land here.
 
Looking at Google Maps for the Japan land it appears to build this land you demo soundstage 11. If Universal would be willing to expand backstage and relocate those areas somewhere else (probably where Production Central is) they can build any themed land here.
Exactly. We can just relocate and rebuild that soundstage somewhere else to have an immersive land in its place.
 
Exactly. We can just relocate and rebuild that soundstage somewhere else to have an immersive land in its place.
Soundstage 11 at USJ appears to be used for storage. I said it could be demoed as recently for SWGE for both DL park and DHS involved demoing backstage areas and MMRR in ToonTown in DL park involved tearing down backstage areas. Disney has done it so Universal can as well.
 
Still have been thinking about what will be the Simpsons Ride replacement at USH could be using some deductive reasoning the concept art for the upcoming F&F coaster shows what appears to be the Fast Food Court reskinned to some NY style building. If classic monsters were to come to USH they would more than likely want to do a land for it if they expand the lower lot at some point and there has been speculation about the tram station being relocated to make way for theme park expansion on the upper lot snd considering how USH needs all the space it can get, it will likely be turned into a land. Which means I think a suitable replacement for the Simpsons at USH would be a dark ride that takes guests through different eras of Universal films, Illumination and Dreamworks films will be included. Projection mapping, and large curved screens integrated into sets would make up the media and if there is room in the plot (let me know if there is or not) this will use an updated version of the Transformers ride system.
 
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