Springfield

[joerodriguez]

According to this Universal Hollywood employee, Springfield might be on the chopping block sooner rather than later:

 

[Jerroddragon]

This sucks

I love that land and doubt a old land from Florida will be better

Now if it was Nintendo or a new land cool but no thanks to an old land

 

[Nick]

This sucks

I love that land and doubt a old land from Florida will be better

Now if it was Nintendo or a new land cool but no thanks to an old land

If this is even legit in any way, look at where Simpsons is situated. It's right next to Hogsmeade. I have to think Diagon would be top of the list as a potential replacement + the potential of adding in a MoM ride along with it.

 

[Disneyhead]

Diagon Alley.

 

[Viator]

Diagon Alley.

If Diagon would legitimately take Springfield...how in the hell could that work? The only solution I'd think of is that Simpsons Ride would be just demolished and used as open plaza space, and then the Studio Tour Plaza and backstage space around that as Diagon and Gringotts.

That could then lead to SES being used for MoM or the VR attraction, sure, but that's a much more surprising move than id think they'd actually invest for. Unless they're really considering to cannibalize now.

 

[Ron101]

Get rid of the Special Effects Show building please! If they get rid of that and build out into the mountain a bit, then they have a pretty good chunk of land to work with. While they're at it, they should get rid of the Animal Actors show:chainsaw:.

 

[Jerroddragon]

I would love more Potter...but don't see how things would fit without lots more changes

 

[SailwiththeTide]

if they put diagon where simpsons they can still have the hogsmeade express

 

[Grabnar]

This sucks

I love that land and doubt a old land from Florida will be better

Now if it was Nintendo or a new land cool but no thanks to an old land

Kidzone

 

[Viator]

Decided to stew a bit more on the subject--and let's say, if Springfield goes for London and Diagon...how does that not include the Studio Tour plaza.

If Gringotts comes to USH, it would be a 2.22 acre attraction, that couldn't fit into The Simpsons Ride without heavy changes to roadways, infastructure, and what-not.

However, there is one area that could work rather well for this potential option: The current spot of where the maintenance shed goes. If Diagon would come, Gringotts would need land; about 2.22 acres worth. Hypothetically, they could do something really well with that of the area at the maintenance barn, alongside a small portion of the plaza. And then for the rest of Diagon, have it within the plaza and touching a small portion of the hillside, with a connector over where the current Tram entrance is.

Now with that said, how would you tackle the issue of the elevation of the tram plaza? Simple: you don't. You have Diagon be elevated to be above the height of the current tram plaza as it stands now. Essentially, think like a mall. That would allow the area to blend in a bit more with that of a new London (in the wake of Springfield being turned into that of London), and saving The Simpsons Ride and Special Effects Stage down the road, with both the VR attraction and the Ministry of Magic attraction from Epic Universe.



Simpsons is a weird anomaly to me when it comes down to it. One that I can't see much coming, unless they get super duper creative with the footprint of The Simpsons Ride.

 

[Theme Vision]

One would think Mummy is next on the chopping block... I can't say I'm surprised though, it would make sense for them to do away with Simpsons before 2028.

 

[SailwiththeTide]

The are doing some demo
Work at the tram garage right now but most likely just maintenance and not for a bigger project. One could wish.

Decided to stew a bit more on the subject--and let's say, if Springfield goes for London and Diagon...how does that not include the Studio Tour plaza.

If Gringotts comes to USH, it would be a 2.22 acre attraction, that couldn't fit into The Simpsons Ride without heavy changes to roadways, infastructure, and what-not.

However, there is one area that could work rather well for this potential option: The current spot of where the maintenance shed goes. If Diagon would come, Gringotts would need land; about 2.22 acres worth. Hypothetically, they could do something really well with that of the area at the maintenance barn, alongside a small portion of the plaza. And then for the rest of Diagon, have it within the plaza and touching a small portion of the hillside, with a connector over where the current Tram entrance is.

Now with that said, how would you tackle the issue of the elevation of the tram plaza? Simple: you don't. You have Diagon be elevated to be above the height of the current tram plaza as it stands now. Essentially, think like a mall. That would allow the area to blend in a bit more with that of a new London (in the wake of Springfield being turned into that of London), and saving The Simpsons Ride and Special Effects Stage down the road, with both the VR attraction and the Ministry of Magic attraction from Epic Universe.

View attachment 14734

Simpsons is a weird anomaly to me when it comes down to it. One that I can't see much coming, unless they get super duper creative with the footprint of The Simpsons Ride.

 

[Freak]

Read the posts last night, but now that I have some time to put my thoughts into this:

Well, it didn't feel like it was that long ago to me that rumors just sprouted of Springfield coming to USH, now we're already talking about its demolition. Wooof. Well, I figured it was only a matter of time since Disney bought Fox that USH was wanting to off the Simpsons.

Now, I know the fellow said that there were several potential concepts to replace Springfield and they were all eyeing a "certain land from Orlando". I know rumors for DA have been off and on, but there's not much room to put DA in that area. I saw Alex's proposition to put DA in the space, but I think they should just wait to put DA in Falls Lake or where Mummy. I don't think it would be a great use of space to demo the SES and AA stages and Simpsons, "stretch" london through Springfield and then have Gringott's consume that tram plaza space; at least that's what I got from Alex's proposed map. That would mean those venues surrounding the former Springfield area could ONLY be reserved for Potter. Besides, USH could use another coaster and I think the tram plaza is one of the few places they could probably make it work to find way to quelch the noise a little bit. I would rather they use that spot for Hagrid's or some land that would involve a decent coaster.

If I was calling the shots, I think Springfield should be reserved for a more "generic" area that gives the flexibility of standalone rides. Not everything has to be a land centered on one IP. I think something along the lines of a New York Street would be great for the area. The infrastructure is already in place to allow for a simple re-skin and they could probably get away with keeping a lot of the food and switch the branding. Don't know if the Flaming Moe would make the cut though. I'm gonna put my own bias towards an idea I have, but with a NY area, they could have the opportunity to put in a Ghostbusters shooting dark ride. They could potentially port the Bourne Stuntacular over here. Then you have the Simpsons Ride plot ripe for a new E-ticket. If they do have a Ghostbusters shooting ride, they could have some food themed to GB. Think of the drink opportunities from Ecto-Cooler to Stay Puft Marshmallow Stout. I think a NY street with a GB mini land would be great! I hope they pay attention to the potential success of the GB movie.

Man, I'm gonna miss those big pink donuts though. That's the only food item I'm really gonna miss from SF.

 

[highdefrex]

With Back to the Future: The Ride’s clear influence on the pods from Godzilla vs. Kong‘s final act (which Adam Wingard even confirmed) I was low key hoping/expecting to see the MonsterVerse take over Springfield, with the ride converted to a Monarch building where we’re invited to journey to the center of the Earth (in the same pods from the movie). And then, in standard fashion, things go wrong and we’re caught up in a battle between Kong, Godzilla, Mecha-Godzilla, and any other Titans.

But pipe dream aside, as well as my love for Freak’s Ghostbusters idea, Diagon Alley does seem like the clear option in terms of the tweet saying “let just say one is a land that USH wants to bring from Orlando,” since I doubt they’d make that space, say, Seuss Landing or even more Jurassic area.

That said, are we sure that the land has to be one from USF/IOA? What if it’s one of the lands from EU, like the Monsters land, some version of the HTTYD land, or even a modified version of that park’s Wizarding World expansion? I’d have to imagine we’ll see something from that park (not counting SNW) cross-pollinate ours at some point.

 

[Clive]

Not sure how much I buy this, to be honest. Universal doesn't care if Disney gets money. It's not something that figures into their bottom line. Having to give a cut of food sales does - but it doesn't really matter where it goes, and at some point, they were clearly comfortable with it. They agreed to the deal when they decided to build Simpsons/Springfield in the first place. The IP changing hands doesn't change anything other than making negotiating a favorable deal extension more difficult.

This isn't to say they haven't considered replacements, but Springfield dramatically revitalized the park's food & beverage sales in addition to Potter's F&B offerings. They definitely made more after the change at the end of the day, regardless of how much of a cut FOX took.

 

[Ron101]

Isn’t the cut they give for the food already pre determined in the contract they recently extended? Disney or Fox, either way they were giving 30% right?

 

[Nland316]

I’m not that opposed to retheming Springfield, but I’d definitely miss it. The Simpson’s universe translates pretty well into a theme park environment.

With that being said, I hope Diagon Alley is not in the works. That would be a Potter overload in the Upper Lot. I want Universal’s offerings to be way more diverse than only the 5 main IP’s they currently offer.

 

[Viator]

In an ideal situation, I'd suggest Pokemon to replace Springfield; as I can see Mario and Pokemon being able to co-exist without much issue, as opposed to more Potter or even Monsters in that close of a proximity.

 

[Skipper Justin]

We all know the timeless land that they are thinking about bringing over: KidZone!

 

[GhostHost85]

Springfield itself is a great land, but since they never seem to run The Simpsons Ride at full capacity anymore, the line is always unbearable long, so I am okay with the land going away. I just hope it is a new land instead of a clone of something from Orlando. I wonder if the new land could take up the Castle Stage also.