State of USH - What's Next?

[Jerroddragon]

Glad Universalis trying to use more of the park while it’s so busy

 

[imaleo]

I don't hate the idea of another JW ride. I'd be down for a JW indoor roller coaster of some sort.

They could just re-theme Mummy into jurassic world ride.

 

[Uni-Fan]

Summers are so brutal at USH. They really need to up capacity. Currently the park only has 15 attractions.
These being:
1. DW Theater
2. Flight of the Hippogriff
3. Harry Potter
4. The Simpson Ride
5. Studio Tour
6. Despicable Me
7. Secret Life of Pets
8. Silly Swirly
9. Super Silly Water Play Area
10. Revenge of the Mummy
11. Transformers
12. Jurassic World
13. Mario Kart
14. Waterworld
15. Dinoplay

The lines are ridiculously long and the if you have no express pass then you feel like you didn’t do much the whole day.

I know USH is limited on space but they really need to put some themed flat rides wherever possible just to lighten the load a bit.

A version of the Minion Freezeray Sliders from Tokyo can be put in the back of Finland if the small play area was removed/relocated.

Minion Villain Con Blast can be put in the former Walking Dead space like so many have talked about.

Kang n Kodos Hurl n Twirl can be put in Springfield if the Kwik-E mart were relocated as well.

I’m not saying that these should be implemented the way I’ve written them here but something needs to be done to help the capacity issues. Fast n the Furious is a step in the right direction but it’s still not enough. Quick fixes should make their way into the park and the park does need more kid friendly rides regardless. The Parisian courtyard and plaza area in front of it need to make way for a new ride or two as well because all though the courtyard is beautiful, the park never meant to try to become a full fledged theme park back when they put it in in 1989 and the plaza is closed a lot and is only used promotional most of the time.

I know some of these places are used for HHN maze areas but at this point, they need to start building some of these mazes on the stuido Tour area instead where there actually is space.

The park is small enough and bringing in world class attractions like Super Nintendo World only make it feel like you can’t breath all the more. I say put in the work, add more small attractions that don’t take up alot of space to soak up some of that foot traffic.

 

[Clive]

At a certain point, though, the park is just going to be busy. They just opened their game-changing expansion.

That said, I don't disagree that they could better utilize some of their available space. I suspect Parisian Courtyard, as much as I love it, isn't long for this world. (I don't have insider information on this point - just hedging.)

They also need shows to replace the lost capacity there. Not exactly sure where those venues end up.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Summers are so brutal at USH. They really need to up capacity. Currently the park only has 15 attractions.
These being:
1. DW Theater
2. Flight of the Hippogriff
3. Harry Potter
4. The Simpson Ride
5. Studio Tour
6. Despicable Me
7. Secret Life of Pets
8. Silly Swirly
9. Super Silly Water Play Area
10. Revenge of the Mummy
11. Transformers
12. Jurassic World
13. Mario Kart
14. Waterworld
15. Dinoplay

The lines are ridiculously long and the if you have no express pass then you feel like you didn’t do much the whole day.

I know USH is limited on space but they really need to put some themed flat rides wherever possible just to lighten the load a bit.

A version of the Minion Freezeray Sliders from Tokyo can be put in the back of Finland if the small play area was removed/relocated.

Minion Villain Con Blast can be put in the former Walking Dead space like so many have talked about.

Kang n Kodos Hurl n Twirl can be put in Springfield if the Kwik-E mart were relocated as well.

I’m not saying that these should be implemented the way I’ve written them here but something needs to be done to help the capacity issues. Fast n the Furious is a step in the right direction but it’s still not enough. Quick fixes should make their way into the park and the park does need more kid friendly rides regardless. The Parisian courtyard and plaza area in front of it need to make way for a new ride or two as well because all though the courtyard is beautiful, the park never meant to try to become a full fledged theme park back when they put it in in 1989 and the plaza is closed a lot and is only used promotional most of the time.

I know some of these places are used for HHN maze areas but at this point, they need to start building some of these mazes on the stuido Tour area instead where there actually is space.

The park is small enough and bringing in world class attractions like Super Nintendo World only make it feel like you can’t breath all the more. I say put in the work, add more small attractions that don’t take up alot of space to soak up some of that foot traffic.

Yeah, Money wise they make so much now (hell they are even open longer then the Florida parks) I doubt they care but I agree

A few things they could have done include
Yoshi ride in SNW (the land as others have noted is not much smaller then the one in Japan)
Having shows in the main plaza over....just having cars there (could literally have put them in Citywalk) or having some sort of event happening in the main plaza like when they had the Dream works themed event a few summers back
Have a full time maze again in the Walk Dead Space
Also could have had something ready for the Dream Works theater to Drawn people into that

 

[imaleo]

At a certain point, though, the park is just going to be busy. They just opened their game-changing expansion.

That said, I don't disagree that they could better utilize some of their available space. I suspect Parisian Courtyard, as much as I love it, isn't long for this world. (I don't have insider information on this point - just hedging.)

They also need shows to replace the lost capacity there. Not exactly sure where those venues end up.

They could possibly add the SING show from USJ and USB in the parisian court since I don’t see parasian court sticking up too long. But they could also add in Bourne somewhere in the park to fill in more capacity, as well as adding more entertainment in the plaza. Such as having stages or dance performances to fill in that space. But I really do agree that universal really does need more flat rides Or non-height requirement attractions such as bringing in Villain con over to the former walking dead space. As someone brought it up, they would be losing HHN locations, but could re-locate those spaces into the backlot.

I always thought if Universal expands into the SS in between of Transformers and Mummy, they could add a big walking space for parades or a lagoon for a Night-Time Spectacular show.
We’ll see what the “Entertainment Capital Of L.A” has to offer In the future

 

[Clive]

They could possibly add the SING show from USJ and USB in the parisian court since I don’t see parasian court sticking up too long. But they could also add in Bourne somewhere in the park to fill in more capacity, as well as adding more entertainment in the plaza. Such as having stages or dance performances to fill in that space. But I really do agree that universal really does need more flat rides Or non-height requirement attractions such as bringing in Villain con over to the former walking dead space. As someone brought it up, they would be losing HHN locations, but could re-locate those spaces into the backlot.

I always thought if Universal expands into the SS in between of Transformers and Mummy, they could add a big walking space for parades or a lagoon for a Night-Time Spectacular show.
We’ll see what the “Entertainment Capital Of L.A” has to offer In the future

We're getting into Roller Coaster Tycoon territory. It isn't that easy. If Universal could locate mazes on the backlot like they have in the past, they would - right now it is prohibitively expensive due to high production demand.

A stage in the plaza seems doable. Losing Parisian Courtyard for a very compact attraction (i.e. Villain Con, don't think SING would fit) could work. I don't think they'll give up Walking Dead, which has other back-of-house uses.

Where does Bourne go? How would a parade even work? We're talking about a lagoon now? Let's be realistic.

 

[Freak]

They could possibly add the SING show from USJ and USB in the parisian court since I don’t see parasian court sticking up too long. But they could also add in Bourne somewhere in the park to fill in more capacity, as well as adding more entertainment in the plaza. Such as having stages or dance performances to fill in that space. But I really do agree that universal really does need more flat rides Or non-height requirement attractions such as bringing in Villain con over to the former walking dead space. As someone brought it up, they would be losing HHN locations, but could re-locate those spaces into the backlot.

I always thought if Universal expands into the SS in between of Transformers and Mummy, they could add a big walking space for parades or a lagoon for a Night-Time Spectacular show.
We’ll see what the “Entertainment Capital Of L.A” has to offer In the future

If Parisian has to go, it has to be for something good and something that will add capacity. The Sing show from USJ ain’t gonna do it. If they were to put in something like Villain Con (Which I hope they don’t), I would bet you mucho dinero that they would utilize TWDA with the queue and space already in place, plus the fact they can’t put anything else in there besides an HHN house. They’re not tearing down Parisian for something like that.

If Parisian has to go, it has to be something at the very least of DWT-caliber. I could see a DWT-style Sing show or a very small dark ride take that spot. I think you could cram a dark ride in that spot if you get really creative with it by having the queue on the first floor and the ride on the second.

I said it before and I’ll say it again, but USH could really use a port of the Monster Make Up show from USF over here. It would be perfect for the park. It would fill the void of the “how movies are made” experience, be entertaining, and give something for guests to do to rest their feet in the air conditioning.

 

[Viator]

If Villain-Con comes to USH, they need a *lot* more space than what TWDA provides; for queue, the walkthrough and the technology needed to maintain and clean the blasters.

Parisian gives them that space easily, especially if they can do a Pets and have it be a Multi-Floor complex.

 

[imaleo]

We're getting into Roller Coaster Tycoon territory. It isn't that easy. If Universal could locate mazes on the backlot like they have in the past, they would - right now it is prohibitively expensive due to high production demand.

A stage in the plaza seems doable. Losing Parisian Courtyard for a very compact attraction (i.e. Villain Con, don't think SING would fit) could work. I don't think they'll give up Walking Dead, which has other back-of-house uses.

Where does Bourne go? How would a parade even work? We're talking about a lagoon now? Let's be realistic.

Not the same exact replica of the SING show, they could add a show, dark ride, or even a flat ride based off the franchise SING. Imo it would fit perfectly.
People have said bourne could go into the Simpsons ride, but dk how the land would be themed. I would much prefer it over simpsons tho.
The lagoon and parade is just something I thought of that would be cool in the future if its possible. I know its not realistic and possible NOW.

If Villain-Con comes to USH, they need a *lot* more space than what TWDA provides; for queue, the walkthrough and the technology needed to maintain and clean the blasters.

Parisian gives them that space easily, especially if they can do a Pets and have it be a Multi-Floor complex.

If they were to use that same building, they would have to demolish the studio store, and the starbucks. But i doubt it. So it could replace parisian, or it could be a whole other attraction based off Sing.

 

[chris.g]

FWIW, Universal is not blind to this. They have literally planned, and scrapped/ reworked said plans, for replacements/ expansions due to the fact they just dont address the needs for capacity. Parisian Courtyard being one of them,

 

[Jerroddragon]

FWIW, Universal is not blind to this. They have literally planned, and scrapped/ reworked said plans, for replacements/ expansions due to the fact they just dont address the needs for capacity. Parisian Courtyard being one of them,

They aren’t blind to this?

Then I’m very confused why they didn’t at least have a stage show shows this summer in main plaza
The parks have been packed since SNW opened and besides death eaters and the pop up bar near Jurassic, I can’t see one thing they have done to make the park crowds places to spread out (if you d been to the park, it’s not helping much lower lot is butt to butt busy most days still)

Side note: Do we have a status on the mini stunt show? They did it like one day then never came back

 

[Mad Dog]

It's very troubling that both Universal Orlando and Universal Hollywood have seemed to back off of live entertainment type shows. This smacks of a management philosophy at both parks.

 

[Jamesh22]

Universal aren't building those new sounstages on property for no reason.
It's to enable them to give over more of the LL to theme park expansion.

If adding Hollywood Drift is Management identifying something the park is missing and going after it, then I have confidence that they will be addressing issues such as capacity in the future.

That said they do seem to have a blind spot to low level capacity such as relatively easy to implement flats, and it baffles me how 'lite' our version of SNW is - they could have done with that space.

It's very troubling that both Universal Orlando and Universal Hollywood have seemed to back off of live entertainment type shows. This smacks of a management philosophy at both parks.

I think it's probably cost saving related, no live shows = no actors to pay.

I'd bet we get a new show on the LL in the next few years though.

 

[Mad Dog]

Universal aren't building those new sounstages on property for no reason.
It's to enable them to give over more of the LL to theme park expansion.

If adding Hollywood Drift is Management identifying something the park is missing and going after it, then I have confidence that they will be addressing issues such as capacity in the future.

That said they do seem to have a blind spot to low level capacity such as relatively easy to implement flats, and it baffles me how 'lite' our version of SNW is - they could have done with that space.


I think it's probably cost saving related, no live shows = no actors to pay.

I'd bet we get a new show on the LL in the next few years though.

Yes, it's the constant cost saving that we've been seeing at both resorts, even with attendance and profits soaring, and that's troubling. Parks need balance to be good for guests. Live entertainment may not pay for itself on an individual basis, but it's part of the total guest experience. Part of the reason Disney and Universal have good reps is a past history of live entertainment unmatched by the regional parks, with the exception for Dollywood. Sure don't like seeing Chapek type decisions at Universal. Once BGW abandoned most of their live entertainment, their attendance, and rep, nosedived. It's never recovered. Not that that will happen at Universal, since their overall slate is strong, but it kind of sucks to see this trend.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Universal aren't building those new sounstages on property for no reason.
It's to enable them to give over more of the LL to theme park expansion.

If adding Hollywood Drift is Management identifying something the park is missing and going after it, then I have confidence that they will be addressing issues such as capacity in the future.

That said they do seem to have a blind spot to low level capacity such as relatively easy to implement flats, and it baffles me how 'lite' our version of SNW is - they could have done with that space.


I think it's probably cost saving related, no live shows = no actors to pay.

I'd bet we get a new show on the LL in the next few years though.

The coaster won't be here for almost two years.

My concern is that the parks are going to be just crowded and even then when the new ride opens it will keep the crowds at a similar level (you would think)
I just wish when they were redoing the Plaza they put a stage there. There are many things you can do with that space but management is refusing to address crowds and while everyone online can hate on Disney....at least Disneyland did project stardust before open Star Wars GE and made sure they were ready for the crowds and addressed choke points.

A few idea's for Plaza shows include
Special effects mini show (similar to what we saw a few weeks ago being tested) but do a few more acts make it about a 20 min show
Horror Make up show
A mini Animals actors show. Bring out some of the birds, do the dogs race/dog getting clothing acts. It could be 15ish mins mini show of what we had before with meet and greets at the end.
Drawing Class, they have in the past done with with Kung Fu Panda characters, so why not Minions, Mario, Shrek...etc
Lastly have a band around 8 PM or a DJ.

If they used that space like they do at Grinchmas, I think it could really help with some of the crowds and also make people stay longer.

 

[Freak]

The coaster won't be here for almost two years.

My concern is that the parks are going to be just crowded and even then when the new ride opens it will keep the crowds at a similar level (you would think)
I just wish when they were redoing the Plaza they put a stage there. There are many things you can do with that space but management is refusing to address crowds and while everyone online can hate on Disney....at least Disneyland did project stardust before open Star Wars GE and made sure they were ready for the crowds and addressed choke points.

A few idea's for Plaza shows include
Special effects mini show (similar to what we saw a few weeks ago being tested) but do a few more acts make it about a 20 min show
Horror Make up show
A mini Animals actors show. Bring out some of the birds, do the dogs race/dog getting clothing acts. It could be 15ish mins mini show of what we had before with meet and greets at the end.
Drawing Class, they have in the past done with with Kung Fu Panda characters, so why not Minions, Mario, Shrek...etc
Lastly have a band around 8 PM or a DJ.

If they used that space like they do at Grinchmas, I think it could really help with some of the crowds and also make people stay longer.

There’s only so much they can do in so much time, but I do agree they should’ve put a stage at the Plaza. Would’ve been nice to have something like that mini stunt show there as well as the Blues Bros on that stage. Would also be nice for HHN to have a small freak show or something to entertain people.

 

[Jerroddragon]

There’s only so much they can do in so much time, but I do agree they should’ve put a stage at the Plaza. Would’ve been nice to have something like that mini stunt show there as well as the Blues Bros on that stage. Would also be nice for HHN to have a small freak show or something to entertain people.

I understand to a point

But would have been nice to have faith in what they were making and given SNW more land, I know many here do not care if we got the Yoshi ride or not but considering we just need a little more space to been the same space as Japan, it would be helping out sooooooo much

People love SNW, but the biggest complaint is there is not enough to do, especially when the restaurant "sells" out every day and people can't even go into it.


Beyond that, cool they didn't understand how big Mario would be cool, they had 6 months to find ways to add things to the park.

Over in Japan they just added Magical Creatures to Hogsmed, and that would be a draw away from the lower lot if they added those.

Lets say they don't want a stage in the plaza cool, then put a summer event there like when they added the Dreamworks characters to the park.
Could be Dreamworks again, or illumination, More Nintendo Characters, Transformers (a movie just came out), even Classic characters.



It feels like they just don't care about customer experience and if I saw more work around the park, I'd be like sucks they didn't plan ahead but they are going to make sure Christmas and beyond we are going to have more ways to spread crowds out more.

 

[Mad Dog]

I understand to a point

But would have been nice to have faith in what they were making and given SNW more land, I know many here do not care if we got the Yoshi ride or not but considering we just need a little more space to been the same space as Japan, it would be helping out sooooooo much

People love SNW, but the biggest complaint is there is not enough to do, especially when the restaurant "sells" out every day and people can't even go into it.


Beyond that, cool they didn't understand how big Mario would be cool, they had 6 months to find ways to add things to the park.

Over in Japan they just added Creatures, and that would be a draw away from the lower lot if they added those.

Lets say they don't want a stage in the plaza cool, then put a summer event there like when they added the Dreamworks characters to the park.
Could be Dreamworks again, or illumination, More Nintendo Characters, Transformers (a movie just came out), even Classic characters.



It feels like they just don't care about customer experience and if I saw more work around the park, I'd be like sucks they didn't plan ahead but they are going to make sure Christmas and beyond we are going to have more ways to spread crowds out more.

Yes, they seem not to care about customer experience. Similar to USF where they did nothing substantial to address the overly busy parks, in fact actually temporarily, if true, closing customer experiences. They say it's not cost cutting, but it sure looks like it. Kind of sacrificed, and saved money on 2022 and 2023, to get ready for 2024. It would be different if attendance and 'profits' were down, but it's the exact opposite. Records in both. It's got to be a top management thing.

 

[Uni-Fan]

I mean the park is just so small and there is not enough to do. Does anybody know how big the park actually is, acres wise? This is not including the studio backlot, just the parts of the park people can actually access which constitute the actual theme park portion.