I've been chronically offline for a good month or so & am just now catching up, so I'm here to finally deliver what everyone has been clamoring for in this thread: even more takes & opinions! /s
My biggest takeaway is they have a branding issue here. I fully recognize as a theme park nerd that it's under the
Universal Kids umbrella. I also know what that means in comparison to the "real" Universal Parks.
The general public doesn't. They see "Universal" and that's it. Hell, some people still just think Universal is called Harry Potter World. You can't give the average guest that much credit. Your 58-year-old uncle fully thinks this is just a regular, ugly looking Universal park and it's not a great position for Universal to be in.
However, people have short attention spans and a new mind-blowing Potter ride and Pokemon Land will come to the Orlando in a few years and suddenly everyone remembers that they love Universal and have to go. This isn't some death kneel and the parks will continue to succeed and this may or may not stay open in several years. The dramatics will be short-lived and everyone will have had their social media giggles for a week or two. Things like this or Galactic Starcruiser or Euro Disney don't just magically destroy the brand.
While we're still in that first week or two though, I'm happy to pile on a little and say that it's unacceptable to drop this much money on a kid's park and not commit to basic painting or shade. Just because kids
seem unfazed by the sweltering heat doesn't mean they should be bombarded with it for a full day. Stop being cheap and lazy, guys. I'm not asking for dark rides or animatronics. Just the basics.
I also think the dramatics are silly. Let Universal try weird stuff. Stop worrying about their budget like you're in the boardrooms. The Orlando parks are still getting annual additions and nothing appears to be changing there or slowing down. Experimenting can lead to cool stuff. Let's see what sticks when they throw a million things at the wall.
In conclusion, lol I'm not having kids, this isn't for me, and it's pretty damn hideous. Add some color and shade and you've got a spot kids will enjoy and that's all that matters I guess. This park means nothing to me and I didn't keep up with the construction at all, so why should my opinion mean anything to this park.