Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[Nico]

Both books. Jaybangs slightly better than the first. I like how Jay refutes a few of the Execs from the first book who he said took false credit for what others actually did. And they were some of the big prominent names.......This is like unfolding a mystery, trying to figure out where certain types of decisions are coming from. I'm not a insider and only have private insider info from some friends who are insiders. And they all just have pieces of some puzzles. Not hardly anyone out there, besides Alicia, that knows as much as Teebin used to know, or they're not talking. Anyway, I asked Jonathan a question on another thread when the subject of past and present entertainment cuts at Hollywood popped up. Contrary to what a couple of other posters from the Hollywood side have said, he said he doesn't think Karen instituted the Hollywood entertainment cuts in 2018 and 2019 when she was the Prez there.. He thinks two others were involved that are still with Universal in some capacity ( Did either come east with Karen or get elevated to a position outside of USH?).. His info and thoughts are usually pretty right on, so if what he thinks is correct, that changes the way I'm looking at behind the scenes management stuff in USO. If Karen isn't pushing some of this agenda that isn't very guest friendly, then where is it coming from. Is it the new guard mgt. people, the old guard mgt. people, or Comcast/Universal Execs. ? Perhaps I've been blaming the wrong group. From my many years experience of running organizations, these constant last minute decisions appears as a red flag to me that there's issues, for one reason or another, on reaching an overall consensus. Anyway, I'm reevaluating some of my thoughts on this, but I'm watching intently.....I just want my unique, old, leisurely, fun Universal Experience back.

Thanks for this insight! Very interesting!

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think the expectations from fans (if not guests) have changed, and the culture hasn’t changed with it.

Well said, I think this statement sums up my rants about Universal better than I could lol

 

[Brian G.]

We obviously all want what's best for Universal, and other theme parks, in general. Universal is not infallible - but not every decision is evidence of bad management, aka cuts.

Ending paper maps and closing off sections of USF til 10? That warrants that discussion.

Closing the lagoon show due to hurricane damage? Probably not.

(Just highlighting a few examples, FWIW, we don't need to go and single out every instance lol)

 

[UniversalRBLX]

USF (and UOR overall) could use a boost in the F&B category...

Blue - WDW
Yellow - UOR
Purple - SeaWorld
(Touring Plans & Google reviews, weighed by number of ratings)

 

[HHN Maddux]

USF (and UOR overall) could use a boost in the F&B category...

Blue - WDW
Yellow - UOR
Purple - SeaWorld
(Touring Plans & Google reviews, weighed by number of ratings)

Ironic that the two highest QSR's are the ones that are almost never open.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Ironic that the two highest QSR's are the ones that are almost never open.

Ronto and Satu'li?

Wouldn't pay too much attention to the individual rankings/ratings, just the overall trend.

 

[Jake S]

I do think Ronto and Satu'li are two of the better theme park quick service options out there, though. We were at Universal Studios for several days in September and I don't think we had any quick service inside the parks. We either did a large midday meal at CityWalk or Mythos.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Its culture was very much “grind or die.” I think the expectations from fans (if not guests) have changed, and the culture hasn’t changed with it.

I'd be curious what you mean when you say expectations from fans...Do you mean that guests (and possibly American society as a whole) have grown more conscious of labor exploitation or do you mean that there are particular things that guests no longer expect of service workers that previous generations might have?

USF (and UOR overall) could use a boost in the F&B category...

Blue - WDW
Yellow - UOR
Purple - SeaWorld
(Touring Plans & Google reviews, weighed by number of ratings)

I gotta be honest, while the general trend line makes sense, some of these matchups don't (how is Wimpy's better than Three Broomsticks?)

 

[HHN Maddux]

Ronto and Satu'li?

Wouldn't pay too much attention to the individual rankings/ratings, just the overall trend.

Oh I was referring to Wimpy's and Green Eggs.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I'd be curious what you mean when you say expectations from fans...Do you mean that guests (and possibly American society as a whole) have grown more conscious of labor exploitation or do you mean that there are particular things that guests no longer expect of service workers that previous generations might have?

I gotta be honest, while the general trend line makes sense, some of these matchups don't (how is Wimpy's better than Three Broomsticks?)

Far fewer ratings for Wimpy's so positive ratings overall weigh it heavier than Three Broomsticks which has far more reviews so it has a far more "realistic" score if that makes sense.

Either way, seeing WDW completely dominate UOR in this space is pretty insane. I need to update the ride/attraction version I have, as it's fairly even with a handful of USF attractions weighing everything down lol

 

[IzzyB]

USF (and UOR overall) could use a boost in the F&B category...

Blue - WDW
Yellow - UOR
Purple - SeaWorld
(Touring Plans & Google reviews, weighed by number of ratings)

OK, I have a hard time trusting anything that made voyagers the top Sea World place. That food is inedible half the time. But then again all sea world outside of mama and the new pizza place is lol

But in all seriousness I would agree with the trend. By far Disney is better at food than Universal and Sea World. I would say Universal is way better than Sea World, but to be fair I have only done the two HP QQ recently and food was way better but service was way worse, so wondering if service plays into this scores. I am surprised outside of Mama that so many SW ranked higher than Universal ones to be honest with you. Everyone I know complains about SW food.

I'd be curious what you mean when you say expectations from fans...Do you mean that guests (and possibly American society as a whole) have grown more conscious of labor exploitation or do you mean that there are particular things that guests no longer expect of service workers that previous generations might have?

I gotta be honest, while the general trend line makes sense, some of these matchups don't (how is Wimpy's better than Three Broomsticks?)

Three Broomsticks could be service. We had absolutely terrible service there.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

OK, I have a hard time trusting anything that made voyagers the top Sea World place. That food is inedible half the time. But then again all sea world outside of mama and the new pizza place is lol

But in all seriousness I would agree with the trend. By far Disney is better at food than Universal and Sea World. I would say Universal is way better than Sea World, but to be fair I have only done the two HP QQ recently and food was way better but service was way worse, so wondering if service plays into this scores. I am surprised outside of Mama that so many SW ranked higher than Universal ones to be honest with you. Everyone I know complains about SW food.


Three Broomsticks could be service. We had absolutely terrible service there.

SeaWorld used to be very good at food, Voyagers was arguably one of the best QSR options in any theme park Pre-Covid. Same with the pretzel kitchen. Back when the Meal Plan was worth it.

I could be misremembering, but I'm 99% confident I remember seeing Voyager's Google rating prior to Covid at 4.7-4.8, now it's 4.1, and the quality shows.

 

[vgp]

Definitely a different mgt. culture. I've been wondering for a while how much of that old guard continues to exist since the changeover after covid. All of these seemingly last minute decisions might be due to new vs. old internal group divisions, or maybe they're not. Is there real consensus? Interesting, whatever the real answer is, behind the curtain.

There are a lot more decisions rooted in either work from consultants or via an internal efficiency/capacity team now than there were pre-COVID. I won't offer if that's a good or bad thing but it's certainly easier for a senior leader to make a decision based off a financial number right in from of them that's been scienced out.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Three Broomsticks could be service. We had absolutely terrible service there.

One could argue it was accurately British!

 

[IzzyB]

SeaWorld used to be very good at food, Voyagers was arguably one of the best QSR options in any theme park Pre-Covid. Same with the pretzel kitchen. Back when the Meal Plan was worth it.

I could be misremembering, but I'm 99% confident I remember seeing Voyager's Google rating prior to Covid at 4.7-4.8, now it's 4.1, and the quality shows.

I don't know I never cared for them, but I am super picky about BBQ and I did get food poisoning from their meat not stored at the right temp. So maybe I am jaded. I will say yes, the food has gotten way worse over the years, I don't know anyone who has eaten at voyagers recently that liked it. I have tried all of them recently trying to find something I could eat beyond a pretzel pizza lol

Also, my other beef with SW is their kids meals. They refuse to offer more than 2 options at each place and this means the restaurant you are at may not have a kids meal that has anything to do with the restaurant. For example Altitude Burger does not have a kids burger. I asked why and they said parents complained there was no chicken nuggets so they replaced the burger with nuggets. Ummm..... that is dumb. Parents are dumb, why didn't they go to one of the other 10 places that do have nuggets?!? So my kids don't like eating there and we end up at Mama pretzel.

We did find that the new pizza place is actually really good, just SUPER expensive. I pay more for a personal pizza than I do for a large pizza at a local restaurant.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I don't know I never cared for them, but I am super picky about BBQ and I did get food poisoning from their meat not stored at the right temp. So maybe I am jaded. I will say yes, the food has gotten way worse over the years, I don't know anyone who has eaten at voyagers recently that liked it. I have tried all of them recently trying to find something I could eat beyond a pretzel pizza lol

Also, my other beef with SW is their kids meals. They refuse to offer more than 2 options at each place and this means the restaurant you are at may not have a kids meal that has anything to do with the restaurant. For example Altitude Burger does not have a kids burger. I asked why and they said parents complained there was no chicken nuggets so they replaced the burger with nuggets. Ummm..... that is dumb. Parents are dumb, why didn't they go to one of the other 10 places that do have nuggets?!? So my kids don't like eating there and we end up at Mama pretzel.

We did find that the new pizza place is actually really good, just SUPER expensive. I pay more for a personal pizza than I do for a large pizza at a local restaurant.

Just go to Portillo's or Raising Cane's that just opened down the street, far better lol

As for USF, the everything pretzel that debuted last year gave me hope... but after 2 months the quality dropped hard lol

 

[IzzyB]

Just go to Portillo's or Raising Cane's that just opened down the street, far better lol

As for USF, the everything pretzel that debuted last year gave me hope... but after 2 months the quality dropped hard lol

I mean when you are in the park, I am not about to leave, eat, and come back lol. If we are planning on leaving after eating then yes we leave and eat elsewhere.

I have to try more places to really make a final decision, but so far Universal for me is well above SW in offerings and quality and well below Disney. Service wise Universal is on the bottom. I still say it shouldn't take 20 to 25 minutes to get counter service food AND you should be able to customize stuff more. SW would absolutely customize stuff for us if we needed it customized.

 

[ultimateforce]

100% of the problems I have with food at UO come from the severe understaffing of locations. Getting a churro should be instant with no line.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I mean when you are in the park, I am not about to leave, eat, and come back lol. If we are planning on leaving after eating then yes we leave and eat elsewhere.

I have to try more places to really make a final decision, but so far Universal for me is well above SW in offerings and quality and well below Disney. Service wise Universal is on the bottom. I still say it shouldn't take 20 to 25 minutes to get counter service food AND you should be able to customize stuff more. SW would absolutely customize stuff for us if we needed it customized.

Overpriced and "bland" theme park food is expected, but at least give us good service to make up for that lol

Don't push us towards an app if you can't customize it or is broken most of the time. UOR also doesn't have that many great snacking options, so if you just want truffle fries from Richter's, you have to get a table, order, and then you can leave after you get your food lol

I do like that Minion Cafe has a separate pickup location for mobile orders though.

 

[belloq87]

I've never really had any complaints about the quality of the actual food, either in USF or IOA.

Service definitely could have been a bit faster on my last trip, though.