Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[HandsomePete]

It’s my lowest ranking theme park in Florida. I am glad to see they are trying to address the entertainment issue, but the park has a long ways to go.

Coming to a Fun Spot billboard soon

“Better than Universal Studios”
-ragerunner

 

[belloq87]

We've had instances from insiders and quotes from Creative about Universal's moving away from reliance on screens.

That's true, but it's hard to fully believe it when you look at the most recent attraction they opened at USF. And that was accompanied by a fair bit of "Maybe Universal doesn't think it's much of an issue, after all" speculation.

Perhaps this is what you mean, but I think that while skepticism is fair, cynicism is toxic.

I'll take skeptical, sure.

And keep in mind... I want my skepticism to be wrong.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm no hater of screen based attractions. I actually like them a lot when they're done well, and they don't comprise just about every attraction in a park. But, in my opinion, Universal Studios hit it's peak with Diagon, and has actually slipped a bit since then. I still like the Festival nature of the park. That's kind of it's strength now.

 

[Brian G.]

That's true, but it's hard to fully believe it when you look at the most recent attraction they opened at USF. And that was accompanied by a fair bit of "Maybe Universal doesn't think it's much of an issue, after all" speculation.


I'll take skeptical, sure.

And keep in mind... I want my skepticism to be wrong.

Yes - the one example in the last few years. Seems silly to hold that small C-Ticket in a unique situation as the standard and ignore things like Hagrid, VC, Pets, FF Coaster, Epic Universe...

 

[belloq87]

Yes - the one example in the last few years. Seems silly to hold that small C-Ticket in a unique situation as the standard and ignore things like Hagrid, VC, Pets, FF Coaster, Epic Universe...

I'm talking entirely about USF.

 

[highdefrex]

I'm talking entirely about USF.

All those things Brian listed, though, are a sign of where Universal is headed overall. I cut some slack towards Villain-Con because it was a.) built while a colossal amount of money, time, and energy is focused on Epic Universe, which really can't just be ignored, and b.) at least tries something new with the screen concept rather than "motion simulator" again.

The fact Universal's bulk of projects have all been moving away from screens across all the parks, like Brian listed, coupled with the little things happening in USF while Epic Universe is being built, like renovating ET or building the DreamWorks play land or even letting staff openly mock Supercharged, suggest to me that when the time comes for Universal to turn its focus back onto "what's next" for USF post-EU, they're gonna be implementing the same mindset they've been demonstrating the last number of years with all the other parks: Less screens, more tactile environments, etc.

Universal learned its lesson, and we can see that with the other parks. Just because USF hasn't gotten the overall facelift yet to match doesn't mean it's not coming, but the sheer volume of projects they've been making that prove that point can't just be handwaved away just because USF hasn't had one yet.

 

[Brian G.]

I'm talking entirely about USF.

But the overall portfolio of Creative shows where the mindset is at. Yes, USF hasn't seen the goods yet - but it doesn't take much to read the tea leaves.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I'm not against the studio theme, but I would like to see some aesthetic changes to the park itself. The attraction lineup is decent, but with the addition of Minion Land, the front half of the park is just a big mess of Minions, UNIVRS branding and Universal Rewards kiosk... not the best first impression.

An aesthetic overhaul of the entrance (like USH saw a few years back or DCA's Buena Vista Street) will do a lot for me (honestly just some large trees is more than enough for me). My hope is that the E.T. entrance refresh will extend over to the sliver of what was originally World Expo in front of Animal Actors to get rid of some of the dated areas of the park.

My biggest gripe w/ Minion Land is the lack of foliage for shade, that asphalt is brutal.

 

[Brian G.]

I'm not against the studio theme, but I would like to see some aesthetic changes to the park itself. The attraction lineup is decent, but with the addition of Minion Land, the front half of the park is just a big mess of Minions, UNIVRS branding and Universal Rewards kiosk... not the best first impression.

An aesthetic overhaul of the entrance (like USH saw a few years back or DCA's Buena Vista Street) will do a lot for me (honestly just some large trees is more than enough for me). My hope is that the E.T. entrance refresh will extend over to the sliver of what was originally World Expo in front of Animal Actors to get rid of some of the dated areas of the park.

My biggest gripe w/ Minion Land is the lack of foliage for shade, that asphalt is brutal.

Minion Land was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. It's net positive, for sure; but I don't know if you'll get what you're asking for there just because of the massive undertaking it would take.

The Rewards thing has gotta GO, though.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I want my skepticism to be wrong.

Nah you’re just another internet nihilist.

 

[Brian G.]

Nah you’re just another internet nihilist.

Yall need to hug it out. Lol.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Minion Land was trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. It's net positive, for sure; but I don't know if you'll get what you're asking for there just because of the massive undertaking it would take.

All I'm asking for are some trees that can shield us from the hot Florida sun and provide some greenery to balance out all of the concrete. Park really only has two nicely public areas... and one of them is unfortunately a smoking section.

The Rewards thing has gotta GO, though.

It's a heck of an annoyance placing it at the front of the main USF store... and it looks like they are getting a more prominent location at security hub.

 

[belloq87]

Nah you’re just another internet nihilist.

That's an absurd thing to say.

 

[MrRoamer]

Might be off-topic, but I finally got to experience Race Through NYC recently, and I don’t think it gets enough love. The queue is one of the absolute best at both IOA and Universal. The ride itself is one of the smoothest simulators I’ve ever been on (I’d go so far as to call it “comfy”), and the 3-D is fantastic. I know many find Jimmy to be incredibly annoying, but I think his persona works very well for the host of the ride. I’d actually consider this to be one of my favorite attractions at the park.

The queue is definitely super cool, and the simulator isn't terrible. Its just a weird concept at a weird time.

The one thing I absolutely don't care for is the floatiness of the motion. It feels like Body Wars and makes me super motion sick because there is such a major disconnect

 

[kingcooger]

I genuinely don't recall hearing anything about USF's hypothetical Pokemon other than it wouldn't be a straight clone of the Scoop ride system version that Japan is presumably getting. I haven't heard anything indicating that Japan's ride concept (supposedly AR-based) wouldn't be carried over to Florida, but if I missed something, then I reserve the right to amend my stance.

I always envisioned Pokemon as being an AR/practical hybrid where our Pokemon that we have collected and their attacks are shown to us via AR while we move through various sets encountering wild Pokemon or Team Rocket with their creatures. There's a chance at randomization if they manage to make the AR apply to the Pokemon we have to face off against. Imagine if their attacks on us were achieved via the AR, so they could make it different rider to rider.

While I also do not love USF's screen reliance, I think if the AR is properly utilized and married with the gaming aspects found in Minion Blast, we could see a truly impressive hybrid attraction.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Gonna throw my hat in the ring here - Race Through New York is highly underrated.

The building itself is gorgeous and fits perfectly in New York - I feel like there's really no argument that it's a better fit there than Twister lol.

The queue and museum are really cool, the interactive games are fun and the entertainment while waiting for the ride is great.

The ride itself is a good simulator - but like others have said, it came at a very bad time.

 

[Mad Dog]

Trouble with Studios is they bet the house on their F&F D/E ticket attraction, and never expected it to be as bad, and as disliked, as it turned out. That left a massive hole in the middle of the park, and seemed to throw off their Studio's expansion timeline. Instead of fixing, or replacing, F&F, Universal is just letting it sit there as a huge negative on the park map. They probably should have delayed the upcoming RRR coaster replacement, since most guests still like it, and fixed that F&F problem first.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

RRR coaster replacement

I read this and thought for a second they were going to make an RRR coaster.

 

[saint.piss]

But.... why

 

[Alicia]

But.... why

New parade includes a pretty long float that takes wide turns, is my assumption.

Rumor says they may relocate Lew elsewhere.