Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[Lucky Planet]

Yes. There was a Potter VR broom experience planned that IIRC first got moved to EU then axed altogether because there was either another Potter VR experience to alike to what Universal was planning or concerns that the tech and experience would not age well.

At this point I think when the time comes at some point in the 2030s the FFL stage and MIB should go for an entirely new land.

I just wish they they copied soaring or the avatar ride

 

[GA-MBIT]

USF should not get rid of the FFL theatre until they build another theatre space with a similarly large capacity and ability to host rotating seasonal shows. All evidence that I currently know about leads to the conclusion that had the Potter VR concept gone through, HHN would have simply gone years without a big-budget live show. Given how high the GSATs for Nightmare Fuel have been for years, it should not be an option to cut FFL theatre anymore imo.

It simply does too much for the park to justify cutting, even while sitting empty most of the year, and assuming that City of Orlando would even allow them to demolish it.

 

[belloq87]

I politely disagree. A prime location for a new ride or new stunt show (accessible year-round to all guests with standard admission) should not be held hostage by HHN needing space. IF Universal ever has a great concept to go on that spot, they should do it and figure out something for HHN elsewhere.

I believe there were rumors that such considerations are what partially led to the Shrek --> VillainCon transition being as unambitious as it was (i.e. to preserve extra space in the building for potential HHN/special event usage), and I think that seriously compromised/limited what could be done on that plot.

 

[Lucky Planet]

USF should not get rid of the FFL theatre until they build another theatre space with a similarly large capacity and ability to host rotating seasonal shows. All evidence that I currently know about leads to the conclusion that had the Potter VR concept gone through, HHN would have simply gone years without a big-budget live show. Given how high the GSATs for Nightmare Fuel have been for years, it should not be an option to cut FFL theatre anymore imo.

It simply does too much for the park to justify cutting, even while sitting empty most of the year, and assuming that City of Orlando would even allow them to demolish it.

I politely disagree. A prime location for a new ride or new stunt show (accessible year-round to all guests with standard admission) should not be held hostage by HHN needing space. IF Universal ever has a great concept to go on that spot, they should do it and figure out something for HHN elsewhere.

I believe there were rumors that such considerations are what partially led to the Shrek --> VillainCon transition being as unambitious as it was (i.e. to preserve extra space in the building for potential HHN/special event usage), and I think that seriously compromised/limited what could be done on that plot.

I love hhn ( it's the only reason I visit the park) and I love nightmare fuel so much,
but I kind of agree, it's such wasted space. I love nightmare fuel but whatever ride is made in here could be open during hhn. so that would also benefit hhn.

but why can't they do an actor show like Beetlejuice? or do something like nightmare fuel but family friendly for the rest of the year?
why can't they do a clown show or a dancing show for the rest of the year?

 

[WebHead1138]

I love hhn ( it's the only reason I visit the park) and I love nightmare fuel so much,
but I kind of agree, it's such wasted space. I love nightmare fuel but whatever ride is made in here could be open during hhn. so that would also benefit hhn.

but why can't they do an actor show like Beetlejuice? or do something like nightmare fuel but family friendly for the rest of the year?
why can't they do a clown show or a dancing show for the rest of the year?

A SING show would work

 

[saint.piss]

A SING show would work

The one in Japan is REALLY fun. I would love to see that one come to Florida, I think it's a wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better show than Bourne IMO.

 

[Lucky Planet]

A SING show would work

The one in Japan is REALLY fun. I would love to see that one come to Florida, I think it's a wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better show than Bourne IMO.

ohhhh if they already have a show in house, why not use it? WHAT THE HECK?
why isn't this used???? why

 

[GA-MBIT]

I politely disagree. A prime location for a new ride or new stunt show (accessible year-round to all guests with standard admission) should not be held hostage by HHN needing space. IF Universal ever has a great concept to go on that spot, they should do it and figure out something for HHN elsewhere.

I believe there were rumors that such considerations are what partially led to the Shrek --> VillainCon transition being as unambitious as it was (i.e. to preserve extra space in the building for potential HHN/special event usage), and I think that seriously compromised/limited what could be done on that plot.

I totally understand your points, and I agree that the plot should be utilized better than it is currently. I think there are hypothetically better places for a large-scale theatre within USF and I honestly would want to see that prioritized above most other projects. While we have FFL however, I would much rather see them fill the current vacancy during standard operations and keep the theatre around until a replacement is ready. I believe it is simply too important for HHN, and in turn, USF.

HHN is an upcharge event and immaterial to park guests entering in April or June, but I also believe it is still a massive attraction for the park and it should be treated as such. It brings an absolute ton of foot traffic and money that I believe USF would not recieve otherwise, and is the primary way a portion of guests experience the park. I believe the live shows at HHN, specifically B&T and Nightmare Fuel, are incredibly important for the event's capacity, variety, and overall guest experience, and the event would suffer greatly if it was removed.

It stinks that they installed a load-bearing component into the unthemed, giant ampitheatre between two amazing themed lands, but until they fill that niche with another proper theatre space, I think it would be a net negative for the park to rip it out. To me, it's equivalent to replacing the Old and New Parade Buildings with Pokemon Land with no replacement storage space built in it's place. It's too big of a loss for a major seasonal event, which themselves are headliner USF attractions.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I totally understand your points, and I agree that the plot should be utilized better than it is currently. I think there are hypothetically better places for a large-scale theatre within USF and I honestly would want to see that prioritized above most other projects. While we have FFL however, I would much rather see them fill the current vacancy during standard operations and keep the theatre around until a replacement is ready. I believe it is simply too important for HHN, and in turn, USF.

HHN is an upcharge event and immaterial to park guests entering in April or June, but I also believe it is still a massive attraction for the park and it should be treated as such. It brings an absolute ton of foot traffic and money that I believe USF would not recieve otherwise, and is the primary way a portion of guests experience the park. I believe the live shows at HHN, specifically B&T and Nightmare Fuel, are incredibly important for the event's capacity, variety, and overall guest experience, and the event would suffer greatly if it was removed.

It stinks that they installed a load-bearing component into the unthemed, giant ampitheatre between two amazing themed lands, but until they fill that niche with another proper theatre space, I think it would be a net negative for the park to rip it out. To me, it's equivalent to replacing the Old and New Parade Buildings with Pokemon Land with no replacement storage space built in it's place. It's too big of a loss for a major seasonal event, which themselves are headliner USF attractions.

but how come they never put anything at all? just 10 singer dancers in costumes would make something exciting

 

[Jake S]

just 10 singer dancers in costumes would make something exciting

the relative lack of success of previous universal shows indicates that they can't just put 10 theater majors out there and call it a day.

 

[Lucky Planet]

the relative lack of success of previous universal shows indicates that they can't just put 10 theater majors out there and call it a day.

I think it could depend on the IP used. if it's like Sing I couldn't see it fail. or SpongeBob comedy dance show. I would watch that. something made you laugh

 

[belloq87]

Could not an HHN show run in the Animal Actors theater? And then you either close Animal Actors for September/October... or you implement a seasonal overlay to work around the HHN set dressing (which would be the ideal option if it could work).

 

[Brian G.]

Could not an HHN show run in the Animal Actors theater? And then you either close Animal Actors for September/October... or you implement a seasonal overlay to work around the HHN set dressing (which would be the ideal option if it could work).

It's been used before - but they've shied away from using it because it's a smaller capacity, and located in an absolute traffic bottleneck location. We'll see what the deal is this year with entrances now with DreamWorks open.

 

[TheUniC6]

Unless they think of a permeant show to put in the vacant Blue man group theater or it becomes a dark ride of some sort for the front of the park, (many years down the line of course) couldn't an option be to run a HHN show in the venue?

Going forward if Universal wants to build out new lands like Pokemon and maybe even a hypothetical new land to replace FFL and MIB, it will be interesting to se how these developments will alter HHN house plans. I believe @Nico suggested last year on a thread about what should happen with the soundstages at the front of the park in regards to if they should stay or be removed for USF park expansion, that an option could be to build fully fledged more substantial attractions than VCMB yet could still accommodate a black box flex space for HHN houses.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It's been used before - but they've shied away from using it because it's a smaller capacity, and located in an absolute traffic bottleneck location. We'll see what the deal is this year with entrances now with DreamWorks open.

I couldn't even imagine what it would look like for a show to let out in that area during HHN

 

[Andysol]

USF should not get rid of the FFL theatre until they build another theatre space with a similarly large capacity and ability to host rotating seasonal shows. All evidence that I currently know about leads to the conclusion that had the Potter VR concept gone through, HHN would have simply gone years without a big-budget live show. Given how high the GSATs for Nightmare Fuel have been for years, it should not be an option to cut FFL theatre anymore imo.

It simply does too much for the park to justify cutting, even while sitting empty most of the year, and assuming that City of Orlando would even allow them to demolish it.

I politely disagree. A prime location for a new ride or new stunt show (accessible year-round to all guests with standard admission) should not be held hostage by HHN needing space. IF Universal ever has a great concept to go on that spot, they should do it and figure out something for HHN elsewhere.

I believe there were rumors that such considerations are what partially led to the Shrek --> VillainCon transition being as unambitious as it was (i.e. to preserve extra space in the building for potential HHN/special event usage), and I think that seriously compromised/limited what could be done on that plot.

Why not the best of both worlds?

Currently, universal has two seasonal shows- HHN and Grinchmas.
Could we not get a theater designed with the purpose to house both of those shows seasonally while still offering a different show year round (closing only for Nov/dec for grinchmas) in the Blue man theater? Even if it means expanding it?
Or a theater in IOA for a year round show that also houses grinchmas while we get a year round show that also houses HHN?

Bourne is solid and hopefully opened their eyes a little. And my hope is the popularity of Untrainable let’s them see just what a large scale show can offer the park in terms of guest satisfaction and rounding out the park.
And make no mistake- that show will be a hit. The music, story and sets are awesome.
Both USF and IOA need a world class show- and the fact they have the space to house them makes it even more annoying.

That entire side of Fear Factor, MIB, Simpson and animal actors should have a master plan with a world class show, in my opinion.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Random question I just thought of. Does Fear Factor still impact total park capacity even though it isn't open to guests and isn't staffed?

It still boggles my mind the number of theaters that Universal has in general that all sit empty (or practically empty).

100% it does impact capacity. If you were to run 5 shows a day there, and capacity is fully utilized, that's about the same theoretical capacity as Minion Mayhem for the day.

USF should not get rid of the FFL theatre until they build another theatre space with a similarly large capacity and ability to host rotating seasonal shows. All evidence that I currently know about leads to the conclusion that had the Potter VR concept gone through, HHN would have simply gone years without a big-budget live show. Given how high the GSATs for Nightmare Fuel have been for years, it should not be an option to cut FFL theatre anymore imo.

It simply does too much for the park to justify cutting, even while sitting empty most of the year, and assuming that City of Orlando would even allow them to demolish it.

Agree - FFL is the only theater I'd support keeping empty for HHN's sake. Just to valuable to lose a stage show for HHN, even with it closed 10 months out of the year. All the other theaters have no excuses though.

But long-term, USF just needs a proper venue that isn't in the way of theme park expansion and can give a proper home to the entertainment team without worry of losing a venue.

the relative lack of success of previous universal shows indicates that they can't just put 10 theater majors out there and call it a day.

Universal is more than capable of creating stage shows with two highly popular seasonal stage shows and a stunt show in California that does tremendously well. In terms of proper stage shows, they've had a decent success rate, definitely far better than most suggest. Not all perfect, but a decent rate that shouldn't (evidenced by Epic's entertainment offerings) prevent them from doing more.

Going a bit Blue Sky here... but:

• USF: Having a stage show at HHN is 100% required from a capacity and event experience perspective. FFL sits in prime real estate for Potter expansion. What I would do, is knock down Animal Actors and place a massive new theatre there that is generic to the Hollywood/Classic Universal theme. That way, it can be part of the "Hollywood" section of the park and be sort of a weenie when walking down Central Park.
• IOA: Put a theater at the Seuss expansion pad capable of running seasonal shows. Run a Seuss Show, take it down for 2 weeks, run Grinchmas, take it down for 2 weeks, run a spring/summer show, etc. Sinbad is in prime real estate for Potter/Zelda expansion.

 

[IzzyB]

I agree they need to keep or move the stadium but they also need to start using that theater for Christmas and Summer. They need special offerings like other parks do for those two periods also. IOA needs the same thing, they need to utilize their empty theaters during peak times of the year.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I agree they need to keep or move the stadium but they also need to start using that theater for Christmas and Summer. They need special offerings like other parks do for those two periods also. IOA needs the same thing, they need to utilize their empty theaters during peak times of the year.

If SeaWorld can produce two very impressive stage shows for the Holiday season, one of them requiring ice outdoors in Florida, and several (I think 4 last year) mini-street shows/streetmosphere, UOR can too!

 

[IzzyB]

If SeaWorld can produce two very impressive stage shows for the Holiday season, one of them requiring ice outdoors in Florida, and several (I think 4 last year) mini-street shows/streetmosphere, UOR can too!

100% agreed. We did both Sea World and Universal last year and it wasn't even close when you compare the two events. It was a full day at a single park Sea World and we actually went twice. We knocked the Christmas stuff out at BOTH parks at Universal wandering into IOA at 2PM and this including a very long sit down dinner (thanks to slow service) and riding rides with Express. I am not even saying Universal needs as much as Sea World, but could we get a little more than what we have today to help with crowds? Because without express after 4pm I doubt we would have even attempted rides because the waits for everything was just insane.