Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[Nico]

At IOA, it certainly would be an overreaction (and I suspect it was at least a little tongue-in-cheek on @Scott W.'s part with that park).

USF, though...? I don't know, if I had absolute power, I'd get rid of many, many things that are currently there. I truly think only Revenge of the Mummy, Diagon Alley (the land, not Gringotts), MIB, E.T., Horror Makeup, and Bourne would stay if I had my way.

You can all be relieved that I do not have any such power!

Bell I’d be so down for that park. That’s honestly what I’m hoping for the park’s long term goal.

As for the changes, I can see some of the logical reasons. But honestly, it just seems strange and bad show. It makes me think they are overstretched.

 

[TheUniC6]

KidZone would've been a great spot for Pokémon, but there's always Springfield.

I'm sure we'll see a Phase 2 down the road for DreamWorks.

I assume phase 2 for will be for a dark ride that replaces either AA or goes in the back and expands outwards to backstage area. Shrek also deserves more than a play area/meet n' greet, but maybe the ogre can get his own land that does the IP justice at EU assuming Shrek 5 does well.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'm not as pessimistic as some on the state of Universal attractions in USF. The only one I don't like is F&F. That's a big hole in the middle of the park that occupies a huge amount of space. But I also think Minions is a much lesser attraction since they took the 3D glasses away. My other major issue is the lack of a good live entertainment show in the FF theater, and a bit more street entertainment is needed. . And, importantly, the park really needs the return of a good parade and a good night time show, with later opening hours. The Experience enjoyment Totality of the park at this point in time, in reality, is less than it was last decade. I'm really more concerned with what isn't there anymore than what is....I can live with the park being somewhat of a 'Festival' park like Epcot is. But all those gaps need to be refilled to make that Festival concept work.

 

[Casper Gutman]

At IOA, it certainly would be an overreaction (and I suspect it was at least a little tongue-in-cheek on @Scott W.'s part with that park).

USF, though...? I don't know, if I had absolute power, I'd get rid of many, many things that are currently there. I truly think only Revenge of the Mummy, Diagon Alley (the land, not Gringotts), MIB, E.T., Horror Makeup, and Bourne would stay if I had my way.

You can all be relieved that I do not have any such power!

I can only assume that, as an eminently sensible person, you simply overlooked Animal Actors. Without that and Makeup, the park loses a huge amount of rewatchability.

I think Transformers and Gringotts both get to stay (again, I don’t think reusing the best ride system in Orlando is a drawback). Fallon, Simpsons, RRR, and F&F (sadly) need to go. Minion Blast (aka Universal’s Food Rocks) needs to be torn down to the foundations yesterday. Mayhem would be a fine secondary attraction to an AA-heavy dark ride in a dedicated Minion land, preferably where Dreamworks is going now.

Honestly, while IOA may technically be the superior park, I spend MUCH more time in Studios and prefer it by a wide margin. I often have to manufacture reasons to venture beyond Marvel or Seuss - Hogsmeade is so incapable of handling crowds it’s not fun, I don’t usually want to get soaked in Toon, JP is… kinda boring, and there’s absolutely NO entertainment, let alone rewatchable, improv-y entertainment. The biggest draw in the back half for me is the Halloween Store. Studios just has a charm IOA lacks.

As a side note, when you’re opening a new park, the traditional move is to pour money into your existing parks to maintain interest and divert crowds. You don’t establish a multi-year pattern of cost-slashing and neglect.

 

[Magic-Man]

While we're on this topic, here's what I would do to Studios:

• Fast and Furious, Animal Actors, and Simpsons get bulldozed completely. Replace them with anything else, I really don't care. Simpsons and Animal Actors combined are prime real estate, a massive new land could be built there without touching any backstage areas.
• Transformers and Fallon get rethemed. Transformers has a good ride system but the execution is awful. Retheme it to something modern and with actual energy, Transformers as it is feels lifeless. Fallon is brand new and the ride system is great, but the Tonight Show theming is tacky at best. Just do a normal flight simulator.
• Men in Black and Hollywood RIP Ride Rockit get rebuilt from the ground up. Both get new trains and track. Men in Black gets new theming elements (including projection mapping and new animatronics). Rockit gets a better queue and a new locker system similar to Velocicoaster.
• Do something, anything with the Fear Factor land. It's a huge deadzone.

As for Islands, just continue doing what they're already doing. The park will be virtually perfect once Lost Continent gets rethemed to Zelda. I actually really love Toon Lagoon.

 

[belloq87]

I can only assume that, as an eminently sensible person, you simply overlooked Animal Actors. Without that and Makeup, the park loses a huge amount of rewatchability.

I'm mixed about Animal Actors. I'd be happy to see it remain, but if the people brainstorming things at Creative told me they needed that space to accommodate a dark ride in KidZone/DreamWorks or Springfield's replacement, I'd let them take it.

Ideally, that loss would be somewhat offset by a new show somewhere else.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Transformers and Fallon get rethemed. Transformers has a good ride system but the execution is awful. Retheme it to something modern and with actual energy, Transformers as it is feels lifeless. Fallon is brand new and the ride system is great, but the Tonight Show theming is tacky at best. Just do a normal flight simulator.

While I don't think Transformers should be rethemed, it wouldn't surprise me if it gets absorbed into Minion Land down the road.

Retheming Fallon just doesn't seem ideal to me. The Rockefeller facade is perfect for New York.

 

[Magic-Man]

While I don't think Transformers should be rethemed, it wouldn't surprise me if it gets absorbed into Minion Land down the road.

Retheming Fallon just doesn't seem ideal to me. The Rockefeller facade is perfect for New York.

They can keep the facade! Just retheme the ride itself to another IP. Ghostbusters could work.

 

[Brian G.]

Let's not make this thread into a wishlist/blue sky thread now...

 

[TheUniC6]

While I don't think Transformers should be rethemed, it wouldn't surprise me if it gets absorbed into Minion Land down the road.

Retheming Fallon just doesn't seem ideal to me. The Rockefeller facade is perfect for New York.

Maybe that could be our proper Despicable Me dark ride a lot of people have been pining for LOL.

 

[highdefrex]

Fallon is brand new

Is being open almost seven years still considered brand new?

 

[Nick]

They’ve got about 15 months to figure out how they’re going to staff an entire extra park.

This is an ongoing process, not something that will happen overnight. Some people are literally already working backstage at Epic. As far as operations and all roles that need to be filled at the park, from what is being said, job openings will start internally by this summer. Once they know who is moving over and they have an opening team, they then know how many people need to be replaced. They also should have a good idea on when on-site training will begin by later on this year, meaning that the will have plenty of time to do job fairs to refill positions at USF, IOA, and VB before Epic opens.

I'll tell you staffing is certainly not an issue currently and go as far as to say they are in the beginning phase of bulking up on staff.

 

[erider]

I really miss the Sing It show. They are really very talented singers.

 

[Nick]

I really miss the Sing It show. They are really very talented singers.

The show ran it's course imo and the Latin dance show has replaced it as far as a "pop up show" and it's WAY more popular.

I'd also like to point out that Sing It! debuted in September 2015 - that means this show last over 8 years. This was a show that was a product of it's time. Taking advantage of both the popularity of Pentatonix at the time and also coming off the heels of the Pitch Perfect trilogy, a cappella was very much in at this time. Not as much any more and the crowds for the shows that they were doing reflect that.

 

[SeventyOne]

Gotta be a lot of confusion and mgt. discussion behind the scenes. They didn't post Feb. hours until Jan. 4th. That's really unacceptable for people planning vacations. I can't ever recall such a late posting......Very little of the tourist public outside of Orlando. knows about Epic yet. I'm guessing expected soft crowds are a result of the past couple years operating policies, prices, long lines, more than anything else. Self fulfillment softness.

That doesn't really track though. Maybe if this was a regional park, but soft crowds for Universal means something different from anywhere else.

Putting aside the fact that outside of MLK weekend and Marathon Weekend at WDW this is always a traditionally slow time at theme parks -- why the Marathon and Mardi Gras were created -- I don't think we can ignore the highest-in-a-generation inflation that hit the middle class (Orlando's core market) hard last year when they'd be planning 2024 vacations. The 20% increase for every trip to Stop & Shop or Safeway* probably had a much larger effect on crowds than Sing It! and Poseidon's Fury closing (or, I would agree, Epic opening).


* (The sudden realization I've been down here 24 years, and can only assume those northeastern grocery chains are still in business.)

 

[Legacy]

* (The sudden realization I've been down here 24 years, and can only assume those northeastern grocery chains are still in business.)

Safeway was still a thing in Richmond as of 2017.

 

[Mad Dog]

Putting aside the fact that outside of MLK weekend and Marathon Weekend at WDW this is always a traditionally slow time at theme parks -- why the Marathon and Mardi Gras were created -- I don't think we can ignore the highest-in-a-generation inflation that hit the middle class (Orlando's core market) hard last year when they'd be planning 2024 vacations. The 20% increase for every trip to Stop & Shop or Safeway* probably had a much larger effect on crowds than Sing It! and Poseidon's Fury closing (or, I would agree, Epic opening).


* (The sudden realization I've been down here 24 years, and can only assume those northeastern grocery chains are still in business.)

But national tourism spending figures were way up in 2023, except for Orlando Universal and WDW Disney, which seemed to quit trying. Self fulfilled slowdown. Universal & Disney did well in Ca. in 2023....National Wage increases basically were equal, or higher, to the various inflation rate figures, and we're as close to full employment as we've ever been. Kind of equalizes out.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

But national tourism spending figures were way up in 2023, except for Orlando Universal and WDW Disney, which seemed to quit trying. Self fulfilled slowdown. Universal & Disney did well in Ca. in 2023

And as long as Instagram is still a thing, that trend will likely continue even in the face of further inflation.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

If there's one thing we can all agree on, attractions should always be approved by their design/excitement criteria, not corporate synergy goals. While IOA got lucky with its additions, USF suffered greatly. Universal is very lucky that HHN, Mardi Gras, and the holidays are popular enough to subsidize USF lol

I also hope they learned their lesson that they should always continue to keep their parks maintained. They're having to catch up the past two years with multiple refurb projects finally.

I don't want to sound pessimistic about Universal, the future is bright, but it's hard to be excited about the current status of the resort.

This is an ongoing process, not something that will happen overnight. Some people are literally already working backstage at Epic. As far as operations and all roles that need to be filled at the park, from what is being said, job openings will start internally by this summer. Once they know who is moving over and they have an opening team, they then know how many people need to be replaced. They also should have a good idea on when on-site training will begin by later on this year, meaning that the will have plenty of time to do job fairs to refill positions at USF, IOA, and VB before Epic opens.

I'll tell you staffing is certainly not an issue currently and go as far as to say they are in the beginning phase of bulking up on staff.

We're not expecting the resort to overstaff and then just move people over to Epic. What we're referring to is the overall lack of communication, training, and overall guest experience interacting with TMs. How can we expect them to properly staff and train an entirely new resort campus when they can't operate their current parks efficiently?

 

[Nick]

If there's one thing we can all agree on, attractions should always be approved by their design/excitement criteria, not corporate synergy goals. While IOA got lucky with its additions, USF suffered greatly. Universal is very lucky that HHN, Mardi Gras, and the holidays are popular enough to subsidize USF lol

I also hope they learned their lesson that they should always continue to keep their parks maintained. They're having to catch up the past two years with multiple refurb projects finally.

I don't want to sound pessimistic about Universal, the future is bright, but it's hard to be excited about the current status of the resort.


We're not expecting the resort to overstaff and then just move people over to Epic. What we're referring to is the overall lack of communication, training, and overall guest experience interacting with TMs. How can we expect them to properly staff and train an entirely new resort campus when they can't operate their current parks efficiently?

Well, I’d worry about the existing three parks more than Epic. All experienced and qualified TMs will be at the top of the list to move over to Epic. I think Epic will actually probably be the best of the four parks in terms of TM service quality & training at that time.