Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[OrlLover]

Since I originally mentioned a reference to DCA 2.0 overhaul I would like to do some fun armchair “Imagineering”(Universal style).

What I would do if I was in charge of this park…

• Major refurbs to every ride so that they would feel brand new. Especially ones like Minion Mayhem.
• Add more greenery and places to sit down
• Rebuild the iconic main entrance arch
• Have The Simpsons plot and Supercharged being completely redone as a new attraction and land.

 

[TheUniC6]

Since I originally mentioned a reference to DCA 2.0 overhaul I would like to do some fun armchair “Imagineering”(Universal style).

What I would do if I was in charge of this park…

• Major refurbs to every ride so that they would feel brand new. Especially ones like Minion Mayhem.
• Add more greenery and places to sit down
• Rebuild the iconic main entrance arch
• Have The Simpsons plot and Supercharged being completely redone as a new attraction and land.

Another thing I would add is replace VCMB with some sort of catch all Illumination VR walkthrough experience, perhaps tying it in with a broader front redo alongside the arch being redone which could be done as part of the the 40th.

While I understand how businesses work, waiting till whatever needs to lapse on Simpsons before they replace it is frustrating, especially considering the state of the ride system. I just hope it will be gone by 2028 and they can move fast on the replacement.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I'll simply say that out of the 8 main Orlando parks, USF is not the prettiest looking one outside Diagon. Yes it started off as a studio, but for what it's trying to accomplish today, it feels "lackluster" and dull compared to the other parks more prestigious design. USF makes up with beautiful building design (Horror Makeup facade, Mel's, NY Street, etc.) but the lack of greenery is noticeable.


Random Observations from visit last night:

• I'm not sure if yesterday was unique, but MIB did not have cold A/C. It's usually frigid in there and for whatever reason it wasn't yesterday.
• Candy Shop... not only observed yesterday, but it seems to always be empty every visit
• Simpsons - pull it out of it's misery. Rode it yesterday for my annual singular ride on it, and it's just in bad shape. The projector has always been faded/off, but there's obvious wear and tear throughout the building.
• MIB... needs game play improvements IMO. I love the ride and concept, but I'd like to see them integrate a dynamic game system with projection mapping

 

[Mad Dog]

I'll simply say that out of the 8 main Orlando parks, USF is not the prettiest looking one outside Diagon. Yes it started off as a studio, but for what it's trying to accomplish today, it feels "lackluster" and dull compared to the other parks more prestigious design. USF makes up with beautiful building design (Horror Makeup facade, Mel's, NY Street, etc.) but the lack of greenery is noticeable.


Random Observations from visit last night:

• I'm not sure if yesterday was unique, but MIB did not have cold A/C. It's usually frigid in there and for whatever reason it wasn't yesterday.
• Candy Shop... not only observed yesterday, but it seems to always be empty every visit
• Simpsons - pull it out of it's misery. Rode it yesterday for my annual singular ride on it, and it's just in bad shape. The projector has always been faded/off, but there's obvious wear and tear throughout the building.
• MIB... needs game play improvements IMO. I love the ride and concept, but I'd like to see them integrate a dynamic game system with projection mapping

As I've mentioned after my November and March visits, Simpsons appears to be running at only 40% capacity. Only 4 of the 10 rows pre load are used now. We actually like the ride a lot, but it does appear to be on its last legs. Perhaps they're waiting on whether they can successfully negotiate a short extension of the Disney contract before they try to update the maintenance.

When I first rode that ride in 2004 as Back to the Future, it was my favorite theme park ride. I had not visited IOA yet though. Ride tech has come a long way in the past 20 years.

I think USF made a nice step forward when they changed the operating hours, opening later and closing later. The new hours fit the composition of the park better, and work towards its strengths.

 

[Brian G.]

Never opened today and according to replies, been closed since Friday.

Was definitely open today.

 

[Freak]

After coming back from Epic, I have one thing to say that will really help Mae this park stand out:

Ghostbusters dark ride…but with Monsters Unchained-quality animatronics.

Ideally I would love to see Universal try the trackless dark ride system for real this time, but just think about how peak a Ghost ushers dark ride would be. You could have a Kong-sized AA with Stay Puft, a Dracula-like AA of Gozer, The Scolari Brothers in the vein of Dracula’s Brides flying around on kuka arms, Vigo the Carpathian in the style of the Phantom….

I think Universal could really kick it out of the park with a Ghostbusters dark ride. I don’t know if they would want to go the interactive route since they already have Men in Black, but I just want a world-class Ghostbusters dark ride! If not trackless, maybe it could be Orlando’s answer to the Jurassic World Adventure from Bejing?

 

[TheUniC6]

Ideally I would love to see Universal try the trackless dark ride system for real this time,

My guess is if or when Universal takes a crack again at trackless, it will be applied to Wicked if that is what replaces Simpsons. The fact that they have patented the infrared trackless patent makes me feel like they must have some sort of plans for trackless in the future.

Trackless would fit the nature of a Wicked E ticket like a glove considering the IPs target audience.

 

[belloq87]

You could have a Kong-sized AA with Stay Puft

I would love to see a version of this guy return!

 

[Andysol]

I think Universal could really kick it out of the park with a Ghostbusters dark ride.

Knock it out of the park or hit it out of the park.

You would only kick it out of a field or pitch

 

[Legacy]

Knock it out of the park or hit it out of the park.

You would only kick it out of a field or pitch

Kick ball.

 

[Mad Dog]

GOAL.................................. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HHN Maddux]

Experiences?

 

[Brian G.]

Experiences?

It’s Mega Movie Summer without calling it that. Well have the article and the appropriate thread soon!

 

[HHN Maddux]

With new construction permits hinting more towards a 2029 opening for Pokemon, I think this is the timeline we're currently looking at:

• 2026 - River Adventure update + HMU(?), TLC closes
• 2027 - F&F coaster, Supercharged closes?
• 2028 - New HP ride in Epic, Supercharged replacement opens(?)
• 2029 - Pokemon in IoA
• 2030 - Creature(?), new nighttime show in USF? Since Universal 360, they've been switching out every 5 years.

Updating this with some new thoughts and excuse me for getting ambitious, but gonna go a bit further out as well.

• 2026 - Fireworks at Epic, River Adventure update, HMU update, TLC closes
• 2027 - Hollywood Drift, Supercharged closes
• 2028 - CityWalk South with new hotel, new HP ride in Epic, Supercharged replacement (Twisters?)
• 2029 - Pokemon in IoA, Simpsons closes, Toon Lagoon closes..?
• 2030 - Creature expansion + Great Hall restaurant + new hotel for Epic +, new nighttime show in USF, Hill Valley takes over Springfield, GB show takes over BMG
• 2031 - Toon Lagoon replacement..?
• 2032 - WICKED: LAND OF OZ, now open at Epic Universe, alongside another new hotel.
• 2033 - Somehow, somewhere, we get Waterworld (pretty please?).

And even crazier thought, whenever Beetlejuice 3 comes out and it's a smash hit, the revival of Graveyard Revue, or even better, a full new Beetlejuice ride, takes over FFL.

 

[Freak]

Updating this with some new thoughts and excuse me for getting ambitious, but gonna go a bit further out as well.

• 2026 - Fireworks at Epic, River Adventure update, HMU update, TLC closes
• 2027 - Hollywood Drift, Supercharged closes
• 2028 - CityWalk South with new hotel, new HP ride in Epic, Supercharged replacement (Twisters?)
• 2029 - Pokemon in IoA, Simpsons closes, Toon Lagoon closes..?
• 2030 - Creature expansion + Great Hall restaurant + new hotel for Epic +, new nighttime show in USF, Hill Valley takes over Springfield, GB show takes over BMG
• 2031 - Toon Lagoon replacement..?
• 2032 - WICKED: LAND OF OZ, now open at Epic Universe, alongside another new hotel.
• 2033 - Somehow, somewhere, we get Waterworld (pretty please?).

And even crazier thought, whenever Beetlejuice 3 comes out and it's a smash hit, the revival of Graveyard Revue, or even better, a full new Beetlejuice ride, takes over FFL.

How about a Beetlejuice indoor coaster for Dark Universe? It would give Universal to use the SFX coaster from Intamin.

I still maintain Ghostbusters should be a dark ride.

 

[belloq87]

Updating this with some new thoughts and excuse me for getting ambitious, but gonna go a bit further out as well.

• 2026 - Fireworks at Epic, River Adventure update, HMU update, TLC closes
• 2027 - Hollywood Drift, Supercharged closes
• 2028 - CityWalk South with new hotel, new HP ride in Epic, Supercharged replacement (Twisters?)
• 2029 - Pokemon in IoA, Simpsons closes, Toon Lagoon closes..?
• 2030 - Creature expansion + Great Hall restaurant + new hotel for Epic +, new nighttime show in USF, Hill Valley takes over Springfield, GB show takes over BMG
• 2031 - Toon Lagoon replacement..?
• 2032 - WICKED: LAND OF OZ, now open at Epic Universe, alongside another new hotel.
• 2033 - Somehow, somewhere, we get Waterworld (pretty please?).

And even crazier thought, whenever Beetlejuice 3 comes out and it's a smash hit, the revival of Graveyard Revue, or even better, a full new Beetlejuice ride, takes over FFL.

My initial reaction to this was that, as aggressive as it seems to be, I still think it leaves USF the weakest draw of the three parks.

But as I thought about it more, I think what I'm reacting to is really the dwindling number of available franchises that would move the needle as the basis for a new land. As much as I love the classic IPs, and want to see some of them come back, and want to see some less manic dark rides, I also think USF needs a major (major) new land on the ambition level of the Wizarding Worlds and the Epic lands (and what IOA is probably getting with Pokemon). But given where all the chess pieces have been moved, we're kind of running out of options.

 

[Jake S]

My initial reaction to this was that, as aggressive as it seems to be, I still think it leaves USF the weakest draw of the three parks.

I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying, but this led me to think a little bit about the state of the resort. I think it's okay if USF is the weakest of the three parks ... as long as it isn't so weak that it's the park I skip in favor of an extra day at Disney World or a day at SeaWorld. Right now it's the park I go to during Horror Nights and ... well, that's about it. I'm with you, though, that there aren't many obvious IPs to change things around.

 

[belloq87]

I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying, but this led me to think a little bit about the state of the resort. I think it's okay if USF is the weakest of the three parks ... as long as it isn't so weak that it's the park I skip in favor of an extra day at Disney World or a day at SeaWorld. Right now it's the park I go to during Horror Nights and ... well, that's about it. I'm with you, though, that there aren't many obvious IPs to change things around.

I'm rooting for USF because of the high regard in which I used to hold it.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I'm not disagreeing with anything you're saying, but this led me to think a little bit about the state of the resort. I think it's okay if USF is the weakest of the three parks ... as long as it isn't so weak that it's the park I skip in favor of an extra day at Disney World or a day at SeaWorld. Right now it's the park I go to during Horror Nights and ... well, that's about it. I'm with you, though, that there aren't many obvious IPs to change things around.

Yeah I mean unfortunately, when there's 3 parks, one of them has to be the weakest lol

 

[OrlLover]

Yeah I mean unfortunately, when there's 3 parks, one of them has to be the weakest lol

Plus Epic has the newness factor.

It has been decades since a new theme park opened in the Orlando market not including Legoland.

Unfortunately it was gonna feel dated regardless because the park still has a lot of the same bones from 1990.