Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[Ahmanet]

Mickey Views always puts out well done videos ... Star Fall Racers will be dark at night except for the ride vehicles themselves being lit up as comets - very cool

 

[RGMick77]

If we’re worried about not having enough indoor rides at Epic Universe, can’t we put something else in Potter Paris? It only has one ride. Throw a dark ride inside one of the buildings there. I need more Potter. Please and thank you.

 

[Magic-Man]

I believe the highly-anticipated show may be enough but we gotta wait and see.

I think the show will be great, but it's a terrible indoor anchor attraction for a park in Florida. Shows have set times. If you get there too early or too late, you're out of luck. Imagine walking into the land during a storm and learning that no rides are open and the next show doesn't start for an hour. It's not like Islands where you can keep walking. You'd have to backtrack halfway across the park to find another indoor attraction. And I believe the leaked concept art showed an outdoor queue for Untrainable, so you're still exposed to the elements while waiting for an indoor attraction.

I dunno. I think Berk should have been designed with other indoor attractions. Even if a dark ride couldn't happen you could still put a play area indoors or something.

 

[BBPH]

If we’re worried about not having enough indoor rides at Epic Universe, can’t we put something else in Potter Paris? It only has one ride. Throw a dark ride inside one of the buildings there. I need more Potter. Please and thank you.

There was another planned but it was cut and in all honestly probably for good reason.

If you include shows, Epic currently has more indoor attractions than IOA with more already planned (rumoured).

 

[Brian G.]

I think the show will be great, but it's a terrible indoor anchor attraction for a park in Florida. Shows have set times. If you get there too early or too late, you're out of luck. Imagine walking into the land during a storm and learning that no rides are open and the next show doesn't start for an hour. It's not like Islands where you can keep walking. You'd have to backtrack halfway across the park to find another indoor attraction. And I believe the leaked concept art showed an outdoor queue for Untrainable, so you're still exposed to the elements while waiting for an indoor attraction.

I dunno. I think Berk should have been designed with other indoor attractions. Even if a dark ride couldn't happen you could still put a play area indoors or something.

I think too much stock is being put into the indoor ride debate. As long as there is shade or shelter from the elements around the land, it'll be fine.

 

[RGMick77]

There was another planned but it was cut and in all honestly probably for good reason.

If you include shows, Epic currently has more indoor attractions than IOA with more already planned (rumoured).

I understand what you mean, but the heart wants what it wants. All I wish for is a 2nd Potter ride in Paris so I have another option in that land when the Ministry ride ends up being wildly popular and the line is too long.

What if I promise to upgrade my annual pass to the highest tier? Will that get 2nd Potter ride in Epic Universe? How do we do this?

 

[Nico]

I understand what you mean, but the heart wants what it wants. All I wish for is a 2nd Potter ride in Paris so I have another option in that land when the Ministry ride ends up being wildly popular and the line is too long.

What if I promise to upgrade my annual pass to the highest tier? Will that get 2nd Potter ride in Epic Universe? How do we do this?

There is currently a FB show in the land, a rumored Hogwarts dinner show coming after EU opens, and room for another ride after that.

 

[IzzyB]

I think too much stock is being put into the indoor ride debate. As long as there is shade or shelter from the elements around the land, it'll be fine.

I agree. Do people forget what rain storms in Florida are like? In one minute out the next. Also, many don't have thunder/lightning which means more will stay open. If people still go to IOA in the summer I am pretty sure Epic will be fine. I am more worried about overall capacity, but I understand no new park is going to open with a to of capacity.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I agree. Do people forget what rain storms in Florida are like? In one minute out the next. Also, many don't have thunder/lightning which means more will stay open. If people still go to IOA in the summer I am pretty sure Epic will be fine. I am more worried about overall capacity, but I understand no new park is going to open with a to of capacity.

Those rainstorms can last for an hour or more throughout the day with lightning, not fun if that's your single day at the park.

This is why it's important to have indoor theaters (especially high-capacity continuous theaters or exhibits) throughout the park to soak up guests while they wait for thunderstorms. Don't necessarily need indoor rides, just something entertaining to do outside of waiting it out at a restaurant or shop.

If the next few summers get hotter than last year's... boy are they going to need to shift their focus into adding additional indoor experiences/lands soon.

 

[tielo]

Trees and plants help a lot for shade and lowering the heat. Above that EU will have a huge selection of restaurants and stores due to the hub. In an hour I could do shopping, eat or watch a show if the rides that are inside are too busy for me.
As someone who is cold now for about 5 month in the Netherlands and have to sucker trough it for at least another few months I am happy to be outside, I wouldn't want to sit in buildings all day. It was my main complaint on Epcot Center when I visited first in 1986.

 

[GA-MBIT]

It depends on the situation. A dragon or a comet is probably better as a launch. A mine train, well, I don't expect that to go from 0-60 in 3 seconds.

Well, unless that mine kart gets sent through one of these!

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

My two most anticipated rides are indoors, so whatever.

 

[Brian G.]

Those rainstorms can last for an hour or more throughout the day with lightning, not fun if that's your single day at the park.

This is why it's important to have indoor theaters (especially high-capacity continuous theaters or exhibits) throughout the park to soak up guests while they wait for thunderstorms. Don't necessarily need indoor rides, just something entertaining to do outside of waiting it out at a restaurant or shop.

If the next few summers get hotter than last year's... boy are they going to need to shift their focus into adding additional indoor experiences/lands soon.

If it's going to be a rainy day, it doesn't matter how many indoor things there are to do, the day is screwed. For those unforeseen afternoon showers, you realistically need to duck and cover to the nearest indoor location - whether that be a ride, show, restaurant, or shop.

You can't necessarily design the baseline operations around what the normal is for afternoons for 4 months out of the year - but they'll take measures and precautions,

Regarding heat, it seems there will be a lot of trees, which should offer shade; and I'm sure there will be rest locations with cover.

I believe with what they have planned - it should be enough, but there's only one way to really find out.

 

[Tbad556]

If it's going to be a rainy day, it doesn't matter how many indoor things there are to do, the day is screwed. For those unforeseen afternoon showers, you realistically need to duck and cover to the nearest indoor location - whether that be a ride, show, restaurant, or shop.

You can't necessarily design the baseline operations around what the normal is for afternoons for 4 months out of the year - but they'll take measures and precautions,

Regarding heat, it seems there will be a lot of trees, which should offer shade; and I'm sure there will be rest locations with cover.

I believe with what they have planned - it should be enough, but there's only one way to really find out.

Yeah, this whole thing feels like a nothingburger of an issue. Weather affects your vacation no matter where you travel. It is what it is and all you can do is plan around it to the best of your ability. You're still going to get soaked and it's still going to be less than optimal.

With EU, a large chunk of the big ticket items are indoors regardless (Monsters Unchained, Mario Kart, Ministry of Magic, Untrainable) and will still function with no problem. I don't really see an issue needing big shifts tbh.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Yeah, this whole thing feels like a nothingburger of an issue. Weather affects your vacation no matter where you travel. It is what it is and all you can do is plan around it to the best of your ability. You're still going to get soaked and it's still going to be less than optimal.

I was FURIOUS when I found out how few indoor attractions were in Kauai last summer

 

[Disneyson1]

Yeah, this whole thing feels like a nothingburger of an issue. Weather affects your vacation no matter where you travel. It is what it is and all you can do is plan around it to the best of your ability. You're still going to get soaked and it's still going to be less than optimal.

With EU, a large chunk of the big ticket items are indoors regardless (Monsters Unchained, Mario Kart, Ministry of Magic, Untrainable) and will still function with no problem. I don't really see an issue needing big shifts tbh.

I'm not sure how accurate this is. Yes, you will get soaked no matter what, but people that have paid *that much money* for a *once in a lifetime experience* would ride rollercoasters in the rain if they had the chance. The thing about Kauai is that you can't ask a beach for a refund, making the business need for indoor attractions stronger from the operational perspective. The problem is SAFELY having a semblance of a "full day" at a theme park, no matter how soaked you get, and outdoor attractions must close down in dangerous weather conditions. People would happily do the Power-Up band and wand tricks in the rain so long as there is staffing allowed to stand outside and operate the games (unlikely).

Even within the Disney parks, planning trips on rainy days can affect the company's bottom line and park capacity, especially when it comes to that fourth day and Animal Kingdom. Looking wholistically at the major attractions in Florida, most of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Universal Studios operate in the rain - and the attractions that close down with severe weather more-or-less a decent indoor alternative (Space Mountain for Big Thunder, Midway Mania for Slinky Dog, Mummy for Rip Ride Rockit).

If you've ever planned a family vacation and know that it is going to rain on your Animal Kingdom, Islands of Adventure, or SeaWorld day (or your water park day), plans can drastically change. I know that my Animal Kingdom day has been moved or sometimes jettisoned entirely due to a rainstorm.

I think that Epic is going to be generally fine in terms of choices during storms, especially because each anchor attraction is covered in some way, but the main concern I have is during high-capacity situations or corporate buyouts. Can you imagine:

- During the first few months of opening you must do a virtual queue for each world. You get Berk! You see the show. When you leave the show there is a torrential downpour. You have to wait an hour or so in the rain until you can access another land and you're kinda stuck outside for a great deal of time. To be fair, the only land with more than one major indoor attraction is Potter.

- There's a corporate buy-out of Nintendo and you're with your kids. It begins to rain. They're too afraid to go to Monsters, and because of the rain Untrainable's arena is at capacity like Grinchmas where they're queuing for advance performances. At least you have Potter.

Obviously rain is not such a big deal with the park overall, but it will be important to see how the treat (especially) Berk during the rain and how possible it will be for guests to enjoy the other worlds (major and minor attractions) as they work out capacity.

 

[Clive]

I'm not sure how accurate this is. Yes, you will get soaked no matter what, but people that have paid *that much money* for a *once in a lifetime experience* would ride rollercoasters in the rain if they had the chance. The thing about Kauai is that you can't ask a beach for a refund, making the business need for indoor attractions stronger from the operational perspective. The problem is SAFELY having a semblance of a "full day" at a theme park, no matter how soaked you get, and outdoor attractions must close down in dangerous weather conditions. People would happily do the Power-Up band and wand tricks in the rain so long as there is staffing allowed to stand outside and operate the games (unlikely).

Even within the Disney parks, planning trips on rainy days can affect the company's bottom line and park capacity, especially when it comes to that fourth day and Animal Kingdom. Looking wholistically at the major attractions in Florida, most of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Universal Studios operate in the rain - and the attractions that close down with severe weather more-or-less a decent indoor alternative (Space Mountain for Big Thunder, Midway Mania for Slinky Dog, Mummy for Rip Ride Rockit).

If you've ever planned a family vacation and know that it is going to rain on your Animal Kingdom, Islands of Adventure, or SeaWorld day (or your water park day), plans can drastically change. I know that my Animal Kingdom day has been moved or sometimes jettisoned entirely due to a rainstorm.

I think that Epic is going to be generally fine in terms of choices during storms, especially because each anchor attraction is covered in some way, but the main concern I have is during high-capacity situations or corporate buyouts. Can you imagine:

- During the first few months of opening you must do a virtual queue for each world. You get Berk! You see the show. When you leave the show there is a torrential downpour. You have to wait an hour or so in the rain until you can access another land and you're kinda stuck outside for a great deal of time. To be fair, the only land with more than one major indoor attraction is Potter.

- There's a corporate buy-out of Nintendo and you're with your kids. It begins to rain. They're too afraid to go to Monsters, and because of the rain Untrainable's arena is at capacity like Grinchmas where they're queuing for advance performances. At least you have Potter.

Obviously rain is not such a big deal with the park overall, but it will be important to see how the treat (especially) Berk during the rain and how possible it will be for guests to enjoy the other worlds (major and minor attractions) as they work out capacity.

While I think these are interesting hypotheticals, you're making a lot of assumptions here. Why are we assuming we will need virtual queues for each world? Why are we assuming corporate buy-outs will close down specific areas while the rest of the park is operating for regular guests? If a corporate buy-out were to occur, say, in the evening hours, wouldn't an early closure for Nintendo be advertised in advance?

 

[Disneyson1]

While I think these are interesting hypotheticals, you're making a lot of assumptions here. Why are we assuming we will need virtual queues for each world? Why are we assuming corporate buy-outs will close down specific areas while the rest of the park is operating for regular guests? If a corporate buy-out were to occur, say, in the evening hours, wouldn't an early closure for Nintendo be advertised in advance?

Well, yes, as the park hasn't opened yet these I'm operating on hypotheticals and assumptions in order to entertain the discussion.

I'm exceedingly hopeful that my assumptions are wrong and that the entire park will be accessible for every ticketholder during operating hours, but post-covid many attractions and "lands" across Universal and Disney properties have utilized the same sort of practice, so I think it's relevant to use this as basis for concern in general discussion. While we don't know for sure right now, the time for putting money down for park access may be approaching quickly. If this is the way that the park will be operated during at least the first few months (and processes may change), certain situations (rain especially) may not be worth investment if this is your ONLY shot at visiting. I can only speak from personal experience: I know that at least I'm already starting to save my pennies to visit, and I would be extremely unhappy if I was stuck between rain and corporate buy-outs on my visit. In my opinion, these factors are worth consideration if it's a question of planning a first/only/"once-in-a-lifetime" visit or "do I wait until Year 2 to visit".

I only speak about corporate buyouts because the unique portal construction of the park has caused mass speculation for buyouts on these forms for a while now. I agree, I hope that either the park is totally closed (and there's no planning mistake to be made) or that there is very through closure advisement for certain areas when they do close. I'd actually hope for an alert when purchasing tickets, even though that's not standard practice for other parks, simply because a full closure of one of the lands might completely skew interest from a certain demographic in a way that other parks don't really have an issue with. The only thing I can think of that would be comparable to a closure of half-day closure of, say, Nintendo, would be an unadvertised half-day complete closure of Fantasyland in terms of "I came here specifically because of this IP, and there's nothing like it elsewhere". Especially if it's raining in Berk.

 

[IzzyB]

I only speak about corporate buyouts because the unique portal construction of the park has caused mass speculation for buyouts on these forms for a while now. I agree, I hope that either the park is totally closed (and there's no planning mistake to be made) or that there is very through closure advisement for certain areas when they do close. I'd actually hope for an alert when purchasing tickets, even though that's not standard practice for other parks, simply because a full closure of one of the lands might completely skew interest from a certain demographic in a way that other parks don't really have an issue with. The only thing I can think of that would be comparable to a closure of half-day closure of, say, Nintendo, would be an unadvertised half-day complete closure of Fantasyland in terms of "I came here specifically because of this IP, and there's nothing like it elsewhere". Especially if it's raining in Berk.

Corporate buy outs are normally 6pm and later, so even if there was a corporate buyout on the day you went, the land you really want to see would be open the majority of the day. The buyouts are typically for conferences and sometimes local company parties. But they are typically in the evening because they are after the conference or work day.

I don't think we should be projecting a horrible day for day guests with such hypothetical situations. No one has ever mentioned virtual queues for lands as a rumor.

 

[Mad Dog]

Corporate buy outs are normally 6pm and later, so even if there was a corporate buyout on the day you went, the land you really want to see would be open the majority of the day. The buyouts are typically for conferences and sometimes local company parties. But they are typically in the evening because they are after the conference or work day.

I don't think we should be projecting a horrible day for day guests with such hypothetical situations. No one has ever mentioned virtual queues for lands as a rumor.

Unfortunately, last week some of the Theme Park Insider regular writers and posters were saying that's what they heard (Virtual Queue). That's probably the root of the rumor. But TPI hasn't been a good source of Universal info for a number of years, so I paid no heed to it.