Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[Disneyhead]

CP's lore is is plainly explained for those that don't need to be spoone fed every detail.

 

[DOOMBOT]

CP's lore is is plainly explained for those that don't need to be spoone fed every detail.

I expected this kind of response, and while I can agree on some level that it's better to be subtle with worldbuilding like this, I don't really agree that Celestial Park does it especially well, and especially not Celestial without entertainment.

The liminal space Port Town between alternate universes concept is really cool and used in some interesting ways, but it isn't especially apparent if you don't already have that knowledge going in. Entertainment is the key here, I think. Where are the Celestians? The place feels more like a ruins than a Port Town, because nothing is ever happening!

Even if you know the lore behind Atlantic's seafaring captain or the members of the Volcano Bay Waturi setting up Celestiki, that knowledge won't really effect your experience at all. It's all in vague architectural quirks, which to the point of other members' on the previous thread, make it feel more like a Disney Springs-style heavily themed shopping mall than a land like Port of Entry or Main Street U.S.A. Regardless of any of the thought put into these buildings from Creative, Merch and Food/Bev Operations are the primary voices I find in Celestial Park.

I also generally think Port of Entry does a better job at combining the tech and quirks from the different lands into one combined Port Town, but that also comes from having a far smaller footprint and having far, far easier IP to play ball with than Potter and Mario, so I suppose it is what it is. That's also why I believe PoE can get away without entertainment, while Celestial Park struggles without it. PoE is tiny haha.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

To be fair regarding IP lands and Celestial Park, no one cares about the entrance/hub area which is just merely a pathway to what guests really want: immersive lands based on their favorite IP. It’s like Port of Entry, it’s nice but not a draw.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think the difference between Main Street and CP is the salience of the theming/story. Main Street is, yeah, basically just a mall, but I doubt most people think that way when they walk through it.

With CP, I’m not really sure I’d know what CP is going for if I didn’t know the name or follow the development of the land. It feels so much like an Irvine Spectrum/The Grove-type place, even though I know it’s more than that.

This is fair, and I think the main cause of this issue is Horticulture/project management not planting the gardens in Celestial Park soon enough. If they had the trees and spaces they wanted ready now I think we could better see the concept they're aiming for. Disney solved this issue at Animal Kingdom by planting trees YEARS before the park opened; Universal should have learned from that.

 

[DOOMBOT]

To be fair regarding IP lands and Celestial Park, no one cares about the entrance/hub area which is just merely a pathway to what guests really want: immersive lands based on their favorite IP. It’s like Port of Entry, it’s nice but not a draw.

If the majority of the space within your theme park is only nice, I think it's an issue. It's one thing if we're talking about a land the size of PoE, but Celestial Park is most of Epic! I get that there's a low ceiling for how exciting a hub can be for an average tourist, but I don't believe Celestial hits that ceiling.

This is fair, and I think the main cause of this issue is Horticulture/project management not planting the gardens in Celestial Park soon enough. If they had the trees and spaces they wanted ready now I think we could better see the concept they're aiming for. Disney solved this issue at Animal Kingdom by planting trees YEARS before the park opened; Universal should have learned from that.

If this is what Celestial Park will eventually look like, at that point I feel like all of my complaining will be moot. Tivoli is beautiful. Celestial in its' current state is just so, so far away from that.

I totally believe that in 15-20 years, Epic Universe will be an absolutely and inarguably wonderful destination park.

 

[Evan]

Exactly! I don’t see IP park as a pejorative, and I think Epic is strong because it leans so heavily into being an IP park. Though if you are really afraid of IP overreliance, then yeah, Epic is a horrible sign lol.

My only real issue with a park solely built around individual IP lands is that it seems risky long term. I can’t see it being timeless without needing pretty big changes one day in the future.

Disneyland is timeless because you can change out rides in a land, without needing to bulldoze the entire land and redo the entire area at a huge expense.

What is the longevity of some of these lands and rides, 30-50 years from now?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

If this is what Celestial Park will eventually look like, at that point I feel like all of my complaining will be moot. Tivoli is beautiful. Celestial in its' current state is just so, so far away from that.

I totally believe that in 15-20 years, Epic Universe will be an absolutely and inarguably wonderful destination park.

It's the concept, but not necessarily the end goal for various reasons, Tivoli has a different climate and attendance goals. The point being made is that the trees you can see in the Celestial Park concept art could have been that large at opening with different planning, which would have led to people thinking CP looks like "a mall" because the core gardens haven't grown in yet.

 

[Lightningbolt]

If the majority of the space within your theme park is only nice, I think it's an issue. It's one thing if we're talking about a land the size of PoE, but Celestial Park is most of Epic! I get that there's a low ceiling for how exciting a hub can be for an average tourist, but I don't believe Celestial hits that ceiling.


If this is what Celestial Park will eventually look like, at that point I feel like all of my complaining will be moot. Tivoli is beautiful. Celestial in its' current state is just so, so far away from that.

I totally believe that in 15-20 years, Epic Universe will be an absolutely and inarguably wonderful destination park.

15-20 years is wild i'm sorry. Not trying to discredit your opinion, I do think there is some validity to your thinking. But honestly I think some of you are very harsh with Epic. Maybe because it’s the “new kid on the block” so to speak, so it’s easy to point out and criticize its flaws. It’s not perfect by any means in its current state, but it still is very good and it hasn’t even been a year. Give the park SOME credit at least, 15-20 years is much too long to consider it a destination park.

 

[Skold]

Main Street U.S.A. is immediately clockable. Mid-century American Town main street. It's right in the name.

I love most of your posts and your tendencies, but this is bullshit. Big cities have big parks. It's right in the name.

 

[DOOMBOT]

I love most of your posts and your tendencies, but this is bullshit. Big cities have big parks. It's right in the name.

I think it's potentially really cool that Celestial Park is big. It's legitimately refreshing that an original concept gets this much real estate, and I think the concept itself is really solid. Elements are stellar, like the dual Chronos and Helios weenies, the general art direction with the Portals and similar tech, the gorgeous statues, little details like Astronomica being a compass to each landmark. It's beautiful at night, and the lagoon show is well done. There is a lot to like about it.

But that expanse paired with a lack of proper utilization of the space means that a significant portion of the park feels like a scorching deadzone. The trees and foliage haven't grown in yet. There is no entertainment to be found. Lack of shade is an obvious issue. The original stories they've developed aren't very readable at a glance and don't amount to much in terms of a theme park experience. Carousel and Stardust don't feel like they tell any kind of story, even subtextually, within Celestial Park. Without prepping with a UDX Creative podcast to explain what they are going for, both are just a star-themed Carousel and Rollercoaster. My problem isn't that Celestial Park is big, my problem is that it's empty.

I hope eventually we see some life and kinetics form in Celestial through means of a parade, walk-around characters, maybe an additional flat or show, and a fully realized rope-drop moment and night-time spectacular. Hopefully we see additional shade structures, and the trees grow in before too long. All of which would make the frequent walks between portals much more palatable, and would help keep guests in the hub longer rather than clogging up already packed portals like SNW and Paris. I'm certain that was the idea behind making a connective hub this large in the first place; to eat up and divert guests who would otherwise be taking up valuable space in those small Portal lands.

It seems like most of these are in the cards for the future, which is good to hear. Until then, I don't currently believe Celestial Park is properly using the amount of space it takes up. All that space, and nothing to do. I hope that it eventually grows beyond feeling like Disney Springs for me.

I appreciate the kind words. This is genuinely what I believe.

15-20 years is wild i'm sorry. Not trying to discredit your opinion, I do think there is some validity to your thinking. But honestly I think some of you are very harsh with Epic. Maybe because it’s the “new kid on the block” so to speak, so it’s easy to point out and criticize its flaws. It’s not perfect by any means in its current state, but it still is very good and it hasn’t even been a year. Give the park SOME credit at least, 15-20 years is much too long to consider it a destination park.

I think we're at the stage where the park has been around just long enough for the sore spots to become pretty apparent, at least for myself. I have plenty of praise for Epic, but it has really glaring flaws. I believe a number of them will be figured out in time, but plenty of people are in the park right now, and I'm unsure on how consistently Epic as-is can offer an exceedingly enjoyable experience.

15-20 years is an upper limit. Theme park expansions take a long time. I don't know what Epic looks like in 5 or 10 years. Biggest theme park on Earth Magic Kingdom didn't get a new ride from 2012's New Fantasyland to 2023's Tron. Maybe they fasttrack Oz and Luigi and Creature and Broom coaster and Middle Earth by 2035, but that seems unreasonable to me.

15-20 years is enough time for a whole new land, maybe two. Multiple expansions. Lots of operations improvements and time to work out those kinks. It's basically comparing IoA today to the pre-Potter days, it's night and day. It may seem pessimistic, but I don't really see it that way. Ask me when Epic will guaranteed be one of the best parks in the country? Give it a decade and a half. That's just what feels right to me.