Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[sonoma15]

It has more attractions than 3 of the WDW parks and one more than IOA opening day im pretty sure.

 

[Alicia]

It has more attractions than 3 of the WDW parks and one more than IOA opening day im pretty sure.

And like IOA, it has phase 2 plans to add additional rides within the first few years.

 

[belloq87]

I think the total attraction number is fine.

There's just a fair amount I'm not interested in!

 

[Alicia]

I think the total attraction number is fine.

There's just a fair amount I'm not interested in!

There’s still time to fix that before 2025.

 

[UPSguy]

I just finished Alicia's podcast as well (great episode btw) but she did confirm that the VR ride is the "theater" in the permits, so is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter going to have 3 attractions?

 

[belloq87]

There’s still time to fix that before 2025.

Fix my disinterest? Or the lineup?!

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

My anticipation of the lineup depends in large part on ride system uniqueness. If Monsters is just a copy paste of Forbidden Journey, no thx. Ditto for the Ministry ride if it ends up being another Scoop.

 

[Alicia]

I just finished Alicia's podcast as well (great episode btw) but she did confirm that the VR ride is the "theater" in the permits, so is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter going to have 3 attractions?

No what I meant was I had the permit numbers wrong/swapped. The VR attraction is still on the right, but they’re calling the VR attraction seats “theater seats” for permit reasons in the plans.

The theater, which is still in the middle of the two attractions, probably has closer to 500+ seats, but permits haven’t specified that yet.

 

[kingcooger]

No what I meant was I had the permit numbers wrong/swapped. The VR attraction is still on the right, but they’re calling the VR attraction seats “theater seats” for permit reasons in the plans.

The theater, which is still in the middle of the two attractions, probably has closer to 500+ seats, but permits haven’t specified that yet.

Any idea on the theater size for the HTTYD show? Are we looking at something that could easily house the stadium show?

 

[Alicia]

Any idea on the theater size for the HTTYD show? Are we looking at something that could easily house the stadium show?

I think similar to the Dragon show theater capacity in Beijing. Pretty big.

 

[quinnmac000]

The only land that seems fully thought out appears to be Dragons....its kinda disappointing based on the diagrams so far the other lands aren't getting the same level of love but who knows....SNW permit didn't show all the details which we know is there from Osaka's opening so I hope the other areas are just as generous with activities as Dragons and SNW.

 

[belloq87]

@Alicia, do the permits indicate what this area in the Classic Monsters land is?

Is it just what it appears to be: open space? Or possibly landscaped/filled with trees?

 

[Alicia]

@Alicia, do the permits indicate what this area in the Classic Monsters land is?

Is it just what it appears to be: open space? Or possibly landscaped/filled with trees?

I’ll have to check when I get home later, but I don’t think it’s described yet. Could be seating/park space, but that’s a guess.

 

[Nick]

I really think building a park around IP based lands is just a mistake. Maybe it's just me, but aside from WWoHP, no IP has even proven to me that it's even worth having a land. I just don't think IP lands work well.

Diagon works because it's supposed to be a shopping area in the books, but I feel like other lands like Cars Land, SWGE, SNW, etc look/feel like shopping malls with a ride or two rather than how lands used to be created with rides/shows around every corner and the occasional exit gift shop. And i'm not just talking MK or DL, USF was like this, too.

Pandora, TSL, and Avengers Campus doesn't either look like it takes the "shopping mall" approach, butnone of those lands are great, either. Pandora is the closest thing in that bunch, and it only has two rides, one which isa fine step up from Soarin, and another which is just a big WTF.

Idk, I feel like i've sort of lost track of my point and I started rambling a bit, but I just think that Universal will come to regret theming these lands so tightly to IPs, especially ones like HTTYD and Fantastic Beasts. HTTYD has never been as popular as some other Dreamworks properties here in the states and FB has sort of... never been all that popular. People only went to see the first one out of curiosity.

 

[UPSguy]

I really think building a park around IP based lands is just a mistake. Maybe it's just me, but aside from WWoHP, no IP has even proven to me that it's even worth having a land. I just don't think IP lands work well.

Diagon works because it's supposed to be a shopping area in the books, but I feel like other lands like Cars Land, SWGE, SNW, etc look/feel like shopping malls with a ride or two rather than how lands used to be created with rides/shows around every corner and the occasional exit gift shop. And i'm not just talking MK or DL, USF was like this, too.

Pandora, TSL, and Avengers Campus doesn't either look like it takes the "shopping mall" approach, butnone of those lands are great, either. Pandora is the closest thing in that bunch, and it only has two rides, one which isa fine step up from Soarin, and another which is just a big WTF.

Idk, I feel like i've sort of lost track of my point and I started rambling a bit, but I just think that Universal will come to regret theming these lands so tightly to IPs, especially ones like HTTYD and Fantastic Beasts. HTTYD has never been as popular as some other Dreamworks properties here in the states and FB has sort of... never been all that popular. People only went to see the first one out of curiosity.

Couldn't agree more. I think the industry just saw the success of WWoHP and thought it could work with any IP, which imo is a big mistake and the effects of this will probably be seen within a decade or so when an IP becomes so dated and now Disney or Universal is faced with not just replacing a single attraction... but an entire land. It is still mind boggling that Disney went with Toy Story Land at DHS rather than a general Pixar area where they could always switch out a single attraction for a newer Pixar IP; and the same can be said for HTTYD rather than a generalized DreamWorks land.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I really think building a park around IP based lands is just a mistake. Maybe it's just me, but aside from WWoHP, no IP has even proven to me that it's even worth having a land. I just don't think IP lands work well.

Diagon works because it's supposed to be a shopping area in the books, but I feel like other lands like Cars Land, SWGE, SNW, etc look/feel like shopping malls with a ride or two rather than how lands used to be created with rides/shows around every corner and the occasional exit gift shop. And i'm not just talking MK or DL, USF was like this, too.

Pandora, TSL, and Avengers Campus doesn't either look like it takes the "shopping mall" approach, butnone of those lands are great, either. Pandora is the closest thing in that bunch, and it only has two rides, one which isa fine step up from Soarin, and another which is just a big WTF.

Idk, I feel like i've sort of lost track of my point and I started rambling a bit, but I just think that Universal will come to regret theming these lands so tightly to IPs, especially ones like HTTYD and Fantastic Beasts. HTTYD has never been as popular as some other Dreamworks properties here in the states and FB has sort of... never been all that popular. People only went to see the first one out of curiosity.

I guess I just don’t see why, other than an IP like Mario or WW to get an initial draw, matters. Cause for me fact of the matter is people will show up for Mario so I’m not sure why it matters for HTTYD, or Monsters even.

Like, I don’t think many are booking trips FOR HTTYD, but if it’s a good, well designed, beautiful land then I don’t see guests having an issue. I don’t think anyone will go in saying “never seen these movies so I can’t go there!! Bye!!!”, especially when Frankenstein is well known and Dragons and Vikings are also a commonality.

The more immersive, the better imo. I also disagree with the shopping mall aspect of your post minus SWGE since there is significantly less to do there compared to the other lands. Most things these days are a single ride, or a big immersive beautiful lands with 2 or maybe a 3rd ride or a show, I’m fine with this trend as I don’t think we’d be getting endless amount of attractions in substitution for these lands.

Frankly I want more things like this, makes the escapism aspect easier to accomplish.

 

[belloq87]

I do think having a "DreamWorks Grab Bag" land, with attractions from four or five different IPs, would have been a better choice than an all-HTTYD land.

 

[Mad Dog]

I guess I just don’t see why, other than an IP like Mario or WW to get an initial draw, matters. Cause for me fact of the matter is people will show up for Mario so I’m not sure why it matters for HTTYD, or Monsters even.

Like, I don’t think many are booking trips FOR HTTYD, but if it’s a good, well designed, beautiful land then I don’t see guests having an issue. I don’t think anyone will go in saying “never seen these movies so I can’t go there!! Bye!!!”, especially when Frankenstein is well known and Dragons and Vikings are also a commonality.

The more immersive, the better imo. I also disagree with the shopping mall aspect of your post minus SWGE since there is significantly less to do there compared to the other lands. Most things these days are a single ride, or a big immersive beautiful lands with 2 or maybe a 3rd ride or a show, I’m fine with this trend as I don’t think we’d be getting endless amount of attractions in substitution for these lands.

Frankly I want more things like this, makes the escapism aspect easier to accomplish.

I agree with you. I love the immersion. And the single IP lands at Universal ...Two Potter lands , Jurassic Park, Marvel, Seuss, and Simpsons seem to work the best and are the ones I enjoy the most. The only
non IP land in Universal I'd rank with them is NY.

 

[Nick]

I guess I just don’t see why, other than an IP like Mario or WW to get an initial draw, matters. Cause for me fact of the matter is people will show up for Mario so I’m not sure why it matters for HTTYD, or Monsters even.

Like, I don’t think many are booking trips FOR HTTYD, but if it’s a good, well designed, beautiful land then I don’t see guests having an issue. I don’t think anyone will go in saying “never seen these movies so I can’t go there!! Bye!!!”, especially when Frankenstein is well known and Dragons and Vikings are also a commonality.

The more immersive, the better imo. I also disagree with the shopping mall aspect of your post minus SWGE since there is significantly less to do there compared to the other lands. Most things these days are a single ride, or a big immersive beautiful lands with 2 or maybe a 3rd ride or a show, I’m fine with this trend as I don’t think we’d be getting endless amount of attractions in substitution for these lands.

Frankly I want more things like this, makes the escapism aspect easier to accomplish.

How is Diagon not like a shopping mall with a ride attached? SNW is a bit more to it and will be much more rounded once DK is built, but SNW seems to be in the same vein as part of Potter and SWGE. On of the main things in the are is an upcharge experience. Without the Power Up Bands, it seems like there's significantly less for people to do in the land. SWGE is very much in the shopping mall vein, especially if you don't have a time for RotR.

My point is these lands take up huge plots of land and we get what, one or two rides out of it most of the time? Idk, go to Tokyo Disney Sea and you'd see what I mean. There's rides/shows around every corner, both Modern and a bit more Classic feeling, The park has almost all original areas where they put IP rides in, but they try to make those rides fit the theme of the land.

If you want to expand EU, you have very limited options as it has to be something that's either Monsters related, WWoHP, Dreamworks, SNW, or something like Pokemon to go in the expansion site. Maybe Lord of the Rings if that ever happens. I just feel like it's so limiting, especially since they are basing two lands from the jump off of what I would consider dated franchises already as I said above (FB and HTTYD).

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

How is Diagon not like a shopping mall with a ride attached? SNW is a bit more to it and will be much more rounded once DK is built, but SNW seems to be in the same vein as part of Potter and SWGE. On of the main things in the are is an upcharge experience. Without the Power Up Bands, it seems like there's significantly less for people to do in the land.

My point is these lands take up huge plots of land and we get what, one or two rides out of it most of the time? Idk, go to Tokyo Disney Sea and you'd see what I mean. There's rides/shows around every corner, both Modern and a bit more Classic feeling, The park has almost all original areas where they put IP rides in, but they try to make those rides fit the theme of the land.

If you want to expand EU, you have very limited options as it has to be something that's either Monsters related, WWoHP, Dreamworks, SNW, or something like Pokemon to go in the expansion site. Maybe Lord of the Rings if that ever happens. I just feel like it's so limiting, especially since they are basing two lands from the jump off of what I would consider dated franchises already as I said above (FB and HTTYD).

I’d say all theme parks are themed shopping malls and dining courts with rides, so I hear you but also like to me that’s somewhat a theme park. For me I’d take the highly intricately themed shopping malls over other ones.

The Tokyo Disney Sea comparison I get but also that’s regarded as one of the absolute best parks there is, so hard to compare to that. In terms of design I feel Epic Universe could match it as I trust Universal with their design work across the board now.

I guess my question is, what types of rides would take up the space the lands take? I do think EU has plenty of offerings to start but I know shows for some are not people’s thing, this has at least 2 to start which helps me. Also just simply walking around the environments in cool but I digress.

Also I get arguments about this is a risky concept but...... Islands of Adventure is a park based on all IP based lands and seems to be doing fine. An entire park to Potter level detail sounds like a dream. I guess I feel the discussion should be more what IPs are chosen rather than can it work because to me Islands of Adventure shows it already does.