Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I don't think it'd be an issue staying open late. If the Contemporary can border Tomorrowland and not be bothered will all the late night events and people on actual rides and Wishes, the Hub can handle itself past 9:00 as mainly a dining/entertianment area. Its just people walking around. I don't see that being the issue although I understand this hotel is like IN this park, I still don't see it being a major problem. The issue is going to be how they handle the hub in terms of ticketing. Is their going to be a separate ticket for dining experiences? Separate ticket for all inclusive (dining, hub rides, land access) and non inclusive (just land admission), etc. I think thats what we need to wait and see on. I could still see this being just part of the park, however and the park is naturally just open later.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I don't think it'd be an issue staying open late. If the Contemporary can border Tomorrowland and not be bothered will all the late night events and people on actual rides and Wishes, the Hub can handle itself past 9:00 as mainly a dining/entertianment area. Its just people walking around. I don't see that being the issue although I understand this hotel is like IN this park, I still don't see it being a major problem. The issue is going to be how they handle the hub in terms of ticketing. Is their going to be a separate ticket for dining experiences? Separate ticket for all inclusive (dining, hub rides, land access) and non inclusive (just land admission), etc. I think thats what we need to wait and see on. I could still see this being just part of the park, however and the park is naturally just open later.

What are you talking about? Contemporary is a quarter of a mile away from the park!

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

What are you talking about? Contemporary is a quarter of a mile away from the park!

Idk man, that's still pretty damn close! When you take into account how many more people are at MK, even for after hours events, then would be at the hub for dining and entertainment late at night? I just don't see it being an issue. If the park is open super late, thats an entire other issue.

 

[WaterToWade]

BTW, are site plans for the hub expected eventually or just the four worlds?

 

[RFRees]

I doubt the restaurants and shopping inside the hub will be loud enough to keep people awake through guest's sound proofed hotel rooms. If any particular attraction is too loud (like the coaster), they could close that attraction earlier. I don't see the difference between this and Disney Springs (where hotels are an ear shot away).

 

[JungleSkip]

I doubt the restaurants and shopping inside the hub will be loud enough to keep people awake through guest's sound proofed hotel rooms. If any particular attraction is too loud (like the coaster), they could close that attraction earlier. I don't see the difference between this and Disney Springs.

I don’t think noise will affect it. I just don’t think it makes any sense logistically

 

[RFRees]

I also don’t see how it would logistically work. People aren’t gonna wait to eat dinner till 9PM when the park closes

If the HUB has seven or eight restaurants as Alicia mentioned on the podcast, then I don't see how it makes any economical sense to design it strictly for theme park guests and close it early. (Keep in mind that each land also has a place to eat or two, so that's 12+ restaurants.)

I don't see what the big issue with logistics is. There's a bunch of ways this (open night HUB) could work logistically. Here's how I would do it:

Park entrance lines are pretty much dead later in the day, with only a few lanes open. So, it would be reasonable (and not a cluster F) to ticket guests at the entrance to each land after a certain hour, let's say 6pm on most days. This would keep ticketed guests inside those lands for the last park hours, and it opens the rest of the HUB to other guests.

Keep in mind that the logistics of this is actually very similar to how they close the current parks every night, where they close the entrance to certain lands (like Diagon) but allow people who are already inside those lands to finish what they were doing (like riding Gingrotts).

The logistics here are also far less complicated than HHN (and specifically Stay and Scream). It's something Universal has experience with already. None of this requires any advanced technology (eg facial recognition).

Side note on facial recognition... Everyone should know that facial recognition is not required for the open HUB concept. However, Universal has not stopped looking (keyword looking) at the feasibility of facial recognition for Orlando (as of a few month ago). IMO, it couldn't come sooner. Fingerprint scans are flat out disgusting, and should be seen as such, especially in a time of a pandemic.

 

[Alicia]

If the HUB has seven or eight restaurants as Alicia mentioned on the podcast, then I don't see how it makes any economical sense to design it strictly for theme park guests and close it early. (Keep in mind that each land also has a place to eat or two, so that's 12+ restaurants.)

I don't see what the big issue with logistics is. There's a bunch of ways this (open night HUB) could work logistically. Here's how I would do it:

Park entrance lines are pretty much dead later in the day, with only a few lanes open. So, it would be reasonable (and not a cluster F) to ticket guests at the entrance to each land after a certain hour, let's say 6pm on most days. This would keep ticketed guests inside those lands for the last park hours, and it opens the rest of the HUB to other guests.

Keep in mind that the logistics of this is actually very similar to how they close the current parks every night, where they close the entrance to certain lands (like Diagon) but allow people who are already inside those lands to finish what they were doing (like riding Gingrotts).

The logistics here are also far less complicated than HHN (and specifically Stay and Scream). It's something Universal has experience with already. None of this requires any advanced technology (eg facial recognition).

Side note on facial recognition... Everyone should know that facial recognition is not required for the open HUB concept. However, Universal has not stopped looking (keyword looking) at the feasibility of facial recognition for Orlando (as of a few month ago). IMO, it couldn't come sooner. Fingerprint scans are flat out disgusting, and should be seen as such, especially in a time of a pandemic.

I do agree with the possibilities of something like this, especially if the rides close at 6PM like they do at the current parks some times of year... but, to play devil's advocate, the reason for so many restaurants in the hub may simply come down to the fact that every guest must pass through the hub between visiting every land. I believe I mentioned on the podcast, (or at least on one of my guest appearances lately) that there will be a ton of restrooms, restaurants and even shops in the hub, and it may very well be just to ensure they can cater to all guests passing through so often.

That said, having a few upscale dining locations in the hub has led me to wonder if those might stay open longer than the rides, especially on days when USF or IOA would normally close before prime dinner time hours. Of course, one of those upscale dining locations is located directly in front of the hotel, so it's also possible that that one could stay open later than the park/hub, and just accept customers from the hotel side without them even entering the park.

There's still a lot we don't know. I, like you, am just speculating on possibilities of course.

 

[JungleSkip]

Park entrance lines are pretty much dead later in the day, with only a few lanes open. So, it would be reasonable (and not a cluster F) to ticket guests at the entrance to each land after a certain hour, let's say 6pm on most days. This would keep ticketed guests inside those lands for the last park hours, and it opens the rest of the HUB to other guests.

I have no idea how you think this wouldn’t be a cluster. If I’m in Dragons at 6PM, and the park is open until 9PM, I have to go through an exit turn style, head to Monsters, deal with an entrance turnstile along with other people who want to go from land to land,then deal with however ticketing will be then? Sounds like a hassle and a half.

turstyles at the front of the park at 6PM are less crowded Because there are less people coming *into* a park. Because there are already a ton of people *in* the park. Now you’re making all the ones who were already in the park, the ones who PAYED to be there, deal with roadblocks to enjoy the park they paid to enjoy so those that didn’t get to crowd up the walkways and eat. If that’s not a recipe for guest dissatisfaction, I don’t know what is

 

[RFRees]

I have no idea how you think this wouldn’t be a cluster. If I’m in Dragons at 6PM, and the park is open until 9PM, I have to go through an exit turn style, head to Monsters, deal with an entrance turnstile along with other people who want to go from land to land,then deal with however ticketing will be then? Sounds like a hassle and a half.

turstyles at the front of the park at 6PM are less crowded Because there are less people coming *into* a park. Because there are already a ton of people *in* the park. Now you’re making all the ones who were already in the park, the ones who PAYED to be there, deal with roadblocks to enjoy the park they paid to enjoy so those that didn’t get to crowd up the walkways and eat. If that’s not a recipe for guest dissatisfaction, I don’t know what is

Have you ever ridden the train between parks? Or traveled from USF to IOA by foot to see the Hogwarts show? It's not as bad as you make it out to be. The worst part, by far, is the walking.

 

[JungleSkip]

Have you ever ridden the train between parks? Or traveled from USF to IOA by foot to see the Hogwarts show? It's not as bad as you make it out to be. The worst part, by far, is the walking.

Comparing apples to oranges.

 

[RFRees]

Comparing apples to oranges.

Not at all.

Turnstiles are literally at every ride. Express riders scan their tickets for every ride. Now all the sudden it's the worst thing in the world.

The scanning and turnstiles themselves aren't the issue.. the issue would be the lines. If there's a line to get into each area, that's negative guest satisfaction. Though we may be dealing with that regardless (if the park reaches near capacity and some lands are more popular).

 

[JungleSkip]

Not at all.

Turnstiles are literally at every ride. Express riders scan their tickets for every ride. Now all the sudden it's the worst thing in the world.

LOL

Come on dude. This situation is not going from IOA to USF. It's like if you got off Mummy at 6PM, and wanted to make the 6:15 Bourne show. But first you had to go through the New York Land exit turnstiles. then fight through the new crowd of people milling about to try to eat at Finn's or Monster's Cafe, none of which payed to get in the park BTW, then get to the Hollywood land entrance turnstiles, fight through the crowd of people who doesn't realize the entire park isnt' free after 6PM, then go through the entrance turnstiles.

That doesn't sound needlessly tedious to you? You don't think people would get annoyed by that?

Universal wins major points from a lot of guests by being *easier* and less complicated to understand than Disney. Doing this would needlessly complicate basically everything about the theme park going experience.

 

[Scott W.]

Not at all.

Turnstiles are literally at every ride. Express riders scan their tickets for every ride. Now all the sudden it's the worst thing in the world.

The scanning and turnstiles themselves aren't the issue.. the issue would be the lines. If there's a line to get into each area, that's negative guest satisfaction. Though we may be dealing with that regardless (if the park reaches near capacity and some lands are more popular).

That sounds like a lousy experience.

Add on top of this that certain rides will require lockers which will result in huge bottle necks as people put their tickets in the locker or if people are using a digital ticket on their phone, I don't see how that would work with rides that use metal detectors.

 

[RFRees]

That sounds like a lousy experience.

Add on top of this that certain rides will require lockers which will result in huge bottle necks as people put their tickets in the locker or if people are using a digital ticket on their phone, I don't see how that would work with rides that use metal detectors.

I'm really not sure what you're talking about at all. My post was describing how it currently is (every ride has a 'turnstile', express passholders have to scan their tickets for their line). I'm not suggesting that every ride have anything more than what they have now.

LOL

Come on dude. This situation is not going from IOA to USF. It's like if you got off Mummy at 6PM, and wanted to make the 6:15 Bourne show. But first you had to go through the New York Land exit turnstiles. then fight through the new crowd of people milling about to try to eat at Finn's or Monster's Cafe, none of which payed to get in the park BTW, then get to the Hollywood land entrance turnstiles, fight through the crowd of people who doesn't realize the entire park isnt' free after 6PM, then go through the entrance turnstiles.

That doesn't sound needlessly tedious to you? You don't think people would get annoyed by that?

Universal wins major points from a lot of guests by being *easier* and less complicated to understand than Disney. Doing this would needlessly complicate basically everything about the theme park going experience.

Fighting through crowds at a theme park? Never done that before.

You're literally describing any time someone moves from USF to IOA to catch the Hogwarts show.

And it's not that bad.

 

[JungleSkip]

You're literally describing any time someone moves from USF to IOA to catch the Hogwarts show.

And it's not that bad.

Except *most* people do not do that because it’s a hassle. This would be forcing them to do so just to go to another ride in the same park

 

[RFRees]

Except *most* people do not do that because it’s a hassle. This would be forcing them to do so just to go to another ride in the same park

Most people don't do that because it's too far on foot, not because they have to scan a ticket.

I have never once been with a group of people who said "I don't want to ride the Hogwarts Express because I'd have to get out my ticket."

This is just silly.

I go to IOA / USF on the weekends, mostly to play Pokemon. I'm hopping back and forth from park to park. I enter through those entries several times in a day. It's not the hassle you make it out to be. The most I've waited after 6pm is a few minutes, which pale by comparison to the wait times for shops, restaurants, or rides. I've never once said "lets go to Disney Springs instead, because there's no turnstiles."

Guests deal with all sorts of stuff, they are more resilient than you make them out to be. They fight through CityWalk "non-paying" crowds, they deal with company events being setup in front of them at USF, they deal with HHN decorations sitting around during the day. You make it sound like scanning a ticket one more time between the hours of 6pm to 8pm, or fighting through a few extra people in the HUB from 6pm to 8pm, is somehow going to ruin their entire vacation.

 

[Nico]

Most people don't do that because it's too far on foot, not because they have to scan a ticket.

I have never once been with a group of people who said "I don't want to ride the Hogwarts Express because I'd have to get out my ticket."

This is just silly.

I go to IOA / USF on the weekends, mostly to play Pokemon. I'm hopping back and forth from park to park. I enter through those entries several times in a day. It's not the hassle you make it out to be. The most I've waited after 6pm is a few minutes, which pale by comparison to the wait times for shops, restaurants, or rides. I've never once said "lets go to Disney Springs instead, because there's no turnstiles."

Guests deal with all sorts of stuff, they are more resilient than you make them out to be. They fight through CityWalk "non-paying" crowds, they deal with company events being setup in front of them at USF, they deal with HHN decorations sitting around during the day. You make it sound like scanning a ticket one more time between the hours of 6pm to 8pm, or fighting through a few extra people in the HUB from 6pm to 8pm, is somehow going to ruin their entire vacation.

1. Alicia has stated she is just speculating/putting pieces together.

2. What Alicia said on the podcast, and what you’re advocating for are very different.

The reason people disagreed initially/and now is because it’s not plausible. Example: You compared Diagon being cut off to this hub idea. They’re complete opposite situations. They STOP people from coming in to Diagon who have paid because the park closed. So either the lands are open or theyre closed. You can’t have both. They would not piss off their captive audience in order to get a marginal slice of people coming without tickets. What Alicia was explaining was, let’s keep our paying guests on property longer by having a City Walk like location when the lands close.

This whole discussion is silly because we don’t even know what time EU closes.

 

[RFRees]

1. Alicia has stated she is just speculating/putting pieces together.

2. What Alicia said on the podcast, and what you’re advocating for are very different.

The reason people disagreed initially/and now is because it’s not plausible. Example: You compared Diagon being cut off to this hub idea. They’re complete opposite situations. They STOP people from coming in to Diagon who have paid because the park closed. So either the lands are open or theyre closed. You can’t have both. They would not piss off their captive audience in order to get a marginal slice of people coming without tickets. What Alicia was explaining was, let’s keep our paying guests on property longer by having a City Walk like location when the lands close.

This whole discussion is silly because we don’t even know what time EU closes.

I know she was speculating, I mention that several times.

And the specific idea I had mentioned (regarding opening the hub at 6pm) was just one way that it could work. That was mostly in reply to "people won't wait until 9pm to eat dinner."

I think there's a lot of ways this could be feasible. But people are coming up with all sorts of reasons to dump on this.

I think the arguments against it are often really illogical. There's about a dozen different things people have said, such as "theme park guests will have a broken sense of immersion by seeing non paying guests in the hub" (as if you can tell the difference?). I mean honestly you guys are really creative.

 

[RFRees]

So to change topics a bit...

Blumhouse is reportedly working on an untitled Dracula movie. This is after the success of their low budget Invisible Man reboot. As I mention earlier, not directly related to the Classic Monsters land but it could have an impact on how Universal presents the characters to us (in a more serious/adult way).

Also, there's a rumor that Warner Bros could be working on a Voldemort origins movie (Tom Riddle as a child, played by Noah Schnapp who plays Will in Stranger Things). I'm only bringing this up here because in theory, the movie would be set in the late 1930s, somewhat close in time to the Fantastic Beasts movies (mid 20s). If the movie ever gets made, it wouldn't be too far fetched of an idea to incorporate it into UOR in some way. Something to keep an eye on at least.