Universal's New Park/Site B Blue Sky Thread

[Imperius]

Sure would be nice if Universal was testing other admission technologies for years...

Even with facial recognition you still need lines to weed people out. Might make it a faster but when busy still gonna have congestion.

 

[ParkRumors]

operational nightmare

Definitely. Having 5-6 separate tiny parks would absolutely be a massive challenge to operate efficiently. Not only that, but the concept would be very difficult to grasp for most guests that are used to the way theme parks have always worked. The most popular worlds would probably have to enforce a return time/timed entry system, and the least popular lands could be total ghost towns. Sounds like an interesting idea on paper, but in practice, please no.

 

[quinnmac000]

The one thing I'm realizing now though...the hotel will be right next to the warehouse if I'm imagining this correct which means people with rooms in the back are going to have awful views.

As for the ticket thing, theme parks here in Korea require you to show your ticket at each attraction so while it can cause some issues (pulling your ticket out consistently has caused some to lose their tickets), it doesn't really effect much. The main issue will be the bottlenecking in popular lands so they would really need to increase capacity in each world or the number of worlds.

 

[JungleSkip]

Definitely. Having 5-6 separate tiny parks would absolutely be a massive challenge to operate efficiently. Not only that, but the concept would be very difficult to grasp for most guests that are used to the way theme parks have always worked. The most popular worlds would probably have to enforce a return time/timed entry system, and the least popular lands could be total ghost towns. Sounds like an interesting idea on paper, but in practice, please no.

Not only that, but it means every land will have traffic flow problems. Each land should be connected if they’re going to go ahead with this

 

[FatalBubbles]

Not only that, but it means every land will have traffic flow problems. Each land should be connected if they’re going to go ahead with this

I agree. I can't see them designing a park that has only one way in and out of every area. In November, at Disney, Toy Story Land was a complete nightmare because it's exactly that. Horrible design to have massive congestion at the entrance to every land.

If you can build a land that you can't see out of then why can't you do the same thing with two entrances as opposed to one...

 

[Imperius]

Diagon is the perfect example. I don’t see any issue with it as long is like Diagon and no extra entry scanning needed. Make the park more interesting if it’s world based. Have the hub be a transport hub and it works all over.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

In the article he notes plans have changed and I can say I reheard that too.

 

[ParkRumors]

If you can build a land that you can't see out of then why can't you do the same thing with two entrances as opposed to one...

Yeah, exactly. I feel like this concept is them trying to fix a problem that doesn't actually exist. I don't think 99% of theme park guests really care about sightlines or 100% total immersion when they're in a theme park land. Just make the environments highly detailed and some kick-ass attractions, there's no need to reinvent the wheel here.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Yeah, exactly. I feel like this concept is them trying to fix a problem that doesn't actually exist. I don't think 99% of theme park guests really care about sightlines or 100% total immersion when they're in a theme park land. Just make the environments highly detailed and some kick-ass attractions, there's no need to reinvent the wheel here.

That’s not the problem they wanted to solve.

 

[Imperius]

If the entrances are big enough and each land loops on itself it really shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[ParkRumors]

That’s not what they wanted to solve.

Then what would be the point? The TPU article specifically states the desire to create more completely immersive lands like Diagon Alley. If that's not the goal, than what are they accomplishing with a plan like this? What's the benefit of basically having 6 tiny theme parks with limited capacity vs one large park with a combined capacity?

 

[Alicia]

To be clear, if they did go with a plan like this, there would still only be one flat rate theme park admission ticket that gets you into all 4 worlds. They would not be available ala cart, since that would be disastrous for the lesser popular lands.

Then what would be the point? The TPU article specifically states the desire to create more completely immersive lands like Diagon Alley. If that's not the goal, than what are they accomplishing with a plan like this? What's the benefit of basically having 6 tiny theme parks with limited capacity vs one large park with a combined capacity?

I would guess to allow guests into the shopping/entertainment district like Disney Springs, but then coerce them into entering the theme park elements while they’re there.

Problem is, parking at Disney Springs is free. Unless they offer free parking here, they’re not going to get anymore foot traffic at this CityWalk as they do at their regular CityWalk — which is mainly composed of people traveling to and from the parks.

 

[quinnmac000]

Using @Alicia data from the her podcast video on April 2nd, the entrances themselves actually are wide enough to be able to not be overall congested, however I do have a feeling this design will make the park seem much smaller than it actually is unless they manage to build vertically in a way that makes the lands feel extremely expansive.

I'm fairly certain Nintendo is one of the two large plots in the back however, as well as HP and UCM being the two smaller plots

 

[Alicia]

Using @Alicia data from the her podcast video on April 2nd, the entrances themselves actually are wide enough to be able to not be overall congested, however I do have a feeling this design will make the park seem much smaller than it actually is unless they manage to build vertically in a way that makes the lands feel extremely expansive.

Say what you will about that TPU article, but that layout does seem to match the long Main Street/Hub design going on in the development plans.

 

[Happytycho]

A couple of minor thoughts:
- I don't think they have the arrangement right of which lands will be there on opening day, but the general layout is probably correct.
- They confirm what had previously been suspected that there won't be room left outside the park entrance for a Citywalk type area.
EDIT: And seemingly no icon for the hub besides the hotel.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

To be clear, if they did go with a plan like this, there would still only be one flat rate theme park admission ticket that gets you into all 4 worlds. They would not be available ala cart, since that would be disastrous for the lesser popular lands.


I would guess to allow guests into the shopping/entertainment district like Disney Springs, but then coerce them into entering the theme park elements while they’re there.

Problem is, parking at Disney Springs is free. Unless they offer free parking here, they’re not going to get anymore foot traffic at this CityWalk as they do at their regular CityWalk — which is mainly composed of people traveling to and from the parks.

Bingo.

 

[GadgetGuru]

That’s not the problem they wanted to solve.

I'm assuming the problem they want to solve is how to avoid building both a hub land + a CityWalk (which both serve similar purposes)

I don't think this will ever happen. This sounds like a situation where the park designers haven't talked to anybody in operations. This sounds like a complete mess for operations and a complete mess for guests. Training guests to understand this new system isn't going to happen cleanly because this park would be radically different from EVERY OTHER PARK in the country.

I've always thought that every land in FW would look like Diagon Alley. Put a set of turnstiles at the main park entrance and this is exactly what I thought the park would like. I'm personally convinced Universal will just turn this into a traditional park with a single set of turnstiles. Maybe it'll happen before day 1. Maybe it'll happen 6 months after opening when Universal realizes what a terrible idea this is.

 

[GAcoaster]

So they've flipped the concept if this is to be believed, basically making the park entrance its own Citywalk. So rather than building a "Second Park" on the property there, they could simply expand the park entrance/Main St./citywalk style area into the parking area and add additional "worlds" as they want to either one or two at a time or adding a whole other "park" full at once. It's outside the box thinking, but they may be onto something, and if it doesn't work like they think it will they can just put a set of turnstiles on the end of the Main St/Citywalk area and make it a more traditional park entrance.

 

[Alicia]

EDIT: And seemingly no icon for the hub besides the hotel.

If the hotel is still happening, it’s not close to the hub, more in the back overlooking everything. And the leaked internal documents did specify there would be an icon in the hub. Going by the water plans I’d venture to guess a fountain or something with a water feature built in.

 

[Imperius]

I don’t want to hub to be a giant city walk though. I want it to be a themed land in itself. I fee it would cheapen the worlds if it empties out into a mall.