Villain-Con Minion Blast (General Discussion)

[TheUniC6]

July 1st

Hopefully we get some concept art when this happens!

 

[CMParts]

So... When are they gonna officially announce Minions?

Is it really going to be another ride about Minions? :_:

 

[Alicia]

Is it really going to be another ride about Minions? :_:

Define “ride”

 

[Magic-Man]

Is it really going to be another ride about Minions? :_:

It's Universal's biggest IP that they actually own. What did you expect lol

 

[fryoj]

Minions is so underutilized in Orlando. I'm sure they have their reasons, but it's somewhat baffling. Even the moving line ride and restaurant overlay come off as half measures.

 

[TheUniC6]

Minions is so underutilized in Orlando. I'm sure they have their reasons, but it's somewhat baffling. Even the moving line ride and restaurant overlay come off as half measures.

Maybe the Minion moving walkway attraction will be fun. We will just have to wait and see. The concept is very much first of its kind.

 

[tielo]

Maybe the Minion moving walkway attraction will be fun. We will just have to wait and see. The concept is very much first of its kind.

That is the spirit. We always want new ride concepts, this is out there and it sure can fail but at least it's something new and I'm very appreciative about that. Above that I love the Minions.

 

[biggerboat16]

Minions is so underutilized in Orlando. I'm sure they have their reasons, but it's somewhat baffling. Even the moving line ride and restaurant overlay come off as half measures.

Id much rather have them use the Shrek building for dreamworks theater. They could even play two different films at once since there are two theaters in Florida. Despicable Me is so popular I think it deserves itself a real e-ticket. It seems like they think two C-tickets can somehow equal an E-ticket for this franchise. I’d love to see Shrek become dreamworks theater and minion mayhem become an all new attraction, while a new Despicable Me dark ride with physical sets is built elsewhere. It seems like such an easy franchise to build an attraction for too, say that Gru is attempting to perform some heist and the guests are recruits to come help him or something. They just don’t seem to want to spend the money. Instead of one quality, E-Ticket ride, they take the cheap road and give us two C-tickets. I just feel like they can do better with the franchise

On a side note, I also think that it’s a bad move to have the park entrance be an IP area. Guests will walk into the park and end up right in the middle of a minions area. Entrances should be timeless before guests can branch off to find their favorite IPs. Look at port of entry or main street USA

 

[Alicia]

On a side note, I also think that it’s a bad move to have the park entrance be an IP area. Guests will walk into the park and end up right in the middle of a minions area. Entrances should be timeless before guests can branch off to find their favorite IPs. Look at port of entry or main street USA

This park's entrance area has always been a mess. And this isn't even the first thing people see, there's still production office facades before turnstiles and after, shops, Today Cafe, and the right turn down Rodeo Drive before hitting Minions stuff. I'd argue that Rodeo Drive makes a better first impression than two plain soundstages ever have, and I've always been thankful that's there first.

 

[shiekra38]

This park's entrance area has always been a mess. And this isn't even the first thing people see, there's still production office facades before turnstiles and after, shops, Today Cafe, and the right turn down Rodeo Drive before hitting Minions stuff. I'd argue that Rodeo Drive makes a better first impression than two plain soundstages ever have, and I've always been thankful that's there first.

Yes that are is fine-ish

I do with the Studios Store, Camera Store, and Today were a bit taller with maybe a "bridge" to connect the two to conceal the view down the road a bit

But they certainly aren't terrible

Then....production central hits you

 

[TheUniC6]

Id much rather have them use the Shrek building for dreamworks theater. They could even play two different films at once since there are two theaters in Florida. Despicable Me is so popular I think it deserves itself a real e-ticket. It seems like they think two C-tickets can somehow equal an E-ticket for this franchise. I’d love to see Shrek become dreamworks theater and minion mayhem become an all new attraction, while a new Despicable Me dark ride with physical sets is built elsewhere. It seems like such an easy franchise to build an attraction for too, say that Gru is attempting to perform some heist and the guests are recruits to come help him or something. They just don’t seem to want to spend the money. Instead of one quality, E-Ticket ride, they take the cheap road and give us two C-tickets. I just feel like they can do better with the franchise

On a side note, I also think that it’s a bad move to have the park entrance be an IP area. Guests will walk into the park and end up right in the middle of a minions area. Entrances should be timeless before guests can branch off to find their favorite IPs. Look at port of entry or main street USA

There were once plans to port the DreamWorks theatre to Florida believe it or not. But then the plug was pulled on the project and now it is villain con. YMMV but I have heard other people on the internet say that theatre attractions like DWT are outdated ride systems. I think that could be why they axed DWT for Orlando. I also think it has to do with marketing potential. A first of its kind moving walkway interactive attraction will probably get a lot more press and attention that a 4D theatre. Maybe they can do DreamWorks land to replace KidZone post EU.

 

[belloq87]

The weaknesses of Production Central would be more manageable (to me, anyway) if the attractions there were more interesting. On paper, I've never minded the "you're now walking around studio sound stages" approach, they just need to deliver better experiences within that.

I'd certainly rather have that than wacky Minions overload at the front of the park.

 

[fryoj]

Maybe the Minion moving walkway attraction will be fun. We will just have to wait and see. The concept is very much first of its kind.

I'm not saying it's not going to be a good ride, but even if it is, it just doesn't seem like enough for what appears to be one of their biggest IP's/merch movers. I mean, if a few years ago, they would have announced they were closing Minion Mayhem, and converting Kidzone to a Minions E ticket, a restaurant or two, and a super silly fun land with a kids coaster and a couple flats, hardly anyone would have batted an eye. Just odd choices imo.

 

[shiekra38]

The weaknesses of Production Central would be more manageable (to me, anyway) if the attractions there were more interesting. On paper, I've never minded the "you're now walking around studio sound stages" approach, they just need to deliver better experiences within that.

I'd certainly rather have that than wacky Minions overload at the front of the park.

I agree that Minions *should* be elsewhere in the park

It seemed like a good quick replacement for Neutron at the time

But then the property exploded

I to miss the days of Hitchc**k and Hannah Barbera

But even in the 90's Production Central wasn't exactly "cohesive"

 

[biggerboat16]

This is well into blue sky territory, but I wonder if they could’ve replaced Shrek and Minion Mayhem with one, large attraction. There could just be a bridge across the path connecting both buildings. If it were up to me, I’d use this land for an Epic Movie Ride. It’s right at the front of the park where the ‘movie magic’ theming is thickest, and would give the park a weenie. As it currently stands, it just feels like you have to walk quite a bit to find the first ‘big ride.’ We might be surprised by Villain Con, but it just feels like a downgrade. Guests stand all day at the park, and the new ride has them continue to stand? This is replacing a simulator, but it was still a ‘sit down and get jostled around’ experience. We all might enjoy villain con very much, but the average guest may not be overly enthused about the walk-through/standing aspect. Many might say they’d rather do a “real ride” instead. My other concern is crowd control. If this is essentially a moving shooting gallery, what is there to stop guests from walking backwards on the belt to get a perfect score? I doubt that they’ll have employees yelling at people around every corner. What’s to stop guests from turning a 5 min experience into an hour by refusing to keep on moving?

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Guests stand all day at the park, and the new ride has them continue to stand? This is replacing a simulator, but it was still a ‘sit down and get jostled around’ experience. We all might enjoy villain con very much, but the average guest may not be overly enthused about the walk-through/standing aspect.

This is it for me. Even the worst rides usually have the benefit of sitting you down in AC for a few minutes. This won’t even offer that.

I actually think the concept is pretty clever and the Orlando-based Villain Con conceit is clever in a meta sort of way. But the expectation for an attraction based off one of your biggest IPs (at the front of the park no less) is going to be something of a higher caliber than a standing room-only arcade game.

 

[shiekra38]

This is it for me. Even the worst rides usually have the benefit of sitting you down in AC for a few minutes. This won’t even offer that.

I actually think the concept is pretty clever and the Orlando-based Villain Con conceit is clever in a meta sort of way. But the expectation for an attraction based off one of your biggest IPs (at the front of the park no less) is going to be something of a higher caliber than a standing room-only arcade game.

I agree, it's a fun concept

Should've been a trackless shooter though >:O

 

[tielo]

I'm not saying it's not going to be a good ride, but even if it is, it just doesn't seem like enough for what appears to be one of their biggest IP's/merch movers. I mean, if a few years ago, they would have announced they were closing Minion Mayhem, and converting Kidzone to a Minions E ticket, a restaurant or two, and a super silly fun land with a kids coaster and a couple flats, hardly anyone would have batted an eye. Just odd choices imo.

What you say is true but there is a hard rule within Universal Studios and that is; if it's our own ip we cut corners where ever we can, if it's someone else's ip we go all out.

 

[GA-MBIT]

I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt that the teams behind this ride system have thought about these same questions and figured out some kinds of solutions before they commited to actually constructing the thing. I just don't see a future where we see this thing become a logistical nightmare upon soft opens or anything like that.

 

[Legacy]

Honestly, the ride is kind of brilliant from an operational standpoint.

To adapt the immortal words of the great Mitch Hedberg, “Ride temporarily walkthrough. We apologize for the convenience.”