Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift coaster (USF) - Opening 2027

[cdogsumo]

I mean it’s replacing Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - wouldn’t it just be called Hollywood Drift?

Sometimes I’m just the right amount of stupid.

 

[ChrisFL]

Sorry, I thought we were talking about the USH version. Wow, we’re already demonstrating how confusing this is.

The Hollywood Hollywood or the Orlando Hollywood?

 

[bdubsCEO]

The Hollywood Hollywood or the Orlando Hollywood?

hollywood hollywood… oh man

 

[TheGentTrent]

Doesn't Transformers take place in Chicago?

How come nobody freaks out over that ride being in New York?

 

[Brian G.]

Doesn't Transformers take place in Chicago?

How come nobody freaks out over that ride being in New York?

That part of New York can double as Chicago. There’s even a manhole cover with Chicago plastered on it. I’ll take a pic tmw.

 

[belloq87]

Doesn't Transformers take place in Chicago?

How come nobody freaks out over that ride being in New York?

There's context to some of these examples of thematic misplacements, though. Transformers was developed for Hollywood, so if you were going to change anything in the ride film, that actually would cost more money to re-animate and re-render (though I've never been conscious about the film making it clear it's supposed to be Chicago).

With this project, again, we're talking about printing different words on signage/murals/facades that are going to be made anyway, and a few extra takes during an already-scheduled preshow shoot with talent (if we assume such a thing is happening, which seems likely).

(And also... I've never been a fan of where Transformers is and how it's themed to its environment. So there!)

 

[TheCodeMan95]

That part of New York can double as Chicago. There’s even a manhole cover with Chicago plastered on it. I’ll take a pic tmw.

Just another thing for Brian to add to his busy schedule

 

[Brian G.]

Just another thing for Brian to add to his busy schedule

 

[Brian G.]

Doesn't Transformers take place in Chicago?

How come nobody freaks out over that ride being in New York?

That part of New York can double as Chicago. There’s even a manhole cover with Chicago plastered on it. I’ll take a pic tmw.

 

[ChrisFL]

Also F&F Supercharged takes place in LA....except it's in the San Francisco area of USF...did they change any of the film for that?

 

[Brian G.]

Also F&F Supercharged takes place in LA....except it's in the San Francisco area of USF...did they change any of the film for that?

They did change the skyline to match San Fran’s.

 

[Mad Dog]

Bottom line; The name of the park is Universal Studios....and just like the sets in various film studios....anything and everything
can be altered and interpreted to fit the production (rides, attractions, etc.). That's the beauty of the park's name/concept.

 

[DrStarlander]

That part of New York can double as Chicago.

But I think it's worthwhile to listen to your language: "New York can double as Chicago" and consider how a theme park tourist with no historical knowledge of the park interprets that. It would be like someone in Anaheim saying "New Orleans Square doubles as Boston." What does it mean?

What it means is that: in the fantasy that that area of USF is a movie studio backlot in Hollywood, we are pretending that filmmakers would sometimes film movies that take place in Chicago in that area of the backlot usually used to film movies that take place in New York.

That has some layers to it. It reminds me of the hardest-core SWGE commentators who use the land as a LARPing environment. At USF, the LARPing is of being on a Holywood movie studio backlot.

I don't want you to think I'm criticizing you or anyone who is familiar with and enjoys that fantasy. But sometimes companies (and the longest, deepest fans) can be so familiar with the product that they forget that new customers do not have the familiarity and context. The conceits they lean on simply don't exist in the minds of those new customers. It is not clear that the New York (including the section of New York that "doubles" as Chicago) area of the theme park is supposed to be a backlot while the rest of the theme park is just a theme park. Insiders, apparently, know that a big part of the park has an additional (unsubstantiated) layer.

Universal ought to clarify that, and it would be so easy. Just drag out some actual filming stuff from Hollywood and create some "filmmaking in progress" vignettes. Add some "star trailers" to the street that are actual popcorn and ice cream carts, but make it look like a movie set. Have recordings of actors inside the trailers practicing their lines or arguing. Label the bathroom entrance as "Hair and Make-Up." There are plenty of cliches associated with Hollywood (the concept, the industry) to riff on.

I'm not disappointed when theme park companies don't spend hundreds of millions of dollars on big new attractions. I'm disappointed when they fail to spend a million dollars clarifying the entire concept of their park -- which is the justification for all sorts of odd compromises, confusing thematic conflicts, and cost-savings (like using unadorned sound stages). Spend a tiny bit to contextualize all that adequately and I'm willing to go along with the fantasy.

Bottom line; The name of the park is Universal Studios....and just like the sets in various film studios....anything and everything
can be altered and interpreted to fit the production (rides, attractions, etc.). That's the beauty of the park's name/concept.

Bottom line, they need to spend a tiny bit of money inside the park to have that privilege.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I never thought about it but where does the Bourne show takes place or ET or Terminator? how did it have anything to do with the Hollywood area? do they have anything to do? where was Skynet located in the ride?

 

[Alicia]

where does the Bourne show takes place or ET or Terminator?

They take place here.

This is a remote Treadstone location for training purposes. ET is set on a film set in a movie studio that we enter and become part of the story. Terminator took place in the Miles Dyson Memorial Theater, located in either Hollywood or Universal Studios Florida, either works

 

[Legacy]

This would be much clearer if they just renamed the park to Universal’s Hollywood Studios Orlando.

 

[Brian G.]

But I think it's worthwhile to listen to your language: "New York can double as Chicago" and consider how a theme park tourist with no historical knowledge of the park interprets that. It would be like someone in Anaheim saying "New Orleans Square doubles as Boston." What does it mean?

What it means is that: in the fantasy that that area of USF is a movie studio backlot in Hollywood, we are pretending that filmmakers would sometimes film movies that take place in Chicago in that area of the backlot usually used to film movies that take place in New York.

That has some layers to it. It reminds me of the hardest-core SWGE commentators who use the land as a LARPing environment. At USF, the LARPing is of being on a Holywood movie studio backlot.

I don't want you to think I'm criticizing you or anyone who is familiar with and enjoys that fantasy. But sometimes companies (and the longest, deepest fans) can be so familiar with the product that they forget that new customers do not have the familiarity and context. The conceits they lean on simply don't exist in the minds of those new customers. It is not clear that the New York (including the section of New York that "doubles" as Chicago) area of the theme park is supposed to be a backlot while the rest of the theme park is just a theme park. Insiders, apparently, know that a big part of the park has an additional (unsubstantiated) layer.

Universal ought to clarify that, and it would be so easy. Just drag out some actual filming stuff from Hollywood and create some "filmmaking in progress" vignettes. Add some "star trailers" to the street that are actual popcorn and ice cream carts, but make it look like a movie set. Have recordings of actors inside the trailers practicing their lines or arguing. Label the bathroom entrance as "Hair and Make-Up." There are plenty of cliches associated with Hollywood (the concept, the industry) to riff on.

I'm not disappointed when theme park companies don't spend hundreds of millions of dollars on big new attractions. I'm disappointed when they fail to spend a million dollars clarifying the entire concept of their park -- which is the justification for all sorts of odd compromises, confusing thematic conflicts, and cost-savings (like using unadorned sound stages). Spend a tiny bit to contextualize all that adequately and I'm willing to go along with the fantasy.


Bottom line, they need to spend a tiny bit of money inside the park to have that privilege.

What’s really happening is just a clash of expectations. Modern theme park fans are trained to expect total immersion everywhere. Universal Studios wasn’t built that way. Sometimes you’re riding the movie. Sometimes you’re in the movie. And sometimes you’re standing right where the movie would be made.

That doesn’t need a million dollars in clarification. It just needs people to remember what kind of park this actually is.

Also, the Disneyland comparison doesn’t really track. Disneyland never presented itself as a production space. Universal has.

 

[RGMick77]

Transformers sits across from Sting Alley, which is themed after the movie The Sting, which takes place in 1930s Chicago.

 

[Mad Dog]

What’s really happening is just a clash of expectations. Modern theme park fans are trained to expect total immersion everywhere. Universal Studios wasn’t built that way. Sometimes you’re riding the movie. Sometimes you’re in the movie. And sometimes you’re standing right where the movie would be made.

That doesn’t need a million dollars in clarification. It just needs people to remember what kind of park this actually is.

Also, the Disneyland comparison doesn’t really track. Disneyland never presented itself as a production space. Universal has.

Yes.....Actually, I like that aspect of USF. It gives the park a lot of flexibility. Universal has two very immersive parks with IOA and Epic.
It's a good thing to have the third option park that can be whatever they want it to be at a certain moment in time. Plus, it has, as a
different option, Diagon, which is still the best immersive land in existence.

 

[DrStarlander]

Sometimes you’re riding the movie. Sometimes you’re in the movie. And sometimes you’re standing right where the movie would be made.

How would anyone new know this? If you're going to have a park with that many layers, that conceptually complicated, just explain it for heaven's sake. Why so secretive?

That doesn’t need a million dollars in clarification. It just needs people to remember what kind of park this actually is.

It's not "that kind of park" unless they do something to convey it. That's my point. You can't "remember" something you've never learned because you are a new customer.

Also, the Disneyland comparison doesn’t really track. Disneyland never presented itself as a production space. Universal has.

Again, "never presented" is all about history, past familiarity of the park. Set that aside. They are attracting new customers from all over the world, every day, even more now with Epic. It needs to work now, and present something now that makes sense for new customers with no knowledge.

They don't need to spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, just spend a frickin' million dollars on sprinkling around a few cues.

Anyway, we disagree, I get it.