Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[Brian G.]

I agree.


What if the majority of the McDonald's menu was variations on fish sandwiches? You might think that was a bit overkill!

I'm 100% not saying get rid of all screen-based attractions*, I'm saying let's rebalance the lineup more, getting it back closer to what it used to be before the company added four consecutive screen rides in about five years between 2013 and 2018 (and losing four physical/practical attractions to do it).

* Let's also not forget, I'm the guy who advocated for a flying simulator in Berk!


I don't know that I've ever said that it doesn't work, though I've certainly said (and continue to believe) it should have gotten at least one significant attraction (particularly given that we know Nintendo was originally intended for the location, and would have added three to the park, two of which would not have been screen-heavy). I do think it seems to be a very budget-conscious, minimum-effort-necessary overlay, which feels like a missed opportunity to use the area to address what I think is the park's primary deficiency.

As for advocating getting rid of it, my position was that if keeping DreamWorks intact was going to make it difficult for a significant land to be added to the park, then I didn't think Universal should see DreamWorks' position as the "kids only" land as a reason to hold back. I think whatever value the general offerings in DW provide could be incorporated into redeveloped areas across the park (replacements for Springfield, Fear Factor theater, etc.) if Universal had a grander concept to go into the plot.

I'm totally fine with it staying of Universal can add some real value back there.


I'll just sum it up in the most direct way possible: some people (not just me, but certainly including me) think USF's primary issue, currently, is the composition of the attraction roster being weighted too much in one direction. That is what needs course-correcting and a shift in philosophy (in my opinion). It's great that Universal has created some very significant attractions at the other two parks that are not driven primarily by screens. Now it's time to see that applied to the original park.

In my opinion!

The fish sandwich analogy still kind of proves my point, though.

If most of the menu suddenly became fish sandwiches, then yes, you could objectively argue the menu became too heavily weighted in one direction - but that’s different from arguing fish sandwiches shouldn’t exist, or that McDonald’s isn’t trying to rebalance the menu once they start adding burgers, chicken, etc.

My point is more that I don’t think DreamWorks should automatically be viewed as just a temporary placeholder for a “real” expansion. DW fills a legitimate role for the park.

When DW was under construction, USF was STRUGGLING with younger kids' offerings. Despite Uni's aim at older families, they also can't just outright ignore young children, either; and while Gotham (since that where the discussion stemmed from) is definitely popular, DW is more popular, more appealing, and more accessible for that audience. You could probably say the same thing for concepts like LOTR, Jaws, BTTF, etc. There are only a handful of major IPs that could realistically rival DreamWorks when it comes to appealing directly to younger kids and young families.

That’s basically where I’m at with USF. I understand the argument that the park became too screen-heavy. I just disagree with acting like Universal hasn’t shown broader signs of righting the ship.

And taking it back to the video’s overall point: I think most people would agree USF is the weakest of the three UOR parks right now but the park still has popular attractions, strong seasonal events, and improved food and entertainment offerings. That’s not usually what a park in serious trouble looks like.

Could the attraction balance improve? Absolutely. Does the park need more variety and a few major wins? I think so. But there’s a big gap between “needs rebalancing” and “the park is fundamentally struggling.”

 

[Parkscope Joe]

my enjoyment of USF has massively diminished over the last 15 years

Could you expand on this more?

 

[Amity6]

Not saying things don’t need to be updated but in my opinion
Twister>fallon
Earthquake/Disaster/BJ> Supercharged
BTTF>Simpsons
T2>Bourne
Jaws should still be here thats closing TOT at HS

 

[belloq87]

Could you expand on this more?

Sure, it's basically on micro and macro levels. On the micro level, I do not think any of the attractions that have been replaced at USF since Jaws left have been better (in terms of my personal enjoyment) than what they replaced. I liked Jaws far more than Gringotts, Disaster and Beetlejuice far more than Supercharged, Twister far more than Fallon. I think I would prefer Shrek to VilllainCon (based purely on what I've seen from afar). The best thing USF has added in that time is Bourne... but that replaced an also-excellent show, so even though I'm glad Bourne turned out very well, I'd also call that a wash.

On the more macro level, if I were to look at a list of all the park's attractions available in 2010, and all the park's attractions available today, 2010 has more where I'd feel disappointed if I didn't get to do them on a trip. 2026's roster has many offerings I'm highly indifferent to, and only about five attractions I feel like I absolutely have to make sure I see on my trip:
- Revenge of the Mummy
- MIB
- E.T.
- Horror Makeup
- Bourne

And before anyone says, "Hey, you're just getting older and are now out of touch," IOA has only increased in my enjoyment since 2010. Hogsmeade/Forbidden Journey was a vast trade-up over Merlinwood. Skull Island was a pure addition (and a good one). Hagrid's is one of the very best highly-themed coasters in the area. Nothing that I consider truly fundamental to the park has yet been replaced (though its first major test in that regard is coming up with Lost Continent).

 

[Freak]

Not saying things things don’t need to be updated but in my opinion
Twister>fallon
Earthquake/Disaster/BJ> Supercharged
BTTF>Simpsons
T2>Bourne
Jaws should still be here thats closing TOT at HS

I agree with this list except I personally think Bourne is an upgrade from T2.

I do think the best course of action film would be to lean heavily on the more classic IPs. Bringing Jaws back would be a great move for this park.

I actually wouldn’t mind if they brought the Lights Camera Action SFX show they have in Singapore and Bejing. I doubt they would do that as it wouldn’t be marketable, but it would be a step forward in getting the park back to its roots: “Ride the movies” and less simulator rides.

 

[belloq87]

If most of the menu suddenly became fish sandwiches, then yes, you could objectively argue the menu became too heavily weighted in one direction - but that’s different from arguing fish sandwiches shouldn’t exist, or that McDonald’s isn’t trying to rebalance the menu once they start adding burgers, chicken, etc.

Just to circle back to this because I thought I quoted it and I didn't, I again want to stress that that I'm not saying the fish sandwich, in this case, shouldn't exist. But maybe two or three fish sandwiches on the menu is enough, and the menu can support more burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, breakfast, fries, ice cream, coffee, etc.

The difference between us appears to be that you seem to see these burgers, chicken, salad, breakfast offerings as happening at USF, but all I see is the fish and some of the sides sprinkled in! I want some other kinds of new entrees on USF's menu.

(Here endeth the fast food analogies!)

I actually wouldn’t mind if they brought the Lights Camera Action SFX show they have in Singapore and Bejing. I doubt they would do that as it wouldn’t be marketable, but it would be a step forward in getting the park back to its roots: “Ride the movies” and less simulator rides.

Exactly the kind of non-ride attraction that would still help out the park balance.

 

[Freak]

Exactly the kind of non-ride attraction that would still help out the park balance.

This is why I think it was a mistake to get rid of Twister, especially in the long run. I’ve always enjoyed Twister and thought it was a nice “in between” attraction. It was unique and something cool to experience. Bringing something like that back would be great.

 

[Brian G.]

This is why I think it was a mistake to get rid of Twister, especially in the long run. I’ve always enjoyed Twister and thought it was a nice “in between” attraction. It was unique and something cool to experience. Bringing something like that back would be great.

I love Twister. The APs loved Twister.

The GP did not. People were celebrating its removal.

 

[Mad Dog]

Sure, it's basically on micro and macro levels. On the micro level, I do not think any of the attractions that have been replaced at USF since Jaws left have been better (in terms of my personal enjoyment) than what they replaced. I liked Jaws far more than Gringotts, Disaster and Beetlejuice far more than Supercharged, Twister far more than Fallon. I think I would prefer Shrek to VilllainCon (based purely on what I've seen from afar). The best thing USF has added in that time is Bourne... but that replaced an also-excellent show, so even though I'm glad Bourne turned out very well, I'd also call that a wash.

On the more macro level, if I were to look at a list of all the park's attractions available in 2010, and all the park's attractions available today, 2010 has more where I'd feel disappointed if I didn't get to do them on a trip. 2026's roster has many offerings I'm highly indifferent to, and only about five attractions I feel like I absolutely have to make sure I see on my trip:
- Revenge of the Mummy
- MIB
- E.T.
- Horror Makeup
- Bourne

And before anyone says, "Hey, you're just getting older and are now out of touch," IOA has only increased in my enjoyment since 2010. Hogsmeade/Forbidden Journey was a vast trade-up over Merlinwood. Skull Island was a pure addition (and a good one). Hagrid's is one of the very best highly-themed coasters in the area. Nothing that I consider truly fundamental to the park has yet been replaced (though its first major test in that regard is coming up with Lost Continent).

Yeah, I mostly agree with you, except for Diagon Alley land being much better/stronger than the Amity land, Jaws was a good ride but the land overall was weak and losing appeal. Jaws had become a walk on basically. Diagon is the best land in any theme park, and Gringotts, Hogwarts Express, and the two shows are big plusses for the park. But unfortunately, Universal has had a losing streak of attraction replacements. Fallon /Twisters really a toss up since Twisters had few guests visit it, and the small footprint limited what could be done. BTTF was a superior ride to Simpsons, but Springfield is an improvement on the International land that preceded it. Bourne is very good, but not quite as good as Terminator. Shrek was better than Villain Con, an example of be careful what you ask for. A few bad decisions, especially F&F Supercharge (sorry to keep bringing that up but that horrible attraction is the main culprit). Losing the very good physical effects star Disaster/Earththquake and a very good Beetleguise musical review hurt tremendously, and along with Fear Factor stage shut down, really knocked the park out of 'balance'. Adding the Tribute stores and Wicked store has helped a bit. And Dreamworks is a big improvement on Kidzone.

USF really needs one or two additional D/E attractions, not counting the Rocket replacement, that are 'good' and not primarily screen based. Once that happens, it'll be fine. The other stuff is pretty good, especially live entertainment and HHN//Holidays/Mardi Gras. And more constant showing of the Lagoon show and Mega Parade would help..

 

[OrlandoGuy]

This thread is interesting when you consider there’s a similar thread about the state of Epcot where essentially the same concerns are being levied against the park but the general consensus seems to be that Epcot needs help despite also just being a designated event/food park with a handful of standout attractions. The dichotomy of theme park fans…

The only objective measure of a park’s success is attendance and revenue. I dont know how USF is doing relative to other years, but I do know Velocicoaster did gangbusters for IOA so on paper, the new Supercharged (the only thing we can tangibly point to on the docket) is probably a correct move for the park regardless of personal taste.

 

[Skold]

To tie this all together, Lombard's Lobster Roll is a pretty great fish sandwich, and is located in USF.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Sure, it's basically on micro and macro levels. On the micro level, I do not think any of the attractions that have been replaced at USF since Jaws left have been better (in terms of my personal enjoyment) than what they replaced. I liked Jaws far more than Gringotts, Disaster and Beetlejuice far more than Supercharged, Twister far more than Fallon. I think I would prefer Shrek to VilllainCon (based purely on what I've seen from afar). The best thing USF has added in that time is Bourne... but that replaced an also-excellent show, so even though I'm glad Bourne turned out very well, I'd also call that a wash.

On the more macro level, if I were to look at a list of all the park's attractions available in 2010, and all the park's attractions available today, 2010 has more where I'd feel disappointed if I didn't get to do them on a trip. 2026's roster has many offerings I'm highly indifferent to, and only about five attractions I feel like I absolutely have to make sure I see on my trip:
- Revenge of the Mummy
- MIB
- E.T.
- Horror Makeup
- Bourne

And before anyone says, "Hey, you're just getting older and are now out of touch," IOA has only increased in my enjoyment since 2010. Hogsmeade/Forbidden Journey was a vast trade-up over Merlinwood. Skull Island was a pure addition (and a good one). Hagrid's is one of the very best highly-themed coasters in the area. Nothing that I consider truly fundamental to the park has yet been replaced (though its first major test in that regard is coming up with Lost Continent).

Well don't forget Transformers, which I think is an improvement over the Herc/Xena show (never saw it but like, come on).

Anyway, I was talking to Brian about this and he brought up how the park has lost its soul since then. I think the park made a Faustian bargain with late 2000s early 2010s UC to update the park and what we got was a creative lull outside of Potter. So sure we got new attractions we also lost part of the soul of the park. Hell, I won't even argue that those aren't five attractions are my go too at USF too.

I think actually both your points are micro level because I think you're missing the actual macro level that the USF park experience is SIGNIFICANTLY better today than it was in 2011. Here's some notes I remember from my visits in early 2010s:

• One of my most negative memories of Universal Orlando at that time was the amount of pushy email takers for products, survey collectors for 3rd parties, and hard sellers on time shares at the vacation planning services stations. It was bad and embarrassing.
• The upkeep of basic parts of the park, the look of buildings and spaces, and the visual look of the park was significantly worse. Remember these? I think the current fountain set up for the nighttime show is way better.
• THE FOOD. There is no way the food 15 years ago was better than now! I'm not going to defend the changes made to FFB to make it worse, but even now FFB is better than International Food Fare. This also applies to Louie's, Mel's, Finn's, Lombard's, and Richter's plus the replacement of Monsters for the superior Minion Cafe, Beverly Hills Boulangerie was not as good as Today Cafe, and we gained a whole new dining venue with Three Broomsticks! Way better food.
• Universal Orlando was terrible at opening attractions at park opening during this time. Shows would start in the afternoon, big attractions would open hours after the park opened, and some rides would close seasonally for cost reasons! I NEVER RODE JAWS BECAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS SEASONALLY CLOSED WHEN I WENT.

"Hey, you're just getting older and are now out of touch" is an interesting way of putting what I think the issue is here: our memories are faulty and we look at the past with understanding and rose colored glasses. I don't think you're out of touch because you're older, I think you have an image of this park in your head that never was and never can match the real world. Universal Studios Florida 2026 can never match USF 19xx in your head because the old park in our memories is just that, in our head. The USF you use as a measuring stick never existed. They could bring back Tapestry of Nations and Millennium Village like I saw in 2000, but I'll never be 13 again and my mom will never be 48 without Alzheimer's again, so it'll never be the magically fix Epcot or make my problems go away.

The GP did not. People were celebrating its removal.

It was literally a joke in that year's Carnival of Carnage!!! (Also as an AP holder I think it sucked).

 

[belloq87]

Well don't forget Transformers, which I think is an improvement over the Herc/Xena show (never saw it but like, come on).

Anyway, I was talking to Brian about this and he brought up how the park has lost its soul since then. I think the park made a Faustian bargain with late 2000s early 2010s UC to update the park and what we got was a creative lull outside of Potter. So sure we got new attractions we also lost part of the soul of the park. Hell, I won't even argue that those aren't five attractions are my go too at USF too.

I think actually both your points are micro level because I think you're missing the actual macro level that the USF park experience is SIGNIFICANTLY better today than it was in 2011. Here's some notes I remember from my visits in early 2010s:

• One of my most negative memories of Universal Orlando at that time was the amount of pushy email takers for products, survey collectors for 3rd parties, and hard sellers on time shares at the vacation planning services stations. It was bad and embarrassing.
• The upkeep of basic parts of the park, the look of buildings and spaces, and the visual look of the park was significantly worse. Remember these? I think the current fountain set up for the nighttime show is way better.
• THE FOOD. There is no way the food 15 years ago was better than now! I'm not going to defend the changes made to FFB to make it worse, but even now FFB is better than International Food Fare. This also applies to Louie's, Mel's, Finn's, Lombard's, and Richter's plus the replacement of Monsters for the superior Minion Cafe, Beverly Hills Boulangerie was not as good as Today Cafe, and we gained a whole new dining venue with Three Broomsticks! Way better food.
• Universal Orlando was terrible at opening attractions at park opening during this time. Shows would start in the afternoon, big attractions would open hours after the park opened, and some rides would close seasonally for cost reasons! I NEVER RODE JAWS BECAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS SEASONALLY CLOSED WHEN I WENT.

"Hey, you're just getting older and are now out of touch" is an interesting way of putting what I think the issue is here: our memories are faulty and we look at the past with understanding and rose colored glasses. I don't think you're out of touch because you're older, I think you have an image of this park in your head that never was and never can match the real world. Universal Studios Florida 2026 can never match USF 19xx in your head because the old park in our memories is just that, in our head. The USF you use as a measuring stick never existed. They could bring back Tapestry of Nations and Millennium Village like I saw in 2000, but I'll never be 13 again and my mom will never be 48 without Alzheimer's again, so it'll never be the magically fix Epcot or make my problems go away.

Not to be too dismissive of the stuff other than attractions, but really, that is all secondary to me if the attraction lineup is weak. Upgraded food (which, I agree, is a welcome development) doesn't matter as much to me if I'm spending way less time in the park because there are not enough offerings I want to experience to keep me there through the day.

As far as attractions not opening with the park, that has continued to be an issue at USF. I don't know if it's gotten better this year, but last year we were still hearing about staggered openings for entire sections of the park. Its new (very good) nighttime spectacular also has a quite truncated seasonal schedule.

In terms of rose colored glasses, I honestly, genuinely do not believe that's the case. The USF that is in my head did exist (as recently as in the previous decade).

 

[Casper Gutman]

Dreamworks seems to be a popular redo of the park's Kidzone area. We vacation at Universal a lot. When it was Kidzone we rarely saw more than a couple dozen guests in the area. Now that it's Dreamworks, with more prominent IP themed attractions, we saw the area crowded every time we were in that area of the park during our past November and March vacations. Vacations that totaled almost 5 weeks. While not splashy with D/E tickets, it serves its purpose as a land primarily for families with young children. I'd rather Universal spend budget on a new D/E ticket replacing Simpsons or Supercharged in an area of USF that houses more adult oriented attractions. While I like Cat In The Hat, I really don't want to see a new USF D/E ticket ride aimed at a real young base, so I'm satisfied with the way Universal handled the Dreamworks area by not building a D/E ticket attraction there.

Isn’t this getting into the whole objective/subjective problem from the other angle? I think Uni’s attempts to add family elements to the studios - Minions and DW - have been cheap and weak. My own preference for blockbuster headliners doesn’t change or mitigate that opinion. I’d also add that the belief that family-oriented rides and blockbuster attractions are mutually exclusive is one of the major problems Universal has had and continues to have.

I’m in the apparently odd position of not thinking the Studios needed to course correct. The park was and is my favorite at the resort. I have no particular fondness for the “original” Studios and I think the years leading up to 2019 were very positive even if there was a preponderance of screen-rides. Since then, I really haven’t seen a firm new direction but rather a series of stopgaps. Perhaps I’m missing the bigger picture.