Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[TheCodeMan95]

I think this is where “modern IP & updated technology” and “pound-for-pound production quality” become two different conversations.

For me, since Diagon Alley, USF has taken a pretty noticeable dip in overall ambition and detail.

Fallon replaced a physical attraction with what feels like an off-the-shelf simulator.

I don’t even think we need to talk about Beetlejuice or Earthquake.

Terminator was a celebrity-filled, multi-million-dollar production with start to finish theming. Bourne has cool tech, screens, and effects, but the pre-show feels cheap, you can literally see green screen reflections on the actors, and the main show blows its biggest “wow” moment in the first minute instead of building to a huge finale. They also removed fantastic effects with no equivelant replacement (such as the theater fog blast, dropping chairs, animatronics)

Minion Land is a poor excuse of a “land.” The world's premier movie studio park now opens directly into a cheap-feeling Minion area. Something like “Illumination Studios” would have made way more thematic sense.

DreamWorks Land is where I really feel the loss in detail. Yes, kids like it, and yes, the IP is more current. But if you stripped the characters away, I think most kids would have had more fun in Kidzone.

Starting with Fievel's Playland- That area had layers: the water slide, ball pit, climbing areas, the flying ant animatronic, little physical details everywhere.

Even the Trolls coaster is a downgrade in the small stuff. Woody Woodpecker’s Coaster had an interactive queue with bells and whistles, and the station had those little details like the coaster train “chipping” away at the wood on the roof with a sound effect as it passed through. Trolls Trollercoaster has none of that. It’s flat cutouts of Trolls characters and pop music.

The George play area becoming a room with a TV screen in the middle is another perfect example of what I mean. Any kid would have more fun playing in the Curious George Ball Pit than they would talking to a Panda on a TV screen.

Same with DreamWorks Imagination Celebration. They removed the live actor pre-show, replaced it with three TV screens, cut the in-theater aerial effects, removed the talking costumed characters, removed the playground-style post-show, and even stopped using the lifting stage trap door. It just feels like a lot of little production-value touches disappeared.

The only one I’d really call a lateral move is Villain-Con, because Shrek 4-D was built in 4 months with minimal effort. FOUR months, isn't that crazy? They boarded up Hitchcock and put the Shrek movie into the existing 4D theater.

So I get why people may prefer the newer IPs or think the areas are more useful now. I’m just saying that from a production-value standpoint, USF feels like it has been trading physical detail and theatrical ambition for cheaper, flatter replacements. It's one thing to bring in new IP, but you need to make sure the new attraction is better, or equivalent, to what it replaced.

My stances weren't even particularly focused on the IPs themselves.

My stance on Minion Land basically comes down to "Villain Con + Minion Cafe + Illumination Theater M&G > Shrek 4D + Monster Cafe + Shrek M&G"

(This is with the caveat that they moved the Shrek M&G to a better location!)

 

[Freak]

The only one I’d really call a lateral move is Villain-Con, because Shrek 4-D was built in 4 months with minimal effort. FOUR months, isn't that crazy? They boarded up Hitchcock and put the Shrek movie into the existing 4D theater.

Wait hold up....so you're saying that when I visited Shrek 4D in the 00's, the Hitchcock displays were still there the whole time??? THat's actually really cool! Any pics that show them boarding off the Hitchcock stuff?

 

[Jwhee]

Wait hold up....so you're saying that when I visited Shrek 4D in the 00's, the Hitchcock displays were still there the whole time??? THat's actually really cool! Any pics that show them boarding off the Hitchcock stuff?

I don't have details to the extent of what was left, but I've seen photos of this scene still inside the building when it was Shrek 4D. The large statue prop removed, but the backdrop, catwalks, guest areas, etc still there. Not too sure about the current status of it

 

[AustinT]

I think this is where “modern IP & updated technology” and “pound-for-pound production quality” become two different conversations.

For me, since Diagon Alley, USF has taken a pretty noticeable dip in overall ambition and detail.

Your long post explains in detail many of my same feelings too. While some more recent changes to USF do seem to be at least slight improvements in terms of guest popularity (Dreamworks Land, Villain Con, Fallon, etc) over what was there before, everything post-Diagon has felt cheap. Obvious signs they were cutting corners and not being given a larger budget to do more.

Dreamworks is certainly more popular land, but it's still a sad looking area. Shrek's swamp play area lost the water splash pad and the water guns since opening as well which makes it feel even more empty.

I thought I was the only one who can't help but cringe at the Bourne pre show. The fake walking, wooden acting and obvious green screen reflections kill me. The show is very enjoyable, but T2 had more flashy moments and a more polished looking ($$$) overall package.

The addition I've enjoyed the most to the park is the new Duff Sour beer, ironically It makes being in Springfield more tolerable since that's in super rough shape right now.

The frustrating part about all this is that is Pokemon had just gone in here, they could have solved so many of the parks major issues in one fell swoop. Additional non-screen attractions, more stuff the kiddos will like, a new land that actually had the proper budget given to it that feels ambitious. I hate that the timing of contracts and/or space constraints had it end up in IOA but here we are. USF really needs another ground up land with some love, care, and proper budget. Springfield can't go soon enough, even if it means I have to say goodbye to that sour.

 

[Mad Dog]

Your long post explains in detail many of my same feelings too. While some more recent changes to USF do seem to be at least slight improvements in terms of guest popularity (Dreamworks Land, Villain Con, Fallon, etc) over what was there before, everything post-Diagon has felt cheap. Obvious signs they were cutting corners and not being given a larger budget to do more.

Dreamworks is certainly more popular land, but it's still a sad looking area. Shrek's swamp play area lost the water splash pad and the water guns since opening as well which makes it feel even more empty.

I thought I was the only one who can't help but cringe at the Bourne pre show. The fake walking, wooden acting and obvious green screen reflections kill me. The show is very enjoyable, but T2 had more flashy moments and a more polished looking ($$$) overall package.

The addition I've enjoyed the most to the park is the new Duff Sour beer, ironically It makes being in Springfield more tolerable since that's in super rough shape right now.

The frustrating part about all this is that is Pokemon had just gone in here, they could have solved so many of the parks major issues in one fell swoop. Additional non-screen attractions, more stuff the kiddos will like, a new land that actually had the proper budget given to it that feels ambitious. I hate that the timing of contracts and/or space constraints had it end up in IOA but here we are. USF really needs another ground up land with some love, care, and proper budget. Springfield can't go soon enough, even if it means I have to say goodbye to that sour.

....or...if Nintendo went in as originally planned....Universal Studios was probably more the victim of bad luck than anything else. First, Nintendo moved to Epic....and then the F&F Supercharged SuperDud. USF reached a peak when Diagon opened....and then it was cursed with bad luck....It's still a good park overall though, especially for guests that enjoy the entire entertainment package, not just ride commandos. The new coaster and whatever replaces Supercharged, if it's good, will help tremendously.

 

[Amity6]

....or...if Nintendo went in as originally planned....Universal Studios was probably more the victim of bad luck than anything else. First, Nintendo moved to Epic....and then the F&F Supercharged SuperDud. USF reached a peak when Diagon opened....and then it was cursed with bad luck....It's still a good park overall though, especially for guests that enjoy the entire entertainment package, not just ride commandos. The new coaster and whatever replaces Supercharged, if it's good, will help tremendously.

It’s a blessing long term that Nintendo went to Epic and Pokemon is going to islands.

 

[Mad Dog]

It’s a blessing long term that Nintendo went to Epic and Pokemon is going to islands.

My opinion on Nintendo; I agree. I think Nintendo would have been an eyesore at USF, but it's 'different' look fits in well at Epic, plus it's the draw a new park needed...... I'd personally rather something other than Pokemon at IOA, BUT I'm sure it will be very successful. ...Just my opinions though.

 

[belloq87]

I understand the concerns about clashing design aesthetics, but I really think Super Nintendo World would have done almost unquantifiable good for the park:
- Netting two new attractions for the park (I'd really argue three, but I don't want to totally dismiss the existence of the then-Woody Woodpecker coaster).
- Major new headliner draw added to the park lineup in Mario Kart.
- Two new non-screen rides added to the park lineup in Donkey Kong and Yoshi.
- Still would have had the interactive play areas, games, meet-and-greets that are important to service the kids guests currently catered-to in DreamWorks.

Who knows how long it's going to take USF to add the equivalents of what SNW would have done in a single project.

 

[Mad Dog]

I understand the concerns about clashing design aesthetics, but I really think Super Nintendo World would have done almost unquantifiable good for the park:
- Netting two new attractions for the park (I'd really argue three, but I don't want to totally dismiss the existence of the then-Woody Woodpecker coaster).
- Major new headliner draw added to the park lineup in Mario Kart.
- Two new non-screen rides added to the park lineup in Donkey Kong and Yoshi.
- Still would have had the interactive play areas, games, meet-and-greets that are important to service the kids guests currently catered-to in DreamWorks.

Who knows how long it's going to take USF to add the equivalents of what SNW would have done in a single project.

No doubt. Ugly outside aesthetics, but good internal land looks and three rides, that are not great but popular, would have elevated USF big time, and pulled in a lot of attendance. A park with Diagon and Nintendo would have been strong. The only real downside is that Epic would probably not be as strong, even if they would have subbed one of the other Nintendo IP's. But, yes, even with Mario being partly a screen ride, I don't think we'd be hearing that USF has too many screen rides complaints. USF would have been a more balanced park with Nintendo....and probably hugely popular with the general public.

 

[Amity6]

No doubt. Ugly outside aesthetics, but good internal land looks and three rides, that are not great but popular, would have elevated USF big time, and pulled in a lot of attendance. A park with Diagon and Nintendo would have been strong. The only real downside is that Epic would probably be as strong, even if they would have subbed one of the other Nintendo IP's. But, yes, even with Mario being partly a screen ride, I don't think we'd be hearing that USF has too many screen rides complaints. USF would have been a more balanced park with Nintendo....and probably hugely popular with the general public.

There’s a superior version of this ride in the park already.

 

[Mad Dog]

There’s a superior version of this ride in the park already.

Fo sure. But it doesn't have the name Mario attached to it. Mario/Nintendo are magic words for attendance. Epics gain but USF's loss. And that ugly Epic outside facade works for the Epic design, but damn, that would stand out in a bad way in USF.

 

[AustinT]

The new coaster and whatever replaces Supercharged, if it's good, will help tremendously.

I'm also glad SNW didn't end up in USF, but this park so badly needs a new land or attraction with that same level of ambition. A F&F coaster is a big step in the right direction, but it's still a minimally themed coaster replacing another coaster that doesn't add anything immersive to the park.

If Supercharged's replacement is yet another cheap addition, the north campus will feel even more lopsided after IOA gets another brand new immersive land with multiple state of the art attractions. Re-theming the entire SF area to whatever the attraction ends up being will help with the overall feel of the park I think, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Hill Valley!

 

[mccgavin]

If Supercharged's replacement is yet another cheap addition, the north campus will feel even more lopsided after IOA gets another brand new immersive land with multiple state of the art attractions. Re-theming the entire SF area to whatever the attraction ends up being will help with the overall feel of the park I think, so I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Hill Valley!

I agree that Supercharged should be replaced by something more substantial than a re-theme, but I don't necessarily think that San Francisco is in need of major reworking. The land is fine as is, with two fairly popular restaurants, and the flexibility to be used for overlays during HHN and Summer events. I think there are a number of options they could go with for the Supercharged replacement that could still fit within SF without requiring the land to be re-themed.