Epic Universe Expansion Speculation

[OrlLover]

I don’t doubt that he’s a popular asset to Universal. I just can’t envision what a ride based around him would be like. And I dont know if he’s popular enough to shoehorn him into a ride that’s not a natural fit for it (a la Jimmy Fallon).

Respectfully we have no clue what the original idea was for Creature representation in the park.

Rumors stated it was a boat ride so that’s all we had to make speculation posts.

Don’t put the cart before the horse before jumping to conclusions. You might be dunking on something that may never got past the design phase.

 

[cdogsumo]

I am admittedly a huge fan of the Gillman, but I do agree that the logistics of a boat ride themed to Creature of the Black Lagoon would not be the no-brainer that the Jaws boat ride was. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not coming or that it wouldn’t be great. I’ll leave that to the professional designers.

It does feel like the held back Invisible Man, Bride, and Gill Man out of the core Monsters for potential future projects since their representation on Monsters Unchained are small or nonexistent. Of the three, Gill Man is the only one you cannot meet in person, so my bet would be they held him back for a reason.

They could go an entirely different direction and use monsters not already represented in the land, what do I know.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Don’t put the cart before the horse before jumping to conclusions. You might be dunking on something that may never got past the design phase.

Can someone who’s well-versed in the Monster lore explain to me what makes Creature such a sure bet?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Legacy]

The Dark Universe expansion pad needs to get a classic dark ride based around Scooby Doo meeting Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a couple of connected flats, and an Abbott and Costello meet the Monsters stage show. This encourages families with younger kids to push past what could an intimidating land for something exceedingly kid-friendly.

 

[Clive]

It’s a very fair question.

Creature is still very much in the pop culture conversation after 50+ years and is undeniably iconic. He sells merch - a lot of merch. Hot Topic / Walmart-level merch, which is probably the only reason a ride was ever seriously considered. It doesn’t matter if the merch tends to present Creature as something out of sync with his textual characterization in his films - he’s tragic, yes, but a lot of fan focus on the character is celebrating his love of Kay. You see similar revisionist merchandise with the Bride and Frankenstein, Chucky and Tiffany, and even Joker and Harley.

Maybe none of that matters, but you still have the very pressing size issue. I’ve never personally been able to square that, and I’m not sure Creative did, either. The fan pitch here about making a safari boat ride devoted to Universal’s atomic age monsters was what convinced me the premise could work. The key is to make it more than *just* a Creature ride - even if Creature is the headliner.

All that said… still a tall order to get an expensive boat ride built around the Creature, despite his ability to move product. Maybe if the remake finally gets greenlit.

 

[quinnmac000]

People keep forgeting we had a ripoff film just a few years ago that won an oscar....

Gillman will sell

 

[Della]

If they are going to have a monster / water boat ride, it just would make the most sense for it to be Jaws. As a 40 year old regular(ish) person I had not heard of Creature before this message board, whereas I feel everyone knows Jaws, I have seen the movies and loved the ride - I thought it was amazing and have a lot of nostalgia for it.My kids would love it, there's no other ride like it. It seems Universal is going big on nostalgia at the moment as we have seen in the US parks, and as I'm in the UK I've been following Universal UK stuff closely - people have interpreted the concept art as us getting a Back to the Future rollercoaster, and also a Jaws/ Amity area with the hanging shark which is co-incidentally or not, next to an expansion pad.

I just think a water ride is such a big investment of money and maintenance that Jaws is the only thing that will push them to do it. It's much more well known than Creature, the shark is one of the symbols / icons of Universal studios. Jaws has the massive advantage over Creature of nostalgia. The huge nostalgia draw of bringing back a ride that people have really fond memories of 'remember when you were 5 and screamed the whole way round but then asked to go on it again' etc! I bet every day in Universal people say 'I wish the jaws ride was still here'. Creature doesn't have that. I'm sure a Creature ride would be really good too, I like the sound of the dark indoor rainforest setting, and if we could have both them that's brilliant. I just think the general public would get way more excited over Jaws = more social media hype, more merchandise sales, more ticket sales, more profit.

 

[Steptwice]

If they are going to have a monster / water boat ride, it just would make the most sense for it to be Jaws. As a 40 year old regular(ish) person I had not heard of Creature before this message board, whereas I feel everyone knows Jaws, I have seen the movies and loved the ride - I thought it was amazing and have a lot of nostalgia for it.My kids would love it, there's no other ride like it. It seems Universal is going big on nostalgia at the moment as we have seen in the US parks, and as I'm in the UK I've been following Universal UK stuff closely - people have interpreted the concept art as us getting a Back to the Future rollercoaster, and also a Jaws/ Amity area with the hanging shark which is co-incidentally or not, next to an expansion pad.

I just think a water ride is such a big investment of money and maintenance that Jaws is the only thing that will push them to do it. It's much more well known than Creature, the shark is one of the symbols / icons of Universal studios. Jaws has the massive advantage over Creature of nostalgia. The huge nostalgia draw of bringing back a ride that people have really fond memories of 'remember when you were 5 and screamed the whole way round but then asked to go on it again' etc! I bet every day in Universal people say 'I wish the jaws ride was still here'. Creature doesn't have that. I'm sure a Creature ride would be really good too, I like the sound of the dark indoor rainforest setting, and if we could have both them that's brilliant. I just think the general public would get way more excited over Jaws = more social media hype, more merchandise sales, more ticket sales, more profit.

Why not have both ?! Lol. Epic needs a “water” ride and another indoor ride badly. With the advancment of technology in comparison to 1990, I dont think its much of an investment or maintenance issue that is stopping them. With Universals current state, I will say I think Creature would come before a Jaws reboot. It just fits too dang well in Dark Universe given Epics needs. Save a Jaws scene for Universal Great Movie Ride !

 

[Parkscope Joe]

So I was looking into the atomic age monsters more (a new term for me! yay!) and found some interesting ones...

Attack of the 50ft Woman
The Beast of Yucca Flats
Eegah!
The Giant Gila Monster
The Killer Shrews
The Mole People
Night of the Blood Beast
Teenagers From Outer Space

Those of distinguished taste might recognize a theme among all these....

I think it's time for MST3K: The Ride.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Why not have both ?! Lol. Epic needs a “water” ride and another indoor ride badly. With the advancment of technology in comparison to 1990, I dont think its much of an investment or maintenance issue that is stopping them. With Universals current state, I will say I think Creature would come before a Jaws reboot. It just fits too dang well in Dark Universe given Epics needs. Save a Jaws scene for Universal Great Movie Ride !

Water + indoor is unfortunately always a maintenance issue.

 

[Steptwice]

Water + indoor is unfortunately always a maintenance issue.

Im not saying its not an issue or more of a PITA. Im saying I dont think that is a reason its would be held back

 

[GA-MBIT]

I think Creative really wants Creature, hence why they put Swampy marsh-style scenery in the front of the expansion pad labelled "Phase 2". They probably did that hoping that that'd be a good enough reminder to whoever is on the design team in a decade or two about "Hey, remember that Creature idea we had once?". But it's not in the cards right now. They've seeded the plot and are working on much more pressing matters; not only at Epic but also the North Campus parks.

It's a "I'll believe it when I see it" kinda thing. It'd be incredible, and I think UCM should get one more ride to round out the land, but we'll see what happens. I think Nintendo and Potter, and maybe even a whole new Portal are more likely to arrive first.

 

[Rhian]

Maybe none of that matters, but you still have the very pressing size issue. I’ve never personally been able to square that, and I’m not sure Creative did, either. The fan pitch here about making a safari boat ride devoted to Universal’s atomic age monsters was what convinced me the premise could work. The key is to make it more than *just* a Creature ride - even if Creature is the headliner.

Where Jaws had wide open spaces I think a Creature ride would do well with smaller sets to create a claustrophobic environment. While Jaws had the advantage of size being trapped in a smaller spaces with Creature would instead make a thrilling ride for different reasons, especially if you tap into that claustrophobic feel.

Who knows maybe near the end of the ride the lagoon opens up and we'll get sideswiped by Jaws at the end as a surprise cameo.

 

[cdogsumo]

I think it’s probably more likely that they will rope in another main line monster as opposed to Mole People or a 50 Ft Woman.

Might be a stretch story wise but I think recognizability is important and Creature is probably as obscure as they want to get.

 

[Della]

Why not have both ?! Lol. Epic needs a “water” ride and another indoor ride badly. With the advancment of technology in comparison to 1990, I dont think its much of an investment or maintenance issue that is stopping them. With Universals current state, I will say I think Creature would come before a Jaws reboot. It just fits too dang well in Dark Universe given Epics needs. Save a Jaws scene for Universal Great Movie Ride !

Maybe they will actually do both - they could use the same ride system and do Creature at Epic Universe and Jaws at Universal UK!

Where Jaws had wide open spaces I think a Creature ride would do well with smaller sets to create a claustrophobic environment. While Jaws had the advantage of size being trapped in a smaller spaces with Creature would instead make a thrilling ride for different reasons, especially if you tap into that claustrophobic feel.

Who knows maybe near the end of the ride the lagoon opens up and we'll get sideswiped by Jaws at the end as a surprise cameo.

A Jaws cameo would be brilliant

 

[Staggz]

Universal seems to really push Creature, at least in terms of merch and branding.

Everyone knows the big UCM names; Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Mummy, Bride. Consistently, Creature is also in this lineup. T-shirts, shot glasses, in-park costumes, Funko Pop Care Bears-crossovers, HHN houses, theming for park locations, anniversary celebrations. Universal treats Creature like a king.

I mean this in the absolute nicest way possible, but I feel Creature is 100% never getting a ride and that concept is never leaving blue sky. He doesn’t have the draw that will bring people to Epic, and especially not for a very expensive water ride system.

I don’t doubt that he’s a popular asset to Universal. I just can’t envision what a ride based around him would be like. And I dont know if he’s popular enough to shoehorn him into a ride that’s not a natural fit for it (a la Jimmy Fallon).

There's a reason why Universal pushes him like Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolfman. He is very, very beloved and popular among Monster fans, and has been part of the "main" Universal Monsters lineup for quite a while now. Long enough that I remember knowing about Creature before the other Monsters, as a kid. Those that are coming to the parks for Universal Monsters will absolutely be brought in and excited by an expansion directly related to Creature, and those that don't care about Creature, will still be interested in coming to Epic for an expansion regardless.

He has a lot working for him, his design is killer, he's got plenty of fans, and Universal seems to love him. He's also distinctly Universal, while Dracula and Frankenstein's monster, although associated with Universal, are not. There's no guarantee on Creature's involvement with the new expansion whenever that happens, however, there are a couple of interesting things that line up with the assumption that he may be involved somehow. There's a newspaper article, supposedly (I haven't stopped to look) in Victoria's mansion that has an article in it based on Monsters Unchained and another based on Creature specifically. Although not reliable, a decent amount of the new merch has scenes on it depicting similar scenes from Monsters unchained in almost what appears to be a comic style format. One of those scenes is what appears to be Creature in some water while the Bride is on the shore. I do believe whatever the expansion is, will more than likely involve Creature alongside other monsters. I don't necessarily believe it will be primarily a boat ride like Jaws. It's possible, and Jurassic Park is still kickin' it, but I could see it being another dark ride that just involves some water related sections, perhaps a lake/lagoon or something like that outside of Darkmoor. I'd be willing to bet if the new expansion is a ride, not a show, (which it should be) it will not be an only Creature ride, but something more akin to a "mini" Monsters unchained with animatronics of various monsters, but not as involved as that ride.