I mean… their water rides have mostly been fantastic… (Dudley, Popeye’s, Jurassic Park, Jaws).
And I actually think their omnimovers are good as omnimovers. Pets suffers from being too small (which is a problem) and Yoshi suffers from being too young (which purely a perspective problem).
You won’t find a bigger Bluto’s Stan than this guy. But none of those are unique ride systems in any way whatsoever.
Disney is, generally, the opposite. They tend to go familiar in their ride systems, and only rarely attempt multiple groundbreakers at once (how many years was it between Avatar and Ride of the Resistance).
Yes and no. Yes- they take familiar ride systems, and either duplicate or significantly elevate the experience.
Let’s use these as examples:
Trackless like Rise/MMRR/mystic manor/Poohs Honey hunt/Zootopia/BatB
Very similar ride styles. Side by side one or two have similar elements- but I’d argue they’re all distinct and separate themselves pretty well. Spider-Man and transformers? Not so much. Jurassic world almost got there and I’d say it’s unique enough to stand on its own. Forbidden journey and monsters? Absolutely. That’s a great re-use of a ride system that gives a completely different experience.
But No- because there are completely different ride systems that Disney constantly pushes out.
And not just earlier stuff like Star Tours or World of motion that became Test Track and evolved into Radiator/Journey to Center
But ToT or Indy/Dino all came out around the same-ish time as development of IoA.
And since then, we’ve also seen: Flight of Passage, Shanghai Pirates, Japan Peter Pan, etc. Let’s call these Tier A.
They have plenty of average rides that still offer experiences that use completely unique systems like millennium falcon, ASS/Mater/Baymax, Web Slinger, Ratatouille. But I’d call those tier B. Just like I’d call a Gringotts or Mario tier B in terms of ride system innovation. Gringotts was so close…
Disney is certainly the industry leader and there isn’t a close second in terms of innovation and pushing the envelope on new tech (while also safely and simply progressing other techs).
Universal needs to find a Tier A- and Pokémon is an IP that deserves just that. Mario did also, but they fell short. And that’s my point. Outside of the scoop (1999) and Kuka (2010)- where is universal’s tier A? I’m not going to pretend like their coasters haven’t been game changers and incredible. The execution is there for universal. Creative isn’t short in that department. My critique is they’re short on a revolutionary ride concept that works.
KFP in Beijing also seems just okay-solid. Nothing special.
I’ve been on it- I wish they had a ride like that in Orlando. It’s solid and fine. But I’m looking specifically for Pokémon- in which case it would be a tremendous letdown.