The Future of Lost Continent

[TheCodeMan95]

The narrative that Uni is "coasting into EU" is also a real baffling one to me. At this moment they are:
-Refurbishing the USF nighttime show equipment for a new show
-Building a new ride in USF
-Retheming/updating a restaurant in USF
-Building a new kids-centered area in USF
-Working on a new parade
-Working on enhancements for Hogwarts show
-Theoretically going to start work on a Lost Continent replacement (yes, this one is at this moment informed speculation more than anything)

This is on top of building a fully-built new theme park, 3 resorts, and the accompanying infrastructure.

I don't know how to call that "coasting". It may not be things you personally want, but it's not like they're sitting around watching the clock.

And comparing to the competitor down the street doing .. what? A walkthrough attraction in Epcot later this year and a reskinned Splash Mountain next year?

When people are talking about shows I don't know why Bourne is skipped over, lol

 

[Alicia]

I think what they’re doing is cleaning up all the parks in preparation for EU. The crowds for EU won’t just go to EU for the day and leave. They’ll be at the other parks and in the hotels too. The entire resort needs to be firing on all cylinders for this. I think this is why we’re seeing so many small projects taking place. They won’t dive into a major E-ticket right now but they’ll spruce things up, do a few rethemes, and add a new C or D ticket. Not really sure where PF fits into this but I think this is their current approach to the parks.

Even things like redoing the food stands in NY at USF are a part of this. Individually some of these enhancements seem small, but collectively, there’s a lot happening all at once across the resort.

 

[belloq87]

The narrative that Uni is "coasting into EU" is also a real baffling one to me. At this moment they are:
-Refurbishing the USF nighttime show equipment for a new show
-Building a new ride in USF
-Retheming/updating a restaurant in USF
-Building a new kids-centered area in USF
-Working on a new parade
-Working on enhancements for Hogwarts show
-Theoretically going to start work on a Lost Continent replacement (yes, this one is at this moment informed speculation more than anything)

This is on top of building a fully-built new theme park, 3 resorts, and the accompanying infrastructure.

I don't know how to call that "coasting". It may not be things you personally want, but it's not like they're sitting around watching the clock.

I wouldn't argue "coasting." But I would argue -- pretty objectively -- that they're clearly focusing on much smaller-scale projects (again, fine, they're building a new park). I'd also argue that much of that list should be standard and expected operating procedure for a world-class resort (updating restaurants, working on new entertainment/refurbishing entertainment), rather than something we should point to as noteworthy. I'm glad they're sprucing things up... as they should.

Subjectively, my perception is -- after IOA was awarded the mega one-two E-ticket punch of Hagrid's and VelociCoaster, and with the underwhelming Supercharged being the last ride created at USF five years ago -- that USF is getting some also-ran, filler-type stuff instead of significant stuff.

I guess from my perspective, that's been true for like 2 decades at UOR. Yes, there were shows, but by and large none of them were any good. Bourne is the first show they've had in recent memory I would ever willingly do again. It's just not something they've exceled in previously.

But... wouldn't you like them to? "They've never really done a good job at this*, so I don't care if they never try again" is a strange stance to me. And if you don't want Universal spending time on shows, then how about putting rides on the plots of all those empty theaters?

*In your opinion.

 

[DK745]

I mean everyone isn’t going to 100% love every IP/attraction in a park and that’s ok. But to say that a franchise that’s been around for 35 years and has reached new levels of popularity in recent years, over 30 million copies sold, concert touring series, heck Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda after the series..

To say that franchise has nothing to offer and isn’t relevant enough just seems silly. I’m not as big on Potter as others are and sad to see Jaws go to make room for it but damn if it isn’t a great addition and crowds love it.

If it is Zelda it will be fine.

 

[USO92]

I used to want to be an employee of Universal Creative and administration. Reading some of these comments makes me glad that didn't work out. Armchair quarterbacks of the theme park world - and yes, for the sake of fairness, I include my shadow-lurking self in that statement.

We are certainly entitled to say what we want and offer, as someone put it, "mild critiques". That doesn't mean that the opinions won't be labeled as short-sighted and lacking in patience. The show they just closed was not a popular attraction and had seen costly down-time. Who isn't in cost-cutting mode nowadays? It's a smart business move. Some criticisms I've read would be justified if it were anything other than what we're discussing. Im not advocating that you don't say contrary opinions - I'm advocating that our opinions be weighted with a little more patience and a mind for the big picture.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

ET Adventure was probably my introduction to the movie as a kid and I really enjoyed it. I'd be surprised if kids today aren't enjoying it the same way even if ET is an older movie now.

A lot of attractions in Universal and Disney were the gateway to the movies for me. I probably wouldn’t have cared to look into movies like Jurassic Park, the Mummy, E.T. and Men in Black of it wasn’t for the rides. The same goes for several horror movies even though I never went to HHN.

Hey maybe the rumored Zelda land may entice me to check out Zelda.

 

[JungleSkip]

But... wouldn't you like them to? "They've never really done a good job at this*, so I don't care if they never try again" is a strange stance to me. And if you don't want Universal spending time on shows, then how about putting rides on the plots of all those empty theaters?

*In your opinion.

Honestly? I don't really care. Shows don't interest me much. Bourne is good enough to get me into that theater maybe once a trip, but even then if I missed it I wouldn't be heartbroken,

And I expect them to eventually put rides (or whatever) where Sindbad and PF are. But they've been giving me rides all over the place, so empty attractions I never went into more than once don't bother me as long as that continues.

 

[OrlLover]

While I understand both parts of this discussion I wish certain posters would stop moving the goal posts when they find people not agreeing with them.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

The fact that Orlando is last for Super Nintendo World outside of Singapore, I suspect we get other Nintendo properties asap. Zelda in 2026 would fit, and would be 5 years since a new addition to IOA.

 

[belloq87]

I used to want to be an employee of Universal Creative and administration. Reading some of these comments makes me glad that didn't work out. Armchair quarterbacks of the theme park world - and yes, for the sake of fairness, I include my shadow-lurking self in that statement.

We are certainly entitled to say what we want and offer, as someone put it, "mild critiques". That doesn't mean that the opinions won't be labeled as short-sighted and lacking in patience. The show they just closed was not a popular attraction and had seen costly down-time. Who isn't in cost-cutting mode nowadays? It's a smart business move. Some criticisms I've read would be justified if it were anything other than what we're discussing. Im not advocating that you don't say contrary opinions - I'm advocating that our opinions be weighted with a little more patience and a mind for the big picture.

I think tone is very hard to discern in writing. Speaking only for myself, I'm not angry about anything. I'm not walking around the real world being a grump because of theme park stuff. But this is a theme park message board, populated by theme park fans with various tastes, sharing our thoughts about a subject we all obviously care about a lot (otherwise we wouldn't be here!). When I express a concern or a negative opinion, it should always be read with a grain of salt and the knowledge that I critique (when I critique) because I care.

As for patience... it's been 23 years since USF got a non-projection-intensive dark ride. I think I've been very patient waiting for my favorite (in very broad strokes) type of attraction to get a shiny, new showcase at what was once tied with Epcot as my favorite theme park in Florida.

I'm thankful for a tremendous amount of the stuff Universal has done in that time (Forbidden Journey and Hagrid's are both probably in my Top 6 theme park rides of all time), and I'm glad the resort has grown and continues to do so, but I can't deny feeling some pangs of frustration with the overall direction of USF. And again, that's all subjective. It's to do with my personal tastes, not some statement about how I think, from a business perspective, that Universal is doing something wrong. Because I can't say that.

Honestly? I don't really care. Shows don't interest me much. Bourne is good enough to get me into that theater maybe once a trip, but even then if I missed it I wouldn't be heartbroken,

And I expect them to eventually put rides (or whatever) where Sindbad and PF are. But they've been giving me rides all over the place, so empty attractions I never went into more than once don't bother me as long as that continues.

You do you, of course!

I'd just like to see under-utilized space effectively used for attractions, regardless of how long that space has been under-utilized in the past.

 

[HHN Maddux]

On the subject of date, back when Fear Factor was slated to be replaced with a Potter VR attraction, the plan was to have something new for Lost Continent for 2027.

When Potter VR was cancelled (a second time, for the last time) everything shifted around. Since the VR thing was intended to be the resort's 2024 offering, the KidZone replacement seems to have been fasttracked instead. Epic is still for 2025, obviously.

If they want to have something substantial for the existing parks in 2026, perhaps Lost Continent got bumped a year early as well.

Either way, no way anything big is opening here until then, at the earliest, in my view.

So to piggyback and put this in other words:

• Potter VR pushes everything back by a year, Villain-Con goes from 2022-->2023, DreamWorks 2023-->2024, etc.
• Lost Continent likely would've originally closed this year for Zelda to open in 2026, now Poseidon's closes early and TLC likely closes fully next year for Zelda in 2027.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

So to piggyback and put this in other words:

• Potter VR pushes everything back by a year, Villain-Con goes from 2022-->2023, DreamWorks 2023-->2024, etc.
• Lost Continent likely would've originally closed this year for Zelda to open in 2026, now Poseidon's closes early and TLC likely closes fully next year for Zelda in 2027.

If anything, Dreamworks was pushed forward.

 

[HHN Maddux]

If anything, Dreamworks was pushed forward.

I kinda figured, only put it in 2023 originally because I can't think of what else it could've been.

 

[Nico]

I think what they’re doing is cleaning up all the parks in preparation for EU. The crowds for EU won’t just go to EU for the day and leave. They’ll be at the other parks and in the hotels too. The entire resort needs to be firing on all cylinders for this. I think this is why we’re seeing so many small projects taking place. They won’t dive into a major E-ticket right now but they’ll spruce things up, do a few rethemes, and add a new C or D ticket. Not really sure where PF fits into this but I think this is their current approach to the parks.

This. 100%

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Is it annoying that there is space in these parks that is sitting unused? Yes.

But I'd be much more annoyed about that if they weren't consistently putting out new attractions AND building an entire new park.

Think about it - in 2 years there will be probably 30+ new rides/shows/attractions/restaurants that will become available to us all at the drop of a hat.

 

[JungleSkip]

You do you, of course!

I'd just like to see under-utilized space effectively used for attractions, regardless of how long that space has been under-utilized in the past.

Sure, in a perfect world I'll take everything I can possibly get. I'm just not bothered much by an empty theater or two when there's a bunch of new things year after year.

Again, if PF stays shuttered with no movement or announced replacement through 2024, I'll not be thrilled.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

At the very least Universal should attempt a temporary stage show at Toon Lagoon theater for some additional capacity.

Beetlejucie's Rockin' Toon Revue!?

 

[JungleSkip]

At the very least Universal should attempt a temporary stage show at Toon Lagoon theater for some additional capacity.

Beetlejucie's Rockin' Toon Revue!?

I'm fairly certain TL theater is actually haunted. It's the only explanation.

 

[Nico]

Man I love catching up on this thread.
I know everyone has their sides, but I think we can agree, the boards are more fun when there’s news. It’s cool we all care so much about this stuff.

Ok that’s enough, carry on.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

I'm fairly certain TL theater is actually haunted. It's the only explanation.

Kidzone died so TL Theater could live.