The Future of The Simpsons Ride/Springfield (Orlando)

[mccgavin]

Yeah, as much as I want Animal Crossing, it also has its own obstacles. AC is best suited for a family friendly area that is assessable to younger children, but as @moth mentioned, that niche is already filled at each park. USF has DreamWorks, IOA has Suess Landing, and Epic has HTTYD.

The other concern I have is that allegedly Hello Kitty/Sanrio has underperformed in Orlando compared to the other Universal Parks. Sanrio has a very similar audience and a lot of overlap with the Animal Crossing fanbase, which makes me concerned that AC also wouldn't be able to perform well at UOR.

 

[Jerroddragon]

Yeah, as much as I want Animal Crossing, it also has its own obstacles. AC is best suited for a family friendly area that is assessable to younger children, but as @moth mentioned, that niche is already filled at each park. USF has DreamWorks, IOA has Suess Landing, and Epic has HTTYD.

The other concern I have is that allegedly Hello Kitty/Sanrio has underperformed in Orlando compared to the other Universal Parks. Sanrio has a very similar audience and a lot of overlap with the Animal Crossing fanbase, which makes me concerned that AC also wouldn't be able to perform well at UOR.

Looks at Disney the most successful park's with tons of family rides

We don't need to hit every Demo perfectly, if they make a good attraction and food locations then it will work

Plus Once Nintendo makes a movie or series it will only grow in popularity.

But no park outside of Texas Resort has near the too many family rides from Universal. Mickey and Minnies Runaway Railroad draws guests and isn't a thrill ride. Make a good ride and area for Animal crossing and people will come.

 

[bdubsCEO]

If I had to pick Nintendo IPs for each US park, this is how I would divide it.

Zelda - IOA
Pokémon - USF and USH
Luigi’s Mansion - EU as a small-medium expansion to the existing SNW

And then the rest of their properties would be represented not by entire lands, but smaller scale attractions. You know in retrospect, Villain Con Blast would’ve been much more fun- well, at least the theme would be more fun if it was Splatoon. That’s the kind of scale I’m thinking of here.

Meet and greet dining has largely just been a Disney thing, Animal Crossing would be a perfect series to capitalize on that with. Kirby should just get a lot of merchandise, including exclusive Universal merchandise. Imagine merchandise of Kirby with copy abilities representing major Universal properties… I feel like Nintendo would say no, but I’d buy them all.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I'd commit a crime to have a fully immersive Animal Crossing land - but I don't think we will ever see it happen

 

[OLSinFLA]

If they absolutely insist on keeping that old Institute building, the only overlay I will tolerate is bringing back BttF. Otherwise, to quote Dennis Hopper from TCM 2: “Bring it all dooooooooowwwwnnn!!”

I'd be suprised if they keep the building. After all the years of shaking it about, its rumored to be on its last legs

 

[Mike S]

If Nintendo was willing you could have a M&G spot near the store in Celestial Park for characters like Kirby and the Animal Villagers where they walk in from a mini portal as visitors. Maybe even some other characters like Samus.

 

[Clive]

I'd be suprised if they keep the building. After all the years of shaking it about, its rumored to be on its last legs

Yeah, it's really not in good shape. I expect a full demolition when the time comes.

 

[Brian G.]

I’d also pay attention to rumors around the resort in general when you Bluesky replacements.

 

[Mad Dog]

I like the Simpsons ride and Springfield. But I was surprised during my long November visit how badly the
ride is deteriorating. Based on loading lines open, and both sides were running, it appeared it was only
operating at 40% of capacity those weeks I was there. It wasn't that bad during my previous recent visits.

 

[Legacy]

Everyone says "Animal Crossing would be next up for Nintendo at Universal" without giving a ride idea.

Like, how do you do it? Dreamworks Land is over there so you can't take the "it's for younger audiences" route here.

Post in thread 'Epic Universe Expansion Speculation'
https://forums.insideuniversal.net/threads/epic-universe-expansion-speculation.16382/post-1058843

I personally think that it would be extremely difficult to get at the core of what makes Animal Crossing exciting: the thrill of designing your own town. While Mario Kart attempts to replicate the Mario Kart experience of tossing items while driving and the Donkey Kong experience recreates iconic sequences from the games, there really is no iconic transportation in Animal Crossing. Walking is part of the appeal.

The other issue is that, when guests enter Animal Crossing, they will not gasp at how the land looks so much like their village… in fact, the gimmick of Animal Crossing is that each village is different!

If Animal Crossing comes to Universal, I see it as one of several buildings in a Nintendo Village (Kirby Diner, PokeStop + Pokemon Ride, facades for WarioWare game company and Earthbound locations, etc) or as a daytime pop up show in a grassy area, like Central Park or in front of the Nintendo store in Celestial Park.

Make the entire thing SCREENS! Then, guests can “create” their village (building names, colors, generalized placement) in a pre-show, load their “village” on a card, then swipe the card as they board an 8-person boat. Then you coast through each person’s village while Animal Crossing characters visit and play.

(Each building in a village is a screen front, that adopts the rider’s selected colors. Same with names.)

I wasn’t a big fan of an AC ride idea but this? This I could get behind. Suddenly, guests are not only designing their own village. They’re designing their own ride.

 

[DK745]

The only reason I'd want them to do Animal Crossing is if they include villagers who know you via a power-up band or something. That way when you return after a long time away they can get angry at you just like in the game.