The Future of The Simpsons Ride/Springfield (Orlando)

[Myah1220]

FYI when people are asking for the Simps ride to be removed, it's not just about the IP itself but the actual ride system itself. Last couple of rides have not been pleasant.

You're right. I personally hate the ride as it is now. I'd be totally all in for completely demo'ing the building and starting over from scratch.

Plus, the 'entire' Duff Gardens cannot be replaced. It's a Universal gem....,,and great profit center, to boot.

But just imagine a Bikini Bottom Tiki Bar. There can still be beer...SpongeBeer SquarePints.

 

[tielo]

I bet Disney wants it's ip back even if they don't do a thing with it.
Remember Oswald the lucky rabbit?
In 2006 Disney bought back the rights for it from Universal

The Bumblebee Man's Taco Truck could become Taco Sombrero from season 9 episode 189.

The Bumblebee Man's Taco Truck could become Bumblebee Transformer Taco Truck. (yeh no Spongebob love from me, yuch)

 

[Jwhee]

South Park themed land. Turn the Moes bar into Casa Bonita. The food court can feature City-Wok and Cartman Burger :grin:

 

[Jake S]

I bet Disney wants it's ip back even if they don't do a thing with it.
Remember Oswald the lucky rabbit?
In 2006 Disney bought back the rights for it from Universal

better yet, they traded al michaels for him! An excerpt from former ESPN president George Bodenheimer's book

 

[Jerroddragon]

I do want to point out this ride is bad now...and has 5 more years of the projections getting weaker and ride getting rougher

I know people really want to argue about food but I'm pretty sure Universal can theme the food to any IP they want

Looking at how Tik Tok/Instgram friendly the Toad Cafe is, I'm sure they can come up with new fun drinks/food. Like people are acting like its impossible to top Simpsons food whicch I find very ok food, I've never seen someone online telling someone you must stop at the Simpsons restaurants for food.

 

[Jake S]

Looking at how Tik Tok/Instgram friendly the Toad Cafe is, I'm sure they can come up with new fun drinks/food. Like people are acting like its impossible to top Simpsons food whicch I find very ok food, I've never seen someone online telling someone you must stop at the Simpsons restaurants for food.

right, but the reason people care about that is ... because it's Mario themed, which is primarily what people are talking about. I have no doubt universal could replace the Simpsons land with something creative and intriguing, but beating what they've done with this IP is no small task.

 

[Jerroddragon]

right, but the reason people care about that is ... because it's Mario themed, which is primarily what people are talking about. I have no doubt universal could replace the Simpsons land with something creative and intriguing, but beating what they've done with this IP is no small task.

People line up for FF and Kong, your trapped at Universal. So whatever food they put here will sell unless is that bad. I've been going to these parks for years and never seen restaurants have trouble gaining huge lines.

I also see just as many people with Duff beers as normal canned beers, so I think if you offer any kinda beer they will be fine. I love the land as well but many on here seem to love it even more and really want to make it sound like its some pillar to the parks when I think it will be gone, we will miss it then the new thing will come and could even improve the quality of the food and most will forget.

 

[TheUniC6]

Any new ride that gets built in the Simpsons plot could easily absorb portions of Animal Actors/backstage areas where the Sprung Tents are located if they want to be ambitious and not lazy. They don't have to stick to the current Simpsons acreage.

I think they would take out AA if they were to expand beyond the current Simpsons plot. The area with the spring tents are ripe for a massive new land. But back to the AA proposal, they would have to find a way to work around FFB or whatever it gets reskinned into unless that also take out Dreamworks Destination. If they went that route, they should repurpose the Simpsons plot into a Shrek ride should Shrek 5 come out by them. The Shrek meet and greet is by there so it would make sense for the entrance for that ride to be where AA is now. But if they did expand to where those sprung tents are, they could go bigger and even do a MMRR scale dark ride. Or they can do both options I laid out.

 

[Mad Dog]

Sponge Bob has the potential to be a good 'licensed IP'. But, it may skew too young, demographic wise, to replace Springfield, which skews older demos. With DM/Minion mini land and the Dreamworks
in the former Kidzone, another very young oriented IP land like Spongebob, would be too much weight to young kids in USF. While I realize that there's a lot of Sponge Bob fans in the teen and twenties IU fan base,
I doubt that same interest exists in the general population, outside of kids. Sponge Bob would probably work better in IOA, if they ever replaced the Toons.

 

[DodgsonHere]

Sponge Bob has the potential to be a good 'licensed IP'. But, it may skew too young, demographic wise, to replace Springfield, which skews older demos. With DM/Minion mini land and the Dreamworks
in the former Kidzone, another very young oriented IP land like Spongebob, would be too much weight to young kids in USF. While I realize that there's a lot of Sponge Bob fans in the teen and twenties IU fan base,
I doubt that same interest exists in the general population, outside of kids.

Bingo. I think Spongebob lost it’s chance for a permanent attraction when Dreamworks took over KidZone. I’d definitely prefer this side of the park remain driven towards an older audience, but that doesn’t mean kids won’t be able to enjoy what is there as well.

The more I think about it the more I realize this is a prime location for Universal’s version of a Great Movie Ride. It’s at a prominent location on the lagoon to be an effective weenie, it’s not far from Animal Actors and E.T. (making a potentially great “legacy studio” land), and could come with some great retro inspired food, beverage and merch. A great thesis attraction for the park and something everyone can enjoy.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Sponge Bob has the potential to be a good 'licensed IP'. But, it may skew too young, demographic wise, to replace Springfield, which skews older demos. With DM/Minion mini land and the Dreamworks
in the former Kidzone, another very young oriented IP land like Spongebob, would be too much weight to young kids in USF. While I realize that there's a lot of Sponge Bob fans in the teen and twenties IU fan base,
I doubt that same interest exists in the general population, outside of kids. Sponge Bob would probably work better in IOA, if they ever replaced the Toons.

It does skew young, but USF needs more of that in terms of major attractions (E/D Tickets) being targeted towards the younger demographic. The only attractions targeted directly at young children are both Minion attractions and ET (but they don't even know what an ET is). Once Kidzone reopens and a major dark ride targeted at the young demo, then that should be enough.

Bingo. I think Spongebob lost it’s chance for a permanent attraction when Dreamworks took over KidZone. I’d definitely prefer this side of the park remain driven towards an older audience, but that doesn’t mean kids won’t be able to enjoy what is there as well.

The more I think about it the more I realize this is a prime location for Universal’s version of a Great Movie Ride. It’s at a prominent location on the lagoon to be an effective weenie, it’s not far from Animal Actors and E.T. (making a potentially great “legacy studio” land), and could come with some great retro inspired food, beverage and merch. A great thesis attraction for the park and something everyone can enjoy.

Always thought Hollywood should be rerouted as the park's main entrance with ET being the "thesis" attraction at the end of the street where the NBC Media Center is.

 

[TheUniC6]

Bingo. I think Spongebob lost it’s chance for a permanent attraction when Dreamworks took over KidZone. I’d definitely prefer this side of the park remain driven towards an older audience, but that doesn’t mean kids won’t be able to enjoy what is there as well.

The more I think about it the more I realize this is a prime location for Universal’s version of a Great Movie Ride. It’s at a prominent location on the lagoon to be an effective weenie, it’s not far from Animal Actors and E.T. (making a potentially great “legacy studio” land), and could come with some great retro inspired food, beverage and merch. A great thesis attraction for the park and something everyone can enjoy.

What ride system should this use then? Maybe another version of the SCOOP? Or maybe another try with a trackless ride? And giving it more though, if they wanted to add a Shrek attraction as part of a Kidzone expansion they would be better adding it in the back where Curious George once stood have the showbuilding expand outward into the staging area.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

What ride system should this use then? Maybe another version of the SCOOP? Or maybe another try with a trackless ride? And giving it more though, if they wanted to add a Shrek attraction as part of a Kidzone expansion they would be better adding it in the back where Curious George once stood have the showbuilding expand outward into the staging area.

Omnimover. Make it a scenic ride, not a "what could go wrong" ride

 

[Nick]

I bet Disney wants it's ip back even if they don't do a thing with it.
Remember Oswald the lucky rabbit?
In 2006 Disney bought back the rights for it from Universal

The Bumblebee Man's Taco Truck could become Bumblebee Transformer Taco Truck. (yeh no Spongebob love from me, yuch)

Oswald definitely meant more to the Disney Company for historical purposes though which was why they got him and did very little with him, although they HAVE used him in video games, animation, and in theme parks and he has an upcoming Disney+ show.

That said, I agree with you that Disney wants their IP back and I still believe we will see Simpsons somewhere like DHS as I have said before. Again, probably no ride, but in the old Pixar Place area, all of the infrastructure is there for an indoor M&G, a F&B location, and a Merchandise location. It would be a very cheap way for them to get them represented in the park and make money on the IP while retaining the theme park rights.

 

[TheUniC6]

Omnimover. Make it a scenic ride, not a "what could go wrong" ride

If they do an Omnimover setup they could probably get away with using the Simpsons plot only without expanding into where AA is to the right or the staging area on the left. I view that a win as that large staging area should be preserved for a massive expansion to USF. But for this hypothetical Universal great movie ride, should they have an original character or a legacy Universal character (Woody Woodpecker anyone) host it? And would would the ratio be between live action and animated Universal movies be?

 

[Jerroddragon]

If Disney takes it Back and we get a new Simpsons show that can Change into a Tree House of Horror Version then its a win for everyone

 

[DodgsonHere]

What ride system should this use then? Maybe another version of the SCOOP? Or maybe another try with a trackless ride? And giving it more though, if they wanted to add a Shrek attraction as part of a Kidzone expansion they would be better adding it in the back where Curious George once stood have the showbuilding expand outward into the staging area.

SCOOP themed to Deloreans (they wouldn’t even need to change the door designs!) would be ideal for me, but I could see a scenic omnimover ride as well. Ideally a SCOOP version would be something like JWA in Beijing, good pacing with large sets. More thematically thrilling than physically thrilling. Few screen segments unless completely necessary.

Would love to see a Shrek boat dark ride, would fit the movie well and fill a gap in the park.

 

[Tyc00n96]

Spongebob would be an amazing replacement but if for whatever reason the IP was tricky to get, I kind of imagined a Tokyo/ L.A. area themed to (don't kill me) F&F. You could have something akin to Ford's Garage as the main dining option, the bar can stay, there could be photo ops for the cars, and ofc removing Simpsons for a ride worthy of the F&F title (*cough cough* our own version of Hollywood Drift). That could leave San Fran to become whatever else they'd like.

 

[TheUniC6]

SCOOP themed to Deloreans (they wouldn’t even need to change the door designs!) would be ideal for me, but I could see a scenic omnimover ride as well. Ideally a SCOOP version would be something like JWA in Beijing, good pacing with large sets. More thematically thrilling than physically thrilling. Few screen segments unless completely necessary.

Would love to see a Shrek boat dark ride, would fit the movie well and fill a gap in the park.

If they went the SCOOP route they could also theme the vehicles to basic old school art deco theater theming. The aforementioned theming would be default if they went with the omnimover setup. Screen portions blended with practical sets would be great for showing off different era of Universal animation from Illumination to Dreamworks. Aside from Despicable Me, Shrek, Pets, and maybe HTTYD, what other Illumination and DW IP could be showcased?

 

[DodgsonHere]

If they went the SCOOP route they could also theme the vehicles to basic old school art deco theater theming. The aforementioned theming would be default if they went with the omnimover setup. Screen portions blended with practical sets would be great for showing off different era of Universal animation from Illumination to Dreamworks. Aside from Despicable Me, Shrek, Pets, and maybe HTTYD, what other Illumination and DW IP could be showcased?

I would think it would feature mostly live action films. Just to be clear this will probably never happen, I’m just spitballing here.