Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[Mad Dog]

For all the parks problems, it does have a great atmosphere.

I last visited in 2022, and in 2025 I can appreciate the small steps they’ve taken to improve the park whilst they’ve worked on Epic.

Cinesational and the parade are great additions. I was actually a fan of Villains, for what it is, and the general aesthetic improvements to the minions area added to a underutilised property. I think that part of the park looks better than 2022, although I’m sure in hindsight they wouldn’t have planned a minions area for right there, but they’re working with what they’ve got. I think they’ve done a good job.

Dreamworks felt fresher but I wish they’d greenlit a dark ride for there too, or a few flats.

Food is still an issue. It’ll be good if they can focus here and bump it up to Epic levels.

Wishful thinking but the SLoP darkride, the new F&F coaster, Ghostbusters to replace Supercharged. Pokémon for Simpsons and a darkride, preferably a boat ride, for dreamworks, and there’s a cracking park again. Hopefully they find a few billion down side of sofa!

Not to mention Islands that needs some work, and Epic too. How they’ve spent nearly $7billion on a park that they already need to expand is wild haha

I've always loved the atmosphere at USF. That's partly why I spend most of my theme park day there. If the fix the big black hole in the middle of the park, where the Supercharged ghetto exists, that alone, will elevate the park.

 

[belloq87]

Wishful thinking but the SLoP darkride, the new F&F coaster, Ghostbusters to replace Supercharged. Pokémon for Simpsons and a darkride, preferably a boat ride, for dreamworks, and there’s a cracking park again.

These projects (or equivalents) would pretty much fix it.

But that would take another decade-plus.

 

[Mad Dog]

With three theme parks, the number of new attractions for any one of the parks is bound to be less, and slower, than it was when they just had two parks. There's only so much available budget, especially if guest attendance isn't as strong as it was previous to the past two years (covid year and a half exempted).

 

[brianlo]

Largely why I have been sitting on the sidelines for a decade on this resort is due to my broader disappointment in the further decline of USF since 2014. A park I'm nostalgic for. Jaws, while clearly a trade up for Diagon, was the first warning sign that the balance was off kilter.

Obviously this speaks to the inherent downside about gate expansion before the resort was fully ready. I wouldn't give back Epic per se, but the detrimental impact on USF is fairly clear. I can't help but think we'd have effusive praise if that investment was instead sprinkled on the two original parks. Neglect can also occur despite the propriety of spending money. They have certainly spent money on USF... and somehow fallen further behind.

 

[UAN17]

Largely why I have been sitting on the sidelines for a decade on this resort is due to my broader disappointment in the further decline of USF since 2014. A park I'm nostalgic for. Jaws, while clearly a trade up for Diagon, was the first warning sign that the balance was off kilter.

Obviously this speaks to the inherent downside about gate expansion before the resort was fully ready. I wouldn't give back Epic per se, but the detrimental impact on USF is fairly clear. I can't help but think we'd have effusive praise if that investment was instead sprinkled on the two original parks. Neglect can also occur despite the propriety of spending money. They have certainly spent money on USF... and somehow fallen further behind.

I think the issue isn’t so much Epic but that they went through an unfortunate era of legitimately terrible investment decisions.

Money was spent, just really poorly. Swap out these poor decisions and the park is in a much better place right now.

But then they learned their lesson and we got Velocicoaster and Hagrids next door, so maybe everything happens for a reason

 

[brianlo]

I think the issue isn’t so much Epic but that they went through an unfortunate era of legitimately terrible investment decisions.

Money was spent, just really poorly. Swap out these poor decisions and the park is in a much better place right now.

But then they learned their lesson and we got Velocicoaster and Hagrids next door, so maybe everything happens for a reason

Indeed, many poor choices to simply have done something annually. Though we’d be having a slightly different conversation if Nintendo and Ministry were in USF today.

But then VillainsCon, DreamWorks and the late additions of Epic (Werewolf) are their truly recent developmental efforts. Sometimes I’m like have lessons been learned, does one park over the other get lucky or did we just have a brief developmental moment of brilliance?

Albeit I’d be pretty surprised if the roller coaster replacement was bad. Their track record on coasters is well above average.

IOA is in the dog house for the state of its (nonexistent) entertainment offerings. But very, very, very easily fixable compared to USF and a minor gripe.

 

[TheUniC6]

Hopefully Pokemon gets fast tracked for 2029. But I think the post Pokemon stuff in the 2030's will truly bring USF into a new glory days era. Patience is virtue.

 

[brianlo]

Hopefully Pokemon gets fast tracked for 2029. But I think the post Pokemon stuff in the 2030's will truly bring USF into a new glory days era. Patience is virtue.

Pokemon and Nintendo and Ministry for USF all date back to 2013 @Hatetofly rumours. Universal even joined in and implied another phase to Diagon at its 2014 opening and officially told us Nintendo was coming to Florida in 2016. I truly believe all those discussions were real at the time, because we see evidence they were real.

That said, we deserve a patience award.

Would anyone believe the big argument was that Pokemon was neither a popular nor long term franchise in 2013? My, how off those folks were.

 

[TheUniC6]

Pokemon and Nintendo and Ministry for USF all date back to 2013 @Hatetofly rumours. Universal even joined in and implied another phase to Diagon at its 2014 opening and officially told us Nintendo was coming to Florida in 2016. I truly believe all those discussions were real at the time, because we see evidence they were real.

That said, we deserve a patience award.

Would anyone believe the big argument was that Pokemon was neither a popular nor long term franchise in 2013? My, how off those folks were.

My preferred timeline for USF that may or may not be farfetched
2027- F&F Coaster
2029-Pokemon
2031- a new land in the SS 18-22 cluster along with the arch and entrance redone.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

But then VillainsCon, DreamWorks and the late additions of Epic (Werewolf) are their truly recent developmental efforts. Sometimes I’m like have lessons been learned, does one park over the other get lucky or did we just have a brief developmental moment of brilliance?

Looking back at the history of Disney and Universal parks, it's not a new thing unfortunately. The parks continue to invest in great attractions, but also in bad ones. Some have proper investments, but are poorly executed. Supercharged was a decent investment, but should have stayed in the development stage. Rockit was a stop gap/forced addition to USF with resources thin and the need to get something new into that park.

Universal's rapid expansion plans over the year were great for IOA and the overall resort, but paid no attention to how they fit within USF and led to a misaligned park that relies on special events and Diagon to remain relevant.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Looking back at the history of Disney and Universal parks, it's not a new thing unfortunately. The parks continue to invest in great attractions, but also in bad ones. Some have proper investments, but are poorly executed. Supercharged was a decent investment, but should have stayed in the development stage. Rockit was a stop gap/forced addition to USF with resources thin and the need to get something new into that park.

Universal's rapid expansion plans over the year were great for IOA and the overall resort, but paid no attention to how they fit within USF and led to a misaligned park that relies on special events and Diagon to remain relevant.

And oddly enough.. the one that got the least fanfare - Bourne - is the best USF addition since Diagon.

 

[Jake S]

Looking back at the history of Disney and Universal parks, it's not a new thing unfortunately. The parks continue to invest in great attractions, but also in bad ones. Some have proper investments, but are poorly executed.

I also think this is pretty normal. Sometimes the new Mustang rips. Sometimes it sucks. Putting together a big project like a theme park attraction is very difficult; I’m honestly surprised we don’t see more abject failure.

 

[Mad Dog]

I also think this is pretty normal. Sometimes the new Mustang rips. Sometimes it sucks. Putting together a big project like a theme park attraction is very difficult; I’m honestly surprised we don’t see more abject failure.

That's why, unlike the super park fans that want most attractions replaced, I'm usually content with what the parks have, with just the tweaks needed to replace the very few real turkey attractions. What we end up with is often less than what we had. Example: We lost both Disaster/Earthquake 'and'
Beetleguice show for the terrible horrible true life disaster Fast & Furious Supercharged. Case rested on that fact. ...Lesson: Replace wise and gently.

 

[brianlo]

And oddly enough.. the one that got the least fanfare - Bourne - is the best USF addition since Diagon.

The lesson there is definitely maybe we should redo the proven good things and not wholesell remove them.