Universal's Epic Universe Construction Thread

[belloq87]

Just for the record, I don't think seeing the hotel (from anywhere) is an issue at all, personally. I know that's what triggered this argument a week or two ago, but it shouldn't be used to represent the whole "who can see what from where?" conversation.

My personal guide is that if something is themed and intended to be seen as front-of-house, on-stage "show" from anywhere, I don't mind seeing it from anywhere. It's the intrusion of truly backstage elements (with/and un- or minimally-themed buildings and industrial access areas) that I have much less tolerance for.

No park is perfect in these regards (except maybe DisneySea; it looks like almost everything inside the park is themed 360-degrees if guests have vantage points to see it from 360-degrees), and even weaker areas in a park don't sink the entire park experience as a whole.

But, obviously, Epic is new, was built without significant footprint constraints, and has been hailed by the company itself as "game-changing" and featuring a new standard for "immersion." What that means will vary for every individual, but for me... it basically means we should be expecting the most highly and fully-themed park in Orlando. So if my eventual critiques about sightlines read as (potentially) harsh (and I don't know that will be the case, as I haven't seen anything from ground-level in the park yet, and I will offer no concrete critiques until I personally visit), it will only be because Universal told me I could hold it to the highest standard.

It's also perfectly possible (likely, in fact), that I will still love the park even with said possible issues.

 

[Jake S]

It's more a comment on Epic being new and folks being more picky over it.

I think it’s reasonable for there to be more discussion about the sightlines of the ground up theme park opening this summer than the one that’s been around 50 years. I wouldn’t assume that people who have issues or critiques of Epic’s sightlines don’t also hold critiques of the sightlines in existing parks.

 

[Rhian]

I don't want to go in depth about it at this moment but I will add that there are at least a couple of areas that go beyond slight sight line intrusion. I may be more specific once photographs can be taken and posted. Some of these will be solved once the greenery settles in but there's a couple where that may not be enough and even a regular guest could be momentarily surprised by it.

Regardless the park is gorgeous and well done for the most part and you'll feel immersed in what's created. There's a lot of intricate detail up close I'm sure many will enjoy.

So far standing at either Luna or Apollo and staring down the center of Celestial Park has been my favorite view and from those spots I can't recall sight line issues. I'm sure there are some from those angles but even I'm so distracted looking in front of me I don't notice them.

 

[Evan]

There’s also a big difference between seeing the Castle in MK from other lands, and seeing warehouses / unthemed infrastructure.

Some being annoyed by Helios is a very specific critique to them, but not what most of us refer to when we call out sight line issues.

 

[Henny]

I find the push back against criticism of sightlines very weird, and perhaps a bit tribal (cringe) and originating from the assumption that the notes are coming from Disney fans.


Here's the deal. Epic Universe is a complete new build, with no limitations or hurdles to keep in mind. The park's entire premise and identity is guests traveling through hyper-immersive worlds. This is what's being promoted and branded. You go into a portal and you're suddenly transported to Berk from the movies. For this reason, reactions of folks who are just now experiencing the park are valid, and likely come from love for theme park design. No one on these boards is out to get Comcast and it's baby, trust me.

 

[italianstallion]

I don't want to go in depth about it at this moment but I will add that there are at least a couple of areas that go beyond slight sight line intrusion. I may be more specific once photographs can be taken and posted. Some of these will be solved once the greenery settles in but there's a couple where that may not be enough and even a regular guest could be momentarily surprised by it.

Regardless the park is gorgeous and well done for the most part and you'll feel immersed in what's created. There's a lot of intricate detail up close I'm sure many will enjoy.

So far standing at either Luna or Apollo and staring down the center of Celestial Park has been my favorite view and from those spots I can't recall sight line issues. I'm sure there are some from those angles but even I'm so distracted looking in front of me I don't notice them.

This is the correct observation on the sightlines and really should end the argument. You’re going to see things from other lands if you’re looking for them. But my experience in four visits (with the last one purposefully looking for all these sightlines issues because I didn’t buy the legitimacy of them) is that you have to look past and ignore so many details in each of these lands in order to find the issues. Further, maybe consider that the sightlines in Berk were designed to appeal to an average height child vs. an average height adult. Not saying that’s an excuse, but for all we know it was a consideration.

And yes, there is a lot of landscaping in place that will grow to obscure a lot of the issues. Maybe because of costs they had to bite the bullet and go with cheaper more juvenile trees and shrubs as opposed to more mature options, who knows.

 

[Brian G.]

I find the push back against criticism of sightlines very weird, and perhaps a bit tribal (cringe) and originating from the assumption that the notes are coming from Disney fans.


Here's the deal. Epic Universe is a complete new build, with no limitations or hurdles to keep in mind. The park's entire premise and identity is guests traveling through hyper-immersive worlds. This is what's being promoted and branded. You go into a portal and you're suddenly transported to Berk from the movies. For this reason, reactions of folks who are just now experiencing the park are valid, and likely come from love for theme park design. No one on these boards is out to get Comcast and it's baby, trust me.

I don’t think anyone pushed back against the criticisms of anyone who visited the park. It was more “let’s pump the brakes” for the people who hadn’t visited.

 

[haloPrism]

Amazing aerial footage from Ivo. Celestial Park and Berk look gorgeous at this time of day!

 

[Magic-Man]

I don't want to go in depth about it at this moment but I will add that there are at least a couple of areas that go beyond slight sight line intrusion. I may be more specific once photographs can be taken and posted. Some of these will be solved once the greenery settles in but there's a couple where that may not be enough and even a regular guest could be momentarily surprised by it.

Regardless the park is gorgeous and well done for the most part and you'll feel immersed in what's created. There's a lot of intricate detail up close I'm sure many will enjoy.

So far standing at either Luna or Apollo and staring down the center of Celestial Park has been my favorite view and from those spots I can't recall sight line issues. I'm sure there are some from those angles but even I'm so distracted looking in front of me I don't notice them.

I don't want to ask too much, but are the sightline issues related to back of house or just tall landmarks in other areas of the park? The latter is to be expected, the former is inexcusable.

 

[Alicia]

I don't want to ask too much, but are the sightline issues related to back of house or just tall landmarks in other areas of the park? The latter is to be expected, the former is inexcusable.

I think the ones that show backstage areas are where trees will grow in. Tall landmarks from other parts of the park probably poke up from most spots in Celestial Park. Helios is visible from Dark Universe and Stardust visible from Dragons. Nothing is probably visible outside Potter and Nintendo.

 

[Rhian]

I don't want to ask too much, but are the sightline issues related to back of house or just tall landmarks in other areas of the park? The latter is to be expected, the former is inexcusable.

What Alicia mentioned above is accurate though I'm not sure if trees will be enough for 1 or 2 spots. I do think there are some areas that could hide some views of the taller landmarks better but that may come with time.

I should point out most of these problem areas are on the periphery and not directly seen from the main areas.

 

[Jones14]

I think the ones that show backstage areas are where trees will grow in. Tall landmarks from other parts of the park probably poke up from most spots in Celestial Park. Helios is visible from Dark Universe and Stardust visible from Dragons. Nothing is probably visible outside Potter and Nintendo.

I would say this is accurate except for Berk. The biggest issue is Wing Gliders, which parks you in front of a building for the second launch and has several views of the backside of the giant mountain in the queue and the ride.

I think the mountain could be covered with more shade structures or trees in the Hiccup queue (and truth be told it could really use them), but I think the onride views are what we’re gonna get at this point.

 

[Alicia]

I would say this is accurate except for Berk. The biggest issue is Wing Gliders, which parks you in front of a building for the second launch and has several views of the backside of the giant mountain in the queue and the ride.

I think the mountain could be covered with more shade structures or trees in the Hiccup queue (and truth be told it could really use them), but I think the onride views are what we’re gonna get at this point.

Oh true. I was trying to think of views from the paths.

 

[belloq87]

What Alicia mentioned above is accurate though I'm not sure if trees will be enough for 1 or 2 spots. I do think there are some areas that could hide some views of the taller landmarks better but that may come with time.

I should point out most of these problem areas are on the periphery and not directly seen from the main areas.

How does the Untrainable Dragon theater look?

The biggest issue is Wing Gliders, which parks you in front of a building for the second launch

And I take it this building... doesn't look like Vikings built it?

 

[Rhian]

How does the Untrainable Dragon theater look?

Not as bad as some thought when it was discussed earlier however I'm sure some comments will be made about the exit area once pictures come out.

 

[Jones14]

How does the Untrainable Dragon theater look?


And I take it this building... doesn't look like Vikings built it?

It’s plainly visible, but the mural covers every visible section of it, which helps it fade away a little bit.

There’s a long green building connected to the playground, and that’s the one you get parked in front of before the coaster’s second launch.

That and the buildings underneath stardust are plainly visible just past the Gronkle show scenes, so they’re hard to miss, especially since the coaster has an intentional rollback there.

 

[DrStarlander]

I would say this is accurate except for Berk. The biggest issue is Wing Gliders, which parks you in front of a building for the second launch and has several views of the backside of the giant mountain in the queue and the ride.

I think the mountain could be covered with more shade structures or trees in the Hiccup queue (and truth be told it could really use them), but I think the onride views are what we’re gonna get at this point.

I'm a "sightlines person" but if these are the bigger issues being reported, that's encouraging to me. As far as views from coasters that go all over a land, even as a sightlines purist I expect them to have some rough spots. If the issue of the backside of the Berk mountain from the queue is that un-themed section in the middle, perhaps that could later be addressed in a number of ways:

One, using canopies on the building to block the view, since they use canopies all over the land (though canopies over the queue would be better, but this could block view from coaster too).


Two, by including a scenic mural with a rocky top profile to continue the look of the rockwork (visually, even if not 3D), seen here.


Three, probably least expensive, a mural on the building and an artificial moss overhang along the top edge.


Overall, this just doesn't seem too bad, and easily addressable should it be determined to be warranted. But caveat, I'm not there yet so just playing around with ideas based on what's reported so far.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think it’s reasonable for there to be more discussion about the sightlines of the ground up theme park opening this summer than the one that’s been around 50 years. I wouldn’t assume that people who have issues or critiques of Epic’s sightlines don’t also hold critiques of the sightlines in existing parks.

I don't want to bring this convo up again because I was busy this weekend; we agree, I'm just making the final logical jump that some sightline issues are not a problem at Epic in the end that don't affect the parks quaitly, guest satisfaction, or the overall experience. Perspective is needed.

 

[saint.piss]

 

[Disneyhead]