Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[DarkMetroid567]

Theoretically its not, it opened with more rides and attractions than most other major theme parks in Orlando did besides IOA pretty much. They just need to get the capacity and reliability up on the existing attractions. One more potter ride would definitely help a lot although.

I think it’s just a very different market than the world that IOA/DAK/DCA opened in. I bet those parks would be Epic-level crowded today (and thus horrifically underbuilt) even with their initial flaws.

 

[Mad Dog]

The market was there to fill Epic to a fairly high capacity attendance. But Universal didn't build anywhere near enough capacity
to fill that demand. Thus, they've limited their revenue a lot by being too shortsighted. Even if the operational end wasn't suffering
from longer lasting breakdowns than anyone would expect, capacity would still be inadequate. So now they have the double
whammy of inherent low capacity and inadequate maintenance/tech performance. Potter ended that mature Orlando market
concept and social media elevated demand much more than the AK/MGM/IOA era. It's a new world and Universal executives
misjudged, building an incomplete park when a complete park would have raked in the revenue.
Universal had the hot IP's. But corporate screwed up and underbuilt. I'd guess, if they could do it over, they would have built a better,
more complete, guest trap.

 

[UNIrd]

They also need to add a small flats/attractions like Islands did in the year or so after its opening (Storm Force and Flying Unicorn). Anything to soak up crowds, especially if it rains/bigger rides go down.

Surprised they didn't learn from this and aren't pushing have similar quick capacity fixes in play for later this year. But with no movement on that front so far, doesn't look like they'll pull an IOA 2.0.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Tbh, I’m not so sure they misjudged the demand would be popular, but I think they were just very optimistic with the ratio of quantity + quality they decided on.

Universal probably spent at least 7 billion and I think that reflects very well in the quality of the park, and there’s no chance they wanted to spend more — hence why I think the IOA-esque capacity increases aren’t happening.

But you have to wonder just how that focus on “quality” has permanently changed things for Epic. Universal no doubt spent hundreds of millions on development for Mine Cart Madness (an operational failure and in my opinion, a not very good ride) and Battle at the Ministry (another operational headache that aspired to be better than Rise but, to most, did not succeed). And as *incredible* as Monsters turned out, it will likely not be a huge draw to Epic and won’t ever average more than a 20 minute queue for the remainder of its life. Hypothetically, would you sacrifice one or more of these attractions for capacity?

 

[Mad Dog]

Tbh, I’m not so sure they misjudged the demand would be popular, but I think they were just very optimistic with the ratio of quantity + quality they decided on.

Universal probably spent at least 7 billion and I think that reflects very well in the quality of the park, and there’s no chance they wanted to spend more — hence why I think the IOA-esque capacity increases aren’t happening.

But you have to wonder just how that focus on “quality” has permanently changed things for Epic. Universal no doubt spent hundreds of millions on development for Mine Cart Madness (an operational failure and in my opinion, a not very good ride) and Battle at the Ministry (another operational headache that aspired to be better than Rise but, to most, did not succeed). And as *incredible* as Monsters turned out, it will likely not be a huge draw to Epic and won’t ever average more than a 20 minute queue for the remainder of its life. Hypothetically, would you sacrifice one or more of these attractions for capacity?

Monsters has huge capacity. Major reason for its short lines......Main reason budget hit that level is they paused too long in lieu of
covid recovery and thus construction inflation hit hard.
I remember the early talks here on Epic. Most everyone thought the attraction level would be in the high teens or low twenties.
When @Disneyhead said it was only going to be in the 12 to 14 vicinity, people were really taken aback. Both Shanghai and Beijing
were built with more capacity. Bottom line, demand was there and they underbuilt. Someone can't count. A bad business decision, and
it doesn't take hindsight to see that. It was always right there in their faces if they'd look at the potential numbers. Even if everything was running
smoothly at a theoretical capacity level, you couldn't put 35,000 to 40,000 plus people in the park, instead of the 15,000 to 25,000 they now have.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Monsters has huge capacity. Major reason for its short lines......Main reason budget hit that level is they paused too long in lieu of
covid recovery and thus construction inflation hit hard.
I remember the early talks here on Epic. Most everyone thought the attraction level would be in the high teens or low twenties.
When @Disneyhead said it was only going to be in the 12 to 14 vicinity, people were really taken aback. Both Shanghai and Beijing
were built with more capacity. Bottom line, demand was there and they underbuilt. Someone can't count. A bad business decision, and
it doesn't take hindsight to see that. It was always right there in their faces if they'd look at the potential numbers. Even if everything was running
smoothly at a theoretical capacity level, you couldn't put 35,000 to 40,000 plus people in the park, instead of the 15,000 to 25,000 they now have.

Definitely — though it looks like the plan for Epic has always been a pretty low number of attractions, I think the Covid budget increases probably killed any chance of post-opening relief like IOA.

I don’t disagree that Monsters is (1) popular and (2) high capacity, but I continue to be amazed at its existence. In my (no doubt incredibly unpopular) opinion, the short waits aren’t fully explained by the high capacity. I think there’s a real lack of demand + marketability. Yet they built one of the highest quality and best rides of all time. I just can’t help but feel like it shouldn’t exist.

 

[SeventyOne]

Theoretically its not, it opened with more rides and attractions than most other major theme parks in Orlando did besides IOA pretty much.

Having your "back-up" hopper options be MK and peak EPCOT and Pleasure Island is about the best thing a half-day park can hope for.

I don’t disagree that Monsters is (1) popular and (2) high capacity, but I continue to be amazed at its existence. In my (no doubt incredibly unpopular) opinion, the short waits aren’t fully explained by the high capacity. I think there’s a real lack of demand + marketability. Yet they built one of the highest quality and best rides of all time. I just can’t help but feel like it shouldn’t exist.

1) Very unforgiving ride system.
2) Never forget WDW arbitrarily raised the height limit on Stich because kids ostensibly big enough to ride were getting terrified. On Stich. A significant number of families with preteens are probably skipping this one.
3) Outside the hard-core online fandom, classic monster houses at HHN just do alright in terms of draw (even when a strong contender for house of the year). If HHN ticket-buyers aren't that enthralled with the IP, it's a lot to ask of gen pop tourists.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

The ride count at Epic Universe, as shocking as it sounds coming from me, is fine. The issue, outside of downtime, is that even at peak efficiency some of the rides weren't designed with high-capacity in mind. No reason why Donkey Kong, as cool as it is, was approved to operate at barely 1,000 guests an hour... when running the maximum amount of trains available and no downtime.

Curse of the Werewolf, designed and with the capacity D-ticket attraction, has to play a major role in a land with only 1 other attraction.
Dragon Racers' Rally ride system (even with dual sides) was a waste of resources for its low capacity and ultimate satisfaction level (what a ridicously short cycle time).

Ministry of Magic, once operating closer to its intended hourly capacity, will be just fine.

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Opening the floodgates to Annual Passholders would not be the correct choice... but some of the dining locations are starting to close early on in the day (Das Stakehaus at 8, Mead Hall at 7:15, Le Gobelet 6:15)... so why not offer APs an after "x" PM access plan? I think most APs on here will be just fine visiting after 5PM.