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Universal Orlando (Studios/IOA/Epic Universe) : General Discussion

Yeah the early reviews for Fast & Furious aren't good at all. But I'm not surprised.

Some of their recent additions have been utterly awful for a park with such a budget. Kong, Jimmy Fallon and now this rubbish? Really really poor for me.

I haven't ridden any of them but watching the videos and reading the various reviews they seem to be taking big steps back again. No doubt the 2019 Potter ride will be a huge success again next but they should be doing so much better with the smaller investments.

The 4th park hopefully won't have as many screen rides or any preferably.
 
The queue looks alright. I mean it's succeeding in what it is trying to achieve but is a garage exacting the most interesting theme. The preshows just seem cringey. The ride looks just 'meh', with the actual 360* section looking cheap and cartoon-like. Also, I really do not like the building's warehouse. Looks lazy, especially when you compare to some of what Merlin have done for dbgt/saw, which is somehow more imaginative than a grey wall. Overall, a disappointing addition, that was expected.
 
I haven't seen any videos of F&F yet, but I don't think Kong actually looks too bad from photos and videos! Sure, the ride itself doesn't look the best, but the queue looks stunning! Also, Volcano Bay looks stunning, Springfield is absolutely fantastic and Transformers is also fantastic, in my opinion, even if it isn't quite as good as Spider-Man in IOA. So personally, I don't think that all of Universal's non-Potter investments have been bad, in fact most of them look really good. Admittedly, Jimmy Fallon doesn't look to be the best of investments (I never even knew who he was prior to it being built!), but the queue looks cool!

I am, however, mourning the loss of Disaster for F&F. I loved Disaster; it was something a bit different, and a great laugh! I haven't seen any videos of F&F yet, but I reckon that it will be stronger in terms of actual ride quality. I'm confident that F&F will be a good attraction. If the 3D is anything like the 3D on Transformers and Gringotts, then it will be fantastic. Universal have impressed me before, and I'm sure they will impress me again.

I still adore Universal, and IOA still sits at the top as my favourite Florida theme park. Alton Towers still beats it overall, but IOA is a stunning theme park with great atmosphere, great theming and great rides as well!

On a side note, you will all be pleased to know that Universal is said to be done with screen-based attractions after F&F.
P.S. Sorry for the long post.
 
Kong looks incredible but the ride is awful. Such a shame. Why go to all that trouble making the giant facade and then just bang screens everywhere on the ride? Very lazy.
 
I think the only indoor ride in Orlando that is worse than Kong is Wild Arctic.

But then again, Wild Arctic has the comedy factor because it's just so bad, Kong doesn't even have that.
 
MakoMania said:
I think the only indoor ride in Orlando that is worse than Kong is Wild Arctic.

But then again, Wild Arctic has the comedy factor because it's just so bad, Kong doesn't even have that.
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I'd say Antarctica is probably a competitor, stunning exhibit and fantastic queue line aside. But it isn't as bad as Wild Arctic. It's not really bad per se, I just found it to be a rather bizarre attraction in terms of a ride. The scale of the theming is incredible and the exhibit is fantastic, but I wasn't too struck on the ride itself.
 
MakoMania said:
I think the only indoor ride in Orlando that is worse than Kong is Wild Arctic.

But then again, Wild Arctic has the comedy factor because it's just so bad, Kong doesn't even have that.
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Kong would be awesome if it was set pieces everywhere and no screens. I don't go to theme parks to watch TVs personally.
 
I thought Kong was great! Sure it's heavily screen based but when you think about it so are the major Harry Potter rides. Spiderman is also heavily screen based yet no one complains about that.
It doesn't matter how many screens you use but how you use them. Kong might not be the showstopper of the above mentioned rides but it has a good story, great setting and the ride transfers well between the real and the digital.

I will agree though that as we visited IOS first and Studios second I was getting fed up of starring at screens after the second day. But That's a Universal problem, not specifically one with Kong.
 
I don't think that heavily screen based attractions are necessarily bad if the video quality is good, which it is on Universal's screen rides. Especially when there's some set pieces chucked in alongside screens a la Spider-Man and the Potter rides.
 
I thought Kong was ok. Fast and furious is just a standalone version of the fast and furious ride part of the tram tour in Hollywood. I am surprised people thought it would anything different. When I rode in Hollywood i didn’t think much of it so certainly had no excitement when knew it was being added to Orlando, so many better things they could have added.
 
Could barely make it through the POV of F&F without curling my own toes out of shape. I know it's a theme park adaptation of a very silly action franchise, but my God, the dialogue is possibly the worst ever commited to script, and the flow of it is so, so stilted. Amazing that they managed to take the worst parts of the Hollywood experience and blow them into a whole attraction, taking up that much valuable land. Oh well, it's somehow reassuring to know that even Universal aren't infallible these days!

Of course, there's the argument that I should experience it first-hand before making a judgement, but when you're watching a screen of watching a screen, I'm more comfortable than usual to call this out as proper tat.
 
Nothing says Fast & Furious more than a ride on a bus does it? Hahahaha

What were they thinking. I realize it's not a High end investment for them but looking at the queueline and scale of it all it can't have been that cheap either.

What a total waste of space, money and time it is. Basically just done Kong with Cars.
 
Shame this is crap, but I suppose it was always going to be. The films are crap too. I'm not sure why Universal feels the need to waste money on tat like this.
 
Rob said:
Fast & Furious is set to be the last new Universal ride that is heavily screen focussed. Future new rides could of course still utilise screens but they will not be the main part of the ride experience.

:)
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Hallelujah!

It's Universal's downfall that essentially all the rides are interchangeable.

*Get on a ride vehicle*
*Stare at some screens*
*Get sprayed with water*

At least this sounds like it has a fairly decent physical scene at the start.
 
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I watched the POV of it, and I actually think it looks OK. Not gonna set the world alight, but it looks OK. Better than everyone is making out, in my opinion. The projection mapping (?) at the start looks decent, and the 3D looks OK quality. My only gripes with it are that it's a tad short and that the action scene doesn't look very realistic due to you not really moving. Something similar to Spider-Man would have been a bit more realistic.

I don't think it looks as good as Disaster, however. Even though Disaster probably sounds inferior to this on paper, it was a fun and unique experience, something different to fill some time. I had a real soft spot for Disaster when it was operating, so it being replaced with this does make me feel a bit sad.
 
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