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

Out of interest is the Epic Universe Super Mario World going to be larger in scale than the current ones?

From what I've seen they're tiny. Not suited to the crowds in Orlando.
 
RicketyCricket said:
Out of interest is the Epic Universe Super Mario World going to be larger in scale than the current ones?

From what I've seen they're tiny. Not suited to the crowds in Orlando.
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I would think it'll be bigger and better laid out, as it's not being shoehorned in between existing attractions like at the other parks.
 
Essentially the same as Japan- plus the donkey king area (which opens in Japan in 2024) Having recently seen an overlay of the Japan land over the current construction it’s shows the Orlando version is slightly larger with a bit more room in the courtyard area.
 
Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario/Zelda and others) had an interesting interview with polygon recently where he said:

“There was discussion about adding other IPs in there, like Splatoon. But instead of having our focus scattered, we thought it would be easier to start with something focused. That’s why we ended up starting with Mario."

Interestingly there he says “starting with Mario”…DK is still Mario-verse so that’s not really what I think he’s getting at.

If this is correct then I really do think this will finally get the long rumoured HP treatment across multiple parks and we’ll finally see Zelda coming to IOA most likely, and then potentially another IP maybe in the Studios park or Luigi's Mansion and something like an Animal Crossing Cafe?

But maybe Studios will still get Pokémon despite the Kidzone plan being canned. I know another rumoured idea is to have it on the expansion pad next to Super Nintendo World in Epic.

However, I suppose you could look at this separately as the deal there would technically be with the Pokémon Company not Nintendo…but the rights here get messy as who owns what!! 🤣

So much like the original Universal Creative pitch to Nintendo with Zelda/Kirby/Mario/Luigi’s Mansion/Animal Crossing, I think we could see more Nintendo across UOR.
 
From what I understand the current plan is still if they move forward with Pokemon it will be a second phase of Epic Universe.

The next Nintendo/Pokemon projects after Jopans Donkey Kong (2024) & Epic Universe Nintendo Land (2025) are rumoured to be a Pokemon ride in Japan, expected to a re-theme of their Spiderman ride (2025-26), followed by Donkey Kong added in Hollywood (2026/27) -rumoured to either be replacing some of the studio buildings near the current Nintendo area, (replacements sound studios have just/are been built else where on property) or to replace the Mummy Coaster (although another project might be replacing that. The Hollywood park have aggressive expansion plans between now and 2028, ready for the 2028 LA Olympics. Its expected there will be a new attraction every year until then with the park expanding its footprint with some additions as well as not just replacing attractions. Again while things change its expected to inc the Fast & Furious coaster, a Copy of the fantastic Bourne show from Orlando, Donkey Kong and Diagon Alley (built where the old lake/green screen is on towards the end of the studio tour).

The next few years will prove to a fantastic time at Universal with all of these projects across their parks.
 
I can see that Universal Hollywood’s a small park for the volume of visitors, and there’s clearly a strong case for expanding it. I’m not sure how the Olympics affects things. When the London Olympics was on, the parks were very quiet, and Thorpe Park had a notoriously quiet season. People were going to the Olympics instead of the theme parks. I accept that LA’s different, because Universal is a worldclass theme park brand and Thorpe Park isn’t. Although LA is notorious for heavy traffic, and if the Olympics makes it worse, that might be a reason for people to stay away from Universal.

But even if the park is rammed every day, it’s only for a few weeks. You could argue that Universal will benefit from the wider publicity for LA. But are Universal trying to make Universal Hollywood an international theme park destination when they’ve got Universal Orlando?

If the Olympics is accompanied by more accommodation and better public transport then this might help, but again, will there be a big increase in public transport or permanent accommodation at an event that lasts for a few weeks? Most Olympics have come with big promises about the ‘legacy’ and driving tourism, but in most cases the reality didn’t match the hype.

I’m not saying they’re wrong to expand the park. I’m glad they are. I’m just not sure how the Olympics changes the equation.
 
Looking at Universal Orlando though, Spider Man won’t be rethemed. So Pokemon will be either Epic Universe or Studios. I can’t see Pokémon’s concept fitting with Island - Zelda does.

KidZone was originally Nintendo before the work walls came back down when Epic got green lit. SNW was actually originally designed to fit KidZone even before USJ had it announced. They’ve plopped that exact copy into Epic and just slightly made it bigger. Japan’s is a replica of the KidZone plan. The only heavily edited version is Hollywood (and potentially Singapore’s will be too).

Pokémon is different. Japan will get different offerings to what Orlando gets. I believe original plans have changed - I know originally the Epic Universe ride had one concept where riders drop down into a lower show scene and capture Pokémon in the wild before rising up above into an arena to battle them against gym trainers and other riders.

Zelda has been rumoured to take over Poseidon’s Fury and LC in IOA for ages. I think nowadays it’s not if, it’s when. Zelda sells far better in the west, the IP is incredibly popular with westerners. I know Universal Execs applied pressure to slow this project down after they were worried but I think this is giving it the Universal Monsters treatment where cancelled or revised projects finally get a green light and the original concept will be improved upon so much.

After Epic I think we’ll see primary focus on Universal Pacific Rim parks before focus returns back to Orlando after 2028.

But Epic will do what it needs for this resort.
 
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The Monsters themed Mack Spinner track is now complete and is incredibly short, definitely more family than thrill. It is rumoured though that in the mid section where they are currently building the indoor scene that it will do a swing launch and go backwards and forwards through that scene before launching forwards to complete the rest of the layout.

The Intamin family thrill coaster (expected to be similar thrill level to hagrids) also has some sections of track now complete. Alongside the first big airtime hill (looks more like a top hat!) on the dueling mack launch coaster.

Universal have also announced a new how to train your dragon film to come out in 2025 (live action version rather than computer animated). Some great construction pics inc the Mack spinner below.

www.themeparx.com

Universal's Epic Universe

www.themeparx.com www.themeparx.com
 
Don't forget to throw those Lord of the Rings and Universal Monsters boat ride rumors into the works. Exciting times at Universal. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit can't have too long left in it either, so another coaster in USF to replace that presumably as well.
 
Here's a look at the completed layout for the Mack Spinning Coaster in the Classic Monsters area:



Mid-ride swing launch or not, it does look a little bit short and crap. Shame they haven't gone for a longer layout as these can be really fun coasters!
 
Matt N said:
Intriguingly, VelociCoaster has apparently had an operational change, according to a recent video posted by ElToroRyan:

Ride operators now check restraints twice as opposed to only the once (as is typical on coasters), and this has seen dispatch intervals fall from around 55 seconds on average (~1,560pph, ~65 trains per hour) to around 75-80 seconds on average (~1,100pph, ~46 trains per hour).

For context, the ride's previous record was said to be 1,745pph (~73 trains per hour, 1 train every ~49s), and the ride's theoretical throughput on 4 trains is said to be 1,800pph (75 trains per hour, 1 train every 48s). Universal's internal target is said to be 1,440pph (60 trains per hour, 1 train every 60s).

I wonder why the ride's restraints are now checked twice? It seems odd given that most coasters only have one check.
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If anyone is interested, this change has apparently been reversed on VelociCoaster, and as such, the ride recently obtained its record throughput for 2023! The VelociCoaster team recently managed 68 trains per hour, which equates to 1 train every ~53s. Assuming every seat was filled, that would equate to 1,632 riders per hour:

Great work, VelociCoaster team!

It’s nice to hear that the procedures have apparently been relaxed and the team can work at full throughput again.
 
Matt N said:
If anyone is interested, this change has apparently been reversed on VelociCoaster, and as such, the ride recently obtained its record throughput for 2023! The VelociCoaster team recently managed 68 trains per hour, which equates to 1 train every ~53s. Assuming every seat was filled, that would equate to 1,632 riders per hour:

Great work, VelociCoaster team!

It’s nice to hear that the procedures have apparently been relaxed and the team can work at full throughput again.
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That's amazing for a rollercoaster! I hope that the VelociCoaster team can keep that up!
 
Oh that’s a shame. I did it when I visited in October and although it was a bit ropey in places, overall it was pretty decent. That leaves that whole area of the park a bit redundant now. There’s nothing when you turn right into the park apart from Seuss Landing until you get to Harry Potter. Redevelopment likely?
 
Danny said:
Poseidon’s Fury will permanently close on May 9th.
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I now regret not going on it last year!

Acl90 said:
Oh that’s a shame. I did it when I visited in October and although it was a bit ropey in places, overall it was pretty decent. That leaves that whole area of the park a bit redundant now. There’s nothing when you turn right into the park apart from Seuss Landing until you get to Harry Potter. Redevelopment likely?
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There have been rumours of the area being redeveloped to the Legend of Zelda, maybe reusing some of the existing temple style theming and stuff from Posoiden.
Not sure how accurate the rumours are of course.
 
Although universal have come along way since 2019 when IOA opened and less likely to happen now but the first few years of IOA were not seen as a success attendance wise overall for the resort as attendance overall didn’t increase by anywhere near as much as was predicted and IOA just took attendance away from the studios.

So opening something new at the existing parks wouldn’t be a bad idea for 2025, although now universal is in a much stronger position resort wise I think this is less likely to happen regarding not increasing overall attendance.
 
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