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

There are no words.....

At this rate it's going to max out the counter at 999 by the end of the day.
 
The queue time is currently going down. It's certainly not 750.

Source: various tweets on twitter.
 
Here's a sneak peek from one of the scenes inside the ride:

BsC7FhVCQAId8hw.jpg:large


Spellbinding stuff, eh? ;)
 
Alastair said:
Yeah, you don't see staff complaining about half an hour ride extensions over there. Open from before 6am till likely passing midnight. Puts into perspective how pitiful this country's parks are.
Click to expand...
They'll definitely be having staff on shifts.... something maybe our parks should look into for new attractions.
 
This is incredible! Although I'm surprised at how many people are prepared to wait in that on the first day it's open.
 
Queues down to a more bearable 210 minutes now - and the standby queue for the whole area closed a few hours back. Entry is now controlled with a timed pass system :)
 
Apparently the Grignotts ride was a joint project between dynamic attractions and Intamin (not sure who responsible for what). Looks like premier weren't involved in this project.

On forbidden journey it was also a joint project with dynamic attractions and robocoaster (who use the robotic arms for Kula) dynamic rides built the ride bases and track system that the kula arms are attached to. Also I read a great post about the forbidden journey on TPR, which stated as good as forbidden journey is, the budget for the ride was slashed heavily and a lot was planned that never made it into the ride (the money was moved into the overall theming of the area). The orginal plan featured a lot more physical sets. Some of the effects that were dropped actually for built but didn't work as they should so exist in the show building it never turned on. One thing that didn't happen was when you come face to face with the dragon, it would breathe real fire at you, with a fire shield screen between you and the dragon (which would have been hard to spot) it was decided it would be top costly to have the fire effect going off every 7 seconds for upto 12 hours+ per day.

Some of the ideas that didn't make this version are Likley to show up on the japan and Hollywood versions.
 
Can't believe I actually just read the post above... Slashed?!?! The ride is absolutely incredible in its current state, so I really cannot fathom the benchmark it would have set had the rest of the stuff been used. Real fire?! Unbelievable. Guess I'll just have to go over to Japan and see how it should have been!! It's such a shame they don't appear to be willing to retrofit :(. I'd love to see the original plans!
 
I think some of the effects that were created but not used have been left switched off because they were deemed 'too scary' for a 'family' attraction. That's what I read somewhere...
 
I imagine that's quite true. The first time I rode it, I was surprised by how dark some of the scenes were in nature - quite frightening! I'd love to know what they were... Google might help me :p
 
Mind blowing to think what could have been - I didn't think it could get any better!!

Thanks for the link :D
 
There was a rumour last year that universal planned to upgrade the screens on forbidden journey to the same ultra hi def they used on recent additions (transformers, despicable me and the Spider-man upgrade) but where waiting for the new area to open first and settle down so shutting down the ride for a short period doesn't cause as many issues as if still the main draw. Maybe at the same time they will add some of the once planned effects.

Current rumours suggest the plan for universal for next few years is as follows-

2015/16 - King Kong ride in Jurassic park at IOA- will use the Kong 360 tech from Hollywood but will add more of a ride before that bit. (Not confirmed will be King Kong yet, I would rather it turned out to be a new Jurassic park ride using the same tech, which is possibility with the new film Jurassic World out next year. It's also possible universal will rename
The Jurassic park area to Jurassic world to go along with the new film.

2016/17- Kids world makeover- the kids area will get complete makeover- I did here one runour that they would close Shrek 4d and knock the building down and build a despicable me super silly fun land ins it place to go along with minion mayhem.

2019/2020- Harry Potter phase 3- possible based on ministry of magic taking the space of fear factor live - other expansion opportunity is the last parts of the lost continent in IOA.

2020-2030-third park built on new land purchased and monorail link set up.

Lots could and will change as always, especially the blue sky ideas for third park etc.
 
That's not to mention the incredible water park concept I posted several pages back, which Universal seem to be working on at present and will sit across the pedestrian walkway from Cabana Bay.
 
Yep meant to add that one! The location for water park seems to be up for debate as the land construction has started next to cabana bay is expected to be another hotel which will soon be announced. I am unsure where else they could fit the water park, will be interesting to see.
 
The future for Universal in Florida does sound very exciting indeed. I like how despite these huge Harry Potter investments they still make other good additions. If they did go for a third Potter area it would be interesting to see how they incorporate it as the current two areas appear to fit in perfectly and link well together.

Disney obviously have great parks in Florida and make very high quality additions but I do get slightly more excited by what Universal do at the moment.

:)
 
I also hope the 360 attraction is Jurassic Park/World and not Kong. I've grown to love Jurassic Park even more as I've got older, and I'm desperate to see something new in the area.

I love the props for Jurassic World (source Jurassic World Facebook page + Jurassic Raptor on Tumblr)
tumblr_n8m473Wjyz1rsiohpo1_500.jpg


You can also see the Jurassic World giftshop in the Today Show video here:

That giftshop really does look like the one at IoA!
 
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