Redrum237

I wrote a long response but meh it is not really worth carrying this on. I will just say that I do not think I have been being disrespectful here, although some of the responses I have received are definitely quite disrespectful.

I do not see the point of posting on a discussion forum if you are not willing to engage in arguments about your views. But hey maybe I just have a different concept about the intended purpose of message boards than most people here do.

California Adventure was kind of a bad concept for a theme park (a park based on the state in which it resides). It seems that the only way to save the park is to abandon the concept. For instance how do Cars and A Bugs Life even directly relate to California, I wonder. I think they are gradually abandoning the California theme and should continue to do so into the future. As has been suggested here I think it could change into a theme of movies, like Disneys Hollywood Studios. I think that the California theme could still loosely apply. For instance Tower of Terror and Rock n Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios do not directly involve movies. Similarly, California relates to the Hollywood theme....so it could be a park themed both around Hollywood more specifically and California in general, at the same time. But I think the Hollywood theme should probably be the main one and the California theme secondary. Yes x 1000. Does anyone actually like this attraction...I doubt it. I am not sure if kids even like it

But my specific points are not being addressed, and I was also addressing specific points that people made (ie that Jurassic Park has more people in it...which I do not see as being entirely true), so I wasnt simply being redundant. No one has provided an adequate argument that the Discovery Center and the half of Jurassic Park closer to WWOHP is better than The Lost Continent.

Not sure what you mean here, because when I was there, there weren't many people at the Discovery Center at all (which is the only attraction I'm advocating getting rid of in Jurassic Park). Poseidon and Sinbad aren't great attractions per se, but they had a lot more people than the Discovery Center had. The best things about LC aren't the attractions but the theming. Especially Mythos, the Poseidon's Fury building, and the Mystic Fountain and the area around it. To me Jurassic Park is a bit lacking in theming, aside from on the River Adventure itself. Most of it just looks like a tropical forest with lots of trees. The Discovery Center is kind of a neat building....but not as great as Mythos or Poseidon's Fury IMO. The Discovery Center seems like a diversion to me, rather than an attraction. Additionally, entering into Jurassic Park from WWOHP with the Hogwarts Castle looming in the background, right behind the Jurassic Park archway, is kind of an embarassingly awkward sight. I'm not saying expanding WWOHP into the Lost Continent would necessarily be a bad idea in the long run. But I think they should expand into JP first, and if they still want to expand even more, then into TLC.

Thing is, if gutting the Lost Continent was the only option, I may agree, but the way I see it, it's not the only option. Jurassic Park is right there and would be a better area to (partly) sacrifice. I am not talking about all of JP, just the parts between the River Ride entrance and WWOHP. Now it'd require getting rid of the Discovery Center and a few shops. I'd see that as a much smaller loss than the Lost Continent, by a long shot. Not even comparable. I agree though that Disney needs to replace a lot of old dated attractions, like the Jungle Cruise and Universe of Energy (they ARE revamping Star Tours though). Great Movie Ride I'd leave untouched though because I would worry they'd replace everything with Disney-affiliated B-grade (or C-grade) blockbusters like Armageddon and National Treasure. For better and for worse, Universal is more innovative than Disney with creating new attractions. For better because the new attractions are often awesome, for worse because sometimes they make bad decisions in regards to what to replace. For instance I think they should've replaced the ET Adventure instead of Kongfrontation, for Revenge of the Mummy. I agree the Enchanted Oak and Dueling Dragons theming were awesome, but I think Lost Continent is still worth preserving with what is left. Mythos and the Poseidon's Fury building in particular look amazing.

You do realize it's supposed to resemble the tropical island setting on which the movie was shot, right? I mean, the nerve of them trying to replicate the look of the buildings in the film, etc. Ugh. Yes and the tropical island setting on which the movie is set doesn't look that great as a theme park area (especially when compared to an architecturally rich area like the Lost continent). You could make a "Matrix land" and just make it look like a regular city street, and that would be faithful to the movie.

If you look on a map, half of Jurassic Park is basically empty space/trees, and the only thing contained in that area is the Discovery Center. The River Adventure, Camp Jurassic, and Pteranodons are on the other half. I think Poseidon's Fury, Sinbad, Mythos, the Mystic Fountain and all the themed architecture in The Lost Continent are collectively worth a lot more put together than the Discovery Center, by a long shot. And honestly call me selfish, but I'm not really thinking of kids here, I'm thinking of what I would want most. That being said, I don't think the Discovery Center is really something that would excite most kids that much anyway, it might seem pretty dull to them, honestly, like a B-grade local museum. Most of the Lost Continent hasn't been touched yet; Merlinwood was only one third of it, with the Arabian and Greek areas being the other two thirds. The vast majority of buildings are in those sections. Jurassic Park to me is the most lazily themed area in IoA, it is mostly just trees and similar looking buildings with vaguely tropical architecture (straw roofs etc). Jurassic Park isn't really all that much to be preserved as far as I'm concerned, it's a pretty pathetic excuse for a "themed area", with the River Ride being the only feature that really interests or excites me in the least. It wasn't specifically about the subject of Harry Potter, just related issues to what I am discussing here (replacements of old rides, attractions, areas etc)

Poseidon's Fury Building, Mythos, the Mystic Fountain, and all the random buildings in the Lost Continent count as pretty well themed in my books. Honestly as a child I personally would have preferred The Lost Continent to Jurassic Park, since I've always been an architecture buff even at a young age. Jurassic Park on the other hand is mostly just trees and boring looking buildings. And I'm not suggesting getting rid of everything. Just the areas past the entrance to the River Adventure toward WWOHP (so essentially, the Discovery Center and the area where Triceratops Encounter used to be) Also, mods, what happened to my other thread on this topic? Why was it deleted and then why was my message to one of the mods about this issue also deleted? ....I am very confused here.

Yeah, it's kind of strange that Busch Gardens Tampa doesn't have any real themed/dark rides. I thought Darkastle in BGW was a huge step in the right direction for the Busch Parks (and Journey to Atlantis was a small step in the right direction), but now that they're under new management I have no idea how that bodes for the future of themed rides in these parks.

Keep in mind Disney only owns the rights to Marvel west of the Mississippi in the USA, so IoA's Marvel Land is safe. I'm not sure what Disney will do with the concept, but I am doubtful that they would've done anything as awesome as the Spiderman ride in IoA. That being said, aside from the Spiderman ride, Universal didn't do anything much with the concept at all.

My problem with the planned expansion with the Wizarding World is that it's planned to overtake the Lost Continent instead of Jurassic Park. IMO Jurassic Park is a blandly designed area with very little theming, whereas The Lost Continent is one of the best themed areas of IOA (maybe the best aside from Wizarding World). The only thing in Jurassic Park worth a damn as far as I'm concerned is the River Adventure. About half of Jurassic Park could probably be got rid of (including the Discovery Center) and replaced with more of the Wizarding World. Most of that half of Jurassic Park is useless space anyway, and the River Adventure could still be kept totally intact. The Discovery Center I think is pretty bland and boring, both in terms of the exhibits and the building itself, and I think losing it would be nowhere near as big a loss as losing The Lost Continent. I don't see why Universal doesn't just do this (is it because Lost Continent isn't based on licensed property while Jurassic Park is?). I think most of Islands of Adventure is subpar theming wise (Marvel Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park), and losing more of the Lost Continent seems incredibly unfortunate when a lesser themed area, Jurassic Park, could be gutted instead. I'm not happy about the Enchanted Oak being gone and the changes to Dueling Dragons, but losing the rest of the Lost Continent would be much worse and much less necessary.

Tokyo DisneySea I would probably give the nod to. Almost definitely the most beautiful theme park ever made.

I am planning on going to Orlando in May 2011, and was wondering if there are any rides/attractions at Universal Orlando scheduled to be closed for refurbishment at that point. I've looked all over online but have been unable to find any answers (Disney World on the other hand I've found plenty of information related to, in that regard).

Whole parks: Hard Rock Park, California Adventure Attractions: Stitch's Greatest Escape (previously Alien Encounter), Kongfrontation being gone (yes, Revenge of the Mummy is better, but they could have replaced a different ride/attraction) To my understanding it's still on schedule to be built, and was never supposed to be open by this point, in the first place. So I am not sure how it's a blunder. It may end up becoming a blunder, but I think at this point, it's too early to call.