Universal Studios Hollywood (USH) Discussion Thread

[DallasAlvey]

I'm for it, I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan but it's to see the park get cool new attractions. Besides the more they faze out stuff based on movies that are old and no one cares about anymore the better.

[Wes]

Even if you don't like Harry Potter, adding something this big is going force the other parks in the area to compete in a big way. 2015 is probably going to be a very good year for new additions.

[AnonymousReed]

It sounds like a great move for USH but where the hell are they gunna put it? I say they get rid of Water World, Gibson Theater, Skrek, Curios George, and the old Wild West Stunt show arena. I wonder if they are just going to build a concrete wall, paint a castle on that wall, and call it a day like what they did with Transformers.

[robbalvey]

This:

 

The difference between IOA and USH is that USH sort of sucks and feels pretty dated and mish mashed, ESPECIALLY the upper lot attractions. Gutting a lot of that crappy stuff and putting in something relevant is fine by me.

 

and this:

 

Even if you don't like Harry Potter, adding something this big is going force the other parks in the area to compete in a big way. 2015 is probably going to be a very good year for new additions.

 

I'll be the first to admit I'm NOT a Harry Potter fan, and I still cannot forgive them for destroying one of the best 'original' lands in any theme park, BUT... USH upper lot is in DIRE NEED of something. I mean, Waterworld and T2:3D? Seriously.

 

This couldn't be any worse than those very, VERY dated attractions that need killin.

Edited December 1, 2011 by robbalvey

[Someotherguyuser]

**Waiting for FunAndOnly to do a troll video on the "wizzing worl of hairy potter**

Edited December 1, 2011 by Someotherguyuser

[Mrlittle]

I voted against. Mainly because Harry Potter Wizarding World is awesome but it fits at IOA. Obviously its hurting Disney and doing everything right. However building another one (identical or not) would just lessen the one in IOA. Plus I don't think USH gets the numbers to put that kind of money into it. I could see them maybe building a shop and a ride based on Harry Potter. Why not try to jump on another franchise for the USH. I mean eventually IOA could be all Harry Potter.

[1pizza14]

I am for.

 

I went to USH 2 years ago during the summer and felt like I had seen everything in about 5-6 hours. I do agree some of the upper lot attractions where a tad dated and the lower lot had the 3 best rides in the park. I somehow feel that this will be a "Shafted" WWOHP. Considering how small this park actually is I will be surprised if they make it as full size as IOA. I really think they will have to make the WWOHP very small. Unless they somehow expand the park into the backlot if possible. I really am curious to see where exactly this will be placed.. and if or which attractions will be the same from IOA

[figment1986]

I'm against it, only cause I'm against direct clones. Now if they take the idea and replicate the shops but offer different experiences in terms of the attractions... that and I don't want to see too many tourists leave FLA, they help pay for things we don't wanna pay for ourselves! (like fixing I4)

[Coasterguy123]

I personally dont think it is a good idea. If they add a similar version to USH then the one in Florida wouldn't be unique anymore. If they keep adding the expansion to the other parks in the world then the hype would die down and eventually not be special anymore.

[PAL]

The difference between IOA and USH is that USH sort of sucks and feels pretty dated and mish mashed, ESPECIALLY the upper lot attractions. Gutting a lot of that crappy stuff and putting in something relevant is fine by me.

 

^This! USH is no IOA. As long as they leave the backlot alone, bring on reinvestment.

[Meteornotes]

What if they rethemed the entire park to Harry Potter?

 

TRANSFORMERS WITH WANDS

 

Water all over the monitor. You get a cookie for that.

 

dt

[larrygator]

Awesome idea. I know a lot of people hate Potter, but there is no denying Potterville is a gold mine. Milk it for all it's worth, because that enables the potential for other upgrades down the road.

[Jew]

I know nothing about Harry Potter, but I would imagine there are many other parts of the "potter verse" that can be used to create a unique area that is not a clone of Florida's.

 

There's two logical areas: either the back half of the upper lot (keep the path with shrek, curious george, studio tour, simpsons, possibly castle theatre) and convert the rest of the upper lot into WWoHP or WaterWorld/Gibson area (which would mean they are going through with the plans to relocate the amphitheater further back in Citywalk by iFly).

 

I'm all for keeping the local theme park market competitive!

[Hilltopper39]

I wonder if they do decide to install a version of the forbidden Journey ride if they would basically clone the exact ride or try to improve the original a little bit.

 

Any new addition is ultimately better than no new addition at all i guess.

[gforce532]

Plus I don't think USH gets the numbers to put that kind of money into it.

 

Last year they got 5 million, which is still a good amount of people passing through its gates. The park is a very popular spot for non-theme park tourist of Hollywood and Los Angeles to visit thanks to the backlot tour. They also make a fortune off their $129 front of the line passes that seems like 1 out of 5 guest will buy. Harry Potter I feel will make the park much more popular among the locals to visit more often rather than just going to big brother down south.

[Jew]

^And I imagine that number will only go up in 2012 with Transformers on the way!

 

USH is always in the top 25 for worldwide attendance. Harry Potter seems like a perfect way to keep the momentum going. I just hope there will be some new stuff in the park before this project opens, or it will be very boring from 2012-2015 at USH!

[KerryB]

I am proud to say that I'm a Harry Potter fan, but even if I was not I think this is a great move for the park. Some updating is very needed there and why not take advantage of this boon of a franchise.

 

I'm not a great fan of carbon copies either, but we do need to remember that the majority of the public out there do not get to visit the same amount of parks that we park geeks do. It's only a carbon copy if you have the interest and ability to travel to each version.

 

I would love to see a shift in the focus however..such that others have mentioned. Diagon Alley instead of Hogsmeade. Maybe even with Gringotts, including the dragon escape, in the magic potter box rather than FJ. There are plenty of options without having a complete clone. I am sure whatever they decide, they will see a good result in the numbers from this decision.

[jedimaster1227]

I am torn in my answer, but I voted that I'm against the expansion. I happened to really enjoy Universal Hollywood because of its miss-matched feel. While I absolutely agree that the park is in dire need of attention when it comes to the upper lot, I don't think that Potter is the answer. Having seen what Potter has done for Islands of Adventure, I'm torn two-fold.

 

In one way, the expansion turned the park around. It brought it to an unforeseen level of profitability and gave the resort as a whole the additional capital to reinvest back into the parks to fix simple things like animatronic skins in Men in Black and to clean up other areas of the resort (in the beginning). But on the other hand, the expansion has overshadowed the rest of the park to the point that, aside from the upgrading of Spiderman and the repainting of a few attractions, everything outside of Potter has just become a buffer to help quell the crowds trying to get into the Wizarding World.

 

I'll go on record to say how much I support the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando (and its eventual expansions), but I also get to look at what the expansion has done to the rest of the park. Dueling Dragons was once the star attraction at the park, garnering 60+ minute wait times on a good day, and was what many rope drop guests would run to in the morning. Now, it rarely has more than a fifteen minute wait, and many pass the new attraction entrance without even realizing the entrance is there, thanks to its far more subdued design and placement in the overall scheme of Hogsmeade, as well as the overall desire of guests to head directly to Forbidden Journey first.

 

Back to Universal Hollywood, I think that to accommodate for such a massive expansion, the park would have to be ravaged. Think about how much had to be removed to make way for Transformers. Two attractions (if you count the theater) were removed to make room for one attraction. Knowing the size of the Wizarding World, even if you brought just Forbidden Journey, the spacial requirement for this expansion would be significant. I just can't imagine how much would have to be lost for this kind of gain.

 

And more so, is the park going to be able to stay half closed for two years or so in order to make this concept a reality? How will the general guest be able to justify the full ticket price for a park that is more closed than open?

Edited December 1, 2011 by jedimaster1227

[XII]

I may not be a huge Potter fan, but I voted for it because like others have said, Universal Studios Hollywood really needs a new attraction and I'm hoping that they can get one with the new Harry Potter section.

[Aaronupsidasium]

Universal Studios Japan would have been a better location to launch WWOHP 2.0 especially with the Wizard of Oz land they are retheming to Hello Kitty or something. Harry Potter is huge in Japan as well as how far Orlando is to the East.

 

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the left side of the upper lot mostly abandoned or out-dated? That should leave the rest of the park (including HHN) unobstructed during construction.

 

Hogwarts could go in the spot of the Fear Factor and animal show stages, the show buildings for Forbidden Journey and a Gringotts coaster can fit on the side of the cliff, across the service road to the JP building. T2 and the Coke zone can be gutted for Malfoy Manor and considering the money they're willing to put in, they could move some roads or something to fit in the Hipogriff and Dragon's Challenge coaster. I would suggest the latter be a b&M wing-rider on the side of the cliff.

[Someotherguyuser]

I just hope that they instal wind effects on the screen portions for our version. It felt a bit unconvincing to me without the wind.

 

You know, there were some plans to move the Gibson and expand the park to where the Gibson is. Maybe that's where they're putting it?

[Wes]

Hasn't Universal shied away from outdoor roller coasters before due to noise interfering with movies being shot on the lot? All their big attractions are indoors, even JP has the drop nearly completely covered in the building. Just something to think about. I wouldn't expect a big B&M or anything, but who knows?

[Sir Clinksalot]

I am a BILLION percent for this, most of my reasons have already been stated in this thread.

 

Upper lot currently consists of:

 

House of Horrors

WaterWorld

T2:3D

Shrek 4D

Special Effects Stages

Simpsons

Tram Tour Entrance

Animal Actors Stage (or whatever it's called)

Curious George Water Play Area (is it still George?)

 

With the exception of Simpsons and the Tram Tour, it can ALL go as far as I'm concerned.

 

That said, I'm not sure how they'd quite work that. I "guess" you could have the entrance to HP land be between House of Horrors and the Wild West Show arena? And have it work it's way all the way from there, using the London Street, T2 area. And then have it push back into the Animal Show building and the Effects Stages building? I'm not sure how they could use Waterworld unless they totally change the entrance to the park or something.

 

It will be interesting to say the least.

 

I'm just glad they didn't decide to just do the HP ride instead of Transformers and are instead doing the whole park.

[Top Thrill Dragster]

If this expansion means more rides and less shows at USH, I'm all for it!

 

Also if USH does go ahead with this expansion, I've got to think that this will finally force Disneys hand to go ahead and start with the re-do of Tomorrowland and the expansion of Frontierland.

[redmenace8]

I voted for it, I do like Harry Potter and that kind of thing and so I would like to have something similar, though not identical to Florida.

 

I've never thought of USH as a destination park. The place certainly has some cool elements and rides and I do like Citywalk, but it seemed more for out of state tourists to get a "taste" of Hollywood. It doesn't really feel the same if you live here. With Transformers and Harry Potter the amount and quality of attractions would take a leap forward and provide a bigger experience.

 

I remember way back in High School, when anyone with perfect attendance for the year (nerd alert!) would get a field trip to USH. I stopped going on them because there just wasn't that much to the place. My relatives from Oklahoma came to visit and the park was one of their top priorities. I've only gone back for HHN and didn't really care to come back during the day. These additions would certainly change my feelings.

 

As for where, I've heard rumors about them taking out the amphitheater off and on for years and seriously, Waterworld is still there after all this time? Take them out and the disruption to the park would be minimal. But....taking out Terminator and building Hogwarts in the space would provide a huge opportunity to build a true marquee structure that would be directly visible from the freeway and many miles around. How could they say no to that?