Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[Josh Linn]

The Jaws removal is pretty sad news for me. I always wanted to ride it after seeing it at the end of all the Double Dare episodes on Nickelodeon...I did get to Universal in 2006, but it was closed due to rain so I missed out.

 

It's amazing that most, if not all of Universal's original iconic attractions are now gone/replaced.

[Mr P]

Kings cross station is the "regular world" right? and they way you board the hogwarts express is from a secret wall in a subway (underground) station?

 

 

Just gonna throw this out there, but although the Books say Kings Cross, the film says Kings Cross, and the internal shots are Kings Cross, the external shots are of St Pancras Station...

[Jew]

As for Jaws...at this point I have absolutely no idea what they plan to do. That is an absolutely massive plot of land to work with... but seeing as they already have the water...I'd think completely razing the area and starting over would be a bit expensive...

 

It's not like they would be filling in a natural lake and dealing with Florida's low water tables...drain the water and its just a giant cement hole.

[RCFreak]

That is an absolutely massive plot of land to work with... but seeing as they already have the water...I'd think completely razing the area and starting over would be a bit expensive...

 

^too add to that, I'm pretty sure the money brought in by Potter to the resort will more then make up for completely starting from scratch on that plot of land.

[BrownStreak]

Kings cross station is the "regular world" right? and they way you board the hogwarts express is from a secret wall in a subway (underground) station?

 

 

Just gonna throw this out there, but although the Books say Kings Cross, the film says Kings Cross, and the internal shots are Kings Cross, the external shots are of St Pancras Station...

 

Not to go completely off subject -- but this never made much since considering the Leaky Cauldron is supposedly on Charring Cross Road - just up the street from the Charring Cross Station - yet they travel 1 1/2 miles to Kings Cross instead...

[greatamerica1990sfan]

Oh Jaws pretty sad. I'll miss it. What a shame they're taking it out. Too bad I can't get down there for a few last rides. I have however rode it multiple times in 2002,2003, & 2006. I was there in 1992 but it was all boarded up because they were working on it since the original ride opening had all sorts of problems. I'm pretty sure it reopened in 1993. I sure hope ET is not next. They have to at least keep ET & Twister. Please no more Harry Potter. I'm hoping for another massive roller coaster. Universal needs more coasters. It's too hard to guess what kind of ride it will be. I'll just wait for the announcement.

[DBJ]

I would guess that the primary goal is to find an attraction that can sell merchandise. So I am leaning towards it being a Dreamworks based expansion, drawing upon what was built in Singapore. Maybe the land of Far Far Away or Madagascar will make an appearance. I would hope they would clone over the Sci-Fi city, and bring Transformers in along with a great coaster. Transformers has been a pretty durable franchise for decades now, and certainly can sell the merchandise.

[CardCraze]

Pardon me for being late here but I don't know what to say. Jaws was horribly cheesy, but it was good cheesy. I think the ride's one downfall was that your ride experience was based on how good of a day the ride op was having.

 

Either way, sad to see it go. Hope it's replaced by something equally as cheesy.

[ernierocker]

Pardon me for being late here but I don't know what to say. Jaws was horribly cheesy, but it was good cheesy. I think the ride's one downfall was that your ride experience was based on how good of a day the ride op was having.

 

Either way, sad to see it go. Hope it's replaced by something equally as cheesy.

 

Or whether or not the boat is full of TPRers!

[The SETGO Guys]

This was just posted to Screamscape

 

2014 - Jaws Replacement / Potter Phase 2 - (12/5/11) In case you missed the late breaking announcement on Friday afternoon, but Universal Orlando announced that the Jaws attraction and the entire Amity themed area around it will be closing down forever after January 2nd to make way for a new attraction. While they were not ready to disclose what is in the works yet… I’ve done a good bit of digging since then and have come up with an amazing proposal that is going to both shock and likely amaze you at the same time.

 

If my various sources are correct, the Amity / Jaws area will be replaced by the proposed Phase 2 expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Now, before you flip out… lets go over it all, because for starters this really isn’t going to be the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at all. Instead, from what I’ve been able to gather, the new land to be build in Universal Studios Florida will actually represent the “London” side of the PotterVerse… including an entrance to the infamous Diagon Alley.

 

Diagon Alley, as seen in the movies, is home to infamous locations such as The Leaky Cauldron, Gringott’s Wizarding Bank and the true Ollivanders wand shop location, as seen in the films. The London location is also said to be home to King’s Cross station, where students would board the Hogwarts Express train from Platform 9 ¾.

 

Many of these locations have been mentioned in the rumored development plans for Phase 2 of the Wizarding World for months now, including an innovative indoor dark coaster ride said to take place inside Gringott’s Wizarding Bank. It’s no secret that the Wizarding World has been popular…so much so that it needed to be expanded to spread out the crowds, and come up with a way to provide new locations for guests to buy Butterbeer, Ollivanders wands and more. But it seems that Universal Creative really decided to try a new idea… and think really outside the box this time. Literally… because this new expansion is going to allow for guests in both parks to get a taste of the PotterVerse… but to get the ENTIRE experience, you’d going to have to have a 2-park ticket.

 

Speaking of having access to both parks… connecting the dots is said to be a true recreation of the Hogwarts Express, allowing guests with two park passes (and Universal Resort guests) to recreate the true journey from the Muggle world of London and actually board travel to the train station and board the train for a trip over to Hogwarts and the rest of the Wizarding World at Islands of Adventure.

 

Now if all that wasn’t enough, I’ve heard some rumors about another possible new attraction likely to go into this Phase 2 project, that may attempt to take advantage of the new 3D projection tunnel technology Universal created for King Kong 3D 360 at the Hollywood park earlier this year. I don’t know if this may be put to use during your train ride on the Hogwarts Express, or if this will be an entirely separate ride experience. (One source suggested it could be a trip on the 3-decker Knight Bus, but I’ve heard that this isn’t likely to happen).

 

Either way this is huge… and apparently it all has a rather aggressive construction timeline as Universal is said to be shooting to have it all up and running by 2014. I’ve also heard that an official announcement or teaser could be released very soon, so stay tuned!

Edited December 5, 2011 by jedimaster1227

[chadster]

In 2014 a two-park one day ticket will run your about $150, I kid, but it could happen.

 

They might as well rename Universal to Harry Potter World, but hey, whatever packs the crowds in right? I just have to wonder with no more books being pumped out how long they can ride the Harry wave. Time will tell.

[traincrossin]

I just have to wonder with no more books being pumped out how long they can ride the Harry wave.

Oh trust me Chad, you'd be surprised by how many people would love to ride Harry's broomstick

[BeemerBoy]

Hmm, do I want stock in Universal, or a dollar for every time we continue to question whether Potter while have any staying power?

 

Decisions, decisions.

[Jew]

^Considering some of the movies they are releasing, Comcast's always quality service, and NBC's dominance in the ratings...I think you're much better off taking the dollar for the questions.

[rocket4765]

In 2014 a two-park one day ticket will run your about $150, I kid, but it could happen.

 

They might as well rename Universal to Harry Potter World, but hey, whatever packs the crowds in right? I just have to wonder with no more books being pumped out how long they can ride the Harry wave. Time will tell.

 

That ticket currently costs $120, so im sure by 2014-15 it will be very close to that...

 

I too am sad that jaws is going away, but I think its time finally... (Been on it many times in the 10+ years I have visited Orlando)

 

I like that theme parks close rides and kept adding new rides n such.

I live in the Chicago area and have seen many coasters come and go at Six flags Great America over the 30+ years i have been going there.

If they never had closed rides and put up new ones over the years, i would have stop going a long time ago...

I do miss many of those rides that are gone, but...

 

Change is always good, we all fight it tooth and nail but in the end, most times we are glad we went through it...

Memories wouldnt be the great memories if we could'nt look back at them...

[jonnyfingers]

I'm not sad to see Jaws go. The last time I went on it was back in 2000 and even then it was outdated and a little bit lame, albeit enjoyable! Also there's a whole generation of Theme Park goers who have never even seen Jaws so I think an update to something more modern is the correct thing to do. I'm not sure about another Potter expansion though. If we are to believe it, there will be no more Potter books and no more Potter movies. In 10 years time will it still be a draw to the park? Probably, but a big enough draw to warrant having two Potter themed areas?

 

But whatever it is I really hope it's a top class attraction.

[Moose]

^A top class attraction is all that's needed.

 

I highly doubt many people younger than their late twenties have seen Song of the South, but Disney still built Splash Mountain which remains very popular. A great attraction does not necessarily need a current franchise tie in. The key words being great attraction, an attraction that is mediocre that relies strongly on the franchise for it's excitement will age much more quickly.

[jonnyfingers]

^Agree completely.

[OldJJman]

Hey fans, we want you to be the first to know… JAWS! and the Amity area will officially close on January 2 to make room for an exciting, NEW, experience we’re planning for you.

 

We know you love JAWS! and we do too. It has been an amazing attraction and after terrorizing the waters of Amity here at Universal Orlando for 20 years, it’s a VERY important part of our history.So, we’ve got a couple things planned to ensure we always remember and honor it.

 

Let the speculation begin!

 

I say that they honor it by updating to ....

 

MEGA-PIRANHA!!

 

The first part (Amityville) could easily redone to Mexico (aka: Santa Monica)..

 

The Beachfront could be redone to the TV reporter getting taken out...

 

The approach to the indoor show building could be Piranha taking out Bruce....

 

The indoor section can be an action sequence done to "Kung-Fu Piranha"....

 

The attack and gas explosions can be replaced by the "Napalm Piranha" exploding into buildings...

 

Finished off with launched bomb exploding into a water explosion over the boat, finishing off the piranha.

 

 

I'm sold!! DO IT!!

[cfc]

^I heartily endorse Jeff's proposal. If they can also work in Mega Python and Gatoroid, and the Deborah Gibson/Tiffany catfight, this could be the greatest attraction ever created (next to Dinosaur, of course).

[coasterfreak101]

Can't they just throw tentacles on Jaws, do a little bit of refurb, and go for Sharktopus?

[RoCo]

^^No question, 80s-popstar catfights should replace pretty much every theme park stunt show, and that's my creepy weirdo post for the day.

 

But now that the rumor mill really is trending so strongly towards the 2-park Potter experience, I've warmed up quite a bit to the idea. Execution is everything, granted, but I'm pretty confident they've got some killer ideas in the hopper.

[COASTER FREAK 11]

Cool checking this out....So if for some reason this whole thing ends up being Harry Potter 2 (rise of the wands), I'm going on record stating that they will use an underground station as a transition element and the train itself will be nothing more than hd screens as windows and interactive elements. This would be the only way they could transport guests from Potter to Jaws and it not break the bank.

 

 

But the argument against this whole thing is if Hogwarts Express only goes from the real world to the Wizard World, than I'd expect Potternuts to be up in arms that train ride goes against everything in their books. Thoughts?

 

That's what we discussed a few pages back, take a look at this!

 

I really doubt the feasibility of the train idea. Screens for windows...I don't know.

The Ocean Park Funnicular comes to mind.

Exactly, but as windows instead of the top.

 

Also, the train would only be able to be used by park hoppers. Its just more of an incentive for guests to buy it.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, we should know tomorrow what is happening for Orlando and Hollywood in respect to Potter.

[coasterfreak101]

Can't wait for announcements! Hopefully we're looking at some real plans, not just "The Wizarding World gets even better...2014" kinds of ads.

[jarmor]

Well...Atleast the last HHN house to use the jaws que was a pretty good one...