Universal Orlando Resort (USF, IOA, Epic) Discussion Thread

[pianojohn]

Do it! This ride has been a nightmare and a horrible design from day one.
Get a B&M hyper or something as reliable to put in RRR's place. Maybe make it a few feet taller than Mako to take the Orlando record! 

[Zand]

3 hours ago, pianojohn said:

Do it! This ride has been a nightmare and a horrible design from day one.
Get a B&M hyper or something as reliable to put in RRR's place. Maybe make it a few feet taller than Mako to take the Orlando record! 

I believe it has been (unofficially?) confirmed to be an Intamin similar to Tokyo Drift at USF. Which sounds pretty great to me if true!

[Zand]

Update: Universal confirms on Twitter that Rockit will close in September.

Rather...uhh...refreshing to see a park company actually announce a ride closure in advance!

[CaptainUnknown]

Later than I thought they'd close it.

Won't miss it. Bring on the Intamin.

[KBrylczyk]

Good riddance to bad rubbish.  I'll miss the Treble Cleff element, though.

[Nrthwnd]

Well, from everything I've read here, that'll be one credit-to-be I won't mind missing.

[cfc]

I liked Rip, Ride & Rockit, provided I wasn't sitting in the backseat. It's been a few years since I've ridden it, though.

[Zand]

I think being able to choose the music is fun and the ride has some good forces and is weird to the point of being interesting, but I can't deny it's rough as shit and pretty uncomfortable. 

I used to skip it a lot of the times I was there but I think I have a new found appreciation for it after Bill told me to ride it with the ramblings of Kermit in the background. It's really a good time late at night during HHN sailing over the sea of people in the lines.

I'll kind of miss it but its replacement is pretty much guaranteed to be eons better.

 

On an unrelated note, I saw someone post on Twitter yesterday that Poseidon's building should be turned into a Chamber of Secrets experience and I really don't hate that idea.

[prozach626]

I wonder how the GP thought about the RRR.

[Zand]

Right now it has a 2 hr 20 min wait which is the second longest on Universal property behind 2:30 for Velocicoaster.

Possibly anecdotal, but a couple weeks ago when I was there VC was about 35 minutes and RRR was under 5 minutes, which is more or less what it typically is outside of a shitshow holiday week. I think it draws the GP a little bit due to the way it soars over that entire end of the park, but the new thing will probably do much better numbers based on how popular Velocicoaster is amongst everyone.

[PKI Jizzman]

I will miss the intense airtime you get on those steep ups and downs, but honestly it’s time to move on to something better. RRR ride vehicles are uncomfortable and have been problematic to younger and older riders, the ride is sensitive to wind (not good in Florida), the capacity is poor, it can be rough, and it has more downtime and other coasters. 

I sure hope the replacement comes in swiftly. Entertainment offerings at USF may be the best in years but the park is really relying on Diagon and classic faves like Mummy, MIB, and ET to carry the rest of the park’s fun. IOA needs attention too - since Velocicoaster the parks have been taking away more than they have added, not counting Epic. 

[teacherkim]

On 12/30/2024 at 10:33 AM, prozach626 said:

I wonder how the GP thought about the RRR.

 

23 hours ago, Zand said:

Right now it has a 2 hr 20 min wait which is the second longest on Universal property behind 2:30 for Velocicoaster.

Possibly anecdotal, but a couple weeks ago when I was there VC was about 35 minutes and RRR was under 5 minutes, which is more or less what it typically is outside of a shitshow holiday week. I think it draws the GP a little bit due to the way it soars over that entire end of the park, but the new thing will probably do much better numbers based on how popular Velocicoaster is amongst everyone.

I can tell you that I once listened to a co-worker (like a lot of GP he only knew his local park, in this case SFSTL, and Disney/Universal) go on and on about how amazing and scary and spectacular the vertical lift was and that there just isn't anything like that anywhere else.............  When I started showing him pics of all the coasters with vertical lifts he was astounded. He just couldn't fathom anything outside his small little bubble of experience. So yes, I think the GP found it visually impressive and just don't have a well rounded enough park experience to realize it's kind of a gimmick, a fun gimmick with a cool lighting package, but just not that great of a ride.

[Hilltopper39]

I always enjoyed Rockit for the uniqueness of it but it was always a pretty mediocre coaster if we're being honest. Some decent air but terrible pacing, on board audio and the lights are fun but it's just not a good as any kind of modern coaster from Intamin/Mack/B&M, pretty much anyone.

Also I feel like the Studios park desperately needs some kind of major new attraction, that park kind of sucks outside of about 3-4 rides. Personally I'm hoping for a stateside version of the ne Voltron ride system at Europa but literally anything that's thrilling and high capacity will be a big time upgrade.

[Midgetman82]

I never really got the hate for the coaster, I thought it was pretty decent apart from the super stellar non-inverting loop and high g-forces on the turnaround.

Then one day I was assigned row 3, and I've not looked at the coaster since. Major ow, you really get a fishtail effect of being thrown around back there. It has a lot of visual appeal, but I'm looking forward to a replacement for it.

[Satans Hockey]

I always had fun on the ride but would never wait more than 15-20 minutes for it. 

That being said Universal has no issues with getting rid of old rides and this ride is 16 years old now. Really curious to see what they end up doing with the whole area. They still need to get rid of the awful fast and the furious ride too, I'm amazed it's been open as long as it has at this point. 

[Zand]

19 hours ago, Midgetman82 said:

Then one day I was assigned row 3, and I've not looked at the coaster since. Major ow, you really get a fishtail effect of being thrown around back there. It has a lot of visual appeal, but I'm looking forward to a replacement for it.

It's kind of like a bad 3-bench wooden coaster in that sense. If you get a middle row non-wheel seat then it's glass smooth, but get rows 1 or 3 of either car and you're probably coming off with a splitting headache. Bad thing is with the moving station it's luck of the draw, and there's a 67% chance you're coming off with a headache.

[prozach626]

2 hours ago, Zand said:

there's a 67% chance you're coming off with a headache.

That's the oddly specific way I would think of it... and likely the repetend .3. That's a separate issue that bothers me all together........................

[DoinItForTheFame]

Universal Orlando recently shared these photos of the new Stella Nova Resort, and it looks absolutely AMAZING!!!! 

[KBrylczyk]

That's going to be the loudest hotel in Orlando.  Nothing but hard surfaces that bounce sound all over the place.  Those curves will make for some interesting auditory experiences throughout, though, so there's that.

 

[Nrthwnd]

It looks so ..... white. And ultra sonic clean.

[prozach626]

For some reason, I'm getting a retro vibe. Is that intentional?

[tndank]

20 hours ago, prozach626 said:

For some reason, I'm getting a retro vibe. Is that intentional?

I'm not a big fan of the pics.  Sort of looks retro.  Sort of looks already worn out.  The windows in the rooms are goofy looking.  Cheaper looking overall than I would have expected.  I bet it's just fine and I wouldn't hesitate to stay here for the right price, but not a big fan of what I've seen.

[Hilltopper39]

I think it looks pretty cool but I'll never understand building a brand new resort pool area without a slide/splash pad/playground of some kind. I mean there is a Holiday Inn Expresses like a mile down the road with a better looking pool than this. Just seems like such a simple thing to include that adds so much to the resort experience but instead it's just a big ole regular pool.

[prozach626]

Maybe they want to draw more of an adult crowd without making it adults only. On past vacations, we would specifically look for places without splash pads or other amenities for kids. Now, apparently we have to stay in more expensive places that offer things like splash pads and more play friendly pool areas, because apparently it's worth it despite only having a partial day at the pool during our stay.

This was a point of contention this past week when we were planning our few days in Orlando. A place with a splash pad would have won out over this place any day. Five years ago, it would have been the reverse.

[Hilltopper39]

12 hours ago, prozach626 said:

Maybe they want to draw more of an adult crowd without making it adults only.

I mean maybe? But it's a budget friendly theme park resort in Orlando, there are always going to be kids there no matter what.

 

Yeah I'm with you, when my kids were younger we looked for anything that had something, splash pad, slide, playground. Now it's not as big of a "requirement" but it's still nice. And again it's Orlando, there are so many resorts and just regular hotels with so many amazing amenities that to see something this bare bones on a brand new property for a brand new theme park is kind of surprising. If I remember correctly the concept art for the new "deluxe" level Grand Helios even didn't have any kind of additional water features, just a big ole regular pool.

 

My best guess is that it's probably a staffing/cost issue, higher insurance, have to pay a life guard to be on duty and all of that. Or they simply want you in the parks and the waterparks and not hanging out at the resort pool, but regardless it's a little disappointing. It seems like the trend for the last decade was to build really cool amenities to be included at these resorts (Gaylord Palms, Omni Champions Gate's wave pool and lazy river, new slide complex at Word Center Marriot), but these new Universals/Lowes properties have none of that.