Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[robbalvey]

Wasn't expecting such an agressive response but since you requested, I'll "try harder" in this response:

 

The Harry Potter 7-book, 8-movie franchise spans 2 mediums of media, and has a combined value of approximately $15 billion. By comparison, the 6-movie, Star Wars franchise is worth around $4.5 billion, and Marvel's thousands of comic book stories was bought just two years ago for $4.2 billion.

 

Not only is the Potter franchise more recent then the others (immediately making their popularity greater), but the Potter franchise is worth triple both of those mega-franchises.

 

With numbers like those, no you don't need "a ride system that impresses the f*ck otta people" because Universal is the ONLY company offering the millions of Harry Potter fans a three-dimensional theme park experience.

 

Excuse my lack of effort from before but I do feel this will support my own opinion strongly (or is my opinion wrong here too?).

No, it's not wrong. You're just a dick. There is a right and a wrong way to present an opinion. The way you present your opinions sucks. I didn't even bother to read past the first sentence of your post. Next time when you write something to TPR, try not to be a dick. Otherwise it will be your last post on the site. Understood? You're welcome.

[ginzo]

^^^Google called. They want their facts and figures back.

[BeemerBoy]

Not only is the Potter franchise more recent then the others (immediately making their popularity greater), but the Potter franchise is worth triple both of those mega-franchises.

That's the most subjective load of crap I've ever heard. Also, it's called inflation. Look it up. It figures in.

 

FACT: The first Star Wars movie was released 35 years ago. If Lucas partnered with Disney to create a "Star Wars land," it would probably be just as, if not 1000 times more popular than Potter. Oh, and did I mention the popularity of that franchise spans three and a half decades?

 

These arguments are stupid.

[jmicha]

Haven't all of these arguments been done to death the first time around? Can we all just agree that this land will most likely be very popular due to the current popularity of the franchise and has the potential to have staying power depending on whatever the future holds for the Potter franchise as a whole. The popularity of Disney's rides and franchises is irrelevant to the success of this land.

 

As for the leaked information, it seems to be following all of the rumors. Has there been any information as to when an official announcement detailing the land will be made?

[dragonskeep]

I really liked the Potter ride but I was expecting a little more from the Kuka arm as well. Obviously it is capable of so much more. Roll it down the track and do some big parabolas with the arm or something. That being said I think FJ is a great ride. I can see how the ride platform could leave an enthusiast a bit under-whelmed.

 

The Potter expansion seems to be shaping up just like many of you thought it would. If they actually build a train I will still be surprised but not shocked at this point. For a potter fan that would be a very cool theme park experience. Seeing Hogwarts for the first time after a train ride from London would be pretty cool.

 

I like the sound of the new ride. Hoping for a nice poppy little launch and that the Bunny Hop is better than the one on Mummy, which I very much love. The scenery will obviously be awesome. The train ride, if built, will be very interesting to see. What they have learned from Kong in California can certainly come in handy here. They could just have scenery on window mounted screens until they get to the main show area, dementors/cold/patronus, all done.

[robbalvey]

These arguments are stupid.

Yes, of course they are. No one really knows how much "staying power" the Potter franchise has over the next 10 years. And people seem to be forgetting that you could find Star Wars figures and toys in the "clearance bins" at Toys R Us in 1986 after that franchise was no longer popular at retail. People also seem to want to forget that, while Star Tours was popular at first, after all it was the best technology of it's kind when it opened, by the time Splash Mountain rolled into Disneyland just 2 years later, Star Tours barely had any line. Star Wars was pretty much a dead franchise from 1986 - 1997 when the special editions came out, and the franchise started to have legs again.

 

Oh, and remember those Lord of the Rings fanboys? Where are they now? (I guess waiting it out for Hobbit?) I haven't seen any buzz on Lord of the Rings in the past couple of years after those people laid claim to it being the most important trilogy ever.

 

When it comes right down to it, I'm not a Star Wars, Potter, or Lord of the Rings "fan", so for me, the ride and the land had better be impressive *AND* (most importantly) speak to me as a "non-fan" to hold my interest.

 

Quite honestly, as much as I'm not a fan of Star Tours either, I felt that Star Tours did a much better job of appealing to both the "fan" and "non-fan" of the franchise than Potter did. I don't know many non-Potter fans who weren't totally confused by Forbidden Journey and had no idea what was going on throughout the entire thing.

 

If I was forced to pick a "best part of the ride" for me, I guess it would have been the queue, but then again, Dueling Dragons did a much better job with their queue than Forbidden Journey did. I guess JK Rowling couldn't stand being 1uped by a ride that was 10 years old and did a better job of telling a story.

 

This new ride and land needs to do a MUCH better job appealing to non-fans, otherwise both parks will be "dead to me."

 

--Robb "I'm still not convinced that, unless there is another movie or book announced, you won't see a heavy drop off of Potter interest in the next 5 years." Alvey

Edited January 1, 2012 by robbalvey

[CoasterJunkie]

I must say, as much as I love Potter, and the new land, I think is a HUGE mistake on Universal's part. Putting all their eggs in one basket so to speak. I really hope this leaked rumor is nothing more...a rumor...Please put something else into the area. Still sad Jaws is being taken out...

[traincrossin]

I really liked the Potter ride but I was expecting a little more from the Kuka arm as well. Obviously it is capable of so much more. Roll it down the track and do some big parabolas with the arm or something. That being said I think FJ is a great ride. I can see how the ride platform could leave an enthusiast a bit under-whelmed.

Not picking on you specifically, but a lot of people have talked about ride systems over the last couple of pages and how either they're really cool, disappointed with them, had much more potential, etc. I think what some people are forgetting about here is that the ride vehicle doesn't make the ride, the story and how it is told does. For example, Little Mermaid is using the same ride system as Haunted Mansion and that's over 40 years old now, yet the storyline is explained in a much better way than FJ. The kuka arms on Forbidden Journey are cool, but a non-Potter fan is so confused just because the ride and queue line do a poor job of explaining the story. Hopefully the new Gringotts ride will do a better job of this and if Universal can figure that out then the new expansion will be great.

[robbalvey]

^ Exactly.

[Bryce232]

As for the leaked information, it seems to be following all of the rumors. Has there been any information as to when an official announcement detailing the land will be made?

 

I think I remember reading somewhere (either here or Screamscape) that Universal has an announcement set for January 24th? I may be wrong though.

[doublestufforeo]

I might just have to type up an essay explaining the story behind FJ, so non-HP fans can understand what is going on.

 

In other news, I think it's an extremely smart move to put Potter in USF as well considering how much revenue it brought in for IoA. The only thing I have a beef about with whats been "leaked" is the train between the two lands, they'd have to do some serious work backstage because we have no space to put a train back there.

[SharkTums]

they'd have to do some serious work backstage because we have no space to put a train back there.

 

There's enough to argue and speculate about in this thread...please NEVER bring up the space issue again. As we have seen and discussed time and time again, space is NEVER an issue!

[robbalvey]

they'd have to do some serious work backstage because we have no space to put a train back there.

 

There's enough to argue and speculate about in this thread...please NEVER bring up the space issue again. As we have seen and discussed time and time again, space is NEVER an issue!

This cannot be more true. I challenge anyone to do a search on "X park has no more room/space for another big expansion" only to see that shortly afterwards the park has built a huge new expansion!

 

If the park wants to build a train, they will MAKE room. I've seen parks demolish and re-locate backstage facilities time and time again. If they need to, they'll do it. And I'm sure they will.

Edited January 1, 2012 by robbalvey

[doublestufforeo]

they'd have to do some serious work backstage because we have no space to put a train back there.

 

There's enough to argue and speculate about in this thread...please NEVER bring up the space issue again. As we have seen and discussed time and time again, space is NEVER an issue!

This cannot be more true. I challenge anyone to do a search on "X park has no more room/space for another big expansion" only to see that shortly afterwards the park has built a huge new expansion!

 

If the park wants to build a train, they will MAKE room. I've seen parks demolish and re-locate backstage facilities time and time again. If they need to, they'll do it. And I'm sure they will.

 

Oh I have no doubt by any stretch of the imagination that they could, it would require extensive work yes, I just meant to state that it'd take some demolition and paths for employees to get around, sorry if I phrased that wrong.

[Swiminn6]

I like to watch the Harry Potter movies but I wouldn't consider myself a HP fanboy by any means! The first time I rode FJ, I didn't really know what was happening but the next day I re-rode it and actually enjoyed it. I remember walking into the land for the first time and thinking how great it all looked!

 

I think Universal did a great job with Phase 1 but like Robb was saying, in a few years down the road... will HP still be as popular? I'm also just surprised they would do Phase 2 in the other park!

 

Looks and sounds like the ride will be cool though! Lets hope they keep though's of us who aren't as into HP, entertained.

[SoCalCoasters]

Okay...

 

Not taking into account the "staying power" of the Potter franchise, and not taking into account that we are enthusiasts and look at every aspect of every announcement, the Potter Expansion of IOA will most likely have the staying power.

 

When I first went to the Wizarding World this past summer, I went with my father who didn't read the Potter books at all. He was still throughly impressed by the overall theming and attractions. Even if you haven't read the Potter books, the Wizarding World is still very impressive, and the forced perspective of the entrance to Hogsmeade is still incredibly picturesque.

 

What I'm trying to say is that these Harry Potter areas will have the staying power not just because of the franchise name it possesses, but also because the overall area and it's theming are very impressive.

 

And from a "fun" perspective, couldn't you enjoy Forbidden Journey even if you didn't know the story? Sure I wasn't a huge fan of the awkward ride transitions, but the overall ride was still really fun and exciting. A member of the general public doesn't look deep for a ride's story, but focuses on what the ride actually does, and what they experienced.

 

Forbidden Journey is one of those rides that attracts GP and enthusiasts alike because of its unique ride system and theme. If you weren't a Potter fan and neither was your friend, but your friend went and raved about Forbidden Journey, would you most likely go and give it a chance? Most likely yes.

 

Universal has made a ridiculously large amount of money on this area and by expanding it into another park with a brand new area, not only will they most likely increase the already ridiculous amount of profit, but they'll create a buzz amoung the general public. Using a unique ride system that's never been done before can be advertised in many ways that will have Potter fans scrambling back to the Universal Resort, but also impressing those people who may have gone to the parks not just for Potter.

 

They announced the Wizarding World (correct me if I'm wrong) in 2007. They created three years worth of buzz around the attraction. Heck, they didn't even heavily advertise it until it officially opened, yet EVERYONE seemed to know about it. You go up to a random person in the US and ask them if they knew there was a Harry Potter theme park in Florida, most of the time they'd probably say yes. People KNOW it's there, and because of that, if they plan on going to FL for a vacation, they may make a stop at the Wizarding World.

 

This, I think is a reasonable explanation for for the Potter areas will stay popular, is it not?

[ginzo]

Heck, they didn't even heavily advertise it until it officially opened, yet EVERYONE seemed to know about it.

 

So advertising in the Superbowl, Olympics, airplane boarding passes, billboards in Orlando, banner ads all over the web, etc. is not heavily advertising?

[SoCalCoasters]

Heck, they didn't even heavily advertise it until it officially opened, yet EVERYONE seemed to know about it.

 

So advertising in the Superbowl, Olympics, airplane boarding passes, billboards in Orlando, banner ads all over the web, etc. is not heavily advertising?

 

I worded that wrong. 0_0'

 

What I meant to say is that they didn't launch the full onslaught of ads (most noticably for me, a large amount of TV ads) until the park opened. Yes I forgot about the seveal key events it was shown at.

[jedimaster1227]

Heck, they didn't even heavily advertise it until it officially opened, yet EVERYONE seemed to know about it. You go up to a random person in the US and ask them if they knew there was a Harry Potter theme park in Florida, most of the time they'd probably say yes.

 

I think you are neglecting to recognize the ridiculous amount of media coverage that also came with the announcement. Just about every major and minor news outlet carried the news of a "Harry Potter theme park in Florida" and that story stayed active throughout the many phases of development and construction following the original announcement. Even today, the news of the eventual expansion is still a top search item because once again, the "Harry Potter theme park" has been featured in both major and minor outlet--and nothing solid has even been announced yet!

 

Handling a good deal of the news research for TPR, I do a daily Google search with customized parameters to hone in on this industry's news. And I'll tell you, even in the slowest weeks, 95% percent of the time I will find at least one reference, if not an entire article dedicated to Potter that comes up in my international search. Even if the story isn't anything new, something shows up. Love it or hate it, Potter has made an impact on the industry, both internally and externally. The general public knows about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter because the topic has been fed to them nonstop since the announcement was first made, since the area first opened and since the "announcement" that it would be expanded came out. Even when there isn't news to be had, there is still something to say about the area, which can be credited both to Universal's PR and to the media's infatuation with the concept from start to finish.

Edited January 1, 2012 by jedimaster1227

[robbalvey]

And from a "fun" perspective, couldn't you enjoy Forbidden Journey even if you didn't know the story? Sure I wasn't a huge fan of the awkward ride transitions, but the overall ride was still really fun and exciting. A member of the general public doesn't look deep for a ride's story, but focuses on what the ride actually does, and what they experienced.

I know a lot of people, including myself, who strongly disagree with this.

 

Forbidden Journey is one of those rides that attracts GP and enthusiasts alike because of its unique ride system and theme.

Strongly disagree.

 

If you weren't a Potter fan and neither was your friend, but your friend went and raved about Forbidden Journey, would you most likely go and give it a chance? Most likely yes.

I gave it a chance. Two, in fact. And I don't ever feel the need to ride it again. I'm not a comic book fan either, but I don't mind riding Spiderman. I'm not a Star Wars fan, but I like Star Tours. I actually HATE Winnie the Pooh, but I absolutely love Pooh's Hunny Hunt. Why is that? Forbidden Journey, and the land itself does a horrible, awful job of telling anyone who doesn't know about Potter anything about the franchise or the story. It assumes that anyone who enters the area is fully educated in the Potterverse, thus leaving most people who aren't in the know, totally confused. To me, the ride and area is just a bunch of silly "unicorns and fairies", and it doesn't do anything to even try to invite me into that world. Why do I want to stand in line for two hours to buy a stick? I dunno. The land doesn't give my any insight as to why I should be doing that. Fail.

 

After my first visit to Wizarding World, someone asked me "What did you get out of the land?" and I responded "I guess the characters live in a castle, drink butter and fight some kind of sheet monster?" I honestly had no clue. The sad part about all of this is, since I'm someone who has never seen any of the movies or read any of the books, Wizarding World, in theory, should be the perfect vehicle to introduce me to Potter, and try to get me hooked. It completely fails at doing this. I'm actually surprised JK Rowling even let that happen. If anything, Wizarding World turned me OFF from wanting to know more about Potter as it had that "You're not a Potter fan? F**k you! You don't belong here!" vibe, and I thought that was really lame.

 

--Robb

Edited January 1, 2012 by robbalvey

[SharkTums]

I'm actually surprised JK Rowling even let that happen.

 

Well, that's because she assumes that everyone on Earth has read and bowed down to her and her kids books.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

^^I strongly agree about the whole Harry Potter land and FJ "story".

 

I am someone who has read all the Harry Potter books and seen the movies, but I've thought about an outside perspective when riding Journey, and it's a total "WTF" experience.

 

For example, if I was a non-Potter fan, I'd be like "Wtf...we just were in some forest with hugeass spiders...now we're about to get smacked by a huge tree, and now OMG that ghosty thing just came up in my face! What the hell is going on?"

 

The queue tells some backstory, but not enough to support the entire ride so that it's understood by the guest. I've never been into many of the comics, etc, but I can still understand what's happening through the story sequence on Spiderman. Same thing with Mummy. When I first rode it in like 04/05, I hadn't seen any of the movies, but the queue story explains the ride enough, and even explains why the one guy was upset that he didn't get his cup of coffee.

 

I also hate what's been done to Dueling Dragons. From what I've heard, J.K. Rowling wasn't sure what to do with the coaster because it was "in the way" of Potterland, so they just pretty much stripped the castle bare and put some candles on the ceiling and left it at that. I could see if this was some lame Cedar Fair walk-through-the-castle-before-the-ride, but this is Universal we're talking about. It's just sad to remember how much character Islands of Adventure USED to have.

[Jerrykoala2112]

I'd just like to add my opinion to all of this Harry Potter stuff. I feel that the area is very complete with iconic scenes from the series, and Forbidden Journey was a really good ride. It highlighted many random scenes from the movies that probably seem most memorable, but there was no really consistent flow between any of the scenes. Example.. You go from fighting tarantulas, to doing a flip, to playing the broomstick game. But overall, I actually found the ride intense, and good star attraction for the land.

 

On the other hand, I rode the ride with my mom. She's seen the first two movies, and probably another, but she's far from knowing much about Harry Potter other than Harry had a scar on his head, and an evil guy was after him. When she rode the ride, she thought it was better than Superman for all the cool effects and all, but she didn't get the ride flow at all. You could call my mom the GP, and say she was easily amazed by what Universal did with the place.

 

Although I really think Universal should not add the new Harry Potter land, as I think Wizarding World is enough. I think another area would be too much.

[Swimace]

This sounds cool to me!

 

I think one of the problems FJ had was that it was built in such a tiny space that they really had to rush the story. The ride makes perfect sense, but it took me a few rides to get everything because it all just comes at you so fast. The projection screens were just a way save space, and really don't add anything to the ride. Overall, it's impressive that they built such a "big" attraction in such a small space, but I definitely was confused on my first few rides just because of the rushed pace of it all.

 

Hopefully this new addition won't have that same problem, the space they're working with is much larger, and the ride system itself could turn out to be interesting.

 

Put me down as cautiously optimistic.

[O-Town77]

Not only is the Potter franchise more recent then the others (immediately making their popularity greater), but the Potter franchise is worth triple both of those mega-franchises.

That's the most subjective load of crap I've ever heard. Also, it's called inflation. Look it up. It figures in.

 

FACT: The first Star Wars movie was released 35 years ago. If Lucas partnered with Disney to create a "Star Wars land," it would probably be just as, if not 1000 times more popular than Potter. Oh, and did I mention the popularity of that franchise spans three and a half decades?

 

These arguments are stupid.

 

+1

These arguments are stupid.

 

I also call total bullsh** -- Justice is conveniently leaving out the billions of dollars worth of toys and video games that the Star War franchise has generated. Star Wars is just as strong as Potter as far as I've seen.... and I think will have greater longevity IMO (my opinion, obviously), SW has already been going strong for 3 decades. We'll see how Potter is doing 20 years from now......