Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[BeemerBoy]

While I like the idea of refreshing JP, reading back through it made me think (which is scary in itself).

 

Discovery Center Dark Ride – This slow moving dark ride would load inside the Jurassic Park Discovery Center where the labs currently reside. Rumored scenes include the DNA Scene from Jurassic Park the movie, detailed lab scenes, a dinosaur egg hatching, as well as a tour through dinosaurs that are in containment (including Velociraptor AA’s).

Honestly, I'm not sure who's less creative here...the author of this rumor, or the creative team (should this rumor prove true)?

 

So, you're saying that 20 years later you're gonna provide a slow moving dark ride that rehashes most of the scenes from the original movie that set the stage for the story? Why is my BS meter coming to life all of a sudden?

[Randomman295]

So, you're saying that 20 years later you're gonna provide a slow moving dark ride that rehashes most of the scenes from the original movie that set the stage for the story? Why is my BS meter coming to life all of a sudden?

I thought you had heard of this already, but the original movie is being re-released (How original) in 3D.

[BeemerBoy]

^ I had. And my point still stands.

[SharkTums]

^The 20 year old Jurassic Park story is still better than anything in Potterverse!!!!

[Invertalon]

Agreed... I am glad they are adding/refreshing the JP area versus removing it for other stuff. By far my favorite area of the park. I really look forward to a refresh of the JP ride myself, love it!

[BeemerBoy]

^The 20 year old Jurassic Park story is still better than anything in Potterverse!!!!

This is true.

[cfc]

I agree--Toon Lagoon is butt ugly.

 

I honestly want to know: What exactly is wrong with Toon Lagoon? I thought it was well themed and actually rather nice looking. The only renovation they would need in my opinion is a couple flat rides to fill in the gaps.

 

While I think that Bilge Rat Barges and the Dudley Do-Right flume ride are very good (except for the lapbars they installed on the latter), I've never been impressed with Toon Lagoon as a whole--a bunch of out-of-date comic strip characters plastered over a bunch of goofy looking buildings. At least I'm old enough to recognize many of them. I just feel that compared to the other areas of the park, Toon Lagoon just didn't come off as well. I always just wander through there on my way to Jurassic Park, and that's about it.

[SharkTums]

^Totally agree with you. It's bad enough that all the Cedar Fair parks have Peanuts characters which most children don't know about but these characters are even more out of touch and outdated. Would love to see a big makeover of this area with more current cartoons.

[Randomman295]

I agree--Toon Lagoon is butt ugly.

 

I honestly want to know: What exactly is wrong with Toon Lagoon? I thought it was well themed and actually rather nice looking. The only renovation they would need in my opinion is a couple flat rides to fill in the gaps.

 

While I think that Bilge Rat Barges and the Dudley Do-Right flume ride are very good (except for the lapbars they installed on the latter), I've never been impressed with Toon Lagoon as a whole--a bunch of out-of-date comic strip characters plastered over a bunch of goofy looking buildings. At least I'm old enough to recognize many of them. I just feel that compared to the other areas of the park, Toon Lagoon just didn't come off as well. I always just wander through there on my way to Jurassic Park, and that's about it.

So all that you're saying is that you'd like to see more modern characters in place?

[printersdevil78]

So, you're saying that 20 years later you're gonna provide a slow moving dark ride that rehashes most of the scenes from the original movie that set the stage for the story? Why is my BS meter coming to life all of a sudden?

 

Whether that comes to fruition or not, I don't know if it's such a bad idea. The "Jurassic Park" franchise is two decades old now. Even with the re-releases, etc., there are going to be a number of people down the line who may not be as familiar with the concept as those of us who grew up with the movie are. If Universal is making a large investment and intends for the Jurassic Park area to continue serving another 10-20 years, adding a dark ride to provide background on just what this place is (essentially a rehash of the plot of the first movie) would be a nice way to keep the theme relevant instead of just having guests wander into "Generic Dino Land," which is what Jurassic Park essentially becomes without some sort of backstory.

 

Either way, it sounds better than the version of the Discovery Center that's there now.

[Hercules]

I have to say that this is by far the best rumor that I have heard in a very long time. Jurassic Park is my favorite island at Islands of Adventure, and for some reason it always seems like the least visited section of the park whenever I am there, which makes me a little sad inside. Taking advantage of the re-release and the new movie really makes a ton of sense here, and I'm glad the Universal is doing this because it has seemed for a while that they have been a few years behind in additions (minus the insane ongoing popularity of the Harry Potter franchise). If even half of this rumor turns out to be true, I will be one extremely happy dude.

 

And to go off of Chuck's point, I've really always been confused by Toon Lagoon. I mean, none of those cartoons and comics have been popular for decades. I only recognize like 5 characters that are represented in the island from my childhood, don't even recognize some, and the others are more than 20-30 years even before my time. And I like Elissa's point on the Peanuts and Cedar Fair. Why can't parks be more progressive and be more in the times? It seems like I see things like the Peanuts, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and Looney Toons sticking around and popping up at parks all the time, but nothing that is really relavent......

[SharkTums]

^At least Looney Tunes still has a new show and is on daily on Cartoon Network. I use Kristen as my benchmark for this. She knows the Looney Tunes, she knows 'Snoopy' but none of those other characters, and she doesn't know anything in Toon Lagoon. Her favorite? Nick Universe at Mall of America.

[Randomman295]

^At least Looney Tunes still has a new show and is on daily on Cartoon Network. I use Kristen as my benchmark for this. She knows the Looney Tunes, she knows 'Snoopy' but none of those other characters, and she doesn't know anything in Toon Lagoon. Her favorite? Nick Universe at Mall of America.

I can't keep track of this garbage: Which park chain has the rights to Nick characters?

[Hercules]

^^ I agree on the Looney Tunes things, but for me it just seems to be played out a little bit. I wish I had a better gauge on things as I don't have any children, and most of the younger children in my extended family are near, eek, college bound. But it just seems like things move so slowly with parks in their progression. I don't know if a lot of this has to do with how slowly rights contracts and such move, and the cost of theming changes and the like, but come on.

 

^ I don't believe anyone does right now. I think Paramount used to and that eventually went away after the Cedar Fair takeover. Mall of America has Nick Universe, as said by Elissa.

[BeemerBoy]

So, you're saying that 20 years later you're gonna provide a slow moving dark ride that rehashes most of the scenes from the original movie that set the stage for the story? Why is my BS meter coming to life all of a sudden?

 

Whether that comes to fruition or not, I don't know if it's such a bad idea. The "Jurassic Park" franchise is two decades old now. Even with the re-releases, etc., there are going to be a number of people down the line who may not be as familiar with the concept as those of us who grew up with the movie are. If Universal is making a large investment and intends for the Jurassic Park area to continue serving another 10-20 years, adding a dark ride to provide background on just what this place is (essentially a rehash of the plot of the first movie) would be a nice way to keep the theme relevant instead of just having guests wander into "Generic Dino Land," which is what Jurassic Park essentially becomes without some sort of backstory.

 

Either way, it sounds better than the version of the Discovery Center that's there now.

Well, I suppose it does go further than Potter does in terms of trying to explain anything. But then again, I'm just taking into consideration that it's generally a pretty stupid "Ooh look, dinosuars and things to climb on" audience we're dealing with here.

 

Personally, I'd just take the opportunity to create an attraction that furthered the story, or at least tied into the most current theatrical release, but that's just me.

[Randomman295]

I don't believe anyone does right now. I think Paramount used to and that eventually went away after the Cedar Fair takeover. Mall of America has Nick Universe, as said by Elissa.

...Then who owns Nick Universe?

[willh51]

I wonder if we'll see a large-scale coaster with any of these expansions? IOA hasn't put anything in since opening. I remember driving by when it was under construction and having my mind blown by Hulk's twisted green track. I'd never seen anything like it. I could see a large Wing Rider in Jurassic park, but it doesn't appear like that's happening in the near future.

[Hercules]

I don't believe anyone does right now. I think Paramount used to and that eventually went away after the Cedar Fair takeover. Mall of America has Nick Universe, as said by Elissa.

...Then who owns Nick Universe?

 

???

 

Nick Universe is AT Mall of America. http://nickelodeonuniverse.com/ I'm not sure how hard that is to understand.

[RoCo]

I've always felt that the Discovery Center was a hugely underutilized piece of real estate in IOA.

 

Totally agree. I don't think I've walked through that building since the first time I was at that park.

 

Anything with more dinosaurs gets an automatic approval from me. Very hopeful that a new attraction ties directly into the new movie; an amber mine sequence, like "Temple of Doom," but with marauding subterranean dinosaurs could be sweet.

[cfc]

The thing about Jurassic Park is that dinosaurs are, pardon the pun, "universal." Even those who aren't familiar with the area's "backstory" would still "get it."

 

As for Toon Lagoon, I'm a big fan of the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons because they were a part of my childhood. But I understand that they wouldn't mean much to kids today. ( Popeye is, at least, "iconic.") The whole area, aside from the big water rides, comes off as an afterthought (at least to me): "Hey, we need more cartoon characters for IOA! Who can we get cheap?"

[alilstronger]

This news sounds quite interesting. I have never been to IOA so this would give me a awesome reason to go since JP is one of my fave movies.

[Wes]

I have a hard time believing this will happen in basically 2 years if 2014 is their target date. Especially with everything else being built at USF. Seems more like wishful thinking.

[drwpweb]

The thing about Jurassic Park is that dinosaurs are, pardon the pun, "universal." Even those who aren't familiar with the area's "backstory" would still "get it."

I was coming to add this. It seems that just about every little kid at some point is facinated with dinosaurs. Cedar Fair proved this with the success of Dinosaurs Alive! In 20 years some people might not remember the JP movies but they will still be able to relate to dinosaurs. I don't know that I can say that about Potterverse. I think in 20 years people will be saying what we're saying today about Toon Lagoon, and how many people might not even recognize the characters.

Edited January 16, 2013 by drwpweb

[Wes]

The thing about Jurassic Park is that dinosaurs are, pardon the pun, "universal." Even those who aren't familiar with the area's "backstory" would still "get it."

I was coming to add this. It seems that just about every little kid at some point facinated with dinosaurs. Cedar Fair proved this with Dinosaurs Alive! In 20 years some people might not remember the JP movies but they will still be able to relate to dinosaurs. I don't know that I can say that about Potterverse. I think in 20 years people will be saying what we're saying today about Toon Lagoon, and how many people might not even recognize the characters.

 

Nooooooo not this dumb argument agaiiiiiiiiiiiiin.

[drwpweb]

^ If people are saying that not everyone recognizes a cartoon character in Toon Lagoon from 50 years ago, how is it silly to think that people might eventually forget Potter over time?