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Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

p. 623 - New Epic Universe details, including Celestial Park!

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I'm really curious to hear about where there is any airtime to speak of on this ride. And I doubt the refurb made the ride any faster than a slow, boring, meandering trudge through an uninteresting layout full of brake runs. But I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Have to agree here. I found no trace of airtime when I rode it in March this year. I'm not saying that it's not possible, but that must have been one hell of a refurb.

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I rode it yesterday for the first time and it... sucked.

 

Simply put, the first drop and first element is fun, the rest has poor pacing, awkward elements and a poor layout. The ride has a shimmy the entire ride and my music did not work.

 

Very disappointed to say the least, and I generally like most any ride. Very few that I do not like, but this one I really never have to ride again. And I rode this at night, probably the best time to ride.

 

I wish universal chose another manufacturer honestly... I did like the concept and theme though.

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^definitely a major difference of opinion there.. Not to take anything away from your opinions, but I strongly disagree.

 

All my opinion of course, i think LC in its origional form was far superior for one major reason : it was all original. The only section of the park not based on anything marketable. Take that into account, and the heavy original theming of the area and you had an incredible section of IOA. HP has such a huge wow factor because it is based on a huge franchise .. its really incredible how they were able to bring it to life ill give them that! However, that enthusiasm is lost on those that simply give two dumps about HP, or don't know much about it.

 

All I know is, I was floored by the LC the first time I visited. The detail was amazing! It continued to impress me for years as id always find some new detail in the theming.

 

Does my opinion matter? Absolutely not!!

 

As far as mythos is concerned, you guys are right. So who knows what is going to happen, but its safe to say a change will be made

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Five times? Did you get there at opening, stay to closing or was the park just empty? Every time I go it seems to still have a 30-45 minute wait. Well maybe you just don't mind waiting or the annoying queue TVs. I didn't feel any differences or was really looking for any between the original and rehabbed versions. I've always found it pretty smooth and having some airtime.I also haven't found it that painful to ride Gwazi 4 times in a row either. The concept of the ride seems to be capacity=bad pacing and brakes.

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I'm really curious to hear about where there is any airtime to speak of on this ride. And I doubt the refurb made the ride any faster than a slow, boring, meandering trudge through an uninteresting layout full of brake runs. But I'm glad you enjoyed it!

See, I rode it last year and then again this year. Once in the very front, once in the very back. I found the ride to be very intense in some areas with some really crazy pops of airtime.

 

I don't understand how people can have such a vastly different experience on this coaster. Personally, I absoultely LOVE it. I've never found it rough and really love the pacing on it.

 

I also didn't find any difference between the previous version and the rehabbed version. I thought both of them were GREAT! It greatly exceeded both of our expectations. I don't get how so many people seem to have bad rides on it.

 

--Robb "I ranked it #24 in the world last year, Elissa ranked it #15!" Alvey

Edited by robbalvey
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^As an Florida local who has had the opportunity to ride this several times, I have to say the experience can vary a TON. I've had great rides, and I've had really rough rides... it's really hard for me to rank Rockit because of that. However, I have to say that (and I believe this is true of Adam as well), one of the best rides I had on this coaster was when we were there with you guys in October 2009. So it makes sense that you loved it, cause honestly the first time you guys were there to ride it the thing was running AMAZING, which is good cause I still overall really like the ride.

 

Stupid Rockit, it just gets really grumpy sometimes...

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See, I rode it last year and then again this year. Once in the very front, once in the very back. I found the ride to be very intense in some areas with some really crazy pops of airtime.

 

I don't understand how people can have such a vastly different experience on this coaster. Personally, I absoultely LOVE it. I've never found it rough and really love the pacing on it.

 

I also didn't find any difference between the previous version and the rehabbed version. I thought both of them were GREAT! It greatly exceeded both of our expectations. I don't get how so many people seem to have bad rides on it.

 

--Robb "I ranked it #24 in the world last year, Elissa ranked it #15!" Alvey

I will concede that the one ride I had on it was a horrible experience after about an hour wait, so that probably had a lot to do with it. But all I could concentrate on was how much my seat was shimmying the entire time, and then the uncomfortable "crowd surfing" portion that just hung me over the side of my restraint. I'm sure I'll give it another shot whenever I go back, I just hope this time it's better.

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I can understand that, but really, the whole "non marketable" really means little to my experience. I can see what you are saying though.

 

And I can't see really how anybody can dislike the area, regardless of whether they enjoy the movies/books or not. I did not watch a single movie, or read a single book until two weeks before I visited the park. But honestly, the design and theme is just awesome regardless of if you like the HP franchise or not. The castle is incredible visually, and the detail is just amazing throughout the area. I would bet if that area was exactly the same as it is now, just a "custom" design by IOA/Universal (pretending HP never existed) that those people who are such haters would be loving the area. It is only because it is related to such a franchise that I am sure there is a nice little bandwagon following suit of people who are against it.

 

 

And to go as far so say HP has turned you off from even stepping foot in the park?... Really? Wowwwww.

 

I am not trying to change anybody's opinion on the area, or the park for that matter. I can really care less how people feel about it, just like I am sure people can care less about my opinion. I just think so many of the comments here are a bit extreme and immature in many ways. But I guess you always have those who feel the need to be "rebels"...

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How can people have such different rides? Don't know, but so many people report them it has to be true. I think you should consider yourself lucky if you've had nothing but great laps.

 

My first ride in spring this year was awful. We had to stake it out in the hopes the unreliable, broken mess would open. Once we got on, we found a slow, airless, rattletrap - it didn't impress. Six months later, every one of my multiple runs was excellent.

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How can people have such different rides? Don't know, but so many people report them it has to be true. I think you should consider yourself lucky if you've had nothing but great laps.

I honestly do. And it's because of these reports is actually makes me want to ride it LESS! Like I said, I've had two, what I would consider OUTSTANDING rides on it. And when I hear and read all the negative reports, I think to myself "I'll keep my two great rides and I'm done!"

 

Although, I'll be honest, I kind of would like to get one of those "bad rides" just so I can see what other people are talking about. Because in my mind, while it's not in the very top echelon in the world, it's close...

 

--Robb

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^^I'm not a fan of the Potter series (I've seen the movies, but haven't read the books), and I agree that the new area is very nice visually. However, it's very cramped, and there is no way I would wait an hour or more just for the privilege of entering it. Forbidden Journey is a good ride, but it made me feel pretty queasy (the video sections really got me), and the Dragons Challenge queue isn't even a shadow of what it once was; I like the Butterbeer, though.

 

For me, the worst part of IOA is Tune Lagoon--two great water rides, but the rest is a butt-ugly mess of mostly irrelevant comic strips.

Edited by cfc
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^I'm not sure if this is just pure coincidence or if the rehab actually did remove the majority of these bad rides, but I rode it about a dozen times when I was in Orlando a month or so ago and every single one of my rides was fantastic. Only one had anything I would even come close to calling shakiness but even then it was awesome. It was quite smooth and sitting in the front had quite a few extreme pops of airtime, mostly into the brake runs. The pop of air into the brake after the crowdsurfer element was probably the best moment of airtime. And the non-inverting loop offered one of the best experiences I've ever had on a coaster in the back seat. I loved this ride. And the lights and music made it that much better to experience. I'm happy it was reopened and running efficiently when I was there.

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From my experiences on the ride, I find the Front row and Back row to be the best option for a "Smoother" ride.

 

Row 3 and 4 are usually absolutely horrible though... and I say "usually" because the last time I rode it (After the refurb) I was assigned the dreaded forth row, but it actually wasn't that bad. Now, I don't know if it was just because of the train I was riding in, or if they actually fixed the joints between the two cars. I haven't ridden it since, so I don't know if it's the same for every train.

 

Another thing I noticed (dunno if it was posted before, but too lazy to go back and look... damn flu), the wheels on the trains... the "polyurethane" wheels before the refurb were the normal white/tanish color... now they're blue? Different material?

 

Edit: Nevermind, they've always been blue.

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Not everyone likes the fantasy genre. It's as simple as that.

 

I guess you would have to avoid the whole park, then. Considering the whole park is fantasy/make believe.

 

And sure it will be busy this year, but it will get better once the hype dies a bit. It is crammed though, for sure. It does not make the area any less impressive from an architecture and design standpoint!

 

And I agree about forbidden journey... I enjoyed the actual set parts, but the video sections were terrible. Made me quite sick as well.

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That's a good observation about Toon Lagoon. Of all the lands at IOA..it is the one that screams "we are the cheapest ip's to license out!". They really did scrape the barrel to find children's characters that had at least some name reconginition, and that would not bring them into conflict with the other media companies. Speaking of mod's, probably time for them to look at switching the entire area over to a singular franchise.

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I guess you would have to avoid the whole park, then.

 

I actually like some fantasy, but not Harry Potter. I'll definitely be seeing The Hobbit movies in the theater.

 

I'm just pointing out that a great deal of people are repulsed by the fantasy genre, probably because they find it hokey. This fairly sizable segment of people are not likely to enjoy the WWoHP. It's kind of like me and country music. A country music performer could be the most talented musician in the world, but I would still hate their music because I cannot stand that genre of music.

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