The Future of The Simpsons Ride/Springfield (Orlando)

[AlexanderMBush]

Well with a name like Pikachu Pilsner you’ve given them no choice! That’s too good to not use.

Pika-Pilsner. Keep it short, keep it sweet xD

 

[Jake S]

I'm interested in a little Pika Masala, personally.

 

[Rhian]

There's over 50 kinds of berries so they could go wild making various smoothies or fruit juices in a quick serve location. It could be a place to get some different seasonal items for something cold during the summer.

Berries are also used for curry so that could be a unique thing to bring over as a food option.

Oh I know there were references to it I was just wondering if they wanted to imply this with food you’re actually eating in real life. I guess mostly for the kids which are the target demo.

The main plot of Harry Potter involves a murderous wizard that has no problem torturing anyone who gets in his way. I know HP might be a few years above the age range Universal may be going for with PKMN (for comparison Ash is 10 years old in the anime, Harry is 11 in the first book) but I the implication of eating them is the least of a kid's concern.

If they've played the games or watch the show they'd likely be aware of it anyway as it's mentioned in places. The fact it's part of gameplay section in a game is an interesting change bringing that upfront.

My thoughts exactly. I'm hoping this rumored land is 'moved up' in front of Zelda or other projects, and not 'fast-tracked', because if they fast-track it I feel like they'd be more inclined to re-use FFB which limits the overall land completely with the placement of that building. They need a blank slate to go wild with for this IP. Thats why a two-phased approach to the land like Alicia and others have speculated worries me too. It's hard enough to build in an active theme park, and even more so when a land is partially open and guests are around.

Adding to this, in terms of detail and depth it could be something comparable to Diagon Alley.

If they leaned on including the darker side of Pokémon we could also get something like Knockturn Alley containing all the ghost/psychic/dark type Pokémon. In the game there are cementaries for Pokémon and people which lends itself to a "dark wizard" type environments; some Pokémon actually haunt those places. They could build a Pokémon Tower in the land's town.

I know we brought it up before but since it's re-relevant: It would be a disservice to the franchise to ignore those darker bits too. You can't ignore fun things like this Pokédex entry:

A gust of wind revealed what hides under this Pokémon's rag to a passing Trainer, who went home and died painfully that very night.

Or this description of Hypno:

While it awaits its prey, it polishes its pendulum. If anyone comes by, Hypno will hypnotize them and eat their dreams. It carries away people having good dreams and is even known to have stolen a child at one point.

Or the best description of how far the series will go:

Yamask is a shadow-like Pokémon holding a golden mask that has a face from its time as a human. It has two shadowy, tendril-like arms and large, red eyes. It also has a small tail-like appendage that holds the mask. Yamask is capable of speech when possessing a human, but not in its regular form.

Due to being a human long ago, Yamask retains its memories from before it became a Pokémon. It becomes furious when the mask is lost or taken away. If someone wears the mask Yamask carries, they will become possessed by the Yamask in question. Sometimes, it looks at this mask and cries, apparently in longing. Yamask is known to wander the ruins of ancient civilizations.

Personally I'm not expecting anything outright that dark in the land to be front and center, I'm only pointing out there's mature aspects to the series that make it feel alive. For the most part Pokémon is a happy-feel-good series and there's also a lot of lore, worldbuilding, and environmental storytelling that shouldn't be ignored either. Ash died in the first movie of the series (he came back but not the point).

This IP deserves a fresh slate of land and not be retrofited into exisitng spaces because it is very content-rich. Similar to HP there could be a Pokémon land in multiple Universal parks with something completely different.

I assume once the the Japan Spider-Man redo finishes up it'll help guage what we're likely to see for USF. There's some comfort that since it's a decent footprint it won't feel like a quick ride if they keep the pacing anywhere near SM.

If they don't call that juice bar Pika-Juice, then I'd be appalled.

Universal plz.

 

[Nico]

I think they’ll take the cute approach like with Mario for the food.

 

[Jake S]

I think they’ll take the cute approach like with Mario for the food.

It's certainly what they're already doing in Japan, even without a full-blown land. The Pikachu Butt Pizza (yes, literally!) has tomato and sausage, so they're certainly not committing to a veggie menu.

I for one welcome our hella cute overlords.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Man I really want this juice/smoothie bar now lol

 

[TheUniC6]

There's over 50 kinds of berries so they could go wild making various smoothies or fruit juices in a quick serve location. It could be a place to get some different seasonal items for something cold during the summer.

Berries are also used for curry so that could be a unique thing to bring over as a food option.


The main plot of Harry Potter involves a murderous wizard that has no problem torturing anyone who gets in his way. I know HP might be a few years above the age range Universal may be going for with PKMN (for comparison Ash is 10 years old in the anime, Harry is 11 in the first book) but I the implication of eating them is the least of a kid's concern.

If they've played the games or watch the show they'd likely be aware of it anyway as it's mentioned in places. The fact it's part of gameplay section in a game is an interesting change bringing that upfront.


Adding to this, in terms of detail and depth it could be something comparable to Diagon Alley.

If they leaned on including the darker side of Pokémon we could also get something like Knockturn Alley containing all the ghost/psychic/dark type Pokémon. In the game there are cementaries for Pokémon and people which lends itself to a "dark wizard" type environments; some Pokémon actually haunt those places. They could build a Pokémon Tower in the land's town.

I know we brought it up before but since it's re-relevant: It would be a disservice to the franchise to ignore those darker bits too. You can't ignore fun things like this Pokédex entry:

Or this description of Hypno:

Or the best description of how far the series will go:


Personally I'm not expecting anything outright that dark in the land to be front and center, I'm only pointing out there's mature aspects to the series that make it feel alive. For the most part Pokémon is a happy-feel-good series and there's also a lot of lore, worldbuilding, and environmental storytelling that shouldn't be ignored either. Ash died in the first movie of the series (he came back but not the point).

This IP deserves a fresh slate of land and not be retrofited into exisitng spaces because it is very content-rich. Similar to HP there could be a Pokémon land in multiple Universal parks with something completely different.

I assume once the the Japan Spider-Man redo finishes up it'll help guage what we're likely to see for USF. There's some comfort that since it's a decent footprint it won't feel like a quick ride if they keep the pacing anywhere near SM.


Universal plz.

Since the spring tents are being removed for this hypothetical new land, USF's Pokemon land will have a lot more square feet for the main attraction than USJ's If they decide to use it for the show building in addition to the current Simpsons plot. Hopefully once Simpsons gets closer to closing if this rumor is true we will get more inside leaks as to the exact type of ride Orlando will be getting for Pokemon from either Alicia or Tomfoolery.

 

[Mike S]

Since the spring tents are being removed for this hypothetical new land, USF's Pokemon land will have a lot more square feet for the main attraction than USJ's If they decide to use it for the show building in addition to the current Simpsons plot. Hopefully once Simpsons gets closer to closing if this rumor is true we will get more inside leaks as to the exact type of ride Orlando will be getting for Pokemon from either Alicia or Tomfoolery.

How much total space are we talking here? Is it enough that we could get another mini land tucked behind it if the Pokémon ride doesn’t use that space? Like let’s say Pokémon only uses what’s already used for Springfield, maybe just a little more.

 

[TheUniC6]

How much total space are we talking here? Is it enough that we could get another mini land tucked behind it if the Pokémon ride doesn’t use that space? Like let’s say Pokémon only uses what’s already used for Springfield, maybe just a little more.

After measuring the square feet if you were to combine the Simpsons and spring tent plot, you end up with a maximum figure in the 85,000-90,000 ballpark depending on how they reconfigure the space. Meanwhile Spiderman at USJ is around 49,000-50,000 square feet if you were to just include the portion where the main ride takes place. If we were to include the queue that figure gets bumped up to 60,000 square feet. With all that additional square feet, you would hope that they would go with something totally unique and bespoke to USF rather than rehash the MIB/MK ride system.

The spring tent area alone measures less than 2 acres, 1.77 to be exact. Most mini lands such as Avengers Campus are about 3-4. Based on how I have interpreted the rumor so far I have assumed that the main attraction replacing Simpsons will be eating into the spring tent plot. But maybe they could use the spring tent area for a small phase 2 addition to Pokemon if they don't use AA if that space gets earmarked for a phase 2 for DreamWorks. Another option could be they save the plot of land behind Springfield (soon to be Pokemon) and MIB for a totally different IP.

 

[Mike S]

After measuring the square feet if you were to combine the Simpsons and spring tent plot, you end up with a maximum figure in the 85,000-90,000 ballpark depending on how they reconfigure the space. Meanwhile Spiderman at USJ is around 49,000-50,000 square feet if you were to just include the portion where the main ride takes place. If we were to include the queue that figure gets bumped up to 60,000 square feet. With all that additional square feet, you would hope that they would go with something totally unique and bespoke to USF rather than rehash the MIB/MK ride system.

The spring tent area alone measures less than 2 acres, 1.77 to be exact. Most mini lands such as Avengers Campus are about 3-4. Based on how I have interpreted the rumor so far I have assumed that the main attraction replacing Simpsons will be eating into the spring tent plot. But maybe they could use the spring tent area for a small phase 2 addition to Pokemon if they don't use AA if that space gets earmarked for a phase 2 for DreamWorks. Another option could be they save the plot of land behind Springfield (soon to be Pokemon) and MIB for a totally different IP.

Isn’t there more space beyond just what the tents use up?

 

[Brian G.]

The Spring Tents aren't going anywhere as of now.

 

[Alicia]

The Spring Tents aren't going anywhere as of now.

Yea, does it sound like the new permitted locations by MiB may show up but sprung tents stick around?

 

[belloq87]

I may have missed it, but what's the rough acreage of the currently-existing Springfield only?

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I may have missed it, but what's the rough acreage of the currently-existing Springfield only?

From my measurement on Google Maps, it looks to be roughly 3 acres.

(I measured starting just past the Coca Cola Station and stopped at the Delorean - this includes the Simpsons Ride as well)

 

[IzzyB]

The main plot of Harry Potter involves a murderous wizard that has no problem torturing anyone who gets in his way. I know HP might be a few years above the age range Universal may be going for with PKMN (for comparison Ash is 10 years old in the anime, Harry is 11 in the first book) but I the implication of eating them is the least of a kid's concern.

If they've played the games or watch the show they'd likely be aware of it anyway as it's mentioned in places. The fact it's part of gameplay section in a game is an interesting change bringing that upfront.

This IP deserves a fresh slate of land and not be retrofited into exisitng spaces because it is very content-rich. Similar to HP there could be a Pokémon land in multiple Universal parks with something completely different.

I don't know why people think kids will care about eating Pokemon. Have you watched them play Minecraft? it isn't exactly a friendly game as they kill and eat animals on there all the time. Kids are well aware they are eating Cows and Pigs themselves. I don't think they will have an issue thinking they are eating Pokemon which most kids will know the names are all fake and they are really eating Pig, Cow, or Chicken.

I do agree I hope the re-do the whole land. The Simpson's eating place isn't kid or family friendly in that you have to order from multiple places and they don't offer kids meal I imagine due to the how they serve the food in the smaller spaces. I would prefer more traditional QSR.

 

[Mike S]

I don't know why people think kids will care about eating Pokemon. Have you watched them play Minecraft? it isn't exactly a friendly game as they kill and eat animals on there all the time. Kids are well aware they are eating Cows and Pigs themselves. I don't think they will have an issue thinking they are eating Pokemon which most kids will know the names are all fake and they are really eating Pig, Cow, or Chicken.

I do agree I hope the re-do the whole land. The Simpson's eating place isn't kid or family friendly in that you have to order from multiple places and they don't offer kids meal I imagine due to the how they serve the food in the smaller spaces. I would prefer more traditional QSR.

It was just me and it’s not like I was standing on a soap box. Just a thought that came to my head randomly.

 

[Alicia]

Just came across this at the mall and laughed out loud.

 

[IzzyB]

Just came across this at the mall and laughed out loud.

View attachment 20448

Thanks, now I need to get this because my kids love Pokemon and love baking.

ETA: while searching for this I found they have a cooking one with meat lol

 

[TheUniC6]

The Spring Tents aren't going anywhere as of now.

Yea, does it sound like the new permitted locations by MiB may show up but sprung tents stick around?

If that's the case I guess the main Pokemon attraction will use just the existing space of the Simpsons building. With that space I don't think you could fit what they are getting in USJ, but you could probably fit something on par with Pets albeit on a larger scale, or something like Midway Mania or Web Slingers, once again on a larger scale.

 

[Alicia]

If that's the case I guess the main Pokemon attraction will use just the existing space of the Simpsons building. With that space I don't think you could fit what they are getting in USJ, but you could probably fit something on par with Pets albeit on a larger scale, or something like Midway Mania or Web Slingers, once again on a larger scale.

Or, perhaps Simpsons isn’t closing till like 2026 so there’s no hurry this year despite all the rumors.

2026 would still be two years sooner than most of us expected, but not so soon that they’d need to close the tents for HHN this year.