If the city location is the hill to die on for a MOVIE STUDIO park than Emerald CITY is the perfect choice. In the end this "ride the movies" park is perfect for anything as Potter showed.
Perhaps not previously emphasized is that all IP featured at USF are not just based on cities/urban environments, they're in modern times.
It's possible Shiz University could work, but I'm not seeing Emerald City, Munchkin Land, the Witch's Castle, the farmland, the fields of poppy, any forest setting, the desert, etc.
Let's do a thought experiment ... Let's pretend a F&F Island was coming to IOA. How would these forums react? Beyond the general disdain for the property, we would see plenty of "that IP doesn't belong at IOA!"
Why can't we use the same logic for why F&F
belongs at IOA with what's been said about Wicked at USF?: "the park is a mishmash of IP and themes," "the park is all about immersive experiences, F&F will have that," "the park needs a big IP." None of these truly speak to whether F&F feels right at IOA.
We could do that same thought experiment with LOTR or Zelda coming to USF, or Ghostbusters or Back to The Future coming to IOA, something feels off.
Let's look at how Universal approached Kong at the two parks. Both contain the same IP, both containing Kong as the central character. USF is set in New York City and the other is set in Skull Island. How do you explain, to someone not on these forums, why Skull Island feels right at IOA, and feels wrong at USF? How would you explain why Kong in NYC feels right at USF, but would feel wrong at IOA?
That "off" feeling for USF, I sum up as "modern era IPs - primarily in urban (sometimes in suburban) environments" belong at USF, where all other IP within a fantasy setting of castles, forbidden forests, broomstick coasters, sunken temples, wooden barrel flume rides, etc, all belong at IOA or Epic.
If you feel I'm wrong about this, I'd like you to name a castle that has ever been at USF. Or, tell me a jungle biome ride at USF. Or, tell me a prominent IP featured at USF which takes place before the 1900s. (Aside from KidZone/DW, which barely counts.)
I'd argue against the "USF gets Wicked or USF is dead" line of thinking. The park is relatively solid once 1) it has fully replaced RRR, which was arguably one of Orlando's worst coasters, with F&F, which may be one of Orlando's best coasters. And 2) after Supercharged (arguably one on the worst attractions Universal has ever built) is closed, and replaced with something we're excited for (hopefully), like Hill Valley/BTTF (or something else).
After those two, I'll be pretty damn excited to go to USF consistently. And maybe during that timeframe, Universal gets in some other surprises. Why not a USF version of SLoP in the DW section (or the other half of Shrek)? How about a new USF stage show in Blue Man Group?
Specifically to replace Simpsons, there's plenty USF could add besides Wicked, we just have to use our imaginations a bit. Here are just a few cities which could work at USF (not saying any of these are likely, but all would feel right at USF):
- Hill Valley - We've got the rumor of it replacing F&F. Beyond that, it's also rumored to come to Universal GB. So this idea isn't as insane as it may have sounded several years ago.
- 80s nostalgia city - several people have suggested a sort of home for nostalgic properties, which feels right at USF. I could see a general cyberpunk / neon city atmosphere, with rides that could include BTTF (if it doesn't come in a Hill Valley land) or a Universal version of Great Movie Ride.
- Gotham and/or Metropolis - several stars would need to align for this to happen. Comcast would need to purchases WB, they would need the DC theme park rights, and Marvel contract would need to allow them to put a competitor at sister park. If all those stars align, a more realistic superhero city could work well at USF (perhaps based on the James Gunn Universe).
- Tokyo - I've seen a few suggestions around adding Tokyo, with Godzilla and a popular anime.
- Pokemon town/city - plenty to choose from (if it doesn't come to IOA).
And here's some additional potential IP which feel right at USF, just to name a few (obviously not all could be used due to cost of licensing/rights issues/being featured at other parks):
- Luigi's Mansion
- Ghostbusters
- Music - Tailor Swift, Ariana Grande, etc, similar to RRR or Rockin Rollercoaster Featuring Aerosmith
- K-Pop Demon Hunters
- Sing
- SLoP
- Stephen King - a King attraction was somewhat close to having a greenlight
- Wonka
- Speed Racer
- Scooby -Doo
- Sonic (from movies)
- TMNT
- TV/sitcoms/stand-up - SNL, Friends, etc - though already represented by Fallon, TV could potentially have a larger presence in the future at USF.
- "Movie making" / BTS rides or walkthroughs - we're not entirely done with these, considering the current Wicked presence at USF is essentially just that.
I could go on, but the point is that there's a mountain of other IP which feel right at home in USF. It's not a dichotomy of "Wicked or nothing."
Edit
This is all to say, I'm not saying Wicked could never come to USF (
especially in a "theater show" experience)... I mean hell, it's technically there already. But an entire Oz world at USF feels off and I'm leaning heavily towards that going to Epic or IOA...
not that anyone here has any sort of say in the matter.