Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[Mad Dog]

There are a lot more decisions rooted in either work from consultants or via an internal efficiency/capacity team now than there were pre-COVID. I won't offer if that's a good or bad thing but it's certainly easier for a senior leader to make a decision based off a financial number right in from of them that's been scienced out.

I usually don't like to see when companies turn blindly to the numbers and efficiency guys to make their decisions. Especially with something like theme parks that are the sum of all the little stuff and big stuff, and the 'guest experience' is important to what happens in the future.. Not everything can be judged on whether the bottom line is a plus on every factor. That's what happened to GM in the 80's . CEO Smith and the accountants bottom lined everything, and GM spent a decade falling from their dominance in the industry. Same type of thing was happening with Chapek and McCarthy. That's the way those predators like Blackstone and other investment groups operate. They suck all the creativity out of the companies they purchase, bottom line everything, and the end result is a company that's a shell of what it was. They make a ton of money initially for shareholders but leave something lesser in it's place after all is done. It's a troubling factor if that's the case, and doesn't bode well for the guest experience, since that's not important to the number guys.

 

[IzzyB]

Overpriced and "bland" theme park food is expected, but at least give us good service to make up for that lol

Don't push us towards an app if you can't customize it or is broken most of the time. UOR also doesn't have that many great snacking options, so if you just want truffle fries from Richter's, you have to get a table, order, and then you can leave after you get your food lol

I do like that Minion Cafe has a separate pickup location for mobile orders though.

Disney doesn't really have bland food in some of their top QQ places though. Avatar and Star Wars actually have quality food I don't mind paying extra money for. They also had really quick mobile ordering.

 

[sonoma15]

Personally, I recently had the best meal I've had at a theme park in a real long time at Thunder Falls. Service was fast (less than 3 minutes after I mobile ordered food came) and the food was great. Never had a bad meal at Minion Cafe either so I really don't understand how both of these restaurants are so low on that list. Maybe a lot of the reviews are from before they redid the thunder falls menu (Though it's been awhile now)? Also don't sleep on Wimpys, it's not the same as the rest of the burgers on property and it has always been pretty good in my experience!

 

[Casper Gutman]

USF (and UOR overall) could use a boost in the F&B category...

Blue - WDW
Yellow - UOR
Purple - SeaWorld
(Touring Plans & Google reviews, weighed by number of ratings)

Uni needs to work on food (and they are), but this is an utterly insane chart that shows how much WDW can coast on brand loyalty - Woodys, Columbia, Casey’s,ABC, etc higher then Minions can’t be justified on the actual merits in any way, shape, or form.

 

[IzzyB]

Personally, I recently had the best meal I've had at a theme park in a real long time at Thunder Falls. Service was fast (less than 3 minutes after I mobile ordered food came) and the food was great. Never had a bad meal at Minion Cafe either so I really don't understand how both of these restaurants are so low on that list. Maybe a lot of the reviews are from before they redid the thunder falls menu (Though it's been awhile now)? Also don't sleep on Wimpys, it's not the same as the rest of the burgers on property and it has always been pretty good in my experience!

Glad to hear this I think we plan on trying them on Monday potentially. We plan to spend a lot of time in that area.

Uni needs to work on food (and they are), but this is an utterly insane chart that shows how much WDW can coast on brand loyalty - Woodys, Columbia, Casey’s,ABC, etc higher then Minions can’t be justified on the actual merits in any way, shape, or form.

ABC used to be the worst food ever, but I haven't been there in years. I actually like Casey's and Columbia. I haven't tried Minions but I do want to next time as I have heard great things, but my guess is it being new harmed it in this ranking, I would assume it would get higher next time. But I agree with others, it is more the trend than the individual places. And some that you would not think should be low like 3 Broomsticks I imagine may be the slow service.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Glad to hear this I think we plan on trying them on Monday potentially. We plan to spend a lot of time in that area.


ABC used to be the worst food ever, but I haven't been there in years. I actually like Casey's and Columbia. I haven't tried Minions but I do want to next time as I have heard great things, but my guess is it being new harmed it in this ranking, I would assume it would get higher next time. But I agree with others, it is more the trend than the individual places. And some that you would not think should be low like 3 Broomsticks I imagine may be the slow service.

But I would also question the trend. Yes, Disney has some good options in newer sections -SW and Avatar are constantly mentioned (although it’s really, really bad that Ronto is never open), but most options, particularly at MGM and MK, are banal and unappetizing. Places like Minions, Today, Thunder, and the Potter spots easily rank with the top qs in Disney. I don’t think service is noticeably different either - I’ve never had as bad an experience at Uni as I did at Disney, waiting outside the SW qs in the pouring rain until our on-line order (the only option) was ready and they let us come inside.

Frankly, as negative as I might seem to be sometimes, I think there is still a significant bias among many theme park fans against Uni and in favor of Disney, and it manifests most frequently in terms of comments about food and service (Disneys “superior” service is a persistent myth that hasn’t been true for more then a decade).

A fun story about Disney food and service - a year or two ago I decided to try the Rose & Crown again after many years. The overpriced food immediately made me violently ill. I went to guest services and waited in a 40 minute line, feeling miserable. They gave me a phone number to call the next day where someone would determine if I “deserved” any kind of refund, explaining when pressed that a lot of guests lie. Mind-bogglingly awful.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Uni needs to work on food (and they are), but this is an utterly insane chart that shows how much WDW can coast on brand loyalty - Woodys, Columbia, Casey’s,ABC, etc higher then Minions can’t be justified on the actual merits in any way, shape, or form.

With the exception of Casey's and Ronto Roasters (significant drop in quality for the ronto wrap), I can get behind the list. I was a huge fan/supporter of Cafe La Bamba's update last year... but just a few months later they pretty much gave up on it. Really poor food and service now.

Glad to hear this I think we plan on trying them on Monday potentially. We plan to spend a lot of time in that area.


ABC used to be the worst food ever, but I haven't been there in years. I actually like Casey's and Columbia. I haven't tried Minions but I do want to next time as I have heard great things, but my guess is it being new harmed it in this ranking, I would assume it would get higher next time. But I agree with others, it is more the trend than the individual places. And some that you would not think should be low like 3 Broomsticks I imagine may be the slow service.

ABC is good now with its revamped menu.

 

[IzzyB]

But I would also question the trend. Yes, Disney has some good options in newer sections -SW and Avatar are constantly mentioned (although it’s really, really bad that Ronto is never open), but most options, particularly at MGM and MK, are banal and unappetizing. Places like Minions, Today, Thunder, and the Potter spots easily rank with the top qs in Disney. I don’t think service is noticeably different either - I’ve never had as bad an experience at Uni as I did at Disney, waiting outside the SW qs in the pouring rain until our on-line order (the only option) was ready and they let us come inside.

Frankly, as negative as I might seem to be sometimes, I think there is still a significant bias among many theme park fans against Uni and in favor of Disney, and it manifests most frequently in terms of comments about food and service (Disneys “superior” service is a persistent myth that hasn’t been true for more then a decade).

A fun story about Disney food and service - a year or two ago I decided to try the Rose & Crown again after many years. The overpriced food immediately made me violently ill. I went to guest services and waited in a 40 minute line, feeling miserable. They gave me a phone number to call the next day where someone would determine if I “deserved” any kind of refund, explaining when pressed that a lot of guests lie. Mind-bogglingly awful.

Well I waited a long time in both 3 Broomsticks and Leaky Cauldron to get my order that I was also forced to do via mobile ordering. So I have had bad customer experience there. The food was good, but it wouldn't top Star Wars or Avatar in my book. I want to try the other places at Uni slowly then I would form a more general opinion, I really can't with only 2 places so far. I will say not being able to customize some stuff was not cool, but I also don't know if I went up where they really didn't want to help me would have allowed me to customize some stuff. Even Sea World was good about customizing stuff and they are on the bottom for sure.

I am sorry, but the service is not a myth. I have seen it myself as have others on here. There is a magic about Disney and everyone I know that goes to the various parks tells me the same thing. They just go that extra step that Universal and Sea World do not. I especially noticed it having a handicapped son and then later my daughter having issues that required extra stuff. I could tell you story after story of the great employees in both parks. But I can also tell you stories of bad employees ONLY in Universal we ran into with my son. And don't even get me started on the rude patrons at Universal that because of lack of staffing could be crappy, unlike those same sections at Disney that were staffed and so idiots couldn't be idiots around handicapped people.

Again, Disney is not perfect and I will slam them for Genie+ disaster and VQ disasters I have witnessed and other stuff. There is a reason I decided on Universal. But their extra service and how their employees are trained to do that extra service is just not the same at the other two parks.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Screamscape is reporting FFL is to be demo'd in March/April of this year.

Doesn't have the best track record (let alone all the projects for FFL), just interesting to think that the entire back portion of USF could be seeing a massive overhaul soon.

 

[Magic-Man]

Screamscape is reporting FFL is to be demo'd in March/April of this year.

Doesn't have the best track record (let alone all the projects for FFL), just interesting to think that the entire back portion of USF could be seeing a massive overhaul soon.

Doubt it. They're going to keep it as long as possible for the Halloween stunt show. Wouldn't be surprised if FFL is still there until after the Simpsons replacement opens.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Screamscape is reporting FFL is to be demo'd in March/April of this year.

Doesn't have the best track record (let alone all the projects for FFL), just interesting to think that the entire back portion of USF could be seeing a massive overhaul soon.

To add onto this, Screamscape says it is not Harry Potter involved, and is something entirely new for USO.

 

[belloq87]

Screamscape is reporting FFL is to be demo'd in March/April of this year.

Doesn't have the best track record (let alone all the projects for FFL), just interesting to think that the entire back portion of USF could be seeing a massive overhaul soon.

To add onto this, Screamscape says it is not Harry Potter involved, and is something entirely new for USO.

 

[TheUniC6]

Screamscape is reporting FFL is to be demo'd in March/April of this year.

Doesn't have the best track record (let alone all the projects for FFL), just interesting to think that the entire back portion of USF could be seeing a massive overhaul soon.

If they were indeed planning on demoing FFL, there would have been patents filed already.

 

[Bruisewayne]

But I would also question the trend. Yes, Disney has some good options in newer sections -SW and Avatar are constantly mentioned (although it’s really, really bad that Ronto is never open), but most options, particularly at MGM and MK, are banal and unappetizing. Places like Minions, Today, Thunder, and the Potter spots easily rank with the top qs in Disney. I don’t think service is noticeably different either - I’ve never had as bad an experience at Uni as I did at Disney, waiting outside the SW qs in the pouring rain until our on-line order (the only option) was ready and they let us come inside.

Frankly, as negative as I might seem to be sometimes, I think there is still a significant bias among many theme park fans against Uni and in favor of Disney, and it manifests most frequently in terms of comments about food and service (Disneys “superior” service is a persistent myth that hasn’t been true for more then a decade).

A fun story about Disney food and service - a year or two ago I decided to try the Rose & Crown again after many years. The overpriced food immediately made me violently ill. I went to guest services and waited in a 40 minute line, feeling miserable. They gave me a phone number to call the next day where someone would determine if I “deserved” any kind of refund, explaining when pressed that a lot of guests lie. Mind-bogglingly awful.

Did you end up calling the number? I tried eating at Rose & Crown for the first time earlier this year but, unfortunately, hit it up around the time they were swapping from lunch to dinner crowds so we couldn't get in. When you say you tried it again after many years is that because you had a bad experience years ago? I'd still like to try this place but if it has been known to have issues I'll probably stay away.

 

[Tbad556]

If they were indeed planning on demoing FFL, there would have been patents filed already.

I know very little about this, so I could definitely be wrong, but I don't think that's true.

Looking back at Transformers, the demolition permit was filed on 6/15/12 and demo began on 6/23. Monsters Cafe's demolition permit showed up on 6/11/22 and demo was happening no later than early July.

Seems like they would still have plenty of time for a March/April demo.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

If they were indeed planning on demoing FFL, there would have been patents filed already.

I don't believe this rumor until Alicia discovers permits, but it's not out of the norm to see a last-minute permit get approved/rushed.

Spoiler: Size of FFL Plot

Just used WaterWorld as a reference point. I would love for WW come to UOR (yes we have Bourne, but WW Is better)

Also, the Animal Actors stage needs to go down or get a significant refurb soon, does not appear in great shape.

 

[belloq87]

I both want to get my hopes up, and am afraid to get my hopes up.

 

[Freak]

Really curious as to what will replace FFL. It’s been a long time coming.

 

[Brian G.]

Fwiw - it’s news to me.

 

[Alicia]

I don't believe this rumor until Alicia discovers permits, but it's not out of the norm to see a last-minute permit get approved/rushed.

Here's the thing, this can't be rushed through. They failed their Florida Department of Environmental Protection approvals for demolition plans the last time they were planning to remove the theater (Potter VR days). And that type of approval must be submitted in advance of actual construction permits, so I have been checking weekly (mostly to see if Lost Continent demo plans show up,) and have not seen anything new for Fear Factor Live...

At least not yet.

But also, I haven't heard of any replacement rumors.