Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[belloq87]

Bringing this over into this thread to avoid derailing a different one!

My dream Universal ride is a dark ride version of the Studio Tour from Hollywood that's basically this. Have the ride vehicles be DeLoreans and travel through the different USF rides/experiences from the 90s like Jaws, Kongfrontation, BTTF, Earthquake, Hanna Barbera, Ghostbusters, Psycho, etc. So like a combo of the Studio Tour from USH and The Great Movie Ride from Disney's Hollywood Studios. That would be amazing.

This would be my dream project for USF, as well.

I don't expect they would ever do this even if they went with the concept, but you could even pull scenes directly from some of those older attractions for inspiration:

• PSYCHO: The miniature Bates Motel and forced perspective Bates house from Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies
• JAWS: The boathouse scene from the ride.
• KONGFRONTATION: The bridge scene.
• EARTHQUAKE: The standard station sequence as seen (more or less) on both coasts.
• GHOSTBUSTERS: Confrontation with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man on top of the high rise from the Ghostbusters Spooktacular show.

Use projection domes or tunnels as transitional sequences of the DeLorean "traveling through time" (which is really taking us from movie to movie).

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Bringing this over into this thread to avoid derailing a different one!


This would be my dream project for USF, as well.

I don't expect they would ever do this even if they went with the concept, but you could even pull scenes directly from some of those older attractions for inspiration:

• PSYCHO: The miniature Bates Motel and forced perspective Bates house from Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies
• JAWS: The boathouse scene from the ride.
• KONGFRONTATION: The bridge scene.
• EARTHQUAKE: The standard station sequence as seen (more or less) on both coasts.
• GHOSTBUSTERS: Confrontation with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man on top of the high rise from the Ghostbusters Spooktacular show.

Use projection domes or tunnels as transitional sequences of the DeLorean "traveling through time" (which is really taking us from movie to movie).

Surely an actual great movie ride would foreground some things made before 1975 and not just act as an excuse to bring back old rides/franchises. The cool thing about The Great Movie Ride was that it was about all of movies.

 

[saint.piss]

Surely an actual great movie ride would foreground some things made before 1975 and not just act as an excuse to bring back old rides/franchises. The cool thing about The Great Movie Ride was that it was about all of movies.

I think you missed the point of what we both said lol. We want a USF version of this kind of ride, not just "The Great Movie Ride" but now at Universal. Also we both said we would want Psycho included in this ride and that came out in 1960.

 

[belloq87]

Surely an actual great movie ride would foreground some things made before 1975 and not just act as an excuse to bring back old rides/franchises. The cool thing about The Great Movie Ride was that it was about all of movies.

I was just riffing off @saint.piss' original post with those specific properties.

I'd be perfectly happy to see a wide variety of films from all eras also represented.

 

[SeventyOne]

Surely an actual great movie ride would foreground some things made before 1975 and not just act as an excuse to bring back old rides/franchises. The cool thing about The Great Movie Ride was that it was about all of movies.

This is actually the thing that killed GMR (as well as limiting it from the beginning). Outside classic horror, MGM/Disney had most of the classic movies from before 1970 locked up, while Universal had every cool non-Lucas movie 1970 - 1989 locked up. I think @belloq87's list would be greatly improved with the inclusion of The Godfather and Rocky, for instance--both solely missing from GMR--but the bench isn't very deep before those.

All theoretical, of course. Outside HHN, nostalgia-core is not in Universal Orlando's DNA.

 

[belloq87]

We'll see how Dark Universe shakes out, but I suspect there would be the option to include a scene from a Classic Monsters movie (because Dark Universe is not based on the movies, but inspired by them) without feeling like there's overlap.

Recreating the grand staircase of Castle Dracula would be incredible, and since we're not getting it at Epic Universe...

 

[biggerboat16]

Bringing this over into this thread to avoid derailing a different one!


This would be my dream project for USF, as well.

I don't expect they would ever do this even if they went with the concept, but you could even pull scenes directly from some of those older attractions for inspiration:

• PSYCHO: The miniature Bates Motel and forced perspective Bates house from Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies
• JAWS: The boathouse scene from the ride.
• KONGFRONTATION: The bridge scene.
• EARTHQUAKE: The standard station sequence as seen (more or less) on both coasts.
• GHOSTBUSTERS: Confrontation with the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man on top of the high rise from the Ghostbusters Spooktacular show.

Use projection domes or tunnels as transitional sequences of the DeLorean "traveling through time" (which is really taking us from movie to movie).

They could even start or end the ride with a simulator section that takes you through Hill Valley 2015 from BTTF: The Ride

I really like this idea for a great movie ride. Maybe you could even add the T-Rex breakout scene from JP to the mix. I agree that they should leave all of the major scenes to the classic 1991 lineup, but maybe they could also have some smaller sets that you pass through along the way that represent additional properties like mini versions of WhoVille and War of the Worlds

 

[UniversalRBLX]

We'll see how Dark Universe shakes out, but I suspect there would be the option to include a scene from a Classic Monsters movie (because Dark Universe is based on the movies, but inspired by them) without feeling like there's overlap.

Recreating the grand staircase of Castle Dracula would be incredible, and since we're not getting it at Epic Universe...

Have to do some self-promoting. Over at Universal Roblox we have this exact scene during a Classic Horror section on our Epic Movie Ride attraction... which is essentially a Universal version of the Great Movie Ride but as an omnimover.

 

[saint.piss]

Damn

 

[DodgsonHere]

All theoretical, of course. Outside HHN, nostalgia-core is not in Universal Orlando's DNA.

I sincerely, truly believe this is changing. Potter, JP, Seuss, Nintendo, Monsters, old-school Marvel, and ET are all nostalgia heavy franchises to many people that still receive significant upkeep/attention in the parks. Not to mention the entertainment offerings just announced. No retro ride yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re working towards that point.

 

[GAcoaster]

I think any kind of "retro" attraction at this point is a pipe dream. Yes, fans want Ghostbusters, Jaws, BTTF, etc. but honestly T-shirts and tribute stores fulfills most of that demand with quick ROI that a multimillion dollar ride never would. Ghostbusters seemed like a great contender to bring back in some capacity and would be if the most recent movies did multi billion dollar box office, but they haven't.

In the mean time Nintendo seems to be the new license to print money that Potter is/was. Their priority is high return on their expenditures. Adding Pokemon would give the same kind of bump that adding Potter did without having to do much more in the rest or the park than maintain what they already have. I really think that the HRRR replacement comes in the near term with Pokemon replacing Simpsons as the next major thing the park sees.

 

[TheUniC6]

I think any kind of "retro" attraction at this point is a pipe dream. Yes, fans want Ghostbusters, Jaws, BTTF, etc. but honestly T-shirts and tribute stores fulfills most of that demand with quick ROI that a multimillion dollar ride never would. Ghostbusters seemed like a great contender to bring back in some capacity and would be if the most recent movies did multi billion dollar box office, but they haven't.

In the mean time Nintendo seems to be the new license to print money that Potter is/was. Their priority is high return on their expenditures. Adding Pokemon would give the same kind of bump that adding Potter did without having to do much more in the rest or the park than maintain what they already have. I really think that the HRRR replacement comes in the near term with Pokemon replacing Simpsons as the next major thing the park sees.

Tomfoolery said both will be up by 2030. My guess is that the HRRR replacement is for 2026 if they can hit the ground running on the demo for HRRR and the build for the new coaster, and Pokemon is either 2027 or 2028, but I think its more likely 2028.

 

[belloq87]

I sincerely, truly believe this is changing. Potter, JP, Seuss, Nintendo, Monsters, old-school Marvel, and ET are all nostalgia heavy franchises to many people that still receive significant upkeep/attention in the parks. Not to mention the entertainment offerings just announced. No retro ride yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re working towards that point.

I would love to believe this.

 

[TheUniC6]

I would love to believe this.

If a retro ride ever did come to fruition, I could see it be done in the style of a GMR, where guests are taken through scenes of major Universal movies over the years.

 

[GAcoaster]

Tomfoolery said both will be up by 2030. My guess is that the HRRR replacement is for 2026 if they can hit the ground running on the demo for HRRR and the build for the new coaster, and Pokemon is either 2027 or 2028, but I think its more likely 2028.

I think all those time lines are in "Universal Flux"-- until we see what happens next year and what kind of impacts the parks see or don't see. Universal is so adept at changing any plan right up until the day it breaks ground (for better or worse).

 

[TheUniC6]

I think all those time lines are in "Universal Flux"-- until we see what happens next year and what kind of impacts the parks see or don't see. Universal is so adept at changing any plan right up until the day it breaks ground (for better or worse).

Will probably also depend on the attendance numbers for EU. If EU winds up eating into USF attendance, Universal will probably want to put a priority on USF and hit the ground running on construction for a new coaster the does the F&F IP justice and Pokemon in order to draw people back to the park.

 

[DodgsonHere]

I would love to believe this.

Even if it's not a ride, the classics are coming back right now in basically every other way.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Will probably also depend on the attendance numbers for EU. If EU winds up eating into USF attendance, Universal will probably want to put a priority on USF and hit the ground running on construction for a new coaster the does the F&F IP justice and Pokemon in order to draw people back to the park.

I actually think the new parade/nighttime show will be the decision point as to how quickly they want to tackle Pokemon/Rip Ride Rockit projects. Consensus seems to be if that doesn't move the needle much to convince folks to spend more time at USF, Epic will certainly impact it more.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I think the new shows could actually give them an idea about the long-term success of retro IP.

If the new parade and fountain show are significantly more popular than the previous iterations, there's a good chance that's because they feature a lot of classic IP.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think the new shows could actually give them an idea about the long-term success of retro IP.

If the new parade and fountain show are significantly more popular than the previous iterations, there's a good chance that's because they feature a lot of classic IP.

I think Superstar suffered from the complicated show stops that just didn't translate well initially, and when they converted to a normal continuous parade it wasn't long enough or interesting. IMO, they tied it too much to children's' IPs when it should have included some "legacy" IPs.

Cinematic Celebration was great, poorly marketed.