If Universal stayed the same we would be missing some great rides like Spiderman, the Mummy, and Men in Black. Don't grieve for rides lost but enjoy the fact that Universal tries to stay innovative and, as such, old rides will be replaced by new rides. Soon you will find yourself loving the new rides. Enjoy your adventure!
I saved this post by DocBosch from a few years ago because he said what I was thinking but much more eloquently than I could:
"The night they closed Kongfrontation, I started questioning my attachment to Universal. I figured that Disney had its supposed "magic" and history, things that youre allowed to value, but why did I have such strong feeling for Universal? They had just closed a classic attraction to replace it with a roller coaster. While Kong was iconic, the original ride was just meant to thrill, and when it stopped doing that, it would be replaced by a different movie's high tech ride. I wondered where the reminiscence was in that.
I walked around the USF lagoon at dusk for a bit, contemplating this, when I looked up at the view. I remembered the park as I used to see it as a kid. I remembered how it seemed huge, and how there was always something cool around the corner. I remembered being so impressed with the street facades, and the themeing within the rides. The first visit when I became completely and unreasonably upset that we had to leave, but when we returned soon after, I realized that this was a place I was going to be able to come back to constantly.
When I walked out of the park, I started to think about how there is so much more now then there was in my memories of my first visits. I tracked the expansion of the Universal property for over two years but I wondered if it had grown too much for me to genuinely care for it all. Then I looked over to the IOA skyline, with the lighthouse beaming and Hulk snaking all over the sky, and remembered how amazing it was. Then I looked at CityWalk, all lit up in the night, and remembered how amazing it was. And I remembered that the reason I liked Universal so much the first time was because it was so amazing.
The "nostalgia" of Universal isn't nostalgia at all, but innovation. Universal isn't about things staying the same forever, so we can relive our childhoods over and over again, but about things evolving and getting better, and getting 'cooler'. Disney is magical because of it's classic attractions, and the classic characters they are based on, while Universal's charm comes from it's ability to create spectacular things, regardless of the subject, that will amaze us.
Which is what makes my time at Universal magical.
