I know this is an old thread, but I haven't been on these boards for a while.
I just wanted to post some things I haven't seen on this thread yet, things to think about.
First, a brief history, my father worked for, and helped open Epcot, working on the computers that run all of the attractions. My mother worked for Lombard's Landing at Universal Studios when it opened. I worked for Universal one summer when I was 16 (and hated it)
I have never visited AK or felt a need to. EPCOT used to be my favorite theme park as a kid, but the attractions I loved are all but gone now.
I'm more of a Universal fan at the moment since I don't see Disney doing a whole lot in this country right now.
Hulk vs. RnRc.:
Ok, let's examine this from a different angle. Space Mountain is a long ride compared to RnRc, and so is Hulk. I waited in line for 45mins to ride RnRc and was disappointed by the short ride, but I enjoyed the theming.
The problem is the faster the coaster, the quicker the ride, which means the more track you need to get a decent ride time. That means you also would need a much bigger building. So IOA could have built Hulk indoors, but it would have been a major expense and then it wouldn't have the visual appeal from the outside viewers as it does now.
The que theming of Hulk is not a whole lot, but I enjoy it (realizing, of course, that not all people enjoy loud bass music shaking the building
)
The same also applies for Dueling Dragons, which from what I understand would have also been an outdoor coaster had Disney built it's version. Universal knew that it would just be another coaster, so they built the que as one of the best ever made, and the detail put into the coaster cars is incredible, right down to the tongue colored front rows.
Land:
Yes, Universal actually has room for a 3rd theme park on their current land not considering the 2,000 acres bought from Lockheed, but I'm not sure if they'd do it. Also, I believe they sold a chunk of the new land to the county for the next (of how many?) expansion of the Convention Center.
Yes, They may never have the middle- of-nowhere appeal of Disney, especially apparent when riding on Dr. Doom's Fearfall.
IOA could have spent a ton more on making FearFall as good as ToT, or Dudley as good as Splash Mountain, but they had strategic budgeting. Think of all you'd have to go through to have each Disney ride available to compete with this one park.
Yes, IOA has some off-the-shelf attractions, but it is hardly an "amusement park" as one person said. Spiderman, The Cat in the Hat, and Poseidon's Fury are all very high quality dark shows/rides, on par with or better than Disney. Also, let's not forget E.T. as a great kids dark ride at US, which showed back then that they can make a great dark ride like that of Peter Pan.
Disney's made recently Test Track (after 3 years of delays, crashes and other problems), Buzz Lightyear Spin (haven't been on it, but MIB is bigger and better from everything I've seen),
Alien Encounter (Good), RnRc (discussed), Journey into YOUR Imagination (which nobody liked),
It's one thing for Disney to stop building the highest quality attractions in the Orlando market, but they also shut down a lot of the classic rides that people kept going back for. That's one reason why I don't have a lot of faith. That, plus the new hotels between Disney and Universal (needs no explanation)
I am excited about Mission:Space, but I hope they quit cutting stuff out of it and just make it the way it was intended to be.
AK needs something, because me, as a 24 year old, still has nothing drawing me to go there. I have Busch Gardens for a zoo (Even if AK is Natazu
)
That's all the time I have for now. Again, I try not to be biased, I think Disney is great, and I still go there a lot, but for the moment, as ride developments go, Universal has it, in this country, at least. Disney shouldn't forget this as it makes all these parks in other countries (which BTW, Universal is also right behind them as well)
