News Round Up 2018

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I totally agree wrt “come for SWGE maybe check out new Potter thing”, but Nintendo competing with SW? I’m sure there’s target demo overlap, but I guess I have a hard time imagining Nintendo competing in a serious way with SW.

/QUOTE]

I'm pretty big fans of both, and I'm more than convinced Nintendo can compete with SW. I guess we'll find out.

 

[OSUZorba]

I wondered this, too. Having been on this several times it is hard to imagine it happening any other way than guest stupidity. Yet the fact they are keeping it closed makes me wonder if there was some sort of major mechanical failure.

Well, like I said, you are supposed to account for guest stupidity. The problem is, every time you idiot proof something god makes a better idiot. My guess is even it was guest induced they are trying to come up with a fix to make sure it doesn't happen again. Or if it was ride induced then they are definitely trying to fix that issue.

 

[soniam]

I totally agree wrt “come for SWGE maybe check out new Potter thing”, but Nintendo competing with SW? I’m sure there’s target demo overlap, but I guess I have a hard time imagining Nintendo competing in a serious way with SW.

I get where you are coming from. I super excited about Star Wars. I could give or take Nintendo, except maybe that Mario Kart ride. Nintendo was mostly after my generation, except for the arcade games. However, the younger generations, including my preteen son, love Nintendo. I can easily see both being a big draw but maybe to slightly different demographics.

 

[rteetz]

I totally agree wrt “come for SWGE maybe check out new Potter thing”, but Nintendo competing with SW? I’m sure there’s target demo overlap, but I guess I have a hard time imagining Nintendo competing in a serious way with SW.

Well it does have a large worldwide appeal. Star Wars does too but I feel its biggest in the US.

Considering Nintendo will be part of the next park at Universal I feel the third gate as a whole will be what really competes head to head with Star Wars. The next park helps continue to put Universal closer to Disney in terms of a vacation destination.

 

[NatureBoyChris]

Well it does have a large worldwide appeal. Star Wars does too but I feel its biggest in the US.

Considering Nintendo will be part of the next park at Universal I feel the third gate as a whole will be what really competes head to head with Star Wars. The next park helps continue to put Universal closer to Disney in terms of a vacation destination.

I agree. I think a lot of people are underestimating the reach Nintendo has. Not only was my generation influenced by Nintendo, but my kids as well. With a third gate, Universal becomes a week-long destination. Not just a tack a few extra days on a Disney trip type destination.

 

[MissGina5]

I agree. I think a lot of people are underestimating the reach Nintendo has. Not only was my generation influenced by Nintendo, but my kids as well. With a third gate, Universal becomes a week-long destination. Not just a tack a few extra days on a Disney trip type destination.

honestly would love that to be true. Get crowd levels down and more awesome stuff for Disney with the competition so!

 

[skier_pete]

I admit to being not part of the Nintendo generation, though my daughter doesn't really care about Nintendo. From my point of view, how is a Mario cart ride going to be much different from a go cart ride. Either they give the driver control and make it rather mundane, or they make it a track ride, and it won't feel like you are controlling the game. Third would be total motion simulator, which becomes yet another screen ride. Tough challenge to make it interesting.

 

[rteetz]

I admit to being not part of the Nintendo generation, though my daughter doesn't really care about Nintendo. From my point of view, how is a Mario cart ride going to be much different from a go cart ride. Either they give the driver control and make it rather mundane, or they make it a track ride, and it won't feel like you are controlling the game. Third would be total motion simulator, which becomes yet another screen ride. Tough challenge to make it interesting.

Japan will be the first to get any Nintendo.

Personally as someone who played Mario Kart I would love an immersive attraction based on it. If done right it would be way more than go-carts. I think it will be a mix of simulator and track based ride.

 

[skier_pete]

I agree. I think a lot of people are underestimating the reach Nintendo has. Not only was my generation influenced by Nintendo, but my kids as well. With a third gate, Universal becomes a week-long destination. Not just a tack a few extra days on a Disney trip type destination.

I think this is universals goal for sure. It's unlikely to work for me though. We find even now we tire of universal after even 3 days. Universal is just missing something for me. (It might just be the food.) A new park would potentially get us another trip there though. No hurry.

Star wars has me at go though.

 

[skier_pete]

Japan will be the first to get any Nintendo.

Personally as someone who played Mario Kart I would love an immersive attraction based on it. If done right it would be way more than go-carts. I think it will be a mix of simulator and track based ride.

My point is to make it satisfying, you have to make the driver feel like he's driving. To simulate a movie, you don't need guests to feel like they are in control. If you are simulating a video game, the user needs to control it. Not saying they can't do it, but it needs to be very different from most of what we currently get.

 

[rteetz]

My point is to make it satisfying, you have to make the driver feel like he's driving. To simulate a movie, you don't need guests to feel like they are in control. If you are simulating a video game, the user needs to control it. Not saying they can't do it, but it needs to be very different from most of what we currently get.

Oh I agree and I think Universal is aiming for that. They have filed a number of different ride patents the last couple years that many believe are for Nintendo attractions.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I played several Nintendo games as a kid. So did my kids. While those were fun, Nintendo in a park is a big “meh” for us. I don’t think most form the kind of connection with a Nintendo game as people did with a movie franchise like Star Wars. I just don’t see the former being too much competition for the latter.

Think about it this way: how many people will plan a trip just to see Nintendo stuff vs those who will plan a trip just to see the SW stuff? At least in the U.S.?

That’s why I could see the “come for SW maybe stay for some Nintendo”, but not too much of the other way around.

 

[Brett Wyman]

I get where you are coming from. I super excited about Star Wars. I could give or take Nintendo, except maybe that Mario Kart ride. Nintendo was mostly after my generation, except for the arcade games. However, the younger generations, including my preteen son, love Nintendo. I can easily see both being a big draw but maybe to slightly different demographics.

I’m a huge video gamer and a huge Nintendo fan. I’ve completed every Zelda and Mario game made. I also feel like I don’t really have any interest in Nintendo in theme park form. Maybe that will change once I experience it? Not sure.

 

[abs1978]

I'm one million percent more excited for Nintendo land than Star Wars land. So is my daughter. However, I am a child of the 80's and grew up playing Nintendo. I have lots of good memories playing until way too late with friends in junior high and high school. Now DD is totally in to it and we have a blast playing Mario Kart together on the Switch. A Mario Kart ride has so many possibilities!

Frankly I am sure Star Wars Land will look neat but I am happy waiting a few years for the hype to die down. The rides don't interest me at all. If they pull crowds away from other rides there I will be ecstatic.

 

[Firebird060]

If we want to talk about video games in theme parks, I would love if they added some elements of Kingdom Hearts to the Disney Parks, I know its not as big Domestically as say Japan but ehh I would still love a meet and greet with the Kingdom Hearts Versions of the fab 4 plus Chip and Dale. I know it comes down to a licensing thing, and I have no idea how the contract was written between Disney and Square Enix but a man can dream. I mean its great that there is a preview center in Disney Springs, but it has been so long since it was announced that it was in the works I would love for a nod to it in the parks.

 

[jade1]

Meh. I’ve mentioned this before, but we’re BLT owners from day one of operation, and we’ve been to the lounge once, maybe twice. I couldn’t care less about it, personally. Too small to be useful IMO. Restricting use to those buying a package wouldn’t bother me in the least. Makes a lot of sense given the size — you could prevent overcrowding.

Yea same here. Although we do reserve MK View so it's not necessary to go up a few floors.

We have looked at our name plaque on the fountain more times than visit the lounge, and it aint many. But would still vote to keep it available.

 

[jlundeen]

In the spirit of getting to page 1000 for this great thread, I'll weigh in on the proposed attractions for Universal.

First, I'm not a Universal Fan. While I've only been once, and did enjoy the HP areas, very little else was something I'd be interested in seeing again. (We did like the Minions, though!).

The IPs that are there, including Nintendo, are not something I'd spend money to go back for. I'm too much of a "dyed-in-the-wool" Disney fan, and really enjoy the attention to theme that Disney has, rather than the stark stop-start to the different areas of Universal.

But, at the end of the day, I applaud Universal for two reasons: 1) it keeps Disney challenged to be better, and 2) it might pull some of the crowds away....at least for a day or so at a time.... Selfish of me, but, there it is...

Happy New Year everyone!

 

[fatmanatee]

Not exactly the thread for this but I'm prob the market for Nintendo and Star Wars, might be going to Universal Japan next year (for the Olympics too) when it opens. I'm pretty optimistic that Universal is going to get this one right and it could easily have crossover appeal.

 

[splash327]

Well, like I said, you are supposed to account for guest stupidity. The problem is, every time you idiot proof something god makes a better idiot. My guess is even it was guest induced they are trying to come up with a fix to make sure it doesn't happen again. Or if it was ride induced then they are definitely trying to fix that issue.

Or to free the him they had to damage the ride and it's going to take time to fix.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I’m a huge video gamer and a huge Nintendo fan. I’ve completed every Zelda and Mario game made. I also feel like I don’t really have any interest in Nintendo in theme park form. Maybe that will change once I experience it? Not sure.

I am sort of in the same boat in that I would want to wait and see

BUT - if they pull it off and I get to enter the world of Mario or Zelda or Metroid (or whatever) and it is as immersive as the Harry Potter stuff I would be super excited about it - probably not more than Star Wars but as someone who hasn’t been to a Universal since 2000 (Though my wife took our daughter there for one day this summer to see HP stuff) having that level of Nintendo and HP stuff would probably get me to visit