It seems like every time Disney does something dumb, a whole bunch of people talk about Universal instead, and I just don't get it. I almost wonder if it's astroturfing (which I would genuinely respect if that was Universal's PR move).
Apart from Jurassic Park and Harry Potter - everything else is just old or blah.
Simpsons is a BTTF overlay. Minions is a Hanna Barbera overlay - hey, look, the seats move now. (Honestly, the pre-show with the 3D glasses was my favorite part of the ride, and I loved that.) Men in Black is better than Buzz, but that's not saying much. Transformers is okay, but insanely loud. Fallon and Fast & Furious are all-time awful, which is even worse because they're new. Mummy is in too small of a building. Rip Ride Rockit has to be past its End of Life by now. (That happens to steel coasters - Hulk was fully rebuilt after reaching its EOL.) USP is essentially the
HHN park, the same way Epcot became the festival park. Spiderman is okay, but that Marvel section is embarrassing - even more so when you realize it only exists because it stops WDW from using the characters. Most generic parks have a water ride like Popeye, and I don't ride Dudley Do Right because I don't wanna get that unrelentingly soaked (or spend money on the blasted dryer). And I
hate CityWalk - it's awfully laid out (the upper section feels almost like a back alley) and I can't stand having to walk through it to get to the parks.
At this point, I can buy a one-day ticket to IOA (and maybe one night at HHN), do everything I want to do, and not go again for months or a year. (I would totally do HHN this year if not for COVID.)
I think some of the talk is just the "stigginit to Disney" factor. But those folks seem to miss the underlying truth - I can be
pissed at Disney and still think WDW is a better park experience. (Most of my Orlando local friends freely admit that while they have APs for Uni and Sea World and enjoy both resorts a lot, they would be WDW APs if it weren't so insanely expensive.)
When I've hinted at stuff like this on other threads - the response is usually that WDW is out-of-date, too. I don't entirely disagree. But I don't mind a lot of WDW's out-of-date stuff (I would take MuppetVision over Minions, Shrek, or Fallon every day of the week and twice on Sunday), and the top-line stuff is unspeakably great.
I seriously hope that Epic Universe is brilliantly awesome, because I desperately want Disney to feel threatened enough to spend money on upgrading the parks. (Especially the Magic Kingdom, which is
embarrassingly, horribly out of date - the fact that a 46-year-old steel coaster, long past its EOL, would even be
considered for a paid FP - even just temporarily - is
ludicrous.)
/end rant
//with apologies
///been constantly thinking this for weeks