Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[tony67]

My one worry with epic is its aimed too much at younger kids.

I dont see it that way - its just geared to a larger group of folks not just a thrill park - they have IOA for that.
Anyone who grew up with Nintendo is going to be interested in that - so a large age group.
Train your dragon is kids IMO - but worth looking at.
Harry Potter is a large group as well and a large age range.
Universal Monsters is more geared for Adults IMO - although its somewhat family friendly from what I've read.
The stardust coaster is looking very good - maybe not Velocicoaster or Hulk but a solid coaster

At the end of the day if you want to compete with the mouse you need the families - a thrill park is just not going to cut it.

On a different topic - I assume folks are thinking late May.
I just got back from my trip and was going to book one of the two new hotels for late may and there is not a ton of availability all of a sudden. Ill keep looking but just an FYI

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My one worry with epic is its aimed too much at younger kids.

They already said they were looking to get a wider range of visitors. Universal is/was typically seen as more a tween/teen/adult destination and I know they were hoping to been seen as more than that. I think How to Train Your Dragon will be the area that is most aimed at the youngest crowd but the park looks to appeal to a wider audience than before. I don't think that's a bad thing completely and I do think Epic will still have enough thrill rides that parents will be looking at the value of going over there. I grew up where my parents took us to theme parks despite not being able to ride a whole lot but many other families stay away from more thrill destinations.

I do share some concerns in that I've thought it was nice not having to dodge the sheer number of strollers that WDW has but I don't think Epic is going to be the destination for throngs of families in strollers despite the appeal to more than just tween/teen/adult.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

At the end of the day if you want to compete with the mouse you need the families - a thrill park is just not going to cut it.

I agree with all of your comment but this one. I don't think they've ever tried nor are they trying to emulate what Disney has, I mean Universal's core audience is still going to be the adults who love thrills which is the opposite of WDW. They've obviously been able to compete with Disney most especially during the pandemic and have long been seen as competing with them once Harry Potter Hogsmeade was made. They could have had Epic be 100% thrills and still be able to compete with Disney and one major reason is because people have been able to see they can deliver on theming and deliver it in a way WDW can't.

But to be fair to the discussion compete with Disney means different things to different people. We've seen Disney add more thrill rides and Universal add some more tamer rides (and Epic How to Train Your Dragon exemplifies this) so I think both parks are looking at just picking up some different audiences than before while maintaining their core audience. WDW has the reputation of being just a place for young kids, Universal the opposite. Both are trying to diversify. But that IMO shouldn't mean Universal is like "well now we have to compete with Disney".

 

[tx911]

I agree with all of your comment but this one. I don't think they've ever tried nor are they trying to emulate what Disney has, I mean Universal's core audience is still going to be the adults who love thrills which is the opposite of WDW. They've obviously been able to compete with Disney most especially during the pandemic and have long been seen as competing with them once Harry Potter Hogsmeade was made. They could have had Epic be 100% thrills and still be able to compete with Disney and one major reason is because people have been able to see they can deliver on theming and deliver it in a way WDW can't.

But to be fair to the discussion compete with Disney means different things to different people. We've seen Disney add more thrill rides and Universal add some more tamer rides (and Epic How to Train Your Dragon exemplifies this) so I think both parks are looking at just picking up some different audiences than before while maintaining their core audience. WDW has the reputation of being just a place for young kids, Universal the opposite. Both are trying to diversify. But that IMO shouldn't mean Universal is like "well now we have to compete with Disney".

I think the hard-core thrill rides appeal to a small slice of the population. Late teens, young to possibly middle-aged adults.
Younger kids and older adults probably will prefer Disney. I know for me personally, I used to ride the biggest and baddest, but now Disney's thrill rides are about as much as I want.

The bottom line is, since those demographics are already coming to Orlando for WDW, it is in Universal's best interest to try to appeal to those demographics as well.

 

[GhostHost24]

Yea that's always been the knock with UO with families, not much for them to do. They don't need to fully gear it, but give them something, which they're slowly doing more of (dreamworks land example)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think the hard-core thrill rides appeal to a small slice of the population. Late teens, young to possibly middle-aged adults.
Younger kids and older adults probably will prefer Disney. I know for me personally, I used to ride the biggest and baddest, but now Disney's thrill rides are about as much as I want.

The bottom line is, since those demographics are already coming to Orlando for WDW, it is in Universal's best interest to try to appeal to those demographics as well.

Honestly? You're not saying anything that I wasn't saying so I'm not sure what your comment is about. Being a small slice of a population doesn't matter so long as the profits are coming in and for years Universal has been targeting those who are wanting thrills. That's still going to be the ones they are aiming at. However, as I said in not only one comment but two comments they are also wanting to increase who they are getting into their parks which they, the company, already said they were wanting to do.

 

[tx911]

Honestly? You're not saying anything that I wasn't saying so I'm not sure what your comment is about. Being a small slice of a population doesn't matter so long as the profits are coming in and for years Universal has been targeting those who are wanting thrills. That's still going to be the ones they are aiming at. However, as I said in not only one comment but two comments they are also wanting to increase who they are getting into their parks which they, the company, already said they were wanting to do.

Wasn’t really trying to disagree or start an argument. Just joining in the conversation.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Yea that's always been the knock with UO with families, not much for them to do. They don't need to fully gear it, but give them something, which they're slowly doing more of (dreamworks land example)

I think this is an excellent and important point. If you have a family with children who have a wide range of ages, I can imagine it would be hard for the parents to yes to Universal even though that's the what the older sibling(s) wants, knowing that there would be very little for the younger sibling(s) to do. I see it as Universal doing addition, not subtraction. They are not taking away more intense thrill rides, but they are adding tamer rides.

 

[asgur5]

I think the hard-core thrill rides appeal to a small slice of the population. Late teens, young to possibly middle-aged adults.
Younger kids and older adults probably will prefer Disney. I know for me personally, I used to ride the biggest and baddest, but now Disney's thrill rides are about as much as I want.

The bottom line is, since those demographics are already coming to Orlando for WDW, it is in Universal's best interest to try to appeal to those demographics as well.

Thrill rides appeal to pre teens (10 year old and up). They dont start at late teens. 10 year olds to 50 years are not a small market. They are the majority.

And universal only has 3-4 hard core thrill rides. At epic it looks like they are only adding one more ride to this group. Maybe 2 if the monsters dark ride is a thrill ride.

Universal is not a thrill ride park. Its a park that has a small amount of thrill rides and mostly family rides.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Universal is not a thrill ride park. Its a park that has a small amount of thrill rides and mostly family rides.

I agree, but what's exciting about Epic Universe is that the non-thrill rides look good and don't seem heavily reliant on screens. I normally think about UO as heavy on the thrill rides because those are the good ones (with some exceptions), but with Epic we're hopefully getting good quality across the board!

 

[Douglas Dubh]

And universal only has 3-4 hard core thrill rides.

But it’s got a lot of medium core thrill rides, and hardly any family rides.

 

[asgur5]

But it’s got a lot of medium core thrill rides, and hardly any family rides.

Medium core thrill rides are family rides. 6-70 year olds ride them. Thats most families.

Dr suess land rides and the new dreamworks land ride arent even family rides. They are solely kids rides. As are a few other like the jurassic park ride in the air and the simpsons alien ride.

At epic there is a kids carousel, a kids ride in super mario land and then mostly all family rides. The exception being the celestial coaster and probably the monsters dark ride.

These are very well rounded parks that cater to everyone from 3 year olds to thrill seekers.

 

[tink2424]

Medium core thrill rides are family rides. 6-70 year olds ride them. Thats most families.

Dr suess land rides and the new dreamworks land ride arent even family rides. They are solely kids rides. As are a few other like the jurassic park ride in the air and the simpsons alien ride.

At epic there is a kids carousel, a kids ride in super mario land and then mostly all family rides. The exception being the celestial coaster and probably the monsters dark ride.

These are very well rounded parks that cater to everyone from 3 year olds to thrill seekers.

I wouldn't call Dr. Suess land rides solely kids rides. I'm in my late 40s and I ride them all when I go to Universal. Even the carousel.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I wouldn't call Dr. Suess land rides solely kids rides. I'm in my late 40s and I ride them all when I go to Universal. Even the carousel.

I agree. I mean, the Cat in the Hat ride would fit right in with Halloween Horror Nights.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I wouldn't call Dr. Suess land rides solely kids rides. I'm in my late 40s and I ride them all when I go to Universal. Even the carousel.

I ride them too. The Caro-Suess-el is the ride both my travelling companion and I both hurt ourselves on during our first Universal trip....
But they're still kiddie rides. That doesn't mean only kids ride them, but they have a primary appeal to kids and are geared towards kids.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I ride them too. The Caro-Suess-el is the ride both my travelling companion and I both hurt ourselves on during our first Universal trip....
But they're still kiddie rides. That doesn't mean only kids ride them, but they have a primary appeal to kids and are geared towards kids.

Yeah I mean many of us ride attractions that are aimed at young kids. The comment wasn't about who is willing to ride them/who does ride them, just who the target draw is meant for. High in the Sky is one of my fav attractions but I'm well aware I am not the target draw of that ride My husband and I have a blast on Flight of the Hippogriff too although my husband is pushing it on being too tall for it

FWIW I looked up and there is actually an attraction (Dragon Racer's Rally) in the How to Train Your Dragon area that will have a 48inch height restriction. I didn't realize that, so it's not a young young kid's attraction based on the safety of the attraction.

 

[tink2424]

I ride them too. The Caro-Suess-el is the ride both my travelling companion and I both hurt ourselves on during our first Universal trip....
But they're still kiddie rides. That doesn't mean only kids ride them, but they have a primary appeal to kids and are geared towards kids.

See I don't see it that way. I saw many adults on all the Suess rides with and without kids. I think it is similar to Disney rides that maybe geared to kids but all ages enjoy and they are family rides. Just like Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan & others.

 

[georgina]

See I don't see it that way. I saw many adults on all the Suess rides with and without kids. I think it is similar to Disney rides that maybe geared to kids but all ages enjoy and they are family rides. Just like Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan & others.

Yep. 62 year old here, ride velocicoaster and Hagrids but also love the Seuss rides.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Medium core thrill rides are family rides. 6-70 year olds ride them. Thats most families.

No, they aren’t. By definition, they are rides that some may ride but many won’t. There are plenty of people who don’t ride Spider-Man, or Simpsons, or Forbidden Journey because they are too intense or cause motion sickness. Even Cat in the Hat and MIB spin a lot for dark rides.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

At epic there is a kids carousel, a kids ride in super mario land and then mostly all family rides. The exception being the celestial coaster and probably the monsters dark ride.

A family ride is by definition a ride anyone can ride. Therefore anything with a height restriction or a warning that expectant mothers or those with medical problems shouldn’t ride aren’t family rides. The werewolf coaster and the donkey Kong coaster will almost certainly have height restrictions. I’m pretty sure only a couple of rides in EU won’t.