Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

Wow, the renderings of the villains are crazy. I'm interested to see how it looks on the ride.

That lagoon show doesn't look like a cheap World of Color knock off or anything. Haha

^But it's narrated by Morgan Freeman!! Count me in.

Here is a fact sheet and conceptual art for the new kid's water structure at Wet 'N Wild Orlando. Source: http://www.wetnwildorlando.com/newsplash.php

Fact Sheet for the new Kid's Park section at Wet 'N Wild.

New Kid's Park section at Wet 'N WIld.

Holy cow, yeah, those villain renderings are crazy. Good to see they're re-investing in Spidey in such a big way.

Gotta see "Despicable Me" one of these days...

I have to say, I'm actually a bit impressed with the stuff they're putting into the Despicable Me ride. The preshow room with Gru's house looks really cool.

Does anyone know if they are re-wallpapering the entire ride? Part of the emersion was that the video screens blended perfectly with the walls surrounding them, since they were printed from the same rendering as the original video. Upgrading the video, while keeping the same lower quality environmental look, will kill a lot of the seamlessness.

I am REALLY looking forward to riding the new version.

Now, if only they would improve the video quality of the Harry Potter ride, and buy some brighter bulbs. That ride didn't compare well with the old Spidey. This new one is going to make FJ look dated after not even two years of being open.

-RO

Now, if only they would improve the video quality of the Harry Potter ride, and buy some brighter bulbs. That ride didn't compare well with the old Spidey. This new one is going to make FJ look dated after not even two years of being open.

 

-RO

One nit-picky little thing that also bothered me about Potter was the lack of wind effects on the screen portions. For Pete's sake, we're seeing Potter and the other characters fly on screen with their clothes and hair flopping in the wind, so why doesn't the same apply for us riders?

I looked at some photos of HP with the lights on and noticed the vehicles in front of the screens. They could easily have a couple of fans blow onto the screen and have it "reflect" onto the riders in some way. Hopefully they can solve that with Hollywood's version.

It's not only that, but having the wind in your face will lower the nausea factor, which was fairly high for me, which is why Mission Space has some pretty serious cold air blowing on you.

-RO

Yes^ I wish HP had more wind so you can really get that whole flying experience. And does anyone know why are the screens so dark

Nice to see spiderman getting some love from universal. Some of the screens were looking a little blurry last time I was there. Still the best non coaster ride on the planet though. These new upgrades should make an already great experience even better.

Anyone remember that lagoon show they had at HHN? Anyone remember how terrible it was? Yeah...

dt

^ More like 1% Terminator 1% Jaws and 98% On Golden Pond.

Ok. Hate to be this guy but I got a bad feeling about Spidey. For reference see: Posiedens Fury. I think the characters look to real for a comic series. I thought they were simply going to make it more clear and maybe add a couple things. Of course they will have to upgrade the physical scenery and it will look amazing, it just won't look like Spiderman. I don't mind it being new, just don't make it worse. Not feeling this at all. The technology looks very cool but not for this ride IMO.

Looking forward to a new track for some mini golfing though. This is going to be nice to have out there. City Walk is getting better and better, I think. See how I did that: a compliment sandwich except with complaining.

I forgot I had these. I took some pictures of the mini golf construction on January 15.

I love that Stan Lee is doing the cameo, it is fun to spot him in his movies but I got to wonder where he will fit in spiderman?

I could have sworn that the mini golf was supposed to be in doors.

Also as for a few things stated before, I personally think the villians look great for Spiderman, as long as they don't change the story or effects majorly I'll always love that ride.

I also agree they need to fix the screens on Forbidden Journey they are way too blurry, almost like I should be wearing 3D glasses, and the wind thing I agree to that as well, it would greatly reduce the nausea of the ride.

Having never been to Universal Orlando I am sure I will be impressed with the new or the improved (depends on your views) Spiderman. I was secretly hoping that the timing of our trip this year would allow us to try Transformers and Spiderman but I believe Transformers will not be open before May.

Anyway roll on our 6 week trip around the rollercoasters and alcoholic slushies of America!

Any word on what is replacing JAWS? I didn't read it anywhere. I hoped that this announcement would address that.

Any word on what is replacing JAWS? I didn't read it anywhere. I hoped that this announcement would address that.

Nope nothing. They said last week they would avoid speaking about Potter so the focus would be on the new 2012 attractions.

 

I like the new Spider-Man images, even though they look weird. It's like they tried to put the characters in a more realistic, less cartoon-y world.

I'm interested in seeing the new Spider-man characters in action--it's still the best ride at IOA. But I think I'm looking forward to the new mini-golf course more than anything else.

New Sci-Fi Mini Golf is the only exciting thing to me! Well, and the update to the Wet n Wild Kids area that was desperately needed!

Any word on what is replacing JAWS? I didn't read it anywhere. I hoped that this announcement would address that.

Nope nothing. They said last week they would avoid speaking about Potter so the focus would be on the new 2012 attractions.

Thanks! Makes a lot of sense to do it that way. This way everything they just announced won't be overshadowed.

I love that Stan Lee is doing the cameo, it is fun to spot him in his movies but I got to wonder where he will fit in spiderman?

For some reason I can see him showing up as the Truck Driver you almost run into. That's one of the very few times you see people in the ride besides the main characters.

I'm interested in seeing whether or not they'll changes the pre show around too, doesn't sound like it, but it'll be a liittle wired going from cartoony animation to ZOMFG Xtreme HD.

I love that Stan Lee is doing the cameo, it is fun to spot him in his movies but I got to wonder where he will fit in spiderman?

 

 

For some reason I can see him showing up as the Truck Driver you almost run into. That's one of the very few times you see people in the ride besides the main characters.

 

Makes senses alot of sense I completely forgot about that part.

Is it just me, or do the new graphics for Spider-man look like something out of a PS3 game?

Compare:

You know, watching the last video makes me realize how much missed opportunity there was by excluding Mysterio out of the ride. I think he would have been cooler to use than Doc Oc, but that's just me.

^ A computer generated ride scene looks like a computer generated game cut scene? What madness do you speak of?