EPIC Universe Preview - March

I like the portal idea as a way to manage the cognitive/experience shift between lands. That's very clever. I don't think one way in/out will be a problem, as there isn't some huge tidal wave effect at the end of the night to get people out of the individual lands thanks to Celestial Park.

But I think the "requiring facial recognition to enter a portal" part---particularly operationally---is a too much sugar for a dime. I mean I guess I can leave my pass at home, but that's not a huge difference in my park-going day. From the park's point of view, they are going to need some mechanism for (a) a fair number of staff members to (b) be alerted to who is entering the portal who shouldn't be and (c) to head those guests off and turn them around without creating other bottlenecks.

Yeah, I'll pile on what Brian said. The idea of a transition is hardly new, or a bad idea. My favorites are those in and out of Galaxy's Edge, for example. Makes total sense. What I don't get is why the hub isn't just part of the entire park. I mean, who is going to go there and think, "Gosh, I really wanna hang out here between all of these attractions and not enter any of them!"

Celestial Park has its own attractions, restaurants, etc. But we are talking about something they aren't even doing at this point. You will only scan your face/ticket at the park entrance.

Right. And I suspect that's the only place it will ever happen. So even if the invested a bunch in e.g. camera infrastructure at the entrance to each portal, I doubt it will ever be used to control entry to the individual lands.

It might well be used to track entry, but that's a different kettle of fish.

eightdotthree:

Celestial Park has its own attractions

So Celestial park is open to the public but has rides? That’s interesting.

it sounds like it will be like another Citywalk type thing eventually? With dinner options and shops, concerts, etc… to make more money….

We believe or it was stated by Universal that it was the initial concept but they’ve abandoned it for now.

let’s be brutally honest. The idiot in the White House has now thrown the leisure industry into turmoil (and the global economy). People are cancelling plans. I live in a snow bird town, canadians are selling their second homes in the US, the Canadian leisure airlines have prematurely cancelled their extra seasonal service, three weeks early and before the week Coachella starts. Canadian tourism had already evaporated. American consumers are going to lock up starting this weekend.

Whatever grand plans Universal had for a hybrid CityWalk environment for Celestial Park are out the window. if the Markets hadn’t just tanked, and a global Recession/depression not now be seen on the horizon we could be talking about the poor demand for Epic, and much of that based on Universal’s (initially understandable) slow roll out of Express and multi-day tickets. That looked like a smart plan at first to prevent massive overcrowding. I think it will come to be viewed as a mistake, as a large number of guests may have put off their visit until they can maximize their EU time by paying for express, and were willing to pay for it, but weren’t able to do so. It may still be seen as the only way they could have done it, but I think the impending economic wipeout in the US is going to spell real trouble, and utilizing Celestial Park as an open gate food and retail venue is just not going to happen now.

Oh FFS...

Media previews were today and they are allowed to share photos and videos. I was starting to feel a little like it was going to be a bit of a let down but everything I am allowing myself to peek at looks amazing. Hype levels back are back up!

Universal must be cursed, open IOA, dot com crash. Open Epic Universe, “Liberation Day” occurs.

Touchdown:

Universal must be cursed, open IOA, dot com crash. Open Epic Universe, “Liberation Day” occurs.

I had that same thought as I was posting the comment above. Certain Airline stocks are down 50% in the last two months. That’s with crude oil being down a small bit. That combo only happens when the markets anticipate a complete collapse of consumer discretionary spending. We shall see.

I’m stoked for Epic, I’m sure it will be gorgeous, However, I’m not going this summer. Their slow roll out caused me to make other plans. I’ll get there eventually. Kind of sucks because I did IOA immediately after opening. Things that were gorgeous but not “public proof” faded away, so it was never as magical as it was when it first opened. Same will happen here so I’m envious of those who will get to see it at opening.

Going OT, and will probably regret it but:

I don't think anyone knows anything about what happens next month, let alone for the rest of the year. The current administration has been willing to turn on a dime when it suits them, for Reasons. The trade landscape could last for a week or two, or it could be a lot longer than that. I don't think we'll know until something happens (or doesn't happen).

If things change quickly, the impact on domestic discretionary spending is likely to be small. In the silver lining department: If they don't, be ready to get some screaming good deals on leisure travel.

On that note: I did get some pretty good flight prices for a trip to see each of the kids next month, and my late June/early July trip got very reasonable all of a sudden too. Flight prices for later in the summer haven't really budged, though. I suspect the US airline pricing folks are thinking the same thing I am: No one knows anything, so there is no reason to make changes even in the medium term just yet.

Irrespective of what happens with these tariffs - whether they last two weeks, a month, six months - the shocks to international trade and domestic production are likely to be quite large. It’s going to be a rough ride. And there’s no reason to think large-scale relief is coming from this administration and congress. (I doubt they could execute it, even if they wanted to.)

Apart from that, however - I might be totally wrong about economics - foreign travel to the US is over for the next four years. People simply do not travel to countries where they fear being arrested and jailed for no reason. (And attitudes among some Americans will not help: a sizeable number of people at the baseball game I was at yesterday booed the Canadian anthem.) Canadian bookings to the US are down about 75%. Overseas visitors are about 20% of Disney World’s customers. That's probably lower at Universal, but let’s say it’s 10%. What do you suppose their margins are?

People who wanted a return to parks without the overwhelming crowds are going to get their wish, I think.

Disney shares are down huge, but look at the drop in Cedar Flags. It’s down roughly 37% since the post-election high. That would suggest that the “people won’t go to Orlando, but they’ll vacation closer to home” theory is out the window. Markets are indicating that people are going to stop spending on everything. Whether that’s true, who knows, but the people who are smarter with their money than I am, have made the decision that they’re not risking it.

bringing this back on topic. It doesn’t bode well for Epic once the initial hype of opening wanes. I suspect early September in Orlando will be gloriously uncrowded.

Jeff:

What I don't get is why the hub isn't just part of the entire park. I mean, who is going to go there and think, "Gosh, I really wanna hang out here between all of these attractions and not enter any of them!"

If the concept ever comes to reality, the idea isn't much different than City Walk. Who would go hangout between two theme parks and not enter either of them? Well, lots of locals do, and travelers who are starting their vacation and have theme park tickets the following day.

If another park is built next to Epic, and Celestial Park connects the two and becomes open to the public, you now have shopping/entertainment/dining for locals on that side of town, and for hotel guests staying at the resort. Other positives for the park mean the portal concept allows Epic to close a land for private events but allow the remainder to stay open later for paying guests without disrupting operations. Park closing could be at 9PM (for example) for the portals, but keep Celestial Park open through midnight, similar to City Walk. It will also work in the morning when you want to get your hotel guests up and spending money, but don't want to staff an entire park just to let them in to buy Starbucks on "Main Street".

I admit I didn't understand why this could be good when Universal announced the concept, and thought it was silly, but once I saw the park in person and thought about it, I started seeing how this could work for operations and the benifits that come with it. They have essentially already built their City Walk, but until it's needed, it just works as part of Epic as a whole.

I also see this being a win for park closing time when they have to clear the park of guests. It seems like it will clear faster, allowing cleaning and maintenance to being quicker once the portal gates are closed. Once a land clears, shut the gates and work can begin.

99er:

I started seeing how this could work for operations

This is the part I can't wrap my head around. What does it look like when facial recognition controls entry through the portals? How many staff do they need to "enforce" that, and what does that enforcement look like?

I haven't seen them in person, so maybe this is much easier to do than I am imagining.

99er:

If the concept ever comes to reality, the idea isn't much different than City Walk.

It's totally different. I don't have to leave the park to go between Jurassic Park and Hogsmeade.

Uncertainty may have the same effect as actual damage in terms of the economy. I saw a report about Disney considering a slow down in their ship building because of the likely rise in cost for steel. We've never seen anything like this in my lifetime, this bizarre, self-inflicted economic harm.

If things go bad, I wonder how long they restrict APs for Epic, going in October and planning on getting an AP.

Jeff:

Uncertainty may have the same effect as actual damage in terms of the economy.

and

Jeff:
We've never seen anything like this in my lifetime, this bizarre, self-inflicted economic harm.

And that's the rub. The world has come to know that a) Trump will not be contained this time; and b) waiting to Find Out is the same as FA, so businesses aren't waiting.

Someone else alluded (upthread, could have been Jeff again) that this administration doesn't have the organizational skills to rapidly, and successfully, undue what they've just done. There is no "Just kidding" or "lets make a careful U-Turn here". They are ramming the ship at the iceberg, and there is no easy way to change direction.