Well, I wrote this a couple of weeks ago and apparently forgot to post it lol
Anyways, this will kind of come off as a trip report but it also is kind of a reply to some of the concerns I brought up earlier in this thread. So to start with, the Harry Potter ride is in no way better then Spider-Man. Matter of fact, it even disappointed some of the Potter fans I had with me (although, we all were pretty impressed with the queue). First of all, it’s not 3D and it never seemed seamless with the physical sets (the final scenes with everyone cheering for you, looked terribly flat). Second of all, the projectors either need adjusted or just don’t work well with the curved screens because they were blurry. I felt like I was watching something filmed on 16mm. Third, the animatronics need some work. The dragon seemed almost broke at first and then finally blew his fire at us. A couple of the dementors weren’t even moving and even the ones that were looked like cheap old haunted house props. I think the technology they used was promising but that they didn’t use it to it’s fullest. Overall, I don’t think the ride was worth ruining Jurassic Park’s atmosphere by plopping that giant white box and ride queue in the middle of it (seriously, you can see the Potter ride building from almost anywhere in Jurassic Park, with only a temporary looking wood fence separating the Potter queue from the Jurassic Park section, where you can clearly hear the Potter music).
As for Spider-Man, my opinion of the enhancements remains largely unchanged. The realistic art direction doesn’t match the cartoony art direction found in the queue and it bothers me. My biggest complaints have to do with the changes made to the music and the final free fall. The music is garbage. Parts of it sound like the Metal Gear Solid sneaking music and other parts sound like garbage techno / dubstep. When exiting the ride, you no longer hear the Spider-Man theme cover (Ramones?) but some generic nightclub music. As for the free fall, it’s less effective in this version. Instead of the music holding right before you hit the ground, like you holding your breath, it now plays all the way through. The worst part, though, is seeing the web float down next to you and then catch you. It looks terrible and ruins the suspense of not knowing if you’re going to be caught in time.
What really surprised me is that I didn’t even notice the difference with the 4k picture and new audio system. Actually, it looked blurry the first time I rode. The end effect with JJ floating also wasn’t working. Then I went to seen Prometheus and Men in Black 3 at the local Cinemark in 4k and they showed a preview for the Spider-Man enhancements and they looked incredibly sharp. So I went back and rode it again. It no longer looked blurry but it still didn’t look as sharp as what I saw in theaters. I blame the crappy new 3D glasses that they keep hyping up and the closeness to the screens. Terminator seemed to display more detail and depth then Spider-Man and it used the old glasses. I noticed this at MGM too. Star Wars lacked detail but Muppets (with it’s brand new digital projection) looked sharper and displayed more depth. I blame the glasses, screen size and closeness to the screen.
Universal as a whole was disappointing. Whether it was the giant hole left by Jaws, the god-awful re-theming of Dueling Dragons, the Rockit coaster at USF ruining the forced perspective atmosphere of New York Street or the sheer amount of animatronics and effects that need fixed (many dinos on Jurassic Park, a whole scene on Ripsaw Falls, a couple of dementors on Potter’s magical journey, the motorcycle in the Terminator show - seriously, he ran around on stage while motorcycle noises were happening [think the South Park episode, "The F Word"], the figures in Circus McGurkus, the Earthquake ride breaking down while we were riding it, broken worm AA in the queue of Men in Black, etc.). Hell, I think USF is a waste of money at this point and I can only recommend IOA. All my favorite rides have been removed from USF, they haven’t added anything worthwhile since Men in Black, and everything was walk on (seriously, how are they still open?). I usually wait 45 mins for Men in Black, filling both outside and inside queue, but I literally walked on all three days. The only ride I had to wait for was Despicable Me but that was because it was soft opening and despite the sign always reading 60min, I only waited about 45mins. Oh yeah, their night time show was also poorly done.
One last complaint, I also expect all the escalators and moving platforms to work in the parking structure, which they weren’t. Seriously, parking was $15 a day ($45 total spent to park my car for the 3 days I spent there).
Wait, I thought of something else to complain about. I hate their no carryon policy policy. Seriously, since when has it been mandatory that you use their lockers for all the rides? They used to have bag holders to put your stuff in on the ride but now they force you to use their lockers, which eats up a ton of time when everyone else is using them too. I collectively had to have spent nearly 30 minutes a day dealing with lockers, something I never had to do before. Believe me, they're strict with their no carryon policy. For example, I carried around a small bag that held our ponchos and since it was raining, I emptied our bag and we were all wearing our ponchos. Since the bag was completely flat now that it was empty, I simply wore it under my poncho and decided against using a locker. My mistake. This was the MiB ride and we were sitting in the cars when they told us that we all have to sit on our ponchos. So I took of my poncho and they immediately saw the shoulder straps and told me that we have to exit the ride. I told him it a flat bag, flatter then our ponchos and that I could just sit on it. He said we have to exit and get a locker. I'm sorry but that's BS and I hate the policy. It's even worst at the Harry Potter ride. They put a small amount of lockers right between the entrance and exit gift shop of the ride - possible the highest traffic section of the park - and left narrow entrance and exits to the locker. So it took us about 10 minutes to get a locker and then about 20 minutes to get our crap back out, since everyone was jammed in there like sardines. No one could move. I checked my phone and saw that I only had 10 minutes until I would be charged for locker use, so I regrettably just had to shove people out of the way and barely made it. Poor design.
Wait, I just thought of something else I wanted to talk about but this isn't a complaint (go figure?). The first day I was at USF, I was complaining about how they tear out perfectly fine rides but at the same time don't do anything with the dead space in the park (I was saying this while standing in-front of the old Murder She Wrote building). Two days later I returned to the park, and the Back to the Future DeLorean had been moved from in-front of the building (the train is still there) and a construction wall has been put up. I honestly thought that maybe they were just painting it or something parade related. Didn't think much of it. Imagine my surprise when I get home to find out that they're tearing the building down. Crazy coincidence lol
Oh yeah, one last thing. The park meal deals are totally worth it
