Parkscope Unprofessional Podcast Hour #150 - LARP Your Face Off

OG crew is back as Joe, Lane, Mike, and Nick are here to talk Fast & Furious Supercharged impressions, Universal Orlando's Cinematic Celebration, catch up on Halloween Horror Nights news, and then invite on Lane's sister Amy to talk about Toy Story Land, Minnie Vans, Victoria and Alberts, and more!

Parkscope Unprofessional Podcast Hour #146 - Spoons on Sailboats

This week Joe, Kenny, and Mike talk about Stranger Things at Halloween Horror Nights, Universal's Endless Summer Resort, parking fees (again, sorry), Fast & Furious Supercharged, and lay some hate on Pandora's AMP walking suit.

Next Joe interviews Kevin Perjurer, creator and editor of Defunctland, a YouTube series on defunct theme park attractions around the globe. Find out his inspirations, what attractions he wishes to do in the future, and what's next for the channel.

And finally Alex and Jeff do one of our patented car ride park reviews from Kings Dominion opening weekend. They discuss Twisted Timbers, Racer 75, Grizzly, and more.

Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com or follow us at Parkscope, Alan, ParkscopeJoe, ParkscopeNick, and ParkscopeLane.

Parkscope Unprofessional Podcast Hour #145 - Forgive Tom

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Joe, Mike, and Nick reunite! Joe's a little sick and out of it, Mike is doing spit takes, and Nick is enjoying grading during his break. We catch up on news and rumors from WDW and UOR. Is the MK theater cancelled? Guardians coaster vehicles leaked? Toy Story Land is opening June 30th. Star Wars Galaxy's Edge attraction information. Be Our Guest is getting a fixed menu. Resort parking fees. That Damn Marvel Contract. Horror Nights dates. Voodoo Donuts opening. Fast & Furious progress and more!

Email us at parkscopeblog at gmail dot com or follow us at Parkscope, Alan, ParkscopeJoe, ParkscopeNick, and ParkscopeLane.

Project 620 (Fast & Furious) Build Permits Filed

Permits for building the show scenes and ride system for Fast & Furious Supercharged at Universal Studios Florida have been filed. We've long had permits for the building but this permit is for the attraction itself. 

Permit Update- Fast & Furious Supercharged Building Layout

Poster NJBrandon on Orlando United has posted a building layout for the Fast & Furious Supercharged attraction at USF from permits..

Compare this to a layover of a google maps view of the old Disaster show building below.

You can see this will be a major expansion to the attraction; new filming elements have occurred with Ludacris for the ride, who is not featured in the USH version.

Parkscope expects this to be an expanded, new version of the ride but will not be radically different from the experience at USH. So don't expect this to be a rollercoaster, Test Track style ride, or not primarily screens based.

Universal Orlando News Roundup

Universal's Media Relations Team has been working overtime again this year with a whole bunch of announcements the past two weeks. Lets quickly cover them.

The Incredible Hulk Upgrades

Photo courtesy Universal Orlando Resort

Visitors to Marvel Superhero Island know that the aesthetic hails from the 90s and needs a a refresh. As rumored, Universal has confirmed The Incredible Hulk coaster will go down for refurbishment and upgrade September 8th. More details will be shared soon, but we expect upgrades to control software, queue line and show building replacement, and a change to a modern visual style.

Fast & Furious Supercharged

Photo courtesy Universal Orlando Resort

August 24th Universal prematurely announced Fast & Furious on their blog, but made it official the next day. Disaster! will close September 8th and Beetlejuice will close later this year for a new attraction based on the Fast & Furious franchise. Earlier this year Universal Studios Hollywood opened a new finally to their tram tour using Fast & Furious characters to mixed reactions. It's not clear what, if any, aspects of the USH finally will transfer over to this new attraction.

Halloween Horror Nights 25

Photo courtesy Universal Orlando Resort

The dam of Halloween Horror Nights news finally burst August 27th as the complete house, show, and scare zone line up was revealed.

Press Release from Universal Orlando

• The return of the fan-favorite house, based on John Landis’s critically-acclaimed horror film, “An American Werewolf in London” – a fiercely-immersive experience that pays homage to one of the greatest lycanthropic stories ever told. This year, the wolves are more ferocious and hungry for human flesh…and their pack has expanded. 
• All-new, original houses based on the best and most iconic stories from years past, including ghastly scenes from RUN: Blood, Sweat, and Fears, Asylum in Wonderland 3D, Body Collectors: Recollections and Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem. 
• More “scareactors” than ever before in five spine-chilling, new scare zones, including the escaped inmates from Psychoscareapy – Unleashed, appearances from past event icons including The Caretaker, The Storyteller, The Director, and The Usher in ICONS – HHN and more. 
• Two outrageous live shows, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure and The Carnage Returns-—featuring the favorite and feared icon Jack the Clown.

Fast and Furious Orlando: A (Possibly) Crazy Guess as to What's Coming

So yesterday at the press grand opening of Fast and Furious: Supercharged at Universal Studios Hollywood, Michele Rodriguez, one of the film series and ride's stars, let slip that F&F would be coming to both Universal planned park in Beijing as well as Florida. This really didn't tell us anything we didn't already figure, as Furious 7 has become the third highest grossing film of all time, though that's soon to change to 4th thanks to Jurassic World's monstrous success. Though that's a story for a different time, I'm sure.

What her comments have sparked, however, is a discussion on just what the heck the ride will be when it comes to Orlando. The new capper to the Universal Hollywood Tour clearly won't be ported directly to the other parks, especially if Beijing's helping to foot the R&D bill of a stand alone version. Plus, the attraction has garnered lukewarm reactions from fans, and the story is custom made for the tram tour. On top of all that, Universal's recent track record shows that the second version of an attraction is nearly always significantly better. Springfield, Kong, Potter, and Despicable Me have all been significantly plussed in their second iterations.

So, what the heck is coming here?

Allow me, if you will, to take you through what I've worked out. But before I get to it, let me warn you. For the record, the only thing I'm semi-sure of in the following hypothesis is the project number, and until permits show up I don't even know if that is 100% right. So take the following with a grain of salt, or more depending on how much you trust me.

Let's get to it, then. Project 620. That's basically what my theory hinges on. From what I understand that is the project number for the Fast and Furious Orlando project, and I've seen others agree. I know the project number exists thanks to luck, for the most part. When Googling "Universal Orlando Project #" just for fun, I came across a LinkedIn profile that had two project numbers on it: 727 and 620.

727, as we've said before, is supposedly the long-rumored Tonight Show attraction replacing Twister, and as I said, 620 is believed to be Fast and Furious for USF.

"So what?" you're probably asking. "A project number doesn't tell you anything."

And honestly, you'd be completely justified in that. It's what comes directly below that which sparked my interest.

The same person working the lead on Project 620, believed to be F&F, was also the director of ride and show during Universal Moscow's planning. Again, what's the big deal about that? Well, if you don't remember the concept art for Moscow (and let's be honest, it seems like the park vanished quickly so I wouldn't blame you), let's take a look.

The red outline is my own doing, obviously. And what is it outlining, exactly? Well, it certainly looks like a racing-type ride, more than likely centered on the F&F franchise. So that's my hypothesis. The ride that was being planned for Universal Moscow will be the basis for the ride coming to Universal Beijing and Universal Studios Florida. My guess could be completely wrong, and maybe all the connections are just circumstantial evidence, but that's what I'm going with. If I'm right, I'm genuinely excited to see this. It would be a departure from Universal's recent rides (though I still expect screens depicting the movie cast to be included), and would be a legitimate E-ticket experience.

So what do you think? Let me know in the comments or @Parkscope.

And, as always, ride or die.