So last week here on the podcast, we started to look at the new Universal Park in Florida Epic Universe.

We looked at the extremely impressive Harry Potter area, which is a recreation of Paris in the 1920s.

We also talked about the park's overall strengths and overall weaknesses.

Today on the podcast, we journey through the park with an eye as to how this park will change the competitive landscape between

Disney and Universal and Central Florida. For me, Epic Universe held some impressive strengths,

some rides and areas that are really worth

to visit, also some elements and missed opportunities that sort of left me scratching my head.

Today I want to talk about a couple of areas in detail and offer some observations as to what's

working and what's not in other areas

of the park.

And I want to discuss how this park is likely to change tourism patterns in Florida.

So if you're ready, let's get back into our topic.

There's something exciting about going to a brand new theme park. It's been over 25 years since Disney or Universal opened a new full-size theme park in Florida.

If you're a theme park fan, there is a lot to see in experience in Epic Universe.

So even though today, we're going to talk about the design and operational strengths and weaknesses of the park overall,

please keep in mind that I think most theme park fans

will enjoy what Universal Creative has developed here. And also what a theme park fan, designer,

or operations person might admire could be different than what will or won't satisfy a typical family on a week-long vacation.

So let's talk about the park's overall identity to begin with.

For the big picture beyond individual-themed areas, a new park ideally should represent a complete coherent vision.

When parks expand, they can get a little bit messy, particularly in terms of what they

communicate overall about the experience, as sometimes the vision for how a park expands

...