Islands of Adventure Update: Hulk Coaster Refurbishment
Islands of Adventure's skyline looks quite different without the massive green track of The Incredible Hulk Coaster. This iconic attraction is currently down for a major rehab that includes a complete replacement of the roller coaster's track, the retheming of the queue, and (possibly) even a new launch system. That is far from being the only project going on in the park, of course. In fact, there are plenty of other changes and additions to see around the rest of the park.
Even before entering the park itself, Guests can notice that the Pharos lighthouse is being repainted:
Some characters were greeting Guests around the Port of Entry area of the park:
Heading to Marvel's Superhero Island:
Captain America seemed to be in a hurry:
The launch cannon of The Incredible Hulk Coaster is the only part of the ride that's still standing:
The queue area is still being worked on:
The coaster's locker area is walled off:
These boxes are covering some of the coaster's footers:
The rest of the area formerly occupied by the coaster:
All the other footers are still there:
A circular saw is being used to work on them:
The new Sapphire Falls Resort is visible from the midway games area of Toon Lagoon:
Toon Lagoon:
The sign of the Comic Strip Cafe could use some help:
New wait time boards are being installed around the park:
The new resort is also visible from Jurassic Park:
A few areas of Camp Jurassic are now closed to Guests:
New caution signs were recently installed next to all the cave entrances:
Another new wait time board was spotted near the Raptor Encounter:
The only new wait time board that is currently operational can be found in Seuss Landing:
This is one of the best times of the year to visit the parks:
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That lagoon in the middle of the park is begging for a world of color type show.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Danielz6. Universal has always been lacking in the evening entertainment. Because of their location, they can't use many fireworks which is why the current show at the other park is basically all water screens with a few fireworks at the end. They really should work on creating an "island hopping" world of color type show where each island of the park gets a few minutes of action. It would be the perfect end to the night if they do it right but they need to fill the lagoon with water jets...not do the random line of jets like the other side.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Hulk goes, I can't believe they plan on it being hope by the summer. I mean, Universal has been known lately for building things SUPER fast, but they have like 6-7 months to build an entire roller coaster and test it. Going to be impressive to see them pull this off.
I agree, even if they're replacing Hulk like-for-like, they're going to really have to haul ass. It looks like they're cutting the middles of the footers out (like coring them) and will repour concrete into the centre to cut down on the groundwork. It's a bit ironic that a lot of people thought it was only the launch that was going to get any TLC, yet it's the only thing left - I wonder if this is all going to be torn down soon, or if they're just replacing the track bit-by-bit (although not sure if they can do this, or if the track is integral to the 'tube' structure.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling the tube is going to stay in place. If they wanted to replace it as well, I feel like they would have removed it when they removed everything else. My guess is the tube is attached to the queue building/loading area and can't be removed without just removing everything.
ReplyDeleteStill, I'm sure Universal can pull this off. They keep building things faster and faster. If the 474 acres of land they are rumored to have bought/are buying is true, I feel like, with their speed, we will have a third gate by 2018. Have 3 major things in 2016, 3 major things in 2017, and a whole new park in 2018.
Where's the new track? Sea Worlds Mako track is on site, but not what siting of this new track. Doesn't anyone think that is kind of suspicious?
ReplyDeleteThey should scrap the nigh time show IN the park, and move it to the lagoon @ city-walk area. Much better viewing locations, easy way to get guests out of the park and still keep them in an area with plenty of shopping / dining options. Also by using the logon in citywalk, assuming the parks are closed and empty, that area can become the "fall-out" zone for the fireworks, allowing for better production.
ReplyDeleteThey can't cut off the main transportation method of getting guests back to their hotel at night by putting on a show in the Citywalk lagoon. Maybe for "Citywalk 2" on the new piece of land they bought if they don't use boats to get guests to the third gate.
ReplyDeleteIf they're already spending that much time and money on the Hulk by redoing a great majority of it, they should have gone ahead and made it a different layout. Maybe they will.
ReplyDeleteThey will replace the motors on the launch track, and the new and modified footers leads me to believe this coaster will taller and faster!
ReplyDeleteI love the Hulk coaster, and I'm hoping the track will still be similar, at least when rocketing out at the beginning. I wouldn't mind seeing a different theme for that attraction as well. It's definitely my favorite ride in the park.
ReplyDeleteAfter a recent visit we asked universal staff about the Hulk, they said even they don't know the exact plan except for it will be bigger, faster, and go way further out into the lagoon....and all materials are being housed away from Universal until they HAVE to be brought in to maintain the secret
ReplyDeleteUniversal should bring back the night time stunt spectacular with the speedboat chases , explosions and action. They have never bettered it since.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Universal builds attractions faster and faster, but I am not sure this is a GOOD thing. Lets take a look at Transformers....That thing has been up and down consistently since opening....Makes you wonder if the quality would be better if they slowed production a bit.
ReplyDelete