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Universal GB - Archived Pre Announcement Discussion

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I agree with the people who say they’ll start small, and then if it does well, expand it. It’s easy to make a park bigger, than to downsize if it has too much capacity.

If Universal Bedford goes ahead, I reckon to start with there’ll be a Minion Land, a Jimmy Fallon Land, maybe a copy of the Fast and Furious ride at Universal Orlando, and a copy of Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Barge Rapids, but maybe themed to something British like the Telly Tubbies. There’ll be some fun attractions like a Minions Dance Party and a screen with Jimmy Fallon telling some of his funniest jokes, but there won’t be any thing like Forbidden Journey.

They’ll then wait to see how successful it is, before deciding whether to put any more rides in.
 
Funcone said:
I agree with the people who say they’ll start small, and then if it does well, expand it. It’s easy to make a park bigger, than to downsize if it has too much capacity.

If Universal Bedford goes ahead, I reckon to start with there’ll be a Minion Land, a Jimmy Fallon Land, maybe a copy of the Fast and Furious ride at Universal Orlando, and a copy of Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Barge Rapids, but maybe themed to something British like the Telly Tubbies. There’ll be some fun attractions like a Minions Dance Party and a screen with Jimmy Fallon telling some of his funniest jokes, but there won’t be any thing like Forbidden Journey.

They’ll then wait to see how successful it is, before deciding whether to put any more rides in.
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I think there’d be almost zero interest in a Jimmy Fallon land with him telling jokes on a screen at UK theme park in 2030. What works in one territory or for one target audience familiar with certain cultural touchstones doesn’t necessarily work halfway around the world several years later.
 
The legend that is Tom Scott once described Universal parks thus:
"Every ride at Universal is the same: They trap you in a dark box, shake you around, and squirt water on you."
Now, granted, he is not a ride enthusiast. But a few people I've talked to seem to share this view. I wonder if this could affect their visitor numbers?

(By the way, just assume everything I post is hypothetical from now on. I'm not going to keep repeating that I doubt this will happen. That would get tedious for all of us. ;) )
 
DiogoJ42 said:
The legend that is Tom Scott once described Universal parks thus:
"Every ride at Universal is the same: They trap you in a dark box, shake you around, and squirt water on you."
Now, granted, he is not a ride enthusiast. But a few people I've talked to seem to share this view. I wonder if this could affect their visitor numbers?

(By the way, just assume everything I post is hypothetical from now on. I'm not going to keep repeating that I doubt this will happen. That would get tedious for all of us. ;) )
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Boxes are great - the U.K. climate clearly sets out the need for parks to prioritise indoor experiences. Most of, if not all, current U.K. parks can be miserable days out when we have our inevitable rainy days.

Shaking around is great - the boxes all shake you in a different way and immerse you in something new every time. The way The Mummy shakes you is entirely different to the way Forbidden Journey shakes you.

The “shaky boxes with water” sometimes disappoint, don’t get me wrong (Jimmy Fallon & Fast & Furious are both a complete waste of space) and if not done with a unique element they may be considered samey (here’s looking at you Transformers, you awful Spider-Man wannabe).

On the whole, it’s my opinion that they tend to get it right and I don’t for one moment think it will affect visitor numbers as long as each attraction offers something different.
 
If universal installed Spider-Man, The Mummy and Forbidden Journey they’d have the 3 best rides in the UK…

I’d take those boxes, and they’d all be clones so keeps a lid on capex as there is no research/design element just rinse and repeat.

If I was Merlin I’d start turning the taps open and coming up with a plan, and I’m sure they will. See what they did vs the London Resort.

Second gate for Alton anyone?
 
When people talk about Universal rides always shaking you around in front of a screen and squirting you with water, I suspect it’s mainly a comment about Universal Orlando. It’s an exaggeration for comic effect and not meant to be taken literally, but I’d say the essence of it is true.

There’s nothing wrong with screen based rides, but before Disney re-did Star Tours, it was something that set Universal apart from Disney. Disney had animatronics. Universal did cool stuff with screens. Since then, Disney’s done The Adventure Continues, Flight of Passage, Ratatouille, Runaway Railway and incorporated projection effects onto Rise of the Resistance and Frozen Ever After. It’s not going to feel as special now when Universal does it. Luckily for Universal, there aren’t many good screen based effects in the UK (although there might be more by 2030) and Disneyland Paris only has a couple of screenbased rides (there might be more by 2030).

Whilst Disney has been doing some really cool stuff with screens, I’d say the quality has dropped a bit with Universal, aside from the Bourne Stuntacular, which is amazing. The obvious comparison is Spiderman vs Transformers. The animation is very good on Transformers, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a story. Maybe there are things I’m missing because I haven’t seen the films, but it just seems to be cars fighting before someone tells us we’ve won. Spiderman also has more physical effects, like the moving ladder, the truck, the statue of liberty and of course the fireball. It’s the blend of film and physical effects that helps to make it such a great ride. Transformers doesn’t have much beyond the screens.

Reign of Kong has more physical theming, but the screens and sets aren’t blended together. All the action is on the screens, and the big animatronic of Kong just sits there not doing much at the end.

When people complain about screen based rides at Universal, I don’t think they’re normally talking about Spiderman and Forbidden Journey, which are both ground breaking attractions, and two of the best rides on the planet.

Variety is generally an issue. Universal used to be big for special effects. Gradually the special effects based attractions have gone (Twister, Disaster, Jaws, Kongfrontation) and in many cases replaced with screens. The Mummy is the last of its kind, with the big special effects. Special effects are very expensive and arguably not great from a sustainability perspective, but without many special effects and the volume of animatronics that Disney has, they are very reliant on screens.

Generally you could argue the parks are a little lacking in variety. I know Epic Universe is getting a small Splash Battle, but Universal Orlando will have three major parks with three major water rides, and they’ll all be in one corner of Islands of Adventure.

Most of Universal Orlando’s coasters are launched, steel sit down coasters. Epic Universe will have a spinning coaster, which is clearly different, and within the category or launched, sit down steel coaster, there is quite a lot of variety. No one’s saying the Hulk, Velocicoater and Hagrid’s are the same. But Universal Orlando clearly doesn’t have the most varied ride line up.

Velocicoaster is near the top of most enthusiast rankings, but a wooden coaster like they once planned for the area, or a flying coaster like Universal Japan has, could have added more variety. It looks like one of the coasters in Epic Universe will be somewhat similar to Hagrids, and one will be somewhat similar to Velocicoaster. The Donkey Kong coaster should be more different.

They’ve also become more reliant on the rides. Mardi Gras and the Christmas event are both still very good, as is Halloween Horror Nights, the Horror Make Up Show and the Bourne Stunacular, and the little street theatre in the Harry Potter areas is fun, as is the street theatre in the New York streets at the studios park. But they no longer have a night time show or a regular parade, and they have slimmed down the number of shows, losing things like Beetle Juice, Fear Factor Live, Poseidons Fury and the Sinbad stunt show.

You could argue that the nighttime show wasn’t as good as Disney’s, so they’re focussing on what they can do better. If they do build a park in the UK it’ll be interesting to see whether they do have a parade or a nighttime show. Both of these things are expensive to put on and weather dependent, but they would clearly set he park aside from other British parks, and most other major European parks.

Is Universal just about shaking you around in front of a screen and spraying you with water? No, there’s clearly more to it than that. The Harry Potter stuff’s incredible, in terms of the theming, the merchandise, the food and the rides. But they are getting quite reliant on Harry Potter now

Beyond that, Universal probably do a better job with queueline theming than Disney, the big shows they have still got like Bourne Stuntacular are amazing, they do have some good events, the coasters are really fun if a little lacking in variety and Universal has done some really cool stuff with screens. The theming in Volcano Bay is also impressive for what it is, and it feels moderner than Disney’s water parks, although Blizzard Beach has a more interesting theme. But they are starting to lack variety. They ‘get away with it’ partly because the Harry Potter stuff’s so good, but I’d definitely say that with the Orlando resort the lack of variety is a weakness.

We know that Universal were already getting a lot of visitors before Harry Potter, and Universal Singapore doesn’t have Harry Potter. But without Potter, they’ll ether need something really spectacular to take its place, or to beef up the overall quality a little. They can also get away with less variety in Florida, partly because they have so many attractions, but one smaller park will need to make sure that each attraction is really different from the others.
 
Funcone said:
You could argue that the nighttime show wasn’t as good as Disney’s, so they’re focussing on what they can do better. If they do build a park in the UK it’ll be interesting to see whether they do have a parade or a nighttime show. Both of these things are expensive to put on and weather dependent, but they would clearly set he park aside from other British parks, and most other major European parks.
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I'm old enough to remember the Alton Towers parade! Was decidedly lower budget than the Disney equivalent.
 
Universal Orlando are rumoured to be working on a new parade and nighttime show rather than something that’s been scrapped and not a focus for Universal. There has been lots of night time tests recently in the lake. It’s expected to make use of drones as they are heavily restricted on firework use due to nearby properties. Both where rumoured for a summer 2024 debut along side the dreamworis area -as a way to temp visitors next year as they are concerned of guests putting off visiting until 2025 and waiting for epic universe to open.

Epic universe is expected to get a full on Disney style fountain and firework nighttime show.
 
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From: https://twitter.com/leavesonthelawn/status/1739960822858752352


Ms Page Thompson (President of New Ventures at Universal) has been appointed director of Cloud Wing UK Limited and Kempston Hardwick Developments Limited on 22nd December 2023.

So we've got two Ms Thompsons competing in the UK leisure industry now? 🤨😂

Season 9 Fight GIF by Friends
 
I'm actually surprised they waited until 2022 to register Halloween Horror Nights in the UK! Whilst I'd find it surprising for the park not to do something like Horror Nights should the UK park become reality, I think this one is more about preventing rogue businesses using the name elsewhere - especially given how old the trademark is.

That's especially the case when Universal have travel agencies (including themselves) operating in the UK. You've also got the likes of ETSY sellers etc doing custom merch for the event - so just a case of protecting their name globally over anything else I think.
 
As we have clearly requested in the first post of this topic which is also linked at the top of this page, if you are posting Youtube videos then please point out what is new in the video you are linking to, that it's correctly summarised and that you add your own viewpoints.

As much as these removals seem harsh at the moment, if and when this project progresses there will be a multitude of creators covering it. That's great for those of us who live far away, but we want to set the standard now that videos should only be posted that include new info to prevent the topic being overrun with videos showing the same information over and over. That's especially the case when Google maps, photos and streetview etc have already demonstrated the scale of the site over multiple pages in this topic. If and when we see movement on the site, then these videos may be worthwhile discussing and posting, but for the moment there's not a lot going on.

In addition, if you'd like to critique creator's work, please do so on their own feedback channels to avoid the thread turning off topic. Thanks.
 
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No information that's new in this, but Phil Carr actually took the time to go to the site so you get to see the current 'facilities' here. A lot of it does look like wasteland rather than unspoiled countryside currently, so the impact issues that never went away on Kent marshland don't seem likely here.
It really does feel rural, not even any distant NIMBY rooftops poking out.

▶️ Watch this reel

From: https://www.facebook.com/reel/267922692974046?s=yWDuG2&fs=e
 
pluk said:
No information that's new in this, but Phil Carr actually took the time to go to the site so you get to see the current 'facilities' here. A lot of it does look like wasteland rather than unspoiled countryside currently, so the impact issues that never went away on Kent marshland don't seem likely here.
It really does feel rural, not even any distant NIMBY rooftops poking out.

▶️ Watch this reel

From: https://www.facebook.com/reel/267922692974046?s=yWDuG2&fs=e
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It makes it all the more baffling why London resort rejected the site. There is a significant portion which is brown field land and having planning approved for previous development plans will certainly provide a stronger case of Universal stock in a planning application. I know it's early days but I'm not sensing the resistance that London resort suffered from.
 
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