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Universal GB - Archived Post Announcement Discussion

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The type of person who goes on holiday to a European country and visits multiple theme parks must be an incredibly tiny niche.

Disneyland Paris is a destination where people probably either spend all their time at the parks or incorporate other aspects of Parisian culture. I expect the vast majority of non-French visitors don’t even know Parc Asterix exists despite it being 30 minutes away.

Florida is a beast unto itself, I don’t think those habits are in any way representative of the rest of tourism.

Universal is such a step above anything that exists in the UK, both in quality and price point, it’s borderline a different industry. I suspect the impact on its “competitors” will be negligible in either direction.

But whilst the enthusiasts are somewhat niche, they aren’t nothing so it would be prudent for the closer parks to up their game, both to entice the contingent of visitors and not to deter their regular visitors who might otherwise choose to save money for the less frequent but better alternative.
 
If I was travelling over to the UK for a once in a lifetime trip to Universal, I’d probably spend my extra days visiting the city of London, the Warner Bros studio tour - relatively small fry theme parks like Thorpe and Chessington wouldn’t even enter my thinking.

However if I was the sort of person that hops on a plane to Universal more regularly, such as people who go to Florida annually, then it’s more likely that the likes of Thorpe and Towers would be on your radar.

I suspect there’ll be way more of the first type of people than the second though.
 
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Oh for sure. We aren't talking huge numbers here. Enthusiasts might try and fit in some other parks but the average Universal guest won't bother with the faff of getting to Thorpe Park I wouldn't have thought.

The bigger issue for Merlin is are UK guests going to be able to afford Universal + Merlin Parks? I'd imagine quite a few families will be doing one or the other and Universal will no doubt be the preferred choice for many.
 
is it just me or does a lot of the lands feel kinda small other than Minions and Jurassic? specially comparing to Epic Universe lands. I dunno it might just be me thinking this
 
JT01 said:
is it just me or does a lot of the lands feel kinda small other than Minions and Jurassic? specially comparing to Epic Universe lands. I dunno it might just be me thinking this
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It looks like a framework of what we're getting. There's very little detail in a fair part of the map so I'm guessing the IP/rides/building for those areas haven't yet been nailed down.

For me, the lagoon, entranceway, main street and Hotel are all going to be either the same or very similar. The other areas not so much.
 
Benjsh said:
Oh for sure. We aren't talking huge numbers here. Enthusiasts might try and fit in some other parks but the average Universal guest won't bother with the faff of getting to Thorpe Park I wouldn't have thought.

The bigger issue for Merlin is are UK guests going to be able to afford Universal + Merlin Parks? I'd imagine quite a few families will be doing one or the other and Universal will no doubt be the preferred choice for many.
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In year 1 and 2 the domestic market will swing towards Universal and UK parks might take a hit but Universal will have little need for new attractions every year so domestic visitors will be more inclined to visit other parks if they are adding new rides year 3 onwards I suspect.

But the hope is the legacy parks will need to do better with those investments to attract the domestic audience back. Therefore overall the UK industry has a net gain.
 
The thrill coasters look amazing. I really hope the central coaster is something similar to Hollywood Dream at USJ. Jurassic Park is always a staple and will stand the test of time, can't say I'm thrilled about the Minions land though, this felt like a 'filler' area when I visited USJ and Beijing and looks to occupy a sizeable area of the UK park.

I also hope the big show building at the back is something different to Waterworld. It's a great production but it's based on an very mediocre and dated film. The splash zone at USJ is pretty big, I don't think most people will want to get that drenched given our weather! James Bond stunt show as others have suggested would be epic.

Overall looks amazing and a really large area. I do hope they add lots of foliage, trees and some landscaping throughout as walking around some Universal parks feels very built up and condensed. Epic Universe seems to be making much more of an effort to incorporate landscaping and natural elements, lets hope they follow suit at the UK park too, the concept image suggests it should have lots of greenery!
 
Many of my colleagues are big fans of Alton Towers - not to the extent that they'd use a forum dedicated to discussing it, but they're frequent visitors and know the main rides by name.

When talking about the Universal news with them earlier, and floating the idea that it could cause spell serious trouble for Alton Towers and other Merlin parks, I was really struck by their nonchalance.

They all agreed that Alton Towers was great decades ago but is now very dilapidated and overpriced. They're fully locked in on this project, and don't particularly care if other parks become collateral damage. They recognise that Universal offers a vastly superior product, and have very little sentimentality about the UK's other parks.

It just made me realise how enormous the challenge will be for Merlin to try and compete. The 90s were a long time ago, goodwill towards the Merlin parks has evaporated outside of enthusiast circles, and Universal have an opportunity to blow their competition in this country out of the water.
 
Harv said:
Many of my colleagues are big fans of Alton Towers - not to the extent that they'd use a forum dedicated to discussing it, but they're frequent visitors and know the main rides by name.

When talking about the Universal news with them earlier, and floating the idea that it could cause spell serious trouble for Alton Towers and other Merlin parks, I was really struck by their nonchalance.

They all agreed that Alton Towers was great decades ago but is now very dilapidated and overpriced. They're fully locked in on this project, and don't particularly care if other parks become collateral damage. They recognise that Universal offers a vastly superior product, and have very little sentimentality about the UK's other parks.

It just made me realise how enormous the challenge will be for Merlin to try and compete. The 90s were a long time ago, goodwill towards the Merlin parks has evaporated outside of enthusiast circles, and Universal have an opportunity to blow their competition in this country out of the water.
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Yes, I think many people are guilty of vastly underestimating what kind of an impact this would have for your typical non-enthusiast family audience.
People are not going to go to AT or other Merlin attraction if they can splash out that little bit extra and get a world-class full production immersive experience. Yes people here are focussing on how things may be different for your low income families or family of enthusiasts, but your bog standard British family will be poached by Universal. Speak to any non-enthusiast outside of these forums and social media and you'll see this is the case.
 
Dave said:
In year 1 and 2 the domestic market will swing towards Universal and UK parks might take a hit but Universal will have little need for new attractions every year so domestic visitors will be more inclined to visit other parks if they are adding new rides year 3 onwards I suspect.
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Tricky. See, yes I follow AT closely, partially because it's my local park, partially because I used to work there, partically because its where I've been going since I was a kid, so yeah I keep up to date on here with new developments, new rides, etc etc.

Universal - we go there because its mutha-flippin-Universal and I'd go there a lot more often if my finances allowed.

So if Universal opens up in Bedford, better believe I'll be heading there a few times a year, and balls to whether they have new developments or rides - truth is, it'll be an outstanding experience every time and that's why I'll keep going back. Not because there's a little retheme or some new hessian or a 'worlds first' something or other.

Just a completely different ballgame.
 
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