Potential New Universal UK Park

[Ted]

Talking DLP, I have been hearing general speculation that there will be a 'ramping up' or acceleration of investment in the park over the years on the run-up to Universal's potential park opening to counter any perceived 'threat'.... which can only be a good thing. DLP is a wonderful park, but investment has been lacking.

It would be an interesting situation if the contracted "third gate" progresses at the same speed as the Universal plans. Someone speculated the third gate could. A [good] Pixar Park, or a fully fledged Star Wars park opening within a few years of Universal could be fun and a real game changer.

Disney's deal with the French government states that they must build a 3rd park by 2036 so it's not surprising to hear this if it's indeed true. Paris in general needs investment in the main park badly too and hopefully if Universal happens it will motivate them

 

[Bowser]

Talking DLP, I have been hearing general speculation that there will be a 'ramping up' or acceleration of investment in the park over the years on the run-up to Universal's potential park opening to counter any perceived 'threat'.... which can only be a good thing. DLP is a wonderful park, but investment has been lacking.

It would be an interesting situation if the contracted "third gate" progresses at the same speed as the Universal plans. Someone speculated the third gate could. A [good] Pixar Park, or a fully fledged Star Wars park opening within a few years of Universal could be fun and a real game changer.

Interesting!

Not sure how much of game changer that would be in this context though.

 

[jon81uk]

Not sure it would be true 365 day operation anyway. Would almost certainly be closed on Christmas Day I think. Also I’m not convinced they would open all of January, would still make some sense to be closed from New Year through to February half term to avoid the worst of the weather.

 

[Matt N]

Not sure it would be true 365 day operation anyway. Would almost certainly be closed on Christmas Day I think. Also I’m not convinced they would open all of January, would still make some sense to be closed from New Year through to February half term to avoid the worst of the weather.

DLP is 365 day, and the French winter climate is not dissimilar to the UK winter climate, so I don’t see why Universal wouldn’t do 365 day operation in Bedford. I believe all of their other parks are 365 day parks.

 

[Josh555]

Talking DLP, I have been hearing general speculation that there will be a 'ramping up' or acceleration of investment in the park over the years on the run-up to Universal's potential park opening to counter any perceived 'threat'.... which can only be a good thing. DLP is a wonderful park, but investment has been lacking.

It would be an interesting situation if the contracted "third gate" progresses at the same speed as the Universal plans. Someone speculated the third gate could. A [good] Pixar Park, or a fully fledged Star Wars park opening within a few years of Universal could be fun and a real game changer.

For the love of god please let this include sorting space mountain out.

 

[Benzin]

DLP is 365 day, and the French winter climate is not dissimilar to the UK winter climate, so I don’t see why Universal wouldn’t do 365 day operation in Bedford. I believe all of their other parks are 365 day parks.

Does France completely shut down in a similar vein to the UK on Christmas Day?

Would be a tricky one to convince people to work on that one.

 

[jon81uk]

DLP is 365 day, and the French winter climate is not dissimilar to the UK winter climate, so I don’t see why Universal wouldn’t do 365 day operation in Bedford. I believe all of their other parks are 365 day parks.

But I think Disney and their characters is a bigger drawer to get people to the park, it’s hard to say whether that many people would want to visit at that time of year, especially on weekdays I’m not sure there is that much demand while the kids are in school. Christmas Day I really don’t think would be popular in the UK.

 

[havaska]

Efteling is also a 365 day park and the climate there is even more similar to the South East of England.

 

[Quantum]

I really don't think Star Wars is the draw it used to be and I think Disney has damaged the brand. I've always rated Universal parks above Disney though there is a strong Nostalgia factor with them.

Id take a Middle Earth / Lord of the rings themed area over any current Star Wars offering all day every day.

 

[Josh555]

Does France completely shut down in a similar vein to the UK on Christmas Day?

Would be a tricky one to convince people to work on that one.

The U.K. doesn’t completely shut down in Christmas Day, restaurants and bars for example are open, I’ve worked Christmas Day myself.

It wouldn’t be an issue.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I really don't think Star Wars is the draw it used to be and I think Disney has damaged the brand. I've always rated Universal parks above Disney though there is a strong Nostalgia factor with them.

Id take a Middle Earth / Lord of the rings themed area over any current Star Wars offering all day every day.

Whilst there is an argument that Disney have over saturated the Star Wars market, if we compare recent projects it's still more of draw than Middle Earth.

Financially, Star Wars 7 - 9 dwarfed The Hobbit; although critics will inevitably feel the draw to Middle Earth.

We don't have reliable ratings metrics for streaming services, but we can look at the social zeitgeist. The Disney+ Star Wars shows dominated public discourse, although some of the latter ones have struggled to keep interest going. The Rings of Power is the most expensive TV show ever produced, but fundamentally failed in making a dent in public perception, outside of the huge budget.

In the recent video game space, 2023's Jedi: Survivor is widely considered a commercial and critical success. It's ended up on several game awards lists and tells an engaging story. Comparatively Gollum, also released in 2023, is considered to be the worst game of the year.

There is an over exposure to Star Wars, and I can understand why on a personal level Middle Earth might be a dream come true, but Star Wars is clearly still the draw it's always been and arguably more so than Middle Earth.

 

[Quantum]

You can achieve wonders with modern slavery.

Whilst there is an argument that Disney have over saturated the Star Wars market, if we compare recent projects it's still more of draw than Middle Earth.

Financially, Star Wars 7 - 9 dwarfed The Hobbit; although critics will inevitably feel the draw to Middle Earth.

We don't have reliable ratings metrics for streaming services, but we can look at the social zeitgeist. The Disney+ Star Wars shows dominated public discourse, although some of the latter ones have struggled to keep interest going. The Rings of Power is the most expensive TV show ever produced, but fundamentally failed in making a dent in public perception, outside of the huge budget.

In the recent video game space, 2023's Jedi: Survivor is widely considered a commercial and critical success. It's ended up on several game awards lists and tells an engaging story. Comparatively Gollum, also released in 2023, is considered to be the worst game of the year.

There is an over exposure to Star Wars, and I can understand why on a personal level Middle Earth might be a dream come true, but Star Wars is clearly still the draw it's always been and arguably more so than Middle Earth.

Disney has gone for a quantity over quality approach for Star Wars that has devalued the brand. Galaxy's edge though impressive, has not been the huge hit it should have been. I don't think it helped by basing it around the rather poor sequel trilogy.

If you have Middle Earth area at Universal then it would be better to base it around the Peter Jackson and Warner Bros films if that's feasible rather than anything Amazon related. I still think if it was done right it would be a massive draw for the park. Could you imagine an interactive dark ride where you have to escape the mines of Moria chased by Orcs and the a final confrontation with the Balrog? It could be epic but it will be interesting to see what the rumoured theme park rights include.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Disney has gone for a quantity over quality approach for Star Wars that has devalued the brand. Galaxy's edge though impressive, has not been the huge hit it should have been. I don't think it helped by basing it around the rather poor sequel trilogy.

If you have Middle Earth area at Universal then it would be better to base it around the Peter Jackson and Warner Bros films if that's feasible rather than anything Amazon related. I still think if it was done right it would be a massive draw for the park. Could you imagine an interactive dark ride where you have to escape the mines of Moria chased by Orcs and the a final confrontation with the Balrog? It could be epic but it will be interesting to see what the rumoured theme park rights include.

I get the image and the passion, I really do, but the problem with basing a park around the IP of the Jackson series is that the last LOTR film is around 22 years years old, that's a lifetime in the world of IP. The reason why Harry Potter and Star Wars works is that their stories are still expanding and being added to, so they remain in the zeitgeist and almost become ever green brands.

As someone who grew up around the LOTR craze I totally get where you're coming from, but I don't think it has the same draw for Gen Z or young families. The content isn't relatable and the more recent stuff has been fringe and poorly received, more so than Star Wars.

Disney's problem with Galaxy's Edge was basing it around the part of the saga that no one has emotional attachment to. Granted Return of the Jedi came out in 1983, but they're still making content in the between spaces of the original saga so that part of the franchise still rings as familiar. The Tolkein family won't let anyone tell stories that Tolkein didn't write himself. As far as they're concerned the stories are already written. Nothing can be added after, in, or between the Bilbo/Frodo stories, which is why we have The Rings of Power; and it's set 1,000 years before the events we're so familiar with and have emotional attachment to.

 

[Matt N]

Does France completely shut down in a similar vein to the UK on Christmas Day?

Would be a tricky one to convince people to work on that one.

The UK doesn’t completely shut down on Christmas Day. Restaurants and things still open, and to the best of my knowledge, even the likes of Alton Towers, when they run Christmas events, open on Christmas Day. With this in mind, I don’t see why Universal would necessarily be deterred when every other park they operate operates year-round.

But I think Disney and their characters is a bigger drawer to get people to the park, it’s hard to say whether that many people would want to visit at that time of year, especially on weekdays I’m not sure there is that much demand while the kids are in school. Christmas Day I really don’t think would be popular in the UK.

I’d personally argue that Universal’s IPs would not necessarily be a lesser draw than Disney’s, particularly if they go for some of the more heavyweight brands they have access to (such as Nintendo).

I’d also argue that DLP being successful in opening year-round is down at least in part to its high quantity of indoor attractions and indoor areas, so if Universal were to integrate a lot of indoor attractions and indoor areas, I don’t see why they couldn’t make a success out of year-round opening. I get that the UK has a colder winter climate, but if Disney manages it in Paris, then I don’t see why Universal couldn’t manage it in Bedford.

As others have said, other European parks like Efteling also have year-round operating calendars.

 

[Bowser]

And technically most Merlin parks are open in the Winter, just for limited dates. Legoland is open over Xmas/early January and all rides are operating except water based ones but obviously the other parks have either limited offerings or complete closure.

It seems like near 365 opening is a long term project for Merlin in the UK but Universal can implement it from the offset if they want to.

 

[John_P]

Think being 365 opening will certainly give them an advantage in drawing in staff who'd be interested in working in the industry. More job security than the Merlin (and other parks) who are only usually offering a full park offering for 9 months a year.

 

[jon81uk]

The UK doesn’t completely shut down on Christmas Day. Restaurants and things still open, and to the best of my knowledge, even the likes of Alton Towers, when they run Christmas events, open on Christmas Day. With this in mind, I don’t see why Universal would necessarily be deterred when every other park they operate operates year-round

Alton Towers has never done Christmas Day, hotels are completely closed that day. Generally restaurants are bookings only and most fast food places and shops are shut. Unless you have arrange plans the UK is basically shut down on Christmas Day.

 

[Benzin]

Most of the general infrastructure is closed.

No public transport, is there a demand for people to either work or go to a theme park on Christmas Day itself?

Disney & Efteling do Christmas presumably because its a big thing to do it at those places. Europa don't on the other hand.

Cannot see it being a thing. Especially as we don't currently know the true scale of this project.

 

[ScottishChris]

is there a demand for people to either work or go to a theme park on Christmas Day itself?

There is likely more demand than you realise. I worked at an aquarium when I was at school/ uni. We opened on Christmas day as we required core staff to be in anyway to care for the animals, so paying one extra person to sit on the ticket desk was not a big expense for the return we got. I'm not saying we were busy, but it was always steady. They stopped opening on Christmas day when systems were automated and they could run the place with nobody present other than someone popping in to do a feed. I would say the ended Christmas day opening mainly because of staff's expectation to be off, rather than it not being viable.

There is a substantial number of people in the UK that don't celebrate Christmas, or do it differently. If somewhere like Towers could open over the Christmas holidays (and I mean properly open), I believe it would financially viable.

 

[Bowser]

Alton Towers has never done Christmas Day, hotels are completely closed that day. Generally restaurants are bookings only and most fast food places and shops are shut. Unless you have arrange plans the UK is basically shut down on Christmas Day.

A lot is closed certainly and public transport isn't available (other than airports and petrol stations) but there are plenty of things open in cities, especially London. Last Christmas i forgot to defrost the turkey, was quite amazed at the number of shops open Christmas Day on our small high street alone. Increasingly fewer people celebrate Christmas and that trend will only continue.

In terms of a market for Christmas Day at UK theme parks, it doesn't currently exist but that doesn't mean it can't be created. People already spend Christmas at places like Center Parcs in this country. Disney make a big deal of it and have a strong brand association with the season so it's not unreasonable to think Universal could do the same, especially as they already do elsewhere.

But i think we're getting bogged down with a single day, the exciting proposition is a true all year theme park in the UK, be it 365 or 364.