I would be all over a visit in the terrible school holiday downtime between Christmas and new year, and I imagine a lot of other people would be too. There’s just nothing to do for a full day out open at that time of year; with good reason I guess but it feels like lots of places are just “oh well nowhere else is open so we won’t”; something needs to disrupt the market a bit.
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Potential New Universal UK Park
- Thread starter Craig
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Bowser
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I went to both Chessington and Legoland in that week!
GooseOnTheLoose
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Article from BBC News today, with the Labour MP for Mid Bedfordshire commenting that Universal have big plans for their UK park. - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-68062320
My slight niggle is: "There are several Universal Studios movie-themed parks around the world, but this could be the first one in Europe." - Which comes straight from a press release, but isn't in the slightest bit true. Port Aventura was initially a a joint venture with Tussaud's, but Universal bought out their share and rebranded it Universal's Port Aventura. If we're splitting hairs, fine, there hasn't been a park with the Universal Studios moniker in Europe, but it annoys me slightly that this hasn't been qualified in the article.
My slight niggle is: "There are several Universal Studios movie-themed parks around the world, but this could be the first one in Europe." - Which comes straight from a press release, but isn't in the slightest bit true. Port Aventura was initially a a joint venture with Tussaud's, but Universal bought out their share and rebranded it Universal's Port Aventura. If we're splitting hairs, fine, there hasn't been a park with the Universal Studios moniker in Europe, but it annoys me slightly that this hasn't been qualified in the article.
Looking at the article it seems quite positive and it sounds like talks have been going on for some time.
The council would be stupid not to support the jobs and investment Universal would bring to the area especially in a time where council budgets are tight.
It's a fine line being positive and keeping locals onboard with the project which is why every comment from a politician seems cautiously optimistic.
The council would be stupid not to support the jobs and investment Universal would bring to the area especially in a time where council budgets are tight.
It's a fine line being positive and keeping locals onboard with the project which is why every comment from a politician seems cautiously optimistic.
Rob
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I'm not sure I'd expect a BBC journalist who is likely not a theme park geek to be aware that PortAventura was once partially owned by Universal! And I also don't see how it matters to be honest.
As it stands there is not a Universal theme park in Europe, and PortAventura was hardly a true Universal theme park.
It is good to see that constructive meetings are taking place and local communities are being involved through the parish council. All of the noise at the moment is positive; getting local stakeholders onboard is going to be key to this.
GooseOnTheLoose
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havaska
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I think they’re technically right; this would be the first Universal Studios *movie-themed* park in Europe.
Port Aventura was never that when under Universals ownership
KolonelKlink
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I’m a journalist and a theme park geek and I think this is perfectly legitimate - there has never been a Universal Studios park in Europe, end of.
GooseOnTheLoose
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Apart from that one time Universal Studios owned and operated a theme park in Europe.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=m6B1v7tIxK0
If we're splitting hairs, fine, there hasn't been a park with the full Universal Studios moniker (name) in Europe, but it annoys me slightly that this hasn't been qualified. This is the first theme park that Universal Studios have built / are going to build in Europe, would also be fine. There will have been people who went to the resort when it was Universal, who might be confused. Google "Universal Studios Spain" and up pops PortAventura, "Europe" is dominated with the news of the planned UK development.
I didn't plan on getting into a full blown argument about this, but to say that "there has never been a Universal Studios park in Europe, end of." is a lie. It's also not journalistic to shut down a conversation and not consider nuance, or qualify a statement, that's very much in the realms of opinion led blogging, not accurate reporting.
Journalist or not, theme park geek or not. It may not fit with what you deem to be a Universal Studios park, it might not be up to their usual standard and it wasn't a project that they built themselves, but there was a Universal Studios owned and operated park in Europe.
KolonelKlink
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Apart from that one time Universal Studios owned and operated a theme park in Europe.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=m6B1v7tIxK0
If we're splitting hairs, fine, there hasn't been a park with the full Universal Studios moniker (name) in Europe, but it annoys me slightly that this hasn't been qualified. This is the first theme park that Universal Studios have built / are going to build in Europe, would also be fine. There will have been people who went to the resort when it was Universal, who might be confused. Google "Universal Studios Spain" and up pops PortAventura, "Europe" is dominated with the news of the planned UK development.
I didn't plan on getting into a full blown argument about this, but to say that "there has never been a Universal Studios park in Europe, end of." is a lie. It's also not journalistic to shut down a conversation and not consider nuance, or qualify a statement, that's very much in the realms of opinion led blogging, not accurate reporting.
Journalist or not, theme park geek or not. It may not fit with what you deem to be a Universal Studios park, it might not be up to their usual standard and it wasn't a project that they built themselves, but there was a Universal Studios owned and operated park in Europe.
There is genuinely no inaccuracy in:
"There are several Universal Studios movie-themed parks around the world, but this could be the first one in Europe.”
Port Aventura was not branded Universal Studios, nor was it ever a movie-themed park. Far from trying to “shut down” debate, I’m simply calling out incorrect pedantry which belongs in the comment section of MailOnline.
D
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Apart from that one time Universal Studios owned and operated a theme park in Europe.
From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=m6B1v7tIxK0
If we're splitting hairs, fine, there hasn't been a park with the full Universal Studios moniker (name) in Europe, but it annoys me slightly that this hasn't been qualified. This is the first theme park that Universal Studios have built / are going to build in Europe, would also be fine. There will have been people who went to the resort when it was Universal, who might be confused. Google "Universal Studios Spain" and up pops PortAventura, "Europe" is dominated with the news of the planned UK development.
I didn't plan on getting into a full blown argument about this, but to say that "there has never been a Universal Studios park in Europe, end of." is a lie. It's also not journalistic to shut down a conversation and not consider nuance, or qualify a statement, that's very much in the realms of opinion led blogging, not accurate reporting.
Journalist or not, theme park geek or not. It may not fit with what you deem to be a Universal Studios park, it might not be up to their usual standard and it wasn't a project that they built themselves, but there was a Universal Studios owned and operated park in Europe.
"There are several Universal Studios movie-themed parks around the world, but this could be the first one in Europe."
As has been said, Universal Mediterranea was never a Universal Studios park, so the reporter isn't wrong, and the UK project would be the first Universal Studios in Europe. If he had said 'Universal has never been involved in the European theme park and tourism sector before this..." you'd have a point.
It's not even splitting hairs, it's trimming them down with a fine razorblade.
GooseOnTheLoose
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This is where I eat some humble pie and realise that the statement had been qualified but, in my immediate speed read of the article in a post-workout haze, I hadn't picked up on it and became a keyboard warrior.
Mea culpa.
Matt.GC
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There's dozens of posts so far that read like people are desperately trying to convince themselves that this place will be built, looking for any tiny clue to put 2 and 2 together to get the result of 386.3, and immediately dismissing anything that gets in the way of that narrative. Be it speculation, a personal view/prediction, or simple facts.
Although I understood what the BBC meant as technically there never has been a Universal Studios movie-themed park in Europe, Network Rail boreholes and local politician support (surprise surprise!) already seem to be seen as only once step away from full-blown confirmation. So in that context, words here really will matter, even if very minor, from a news organisation that is seen as one of the most credible sources in the world.
If not for the sake of sanity and balance but before the thread is inevitably spammed with unreliable Twitter posts for people to cling on to and believe in. Also worth noting that London Resort was "definitely" happening at one point and people actually lost money as a result.
Although I understood what the BBC meant as technically there never has been a Universal Studios movie-themed park in Europe, Network Rail boreholes and local politician support (surprise surprise!) already seem to be seen as only once step away from full-blown confirmation. So in that context, words here really will matter, even if very minor, from a news organisation that is seen as one of the most credible sources in the world.
If not for the sake of sanity and balance but before the thread is inevitably spammed with unreliable Twitter posts for people to cling on to and believe in. Also worth noting that London Resort was "definitely" happening at one point and people actually lost money as a result.
jon81uk
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I would not expect the main park to be a waterpark, if anything it would be a later addition (like Alton Towers or Europa did).
James Watkins
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I'm going to create a compilation of all your pessimistic posts when the park opens
(this is meant in good spirit!)
Craig
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Similarly I could also create a compilation of optimistic posts from previous projects such as London ResortI'm going to create a compilation of all your pessimistic posts when the park opens
.Whilst I'm not perhaps as pessimistic about this project as @Matt.GC is, I'm still on the fence about it - and will remain so until there's substantial progress. Clearly a huge potential employer has sprung up out of nowhere for the local area, so news outlets are going to be massively excited about it. They'll be looking for comment from whatever public figures they can, including MPs and local councillors.
Regardless of those comments though - the point Matt is making is that in terms of actual news and progress, publicly there's nothing really happening at the moment. An MP having a meeting is great, and it's good to hear they're engaging local figures early. But, aside from knowing they've had a meeting and that they have a "big vision", at present that doesn't translate to any concrete plans - it's essentially in a stage long before even London Resort went titsup. Likewise with Network Rail working in the area, it could be something, it could be nothing - especially when there have been discussions long before the Universal project on the potential for improvements in the region.
So we're left with speculation, which in a discussion forum is absolutely fine while things are worked out in the background. But as I've pointed out before (and putting my moderating hat on for a second), let's remember to keep our contributions balanced. If there's a borehole being drilled somewhere, it doesn't mean they're advanced with planning ahead of schedule, if nothing is going on on-site then it doesn't necessarily mean the project is consigned to history.
Yes, I would imagine the majority of us want this project to happen, but at this stage it's important to not get carried away. I would say at this very very early stage, try not to get dragged into micro discussion on specific details. We've had multiple posts in the last week about Christmas Day opening and multiple posts about the wording in a news article. Does any of that really matter at this stage of what is still a potential project? Probably not.
So post away, but please be respectful of other people's opinions on the matter and try and keep things to wider discussion about the potential of the wider resort rather than getting too bogged down in specifics.
Matt.GC
TS Member
Change the word 'when' to 'if' and you're on son!I'm going to create a compilation of all your pessimistic posts when the park opens
(this is meant in good spirit!)
I invited such in my opening post. For clarity though, I've never once said that it won't happen, as it could. But I am yet to see evidence of a good business case (and Thoosies saying "I think it would do quite well" or "they could have X, Y and Z IP's certainly isn't this!) and think it's important to highlight the very significant real world challenges such a proposal faces. People are free to get carried away in the same way that others are free to challenge this. All good stuff.
Also vitally important to provide balance and friendly challenge into discussion. Hence why I haven't posted recently as there hasn't really been anything new to discuss other than speculation since they admitted they had bought the land (and were very clear with their caution when they made that statement, which seems to have been quickly overlooked by some) has there? All that's really happened since as a result is the both absolutely inevitable frenzy of click baity media reports, and every local politician and his nan clambering over eachother to support it. Oh, and Network Rail have turned up and stuck some sticks into the ground next to a level crossing.
