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Potential New Universal UK Park

DiogoJ42 said:
"London" is a stupidly big place. It would take me twice as long to get from my gaff to the centre of town, than it would to get from there to this park. Thus it would still be quicker to drive. The London rail connection is only going to be good for tourists, not actual Londoners.
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I don't disagree with your general point, but it'll be dead easy for me to get there by train ;) Then again I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones!
 
I live on the East Coast and when the EWR upgrades are done, I can basically arrive at the park via train with a single change at Norwich. That sort of accessibility for me personally is far better than Towers or Thorpe, especially as I don't drive, so I don't have to rope in my brother for the trip and have to pay his way or he'll refuse.
 
Wouldn't we expect Stewartby, Bletchley and Bedford to all receive significantly improved services as part of this anyway? I doubt there'd be a need for buses from Milton Keynes, if this is a proper 8m + visitor kind of attraction, demand for train services would be increased by such an amount there would have to be additional services and improved facilities. Comcast coughing up for a significant portion of this cost will likely be demanded of them anyway. You can't really compare the services as they are today, because the site is currently a demolished brickworks.

The problem will remain with the services at the other end of people's journeys, not the ones in the locality. The further afield services will remain unchanged. I could drive it in 2h45, using about £40 of diesel there and back for a family of 5. Or £300-£400 on the train, having to tube it from Paddington to Euston. That's unlikely to change even if the services from Euston to the local stations improve significantly.
 
Just seen the first post about today's public engagement, it's from 'yeptheguy' over on the insideuniversal forums.


I’ve just got home, and to be totally honest I’m massively impressed.

Spoke to a number of people including Page Thompson, who did a 10-15min presentation with another chap. They were the 2 actual Universal people there and were happy to talk to people after.

Photography and video was all allowed no probs.

There will be some on here who attended who might have some bits to share in more detail, but I just wanted to post to say it was awesome!

Even got a free chocolate toothpaste. They clearly understand that level of detail which I’m sure a lot of people are lost on.

When I got there the queue was about 100 people to get in. When I left about an hour later it was the same, steady moving all very clam and chilled.

People just seemed curious and calmly excited. No protesters, no complaints, no hassle.

It was very cool.
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I was there at 11am and when I left I couldn't believe the queue to get in. All very positive from what I could hear, heard one person concerned about construction traffic through Ampthill, but the Universal employee gave assurance that no construction traffic would go through there. From the talks I was having with "Universal people", if anything I was the one sounding cautious when in discussion. They were talking as if it's already decided to go ahead and they can't wait to get started. Obviously the final decision probably hasn't been made.

Not sure if true or not, but they said during a presentation that they have done a few public consultations around the world, and this one is the most welcoming in terms of what is planned so far.

It was great to have a wander around, chat and have a cup of tea and chocolate toothpaste.
 
We have more specific details from 'yeptheguy' over on InsideUniversal.


I wrote some notes after…

  • I spoke to a chap called Gidon Freeman. Very nice knowledgable person, who answered some good questions.
  • I think he thought I have concerns and when I said it’s the future he just winked at me lolol
  • Highways agencies will have to pay for the slip roads and seem happy to pay for them.
  • Manor Road complete refurb to allow shuttle busses and poss bendy busses from wixam station.
  • Manor Road Will be a public road
  • Discounts for locals on annual passes
  • EMR (east mids rail) really up for this As it will fill a lot of empty trains supposedly.
  • Potentially St Pancras to wixams no Luton stops. A dedicated train in addition to what will already run
  • I also spoke to Page Thompson after the presentation who said they are working with both parties in gov. He said he has spoken with Keir Starmer and listed many others. He said they have all been fantastic. (What else could he say lol)
Not sure if this helps?
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This all sounds super positive. They mentioned about Universal being a good place for careers and working your way up through the company. That's a big plus for local schools and Universities but I could see them poaching more specialist jobs from other parks around the London area especially if the pay and prospects are better. Certainly something Merlin needs to be worried about.

I can't imagine any government being against this level of investment and if Labour are in power by the time it gets the go ahead they can claim kudos for getting it over the line
 
It sounds very positive, I hope with them being quite a big household name it helps with maintaining support from the locals and authorities. Would be a massive win for UK tourism and jobs, not merely just another UK park.
 
Stuntman707 said:
It sounds very positive, I hope with them being quite a big household name it helps with maintaining support from the locals and authorities. Would be a massive win for UK tourism and jobs, not merely just another UK park.
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Not to be all “this industry will never die” and end up in a Port Talbot steel
mill situation but I wager a lot of people locally will be thinking of their children and grandchildren’s’ futures with this too. Could be generational employment in the area; if people get behind it and make it a success and Universal don’t muck up employing seasonal staff like AT do.
 
I think we’re all under the assumption that Universal will be 365 and not season staff. When I worked for Disney in Florida I wasn’t seasonal and I’m sure Universal weren’t either. But again, like I said i think we’re all under the illusion that they’re going for 365, I mean it would make sense if we’re getting a city walk too!
 
When they say a fast service from London to Wixams skipping Luton, I reckon they mean adding stops to existing Nottingham services as there is no spare capacity on the Midland Main Line and the line has become notorious for militant rail user groups who will fight over any cuts to services especially if they see their rivals benefit. (I am not making this up).
 
I was thinking and I know it’s not a Universal IP but neither was HP but been a uk park will they buy the rights to Doctor Who for example.
Like they could use the same system as the new Minions ride or a trackless dark ride and instead of guns you have Sonic screwdriver and you help the past doctors to battle through time against the Daleks and the Cybermen. We are like his assistants.
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
I was thinking and I know it’s not a Universal IP but neither was HP but been a uk park will they buy the rights to Doctor Who for example.
Like they could use the same system as the new Minions ride or a trackless dark ride and instead of guns you have Sonic screwdriver and you help the past doctors to battle through time against the Daleks and the Cybermen. We are like his assistants.
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Dr Who is a declining franchise that's currently bankrolled by Disney so I can't see that happening. I actually think there is a chance the BBC could sell the rights to Disney
 
Bowser said:
Considering it’s in the UK and trains run from Kings Cross I imagine they’ll be doing everything in their power to incorporate HP.
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I read on the Universal forums that Wizarding world was off the table at the moment. I have no idea of how true that is but I suspect UK rights will differ from what Universal currently have.

In some ways HP makes sense and in others it doesn't. I'm not sure what could be done with the IP that hasn't already been done one of the other parks. It would be great if they could run a Hogwarts Express direct to the park at certain times. It would be massively popular for sure
 
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