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Potential New Universal UK Park

havaska said:
All the chatter online is that Potter is definitely a no go. And to be honest, I think that makes sense. We don’t need a fake Kings Cross or Diagon Ally to be built when the real deal is 60mins away.

I’d expect Jurassic World and Nintendoland to be built but am unsure on others.

A How to Train Your Dragon area would be nice; and this is also a UK authored book remember.

I would also really hope for some kind of James Bond attraction; seems like a no brainer to me.
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I did see a lot of speculation where there's a lot of people who believe Potter won't be there because of the Studio Tour.

I'm sceptical that this would be the case because of how popular the Wizarding World is and it being a very British IP. I'd imagine that it could be a full scale Hogwarts if anything and would co-exist with the Studio Tour.

Japan has a coexisting Studio Tour and Universal however they're in Tokyo and Osaka.

How to Train your Dragon is a good shout and James Bond, that would be fantastic if that came to Universal.
 
I wonder whether Harry Potter would be something they approach later rather than being part of the initial park. It could easily coexist with the studio tour and could benefit both, with international Potter fans wanting to visit the UK to do both attractions.

A mix of IPs with one new/unique IP is a good start. Then, after a few years, create a Harry Potter land to give the place a boost.

Do the existing parks have any Harry Potter themed accommodation? If not, it is something Universal could look at for the UK.
 
owenstreet7 said:
I'm pretty sure that the Studio Tour and the Theme Park can quite easily co-exist
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owenstreet7 said:
I did see a lot of speculation where there's a lot of people who believe Potter won't be there because of the Studio Tour.
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The Wizarding World will likely not appear at a Universal park in this country (pending Bedford getting approved in the first place) because they don't have the rights to open one in this market. UK attraction rights remain firmly with Warner Bros. Discovery, and it's unlikely that they'll want a competing attraction on their doorstep.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
The Wizarding World will likely not appear at a Universal park in this country (pending Bedford getting approved in the first place) because they don't have the rights to open one in this market. UK attraction rights remain firmly with Warner Bros. Discovery, and it's unlikely that they'll want a competing attraction on their doorstep.
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Whilst that is a good point, my thoughts is how is Japan able to have a Wizarding World area in a Universal Park and a Studio Tour if attraction rights are with one park.

It could be explained if it works differently to the UK. That makes sense.

If it's similar, it may not be as much of a barrier.

I do honestly think that the attractions will complement each other rather than complete with each other. With the UK being where Wizarding World originated, I'd see a very big market that the Studio Tour and Universal UK could co-exist very well in my opinion.
 
Would they be competing attractions? One is a theme park with rides, the other a studio tour with props and sets used in the real life films. Different types of attractions, different experiences. I think both would have good enough of a USP to coexist and both could even help one another. I see more positive than negative.

(obviously ignoring the rights issue here)
 
owenstreet7 said:
Whilst that is a good point, my thoughts is how is Japan able to have a Wizarding World area in a Universal Park and a Studio Tour if attraction rights are with one park.

It could be explained if it works differently to the UK. That makes sense.

If it's similar, it may not be as much of a barrier.

I do honestly think that the attractions will complement each other rather than complete with each other. With the UK being where Wizarding World originated, I'd see a very big market that the Studio Tour and Universal UK could co-exist very well in my opinion.
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The rights aren't with a single park operator worldwide, but Universal did negotiate for rights for the parks they had in existence at the time.

Warner Bros. Discovery, being the sole owner and arbiter of the rights to the whole Wizarding World IP, can decide to open attractions where they want. They can also licence other operators to open attractions, as they have with Universal. The rights Universal had for Japan were not exclusive.

Warner Bros. Discovery have plans to open their own Harry Potter / Wizarding World themed land in Abu Dhabi.
www.wbworldabudhabi.com

Harry Potter

A new adventure coming to Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
www.wbworldabudhabi.com www.wbworldabudhabi.com

Universal has not yet licenced the rights from Warner Bros. Discovery to open a Wizarding World attraction in the UK, and it's unlikely that WBD would grant them.
James said:
Would they be competing attractions? One is a theme park with rides, the other a studio tour with props and sets used in the real life films. Different types of attractions, different experiences. I think both would have good enough of a USP to coexist and both could even help one another. I see more positive than negative.

(obviously ignoring the rights issue here)
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I'd be inclined to agree with you, if the operators weren't generally competing with each other on everything else. There's already a messy law suit between HBO (owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) and Sky (owned by Comcast, who also own Universal), because HBO won't allow Sky to co-produce the new Harry Potter TV series. Admittedly this was settled out of court last week, but it's led to an eventual termination of Sky's exclusive right to HBO content in the UK and an exclusion on the Harry Potter project.

Warner Bros. Discovery will not want to potentially dilute its hold on Wizarding World attractions in the UK, and may have plans for even more expansion than the one's they've submitted just this week.
 
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The WB studio tour is in my opinion the highest quality attraction in the UK and even after 10 years+ it consistently sells out months in advance, so if anyone’s worried about competition it could be the other way round!

Being a huge Potter fan and seeing how excellent all the other Wizarding Worlds are I’ve always thought that one needs to be in Bedford, but the more I think about it the more comfortable I am with it not appearing.
 
Warner have just put in planning permission to extend the studio tour. They’re committed to it, as they should be because it’s prints money.

I can’t see them giving universal the UK rights for a themed land here in the UK.
 
Squiggs said:
Unless they see a legitimate opportunity to make additional profit from the IP.

The world is not black and white, so I don't think at this point you can make any assumptions about what is or isn't on the table.
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I feel like the Potter discussion is going to go in circles for years to come, even when they announce the details of the park and afterwards, when the park has opened, people will STILL be discussing whether Potter is coming to the park. Until any significant information comes to light, I'd rather not see the discussion loop of "will Potter be coming?", I'd much rather discuss other IPs or any planning considerations within the park.
 
To change the subject and what I posted on the other forum and got no reply lol

Based on this rough layout wouldn’t it make more sense to place the City Walk area in the center? This way, it could serve as a natural hub, with the upper section potentially functioning as a second gate for the park, offering access to both areas from that central location. As it stands, the current layout feels a bit disjointed to me.

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Blackrock said:
As you can imagine this conversation spanned pages and pages just like it has here :sweatsmile:

Post 1957 by Alicia, she runs the Theme Park Stop YouTube channel that’s all about Universal parks, if she says it’s not happening it’s not happening.

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I’ve read over it and it just seems like she’s referring to Potter? Can’t see anything else about the park not happening though?
 
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