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Potential New Universal UK Park

Ted said:
Hopefully the trains will do a decent amount of lifting, especially if Wixams gets built. Kempston Hardwick needs an upgrade of some kind however
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This sort of thing is exactly my thought. You can't just build more roads to get the cars in, because at some point there's going to be a bottleneck that will cause problems if everyone's arriving to the same place.

It needs some more blue sky thinking. Yes we keep referring to something that never happened, but London Resort had that sort of thinking with the car park across the river to avoid Dartford Crossing being used. Utilising boats to get people from Central London to the attraction on Thames Clippers was mooted, completely negating the use of a car. What they announced was never going to be enough with the state of the roads in the area, but it was an interesting starting point compared to what we have transport wise to other theme parks in the UK so far.

This is the sort of stuff where I'm interested in seeing what Universal come up with to try and mitigate the kick off from the locals. Their US parks are naturally car centric, and I've no doubt there will be road improvements made. But with a big focus on green credentials for new developments in the UK, I've no doubt things like the train stations in the area will play a big part too. Will we see other things come in like park and rides from areas further away from the park, utilising other or new junctions of the major roads near to the park? Staff cars parked at other locations? Incentives for taking public transport to the park? Or do they have to go big with dedicated monorails to and from the park a la Tokyo Disney?
 
In terms of public transport, I think that as well as upgrading Kempston Hardwick station or bringing Wixams station to fruition, it would be a great idea for Universal to run shuttle buses from some of the larger stations in the surrounding area, such as Milton Keynes Central and Bedford.

A Universal shuttle bus running from Milton Keynes Central would give people from places as far north as Manchester an easy public transport route to the park in around 2 hours, as well as a quick route for people coming from London Euston.

A Universal shuttle bus running from Bedford would give people from places like Sheffield and Leeds an easy public transport route to the park, and it would also connect directly to Thameslink.
 
Highly misleading reports on the geographical size of this project (which we've quickly deducted are as such) are not important. What is important from this report, and has been from the very start 33 pages ago, is how preliminary and fragile this whole thing is.

This potential park has already been compared to Disney World land acquisition in the 1960's, whether Spiderman will feature or not, and whether the annual pass will include Warner Bros studio tour.

All because Comcast bought some land on the site of an old brickworks in Bedfordshire. As if dump trucks full of cash has been extracted from from central government (who are totally still going to be in power this time next year) singlehandedly by Bob the local parish councillor, who text Rishi and made it happen. As if that's how binary government, and business investments work.
 
Matt.GC said:
Highly misleading reports on the geographical size of this project (which we've quickly deducted are as such) are not important. What is important from this report, and has been from the very start 33 pages ago, is how preliminary and fragile this whole thing is.

This potential park has already been compared to Disney World land acquisition in the 1960's, whether Spiderman will feature or not, and whether the annual pass will include Warner Bros studio tour.

All because Comcast bought some land on the site of an old brickworks in Bedfordshire. As if dump trucks full of cash has been extracted from from central government (who are totally still going to be in power this time next year) singlehandedly by Bob the local parish councillor, who text Rishi and made it happen. As if that's how binary government, and business investments work.
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I fully acknowledge that the project is far from a foregone conclusion, and I agree that it’s important to remember that given the UK’s prior track record on such projects, particularly a certain recent project in Kent. I definitely understand why some, yourself included, are sceptical.

With that being said, I don’t agree that we should be totally dismissive of any kind of optimistic or excited discussion. People are naturally going to get excited about something like this, and as much as you may dismiss the fact that Comcast have bought land as a minor detail, I think it does prove that they clearly have serious intentions for the area and are not just bluffing or in the earliest, earliest stage of blue sky thinking. With this in mind, I don’t see a problem with having optimistic discussions about what a UK Universal park might look like, because as much as the project is far from confirmed, it is evidently a very real possibility and not just fruitless speculation.

Yes, the official line remains that they are undertaking feasibility studies. I’m sure that there are still details being worked out and assessed by Universal, and these may yet deter them from bringing this to fruition.

However, I’d argue that they must be at a relatively advanced stage with these feasibility studies, because it costs a lot of money and time to engage even at the level Universal currently are. As much as you argue that the land purchase is no big deal, I’d argue that buying 500 acres of land for a mooted $271million isn’t a minor action undertaken by a company who may or may not be genuinely serious about using the land. To me at least, it signals that they must be pretty serious about bringing a Universal park to fruition on that land. Surely it would make economic and business sense to do at least a certain degree of in-depth feasibility studies to identify that particular parcel of land and work out that they could make a success out of building a Universal park on it? I’d imagine that a business like Comcast would not just have purchased a huge $271m plot of land in Bedfordshire for the hell of it, or on the off chance that they might use it for something. When hundreds of millions are on the table, you’re talking serious business.

I’d also argue that the project may be further along than Universal are letting on publicly. If the rather official-looking concept art leaked earlier in the thread that was alleged to be 1 year old is genuine, then I’d imagine that Universal must be at a pretty advanced stage with their feasibility studies if we’re at the stage of thinking about what attractions a park might contain. At very least, I imagine that they’d have sussed out the market demand and broad feasibility of the project prior to doing any of this stuff. If that concept art is genuine and is 1 year old, then I’d argue that Universal must have been seriously thinking about this idea for a fair amount of time.

I grant you that the concept art was later deduced to be at a different location in Milton Keynes, but I’d argue that that being the case would raise another question that potentially evidences Universal being further along with their feasibility studies than they’re publicly letting on. If Universal was merely doing early stage feasibility studies, or were just buying land as an exploratory exercise, why has only the land in Bedfordshire been discussed rather than this plot of land in Milton Keynes and other alternatives? Surely if Universal were still in the early stages of exploring, we might have seen other locations being discussed or even purchased as well? I still think that the land purchase is a sign of very serious intent, and that if they were still doing early-stage, basic feasibility studies, we wouldn’t have seen the land being purchased, but I think it’s a point to consider.

I understand scepticism, there are valid reasons to be pessimistic, and people are well within their rights to be sceptical about this. However, I also feel that people are well within their rights to be optimistic, and that there are valid reasons to be optimistic.
 
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Matt.GC said:
Highly misleading reports on the geographical size of this project (which we've quickly deducted are as such) are not important. What is important from this report, and has been from the very start 33 pages ago, is how preliminary and fragile this whole thing is.

This potential park has already been compared to Disney World land acquisition in the 1960's, whether Spiderman will feature or not, and whether the annual pass will include Warner Bros studio tour.

All because Comcast bought some land on the site of an old brickworks in Bedfordshire. As if dump trucks full of cash has been extracted from from central government (who are totally still going to be in power this time next year) singlehandedly by Bob the local parish councillor, who text Rishi and made it happen. As if that's how binary government, and business investments work.
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While I do agree that micro-speculating on the intricacies of the actual theme park such as rides and annual passes so far is a little daft at this stage, we wouldn't be enthusiasts if we didn't discuss the possibilities of how a potential park can operate and what it would take to achieve that.

Yes, people have speculated that public funding could be required. Yes, people have reported councillors and local government figures signalling they see the park as a positive. I don't however, see that much assumption from people that this is a done deal as a result - and indeed it's been pointed out by yourself and others (including moi) that this is all still in a very early stage.

But despite that very early stage, that shouldn't stop speculation on how the park could overcome potential planning hurdles should it end up getting to that. It's fine for some to be more positive about the project versus the sceptics among us, but let's try and keep discussion a little more friendly in tone and allow discussion from all areas of the spectrum at the same time.

Edit: While I appreciate the time you've take in your reply about the land purchase etc @Matt N, let's try and move on from this back and forth about it. We've covered it pretty much all of what you've said in the previous pages in this topic and we're just going to end up going round in circles. Some believe the park is further on in feasibility studies, others don't. But factually - we have absolutely zero idea on it, so it's unlikely you'll change anyone's opinion either way by repeating the same things. Likewise, that's the same for those who are sceptical about the project - it's adding nothing to discussion constantly pointing out the project is in the early stages and adding nothing else.

Bottom line - It's best to discuss the possibility of the park in general and speculate on what they could do to overcome any of those issues for the time being. Then fingers crossed we have more factual information coming out in the coming months.
 
Craig said:
This sort of thing is exactly my thought. You can't just build more roads to get the cars in, because at some point there's going to be a bottleneck that will cause problems if everyone's arriving to the same place.

It needs some more blue sky thinking. Yes we keep referring to something that never happened, but London Resort had that sort of thinking with the car park across the river to avoid Dartford Crossing being used. Utilising boats to get people from Central London to the attraction on Thames Clippers was mooted, completely negating the use of a car. What they announced was never going to be enough with the state of the roads in the area, but it was an interesting starting point compared to what we have transport wise to other theme parks in the UK so far.

This is the sort of stuff where I'm interested in seeing what Universal come up with to try and mitigate the kick off from the locals. Their US parks are naturally car centric, and I've no doubt there will be road improvements made. But with a big focus on green credentials for new developments in the UK, I've no doubt things like the train stations in the area will play a big part too. Will we see other things come in like park and rides from areas further away from the park, utilising other or new junctions of the major roads near to the park? Staff cars parked at other locations? Incentives for taking public transport to the park? Or do they have to go big with dedicated monorails to and from the park a la Tokyo Disney?
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I think Universal are clever enough to think outside the box when it comes to getting people and will probably be exploring those options now. I think one good idea would be to upgrade Ridgmont station, which is two stops down the line from Kempston Hardwick, to build like a park and ride there as that's literally next to the M1 and Junction 13. It'll encourage people to park there and get the train, and could be quicker than navigating the roads to the site itself. I reckon the people locals in Stewartby and Bedford would prefer that too because maybe not as much traffic would be on their door step? I think @Matt N makes a great point too that they should run buses from places like Milton Keynes as they "spreads out" the crowds a little bit more

Either way, working with the locals and listening to their concerns and ideas will be key in making this a reality. There's ideas out there that can make most, if not everyone, happy.
 
Benzin said:
Park & Ride with transportation to the park being a Hogwarts Express attraction in of itself.

I'll take my royalties by cheque please Universal.
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That's kind of a brilliant idea. Imagine if you could get the hogwarts express to the WB studio tour or visa versa
 
Relife said:
That's kind of a brilliant idea. Imagine if you could get the hogwarts express to the WB studio tour or visa versa
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The Warner Bros Studio Tour is a Warner Bros attraction, nothing to do with Universal Studios. Neither company is going to go to the enormous expense of building a ride linking the two attractions.
 
jon81uk said:
The Warner Bros Studio Tour is a Warner Bros attraction, nothing to do with Universal Studios. Neither company is going to go to the enormous expense of building a ride linking the two attractions.
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You just get an old steam train paint it like the Hogwarts Express and run it between normal rail stations, it doesn't need to be elaborate.
 
Relife said:
You just get an old steam train paint it like the Hogwarts Express and run it between normal rail stations, it doesn't need to be elaborate.
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I don’t think this is really practical rubbing in the national rail network as it would mess up with the timetables for regular commuter services.

Also running a coal powered train isn’t a great idea outside of heritage.

It would need to be some kind of modern train dressed up to look like the Hogwarts Express and that would be *very* expensive.
 
Relife said:
You just get an old steam train paint it like the Hogwarts Express and run it between normal rail stations, it doesn't need to be elaborate.
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Then that would be up to the Department for Transport and West Midlands Trains to work out if they think it is worth running a service from Kempston Hardwick via Bletchley to Watford Junction.

Given one attraction is an all-day theme park and the other is a half-day studio tour, I expect most visitors would actually travel to London and stay there before going back out to Watford next day, you wouldn't visit both places in the same day anyway.

If (and this is a huge if) Warner Bros have given the rights to Universal to build a Harry Potter area, then maybe it would be worth working with Thameslink to put on a special themed train from St Pancras. I wouldn't be surprised if Thameslink do get some sponsored train vinyl wraps if and when Universal opens to celebrate the train calling nearby, but who knows if they will be allowed to do a Harry Potter one, or if it would just be Mario, Minions and Jurassic World.
 
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Relife said:
I have a feeling that Harry Potter will be a no go, at least initially because of the studio tour.

If this ever gets the go ahead we should have a big poll on here to see which lands people would want the most
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Universal have pared back on Potter expansion at EU since the initial plans were around, they don’t have U.K. rights as far as we know, and the author is a liability and will likely continue to be if not more so by 2030

Combined with the rumour mill pointing towards a focus on attractions that aren’t found at the Orlando resort, I remain very sceptical

But let’s see if they even get a spade in the ground first !
 
Not a significant update really but the transport secretary was asked about the project in the Commons today and gave nominal backing to it:

news.sky.com

Politics latest: Universal's UK theme park plan gets government backing - as PM attacks imminent Labour 'U-turn'

Rishi Sunak is going on the offensive - attacking Keir Starmer ahead of Labour's imminent dropping of its £28bn green prosperity plan, and refusing to apologise for his much-criticised transgender jibe at PMQs. It comes despite Brianna Ghey's father demanding he say sorry.
news.sky.com news.sky.com
 
That’s actually really positive news. From the small amount published it seems they’ll likely put together a package of tax incentives and investment in road infrastructure to encourage Comcast to proceed.
 
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