jesterrace989
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Don't have one
Does there? With the studio tour only an hour away?
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Potential New Universal UK Park
- Thread starter Craig
- Start date
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Maybe they'll build a Hogwarts Express route between the park and studio tour, who knows 
Bowser
TS Member
I imagine it’s going to be more comparable to DLP where presumably lots more visitors than say Merlin parks do get the train, especially if the infrastructure is getting investment and it takes you directly there.
If AT had an onsite station infinitely more people would use it imo.
I'm not even sure what more they could do theme park wise with Harry Potter. It's pretty well covered at other parks.
If this gets the green light in the Autumn I wouldn't be surprised to see a planning application go in early 2025, I would assume they are already working on park plans behind the scenes.
If this gets the green light in the Autumn I wouldn't be surprised to see a planning application go in early 2025, I would assume they are already working on park plans behind the scenes.
John_P
TS Member
Seeing as they'll want indoor areas they could make a Harry Potter area be the London Ministry of Magic as the entire land. Could easily fit in things like Olivanders and Weasleys whizzard wheezes as having shops in there.
Create a new indoor ride, and have say a broom stick coaster that takes guests outside.
Create a new indoor ride, and have say a broom stick coaster that takes guests outside.
Dobba
TS Member
Isn't that the basis of Epic Universe's contribution towards JKR's midlife crisis?
International tourists and people living in London (and cities on the East West Rail line) will likely all mostly arrive by train, so not unreasonable numbers at all. I personally know dozens of friends in London who would love to go to a bigger park in the country than Thorpe but Thorpe is the only reasonable one by train.
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John_P
TS Member
No the land is Wizarding Paris from the doa Fantastic Beasts films. The big ride is supposed to be set in the UK ministry of magic.
So think it's different enough as you can expand it into a indoor world with shops and experiences. And unique rides.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
The rail link would work very well for all parties because guests would be travelling opposite to the peak direction on trains that are near empty so it's essentially free money for Thameslink. A station at Wixams has been discussed for decades but nothing's ever happened so it's an opportunity to get locals onside, if demand is high then they might even get the odd EMR express service.
This is a good point, a large amount of people from the uk visits the parks in florida, adding the same harry potter could take away from the appeal of going to florida, as we already have it over their
Tim
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Air / Blue Fire
Harry Potter will be a part of this park, in a similar way that Pirates of the Caribbean had to come to the Magic Kingdom.
It's a juggernaut of an IP, and people will expect it. You only need to flick back through the discussion in this thread to see how frequently it keeps being brought up.
Universal might be intending to leave it out of the initial lineup, maybe even to leave it out entirely. But people will keep asking for it, and eventually it'll happen.
I'd personally love them to do something completely different with the IP. Maybe a twist on the Star Wars Galactic Cruiser, a fully immersive Hogwarts hotel filled with spells you can perform to progress a story. It would be a major win for Universal to prove that they can do what Disney failed to do. And I think the location is far better suited to an experience like this then Orlando is.
The only reason I could see HP not being used is if the studio tour actually has an exclusivity deal in the UK, like Paultons do with Pepper Pig. But I very much doubt this is the case. Ultimately the studio tour is not a Theme Park, it feel like one with all the recentadditions, but it's still meant to be a look behind the scenes of how the films were made. Universal's Wizarding World is about living the dream.
It's a juggernaut of an IP, and people will expect it. You only need to flick back through the discussion in this thread to see how frequently it keeps being brought up.
Universal might be intending to leave it out of the initial lineup, maybe even to leave it out entirely. But people will keep asking for it, and eventually it'll happen.
I'd personally love them to do something completely different with the IP. Maybe a twist on the Star Wars Galactic Cruiser, a fully immersive Hogwarts hotel filled with spells you can perform to progress a story. It would be a major win for Universal to prove that they can do what Disney failed to do. And I think the location is far better suited to an experience like this then Orlando is.
The only reason I could see HP not being used is if the studio tour actually has an exclusivity deal in the UK, like Paultons do with Pepper Pig. But I very much doubt this is the case. Ultimately the studio tour is not a Theme Park, it feel like one with all the recentadditions, but it's still meant to be a look behind the scenes of how the films were made. Universal's Wizarding World is about living the dream.
I watched a bit of TPW’s Q&A from last night and thought he made a good point when he suggested that whilst Universal coming obviously represents a threat to places like the Merlin parks, it also represents an opportunity as people will be travelling to the UK for Universal but could then choose to visit other attractions whilst they’re here that they wouldn’t ordinarily make a specific trip for.
DiogoJ42
TS Member
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- The Metropolitan Line
There's a massive difference between the "original sets studio tour" (most of which are reconstructions) and "Happy Rotter Land WITH RIDES".
The HP IP will be make or break for this park.
Bowser
TS Member
I’m a little sceptical of that. Outside of hardcore enthusiasts, how many tourists are going to Disney then travelling several hours or more further to visit Six Flags?
Night Watchman
TS Member
I imagine we will see several vlogs from prominent YouTubers, even though we probably shouldn’t.
Thankfully I’m an enthusiast AND a local so feel justified in going. The resort will actually be walking distance from my house!
Maybe Universal aren't dropping them nuggets on the quiet so they are less likely to make an effort to monetise what everyone else can read for themselves.
Public Exhibitions are like dishwater to be fair and how many times can you make a 30 minute video about "what we might see in 5 years time". The rail enthusiasts will probably be more interested with the prospect of two new stations however.
Likewise in regards to being in walking distance, I am too. It was good to hear about potential new bike lanes in the PDF and the survey.
I think the other UK parks would benefit a significant amount, even if we are talking about enthusiasts only. I would expect the lure of Universal on the doorstep to a big pool of European enthusiasts, a large percentage of them would visit universal and a large percentage of that would also go to atleast Towers or Thorpe. Not even mentioning US enthusiasts. The general London, Cambridge, Oxford tourist will probably only visit Universal though to be fair.
Matt N
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- Mako (SeaWorld Orlando)
Are enthusiasts likely to make up a significant percentage of visitors attracted to this park, though?
I reckon that only enthusiasts would really make the effort to visit the likes of Towers and Thorpe as well, and I can’t imagine that the enthusiast pound alone would be significant enough to have a major impact at those parks.