Universal GB - Archived Post Announcement Discussion

[Blackrock]

I wonder if at some point (if the government do the right thing and take HS2 all the up to Scotland and into wales) we could have a HS2 spur line going to the park.

One direct train from Edinburgh, Glasgow or Cardiff straight to the park.

 

[Ash]

I think Paddington, Bond and LOTR will get announced at a later date with LOTR being the real differentiator. This will be closer too when they can make an impact.

Personally the current rumoured lands will be great for an opening line up. BTTF and a world class Jurassic Dark ride will be real draws.

Agree it probably looks a way off a multi day park, and when you compare the 2 thrill coasters to what we have at Alton it shows how a big difference, but also that quality is important and arguably the secondary attractions have been forgotten in Merlin.

 

[Benjsh]

I've seen some people suggesting that the green coaster could be Wicked-themed. Univeral have said in the past that they would love to add it to one of their parks one day, and Univeral UK could be the golden opportunity.

I'm sure Wicked would be very popular too.
Personally I wouldn't be overly excited by a Wicked themed land but I'm sure plenty others would.

The rollercoaster looks huge though and not very family friendly. That leads me to believe it won't be wicked themed.

 

[Danscott22]

The coaster looks so obviously in Jurassic World though I don't know how people are seeing it any differently

 

[Benjsh]

The coaster looks so obviously in Jurassic World though I don't know how people are seeing it any differently

It does appear that way but if it was that would be one huge area. By far the biggest in the park. It also means having another Jurassic World themed rollercoaster similar to Velocicoaster. Would they want to do that? Quite possibly.

Would appear the land would contain two drop towers, a high ropes course, a huge dark ride, a massive coaster and a few other smaller attractions like meet and greets and maybe a small flat ride. That's more than 1/4 of the park really in terms of size and attractions.

Nothing is confirmed yet so we shall wait and see. And I'm definitely leaning more to the IP they could be holding back on being in the NE of the park anyway below the show venue anyway.

If that corner becomes a DreamWorks area then it's definitely too many family rides for a Universal park for me. Would only leave BTTF and Jurassic as the rides aimed at thrill seekers.

 

[Maelstrom]

Also as sure been mentioned while the original epic universe concept art was fairly accurate, in terms of lands the original Beijing concept plan when announced turned out to be very different. There are some similarities with layout etc- but the original had no Harry Potter, Jurassic park was more like what was at the original parks Inc the river boat ride and changed to Jurassic world following the success of those movies. Minions land as was built was also not present.

While Epics was fairly accurate their where changes including removing the second Harry Potter ride- which was moved to be a new 2024 ride for studios during Covid when park was paused and then decided the concept (VR broomstick ride) wasn’t good enough. The show in the lobsters area was replaced with the spinning coaster and some restaurants/buildings in celestial park where also changed and at least 1 not built.

While I expect the layout to remain very similar to what’s in the image I do expect to see some changes as the plans develop. Especially that area that currently looks like Shrek.

In regards to Wicked- it could be we see a cut down broadway style production in the theatre that appears to be in the main entrance street. Rumours where that they where looking at adding a in park cut down broadway style show to Orlando but that may have developed into a full land now.

I also think there is the possibility of something Nintendo- could we see Zelda appear hear first? It’s long been rumoured for IOA or now an expansion for Epic Universe.

 

[Benjsh]

I'm just not sure the Jurassic IP is enough to be the main anchor IP for the park. Sure it's a massively popular brand and always will be a staple of a Universal theme park but what's different about it? Literally every Universal park around the world has a Jurassic area doesn't it? Is this alone going to encourage major international tourism which this park will absolutely need to survive? I have my doubts that would be enough personally.

If they do go through with Paddington, Illumination Pier and Dreamworks also then I think we're looking at a much more family friendly park than I was originally anticipating.

 

[Benzin]

Agree it probably looks a way off a multi day park, and when you compare the 2 thrill coasters to what we have at Alton it shows how a big difference, but also that quality is important and arguably the secondary attractions have been forgotten in Merlin.

Don't think any Universal park (on its own) is a multi-day park. Singapore & Beijing are very similar designs to what the concept is here.

Not an issue. Especially compared to why most UK parks require more than 1 day because of operational issues.

I'm just not sure the Jurassic IP is enough to be the main anchor IP for the park. Sure it's a massively popular brand and always will be a staple of a Universal theme park but what's different about it? Literally every Universal park around the world has a Jurassic area doesn't it? Is this alone going to encourage major international tourism which this park will absolutely need to survive? I have my doubts that would be enough personally.

If they do go through with Paddington, Illumination Pier and Dreamworks also then I think we're looking at a much more family friendly park than I was originally anticipating.

Depends if the concept art is final, or as many have mentioned, hiding certain aspects.

Universal is fairly family focused too. Singapore opened with 2 entire Dreamworks areas (Shrek & Madagascar) out of the 6. Beijing have Illumination and Kung-Fu Panda.

Until anything is officially confirmed by the park, all discussion on themed areas and what's being built is pure speculation. Nothing more.

 

[owenstreet7]

I believe that there is a possibility Dreamworks (or Shrek specifically) won't appear at Universal UK initially as it's area and the reason is that Merlin operate Shrek's Adventure in London.

I'd say that whilst Shrek's Adventure operates, it may be an obstacle to bring Shrek into the new Universal park.

It is a possibility that the IP may run out beforehand however.

 

[Llama]

I think the idea that theming this park to one set of movies vs. another set could make a big difference in its ultimate popularity is a bit silly. For decades one of the most popular rides at Disneyland was based on a movie from 40 years prior that was never released on any kind of home video in the same country. There are a dozen popular regional parks in America where the theming for most rides is just borrowing the name and the colour palette from a superhero. Most of the world's most popular coasters are called something like Maxx Turbo Force or Vampire Strike, and so on.

Of course something massive like Harry Potter or Star Wars or Nintendo will move the synergy needle by itself but I really don't think people are going down the list of IP-based rides in a park and deciding to visit based on how many they recognise from recent movies.

 

[Benjsh]

Until anything is officially confirmed by the park, all discussion on themed areas and what's being built is pure speculation. Nothing more.

Fully aware.... but we don't have anything else to go off at this point. We may as well lock this thread then if we can't speculate on what there will be.

Hopefully the planning documents are going to land before end of summer and then we will get a much better idea.

 

[JT01]

The more i look at concept art and peoples map overlays I have a feeling that parcel of land will be to small for a LOTR land. I think we will be looking at quite a small park to begin with it compared to other parks

map of concept plans

 

[xtpower]

The more i look at concept art and peoples map overlays I have a feeling that parcel of land will be to small for a LOTR land. I think we will be looking at quite a small park to begin with it compared to other parks

map of concept plans

Not sure why you'd think that. The footprint of the concept art is still over 100 acres and all the Universal Parks in Orlando are 100-130 acres. Frankly we have no idea how far along in the creative process the concept art was made, for all we know Universal are 4-5 iterations further on than what we've seen.

 

[Bowser]

If we do have a Delorean coaster, it has to hit 88.8mph which I believe would make it the UKs fastest.

 

[JT01]

Its clear from that overlay that parcel of land for the unknown IP is not very large if we are going of the layout of the concept art. obviously the layout can change though. I would imagine if it was LOTR it would be around the same size as the jurassic park area.

 

[xtpower]

Its clear from that overlay that parcel of land for the unknown IP is not very large if we are going of the layout of the concept art. obviously the layout can change though. I would imagine if it was LOTR it would be around the same size as the jurassic park area.

There is a ton of un-utilised land in the concept art and overlay so I wouldn't use it as some reason to worry. It will change.

 

[Benjsh]

Universal GB website has udated and it includes the Jurassic Park / Jurrasic World TM and Minions TM.

Not really a shock to anyone as these two were the most obvious ones from the plans. Just confirms it now.

 

[LHN2024]

Universal GB website has udated and it includes the Jurassic Park / Jurrasic World TM and Minions TM.

Not really a shock to anyone as these two were the most obvious ones from the plans. Just confirms it now.

It’s apparently not a legitimate website according to Alicia Stella

 

[Craig]

With the announcement that Universal are progressing with their new UK resort, we’re taking the opportunity to split discussion into a number of separate topics. This will allow discussion to flow much more freely, and allow members to choose to follow and participate in discussion that interests them.

With the resort still in the early planning stages we don’t want to dilute discussion too much and risk things becoming too fragmented, so we’re only starting with a few topics. As things progress and more information gets confirmed, we’ll look to splitting discussion off further.

For this reason, we ask all members to not create new Universal GB topics themselves and allow the team to create them. If you have a suggestion for a new topic, please drop a member of the team a message, but also consider whether it’s required at this time. The prior Universal topics will be split between a pre announcement and post announcement topic, and will remain locked for people to refer to.

Archived Pre Announcement Discussion
Archived Post Announcement Discussion

For the time being, the new topics consist of:

[ Universal GB] Project Timeline (Coming soon)​

This will list the major steps taken in the project so far. This won’t go into every single detail of the resort’s progress, but will highlight significant events/milestones along the way.

[ Universal GB] General Discussion​

For general discussion, news and updates about the resort. It’s also the place for speculation and discussion about potential IPs, areas, rides and attractions.

[ Universal GB] Planning, Transport and Infrastructure​

Want to get geeky? This is the place for detailed discussion on the planning process along with discussion on the many road, rail and infrastructure changes that need to take place to allow the resort to open.

[ Universal GB] Impact on the UK Market​

The planned resort is a seismic change to the UK’s theme park industry which we have never seen before. Discuss the impact to the wider UK leisure industry here.