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Universal GB - Archived Post Announcement Discussion

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That area looks way too small to be LoTR.

Maybe LoTR could be an addition after the park has opened in one of the expansion pads. I assume they’ll be investing heavily for the first decade after the park has opened.
 
I’ve never got into LOTR, read the books through once and tried to watch the films but just struggle with it. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be incredibly excited to see what sort of world and attractions could be built - I think it would be popular across the world and by far the biggest headline in the park were it to happen.
 
Josh555 said:
If that's legit I bet Universal are delighted that literally one day after they announce the park someone has leaked the themed areas.

As to the location of the LoTR area I assume it's the 'Shrek' area.
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That Shrek area is tiny, to small for an IP on the scale of LoTR that I assume they’d have spent a fortune on getting.
 
xtpower said:
"Hey guys, we were here first. We also invest and stuff so come to our Parks."
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I really doubt they are, they operate a theme park and Midways in the most cluttered theme park space in the world (Orlando). They also have known this was coming for 18 months (we have been confident it’s occurring and Merlin have far more accurate sources than geeks on a forum and YouTube vloggers.

Ash said:
They just don’t get it…

They don’t need IPs, they need to be their own thing. Cater for the British audience with home grown IPs. In their own way. What they do best.

I think they had a model in TCAAM and Nemesis Reborn in particular, events, merch, actors, rides, marketing. All tied in to their own universe. But it seems they’ve dropped it already.

They need to look after their parks.

They need to show people higher prices also mean better quality.

They need to stop nickel and diming people with the 241s, MAP, Car parking fees, game stalls everywhere, worse food, oversold paid fast pass, low capacity, staff/event cuts

Concentrate on running what you have well, get the rides open on time with all the effects working, on time, all the time.

Fascinating hearing about Bond, LOTR and Paddington this morning.

I would think Bond would be the stunt show at the back of the park, and maybe the coaster? Sure the planning docs will clear that up this year at some point
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I agree and disagree, I actually think the IP route is working well for Chessington, and I suspect overtime it will become a complete IP based park.

I really hope they don’t panic and go the same way with Towers, if they were smart they would realise Towers is its own IP (admittedly one Merlin has tried to destroy over the years), I feel like they did know this hence why they have not IP’d the last two secret weapons, nor the refreshed haunted house but I really really hope they don’t panic now and think IP the place. It can work in Chessington but it won’t work in Towers.
 
The Green Coaster area could well be the LOTR land for all we know at this point. Could be a flying coaster riding on the back on an Eagle as in the books/films.

People have naturally presumed that it's an extension to the Jurassic World area but that area already seems to contain several rides as it is and would they want to build another rollercoaster themed to Jurassic World like they have at IOA? Arguably not. I would imagine if anything they'd want to avoid doing that as to not deter people going to Florida.

You could easily see that small children's looking area with the balloon type ride to the SW of the park being home to Paddington so I'm inclined to believe the BBC sources personally.

I'm sure we will find out soon enough anyway.
 
RicketyCricket said:
There's a huge show building behind it though tbf. Could see an Arthur style Fanghorn Forest in there for example.
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There is but the land itself is tiny, smaller that what was provided for HP when that was first introduced over the pond. There doesn’t seem to be any expansion space for that area.

It just doesn’t seem befitting to an IP on the scale of LoTR imo.
 
Blackrock said:
There is but the land itself is tiny, smaller that what was provided for HP when that was first introduced over the pond. There doesn’t seem to be any expansion space for that area.

It just doesn’t seem befitting to an IP on the scale of LoTR imo.
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Is it any smaller than Pandora for example? I'm terrible with this sort of thing so it may well be much smaller.
 
ACX96 said:
It has it's hardcore fans, but it's not got mainstream appeal. The films are too long to allow a casual audience and the amazon series hasn't done much good


2. Yes. I am. See above. Again, it's not appealing to a casual audience. I'm quite aware of it's popularity amongst it's fans but it's not as commercial as Harry Potter has been. Harry Potter has taken ideas of fantasy without being too heavy on it which has allowed it to be palatable for casual audiences. LOTR being a significant foundation to the fantasy world of dwarves, elves etc has given it a reputation of being for geeks. (Now I mean no offense by this, I consider myself a geek) but it's on the same lines as D&D. Large enthusiasts group for them, but do families casually play it?
Personally, I cannot get into it and everyone I know is the same. Star Wars, Harry Potter and Marvel is as far as fantasy as casual audiences go.

3. Nobody goes to Orlando just for Harry Potter. Not having Harry Potter in the UK would be a big mistake for Universal and it wouldn't take away UOR much like Disneyland Paris hasn't taken away from WDW. I think most could appreciate both existing. Rides in a WW themed land and then wanting to see the genuine sets/props at the Studios. The expansions have been good but necessary and they can't keep this up forever as a simple walk through attraction. By the time the parks open WBS will be 18 years old. If it takes another 10 for an expansion I can see it being entirely feasible for WB to licence it.

The source on the BBC article said it wasn't happening now but they didn't rule it out for the future
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LoTR has huge mainstream appeal, the films were a huge success, video games and other merch sell very well. More films are on the way and even those who are not huge fans understand the theme (Tolkien pretty much set the standard for the modern high fantasy genre) so even non-fans will be entertained.

As for Potter I think Universal will pause major Potter investment for a bit. Rowling seems to have taken a long walk off a short pier (and Epic Universe expansion was locked in before she went completely off it), and the IP has become very toxic, I don’t think they have abandoned it but I think they will watch and see how the TV show does as no one is fully sure if Rowling unpopularity is impacting Potters popularity at the moment.

If it turns out the IP is still strong despite its creators obsession with other people’s genitals (and now their sex lives or lack thereof it seems this week), they might make Potter an expansion.
 
Benjsh said:
The Green Coaster area could well be the LOTR land for all we know at this point. Could be a flying coaster riding on the back on an Eagle as in the books/films.
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My feeling is that LOTR, if it's coming, will be more akin to Avatar/Pandora in terms of immersion and landscape, rather than a steel coaster themed to a creature.

I am not sure how you could spin a 'world' out of BTTF, although it would lend itself to some nice 50s theming and dining opportunities. The same goes for Jaws. But they are both iconic films worth including. I could perhaps conceive of them as mini-areas amongst the more sprawling Minions and Jurrasic material.
 
Dave said:
LoTR has huge mainstream appeal, the films were a huge success, video games and other merch sell very well. More films are on the way and even those who are not huge fans understand the theme (Tolkien pretty much set the standard for the modern high fantasy genre) so even non-fans will be entertained.

As for Potter I think Universal will pause major Potter investment for a bit. Rowling seems to have taken a long walk off a short pier (and Epic Universe expansion was locked in before she went completely off it), and the IP has become very toxic, I don’t think they have abandoned it but I think they will watch and see how the TV show does as no one is fully sure if Rowling unpopularity is impacting Potters popularity at the moment.
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With Potter it's also worth remembering that they are already going down the route of having to have a bit of a tenuous link between a Fantastic Beasts IP and the orignal Potter movies in Epic Universe which suggests that they're running out of original movie areas to create the large immersive worlds out of.

Anyone who wants more Potter, what would they like to see next? I guess you could do a Forbidden Forest full area (they have Hagrids but that is just the coaster and actually not that foresty), I've always said that an Azkaban dark ride would be great but what other areas would merit a full land?
 
I really hope it’s not a Shrek-themed land. Aside from the Jurassic area, there just aren’t many exciting IPs for me. Don’t get me wrong, the Back to the Future coaster looks incredible, but the land itself seems like it’ll just be generic American-style building facades. Minion lands are always the weakest areas in the parks, and I’m not sure how they’d create a truly immersive land with Paddington.


After following the construction of Epic Universe and seeing what they’re capable of—especially with immersive areas like How to Train Your Dragon I’m starting to feel a bit underwhelmed. I’m really hoping Shrek is just a placeholder and they’re planning to introduce a more mature, fantasy-driven IP instead.
 
Dave said:
I actually think the IP route is working well for Chessington, and I suspect overtime it will become a complete IP based park.
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I’m sure it will but everything will now look so low rent compared to what’s coming up the M1 - let’s face it, anyone who thinks World of Jumanji looks like a jungle rather than a slightly overgrown Dobbies garden centre is kidding themselves.
 
Plastic Person said:
My feeling is that LOTR, if it's coming, will be more akin to Avatar/Pandora in terms of immersion and landscape, rather than a steel coaster themed to a creature.
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That would definitely be my preference. Then again I'd be delighted with an entire park dedicated to Middle Earth. I'd probably never leave. Hahaha!
The opportunities are endless. You could do the Shire / Rivendell / Gondor / Fangorn / Isengard / Mordor / Erebor / Númenor etc and they'd all look absolutely incredibly I'm sure.

I do think the park needs a stand out IP though if it's not going to have Potter. All the other new Universal Parks have had Potter so you'd imagine they'd want something on that scale to replace it.

I'm also not sure I'm buying that Shrek looking building either. Given there's already going to Minions land and presumably Paddington / Dreamworks area at the other side of the park......I'm inclined to believe that the Shrek building could be a red herring. It might be what they are holding back.
 
Dave said:
LoTR has huge mainstream appeal, the films were a huge success, video games and other merch sell very well. More films are on the way and even those who are not huge fans understand the theme (Tolkien pretty much set the standard for the modern high fantasy genre) so even non-fans will be entertained.

As for Potter I think Universal will pause major Potter investment for a bit. Rowling seems to have taken a long walk off a short pier (and Epic Universe expansion was locked in before she went completely off it), and the IP has become very toxic, I don’t think they have abandoned it but I think they will watch and see how the TV show does as no one is fully sure if Rowling unpopularity is impacting Potters popularity at the moment.

If it turns out the IP is still strong despite its creators obsession with other people’s genitals (and now their sex lives or lack thereof it seems this week), they might make Potter an expansion.
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The success of Hogwarts Legacy would say 99% of people either don’t know or don’t care.

The IP is hers but it’s now also bigger than her.
 
Skyscraper said:
From the Univeral Studios Great Britain Discussion Facebook group, I think this is a good shout...

Jurassic.jpg
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Would be pretty cool.

The only issue with this is the practicality and cost. To have a free moving animatronic Mosasaur (is that the correct name?) of the scale it is in the movies you'd be talking probably the most expensive and largest animatronic in the history of Theme parks. I just don't think it would be feasible really.

Definitely thinking it's more likely to be Water World or James Bond Stunt show myself.
 
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