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Universal GB - Archived Pre Announcement Discussion

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I understand the pessimism given the track record of these sort of projects. I’m going to remain mildly optimistic though, if for no other reason than I’d quite like this to happen and if anyone in the industry at the moment has the capital and will to do it, Comcast do.

Whilst there are significant headwinds at the moment, a project like this is a long term proposition and it’s perhaps the case the Comcast see an opportunity in just that. It’s definitely been a while since we’ve had a new theme park of note in this country and there’s also clearly been a degradation in park quality relative to how European parks have advanced. That feels like a reasonable USP.

As for Merlin not building a massive new park in this country, put very simply, why would they invest that sort of capital when they already dominate the market?
 
I think it will give a kick up the ar*e to the other theme parks in the UK with the “that’ll do attitude.”

I used to live and work in Florida and used to go Universal regularly. The events that they put on, decorations and shows are amazing!

Imagine a Halloween or Christmas style event Universal style in the UK. They’ve already captured a wide market already because they know how to do it PROPERLY.

I really hope this is true and Universal go full force with it!
 
Jb85 said:
Imagine the irony if it's built Manchester way, with no HS2......
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As a resident Mancunian let me just say that Universal branded umbrellas would sell big. Hahaha
As much as I'd love it....there's just no chance on earth of it coming to Manchester area. We get some of the worst weather in the UK.

I don't think it's actually coming to the UK either. People are seeing the 'L' in the project name and are massively reaching it is London. It could mean anything at this point. They also have patents in most countries too so that's what it probably is regarding the UK.
 
venny said:
I understand the pessimism given the track record of these sort of projects. I’m going to remain mildly optimistic though, if for no other reason than I’d quite like this to happen and if anyone in the industry at the moment has the capital and will to do it, Comcast do.

Whilst there are significant headwinds at the moment, a project like this is a long term proposition and it’s perhaps the case the Comcast see an opportunity in just that. It’s definitely been a while since we’ve had a new theme park of note in this country and there’s also clearly been a degradation in park quality relative to how European parks have advanced. That feels like a reasonable USP.
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Thanks for turning down the dial on the irrational closed season hysteria displayed in this thread. You raise some interesting points here.

Comcast have deep pockets and an eye on not-insignificant expansion. It's clearly part of their wider business strategy, and Europe is the obvious low hanging fruit. It could be argued that there is a large domestic UK market for such a proposal if, for nothing else, owed to the fact that the domestic market currently consists of quite low quality, down-market attractions. Thus there is a void to be filled.

However, I think there's too many negative economic and practical factors stacked against this, and these aren't current headwinds, they're long-term structural problems. Why would any large international company invest huge sums of money buying large amounts of development land in the UK just to whack a theme park on it when there a far easier and cheaper alternatives on the European main land?

As a country, we desperately need to build housing, transportation infrastructure, sustainable energy solutions and battery plants. We can't even build a windmill in a field, no matter how badly we may need it. The solutions that could attract investments like this are at the bottom of a very long, bumpy, obstacle ridden dirt track, if they're even there at all.

The UK government lobbied hard and offered large cheques to get Disneyland Paris and the London Resort built here during far better economic times than we're currently experiencing, and failed miserably. There's only one reason why Comcast would choose to build here as opposed to the far more attractive alternatives, and that's government incentives. There's no other practical or economic reasons I can see as to why they would bother?

The public finances are in a terrible state, and the only way I can see the cheque book coming out and planning laws being sidelined is government desperation for electioneering purposes, which could (rightly) be cancelled by a change in government, under intense scrutiny as to why theme parks are being fast tracked amidst a housing and energy crisis.

Deep pockets or not, avoiding the UK like the plague for Comcast makes perfect sense for multiple reasons unless bundles of government cash incentives and favourable planning terms are on the table. And the government, whether outgoing or incoming, have far bigger priorities to throw the kitchen sink at before considering roller coasters and dark rides.

Regarding Merlin, I don't see any kind of Universal park being a problem at all. Both operate in very different segments of the market. "New Merlin" or not, their market positioning is firmly placed well below the likes of Disney or Universal. They don't offer special premium immersive experiences, they offer 6 hours to get on a few roller coasters to a family for £120, a milkshake bottle and a cereal box cutout. Merlin have downgraded their parks to compete against fairgrounds, cinemas, holiday camps and zoos. A so called high quality "competitor" could potentially even accelerate the downgrading/down-marketing process that's been operating in its parks for the last couple of decades.
 
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On Sunday, the decommissioned Fiddler's Ferry pretty station in the north west is being demolished.

I'm not saying it is where they could build a new theme park, but I am saying that it would free up a lot of land, with few planning restrictions, that's handily located between three sizable towns with plenty need for new employment opportunities, two major cities with international airports and fast west coast mainline services, a short drive from the M6, M56 and M62 motorways, less than three hours from London by train, and directly on the planned high speed NPR line

Do I think Universal UK is going to happen this decade? Surely not. Are there plenty of suitable, plausible locations despite the many, many obstacles? Absolutely!
 
Martin said:
On Sunday, the decommissioned Fiddler's Ferry pretty station in the north west is being demolished.

I'm not saying it is where they could build a new theme park, but I am saying that it would free up a lot of land, with few planning restrictions, that's handily located between three sizable towns with plenty need for new employment opportunities, two major cities with international airports and fast west coast mainline services, a short drive from the M6, M56 and M62 motorways, less than three hours from London by train, and directly on the planned high speed NPR line

Do I think Universal UK is going to happen this decade? Surely not. Are there plenty of suitable, plausible locations despite the many, many obstacles? Absolutely!
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Universal Studios Widnes ? Come on now
 
Pretty sure Peel Holdings have purchased the land, so if it's like everything else they own it'll just be an empty site for the next 20 years.

All for a Universal Studios park in between Liverpool and Manchester though.
 
havaska said:
https://trademarks.ipo.gov.uk/ipo-tmcase/page/Results/1/UK00003866386

Make of this what you will but Universal have trademarked their name and association with theme parks. I suspect it’s just brand protection but still, is interesting.
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I don’t think this has anything to do with the remote possibility of UK workThat just considers with universal announcing the use of that name for the theme park decision. It’s trade marked in the UK for them to sell Orlando packages in the UK which they already do the UK version of the Universal Orlando website. Much like Disney World holiday's is the UK arm of Disney for UK guests booking direct.
 
I'm not a massive follower of international developments, but couldn't the reference to buying land be the new park in Texas?
 
Maelstrom said:
I don’t think this has anything to do with the remote possibility of UK workThat just considers with universal announcing the use of that name for the theme park decision. It’s trade marked in the UK for them to sell Orlando packages in the UK which they already do the UK version of the Universal Orlando website. Much like Disney World holiday's is the UK arm of Disney for UK guests booking direct.
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It was only registered on 9th June 2023, though... Universal have been marketing Orlando holidays to Brits for far longer than that.

For what it's worth, a similar trademark was also made in Spain in conjunction with the PortAventura buyout rumours...
 
Matt N said:
For what it's worth, a similar trademark was also made in Spain in conjunction with the PortAventura buyout rumours...
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There’s a tendency to think that one rumour cancels the other because apparentely two Universal parks in Europe is too crazy to even think about it. I don’t think it’s the case. I think Universal is looking to expand their portfolio aggressively and become a big chain standing somewhere in between Disney and Six Flags. I mean, they’re already doing it in America and that's not a rumour. I think one Universal park in UK and another in Spain is perfectly viable (A clamp to Disneyland Paris? :tearsofjoy: )

Also, in case they build a park from the ground up in UK, it doesn’t have to be a super mega resort like Orlando. It could be something more like the Texas park. On the other hand, the resort they’re buying in Spain already exists and already it's profitable. Those are the main points why I don’t think they’re not too crazy OMFG rumours as people tend to think.
 
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Matt N said:
It was only registered on 9th June 2023, though... Universal have been marketing Orlando holidays to Brits for far longer than that.

For what it's worth, a similar trademark was also made in Spain in conjunction with the PortAventura buyout rumours...
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I am aware they have been selling holidays in the uk for years but They only announced the rebrand to Universal destinations and experiences (inc logo) on March 8th this year, which would make sense why they applied for it this year.
 
Matt N said:
It was only registered on 9th June 2023, though... Universal have been marketing Orlando holidays to Brits for far longer than that.

For what it's worth, a similar trademark was also made in Spain in conjunction with the PortAventura buyout rumours...
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The parks division only rebranded to Universal Destinations & Experiences in March 2023 so the name couldn't have been trademarked much earlier anyway.

And Universal Destinations & Experiences was trademarked in Germany 7th June 2023. So unless they are building a park in each European country I think it's safe to say primarily the trademark is for European based marketing.

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Ah, that makes sense… I wasn’t aware that Universal had changed the name of their parks division more widely.
 
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