Universal GB - Archived Pre Announcement Discussion

[Plastic Person]

Not that this will have any bearing on whether this will proceed or otherwise, but I think if I was one of the people who had prepared or even been paid-off to have my life and home uprooted for HS2, seen that cancelled, then witnessed the government pump tens of millions into accessible train access to a theme park, it would take more than a few unique IPs to calm me down.

I remain cautiously optimistic about this, and feel Universal have played the right moves entirely, at least so far. But the United Kingdom's politics have never been more fragile. Does Keir Starmer recognise the Minions right to exist?

 

[dave___]

I passed the site about 10mins ago and in the far south east, on the land itself owned by Comcast there was a bit of activity involving a couple of diggers. Not sure what they were doing, potentially digging down in specific areas to check what they're working with.

Digging out all the great crested newts before anyone gets a chance to spot them

 

[Squiggs]

It's good to see Universal fast out the gate with contacting local residents.

Given how quickly those letters have appeared, my suspicion would be that the comms timeline we're on is not far off Universal's planned timeline.

I.e, if it hadn't leaked this side of Christmas, they would have been making an official announcement early in the new year.

Even with the resources of Universal, those letters must have been in the post with 24hrs of the story breaking, which definitely suggests this sort of comms was already in the pipeline.

 

[rob666]

Digging out all the great crested newts before anyone gets a chance to spot them

But if only people would think of the spiders.

 

[Joel]

Given how quickly those letters have appeared, my suspicion would be that the comms timeline we're on is not far off Universal's planned timeline.

I.e, if it hadn't leaked this side of Christmas, they would have been making an official announcement early in the new year.

Even with the resources of Universal, those letters must have been in the post with 24hrs of the story breaking, which definitely suggests this sort of comms was already in the pipeline.

Well the website reveals a few more clues about things and certainly backs up that the press and comms about the project was very much in the pipeline.

Firstly it looks like Universal have engaged Edelman for media and press management, and London Communications Agency to manage PR and the community as detailed from the privacy policies and other technical information on the site.

However the website itself looks to have been setup by LCA (London Communications Agency) as it is hosted 'locally' by a company called Supporting Role who previously worked with LCA , and reveals a few other clues (aside from the fact its powered by WordPress... urgh definitely an agency job ).

The domain was registered on 28th September 2023, and the website build (e.g. imagery) was created on 4th October 2023.

There was some activity on the 18th and 19th December to update the site, and the main page itself was last updated 20th December at 12:52, presumably to finalise the copy etc. before having to perhaps unexpectedly go live!

So certainly seems like they have been engaging and planning comms since September, with the build of the site beginning at the start of October.

I feel like this was maybe intended to be a new years announcement and has been accelerated slightly due to the info discovered - that, or cynical me says they have done the very common thing of 'leaking' the information to garner an initial reaction before invoking one of no doubt several comms plans - and given the mostly positive praise, my guess would be that they chose the 'embrace and own it' plan of engagement, rather than the 'skeptical and deny it' option

There is no way a letter would have been created and signed off by the legal counsel and stakeholders in a mere 24-72 hours though, so I think it is probably just a plan that was waiting to be activated all along.

Nothing much interesting in the metadata pulled from the PDF letter too... except who the hell is Ginger Martin

Title: TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Author: Ginger Martin
Creator: Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365
Producer: Microsoft® Word for Microsoft 365
CreationDate: Wed Dec 20 08:46:56 2023 UTC
ModDate: Wed Dec 20 08:46:56 2023 UTC
Tagged: yes
UserProperties: no
Suspects: no
Form: none
JavaScript: no
Pages: 1
Encrypted: no
Page size: 612 x 792 pts (letter)
Page rot: 0
File size: 115254 bytes
Optimized: no
PDF version: 1.7

 

[Josh555]

Until Amber the eco campaigner starts raising the issue of a new species of dandelion leaf that she thinks she's found on the site and is prepared to chain herself to a tree to stop construction. Or Ken from 79 Pudding Lane claims his cats will mate out of season because of the sound a B&M sit down makes. Or the chancellor meets with the local MP and tells him that UK debt interest is costing £1bn per year and they have an 18 month waiting list for hip operations so they'll be none of the asked for subsides.

I mean this is relevant for any planning application for large development, the reality is that when a major company is behind a project which is likely to bring significant investment and opportunity to an area, it tends to get approved.

If what you describe equated to any more than an annoyance for companies when they're trying to get planning permission Alton Towers wouldn't have had half of the approvals through which they have done over the years including the very recent one for the next big ride.

 

[BarryZola]

Nothing much interesting in the metadata pulled from the PDF letter too... except who the hell is Ginger Martin

 

[Joel]

No. There is no location in the known multiverse in which “Minions” is a must.

Minions confirmed on their site, the picture shows it. Sorry.

 

[Quantum]

In terms of the local authority being on board bare this in mind. Alton Towers is the single largest business rates assesment in the country so you can imagine how much revenue it brings in for Staffordshire Council.

Id imagine a Universal park could be on the same level or more given the usable space they have. Bedford council should be moving heaven and earth to make this happen as it would be a huge be boost for local finances with Universal being a guaranteed payer.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Minions confirmed on their site, the picture shows it. Sorry.

I’d better get started on my campaign to block this whole development. Anyone got a spare newt?

 

[KolonelKlink]

Well that is VERY exciting and feels very real. I think the good thing from an enthusiast point of view is we'll probably know whether this is going to happen or not in 2024 rather than it dragging on for many years and not getting anywhere.

I think you’re slightly jumping the gun here - we might know at the end of 2024 if Comcast wish to proceed but the process of getting a planning application together, the exhaustive consultations that would have to be undertaken then mandatory referral to the government for consent - with its own consultation process - will be very very slow.

It’s extremely unlikely spades would be in the ground until 2027 but that could still mean a 2030 opening date.

 

[Benjsh]

LOTR is definitely my number one most desired IP for this park as I have already mentioned.

However something else I would love to see them try to do is a Tim Burton inspired land. We all know Universal have worked with the Beetlejuice IP before and there's finally a sequel film in production as we speak. Tim Burton has also recently worked on the Adam's Family reboot with the brilliant Wednesday TV series and obviously has worked on incredible movies such as Nightmare before Christmas (producer), Edward Scissorhands, Alice in Wonderland, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd to name but a few. His body of work is incredible and most of the stuff he's done lends itself so well to Theme Park rides.

Even though he was born in California, Burton is one of the most famous Anglophiles in the world. He absolutely adores this country.

Anyone else think that something like that would be pretty cool?

 

[Joel]

Just had a thought too… this is Universal, right?

So are we all prepared for the £89 day ticket and £25 parking fee?

I do wonder in all seriousness if they will become the most expensive park in the UK to visit though. And I bet Alton Towers won’t be far behind following them

 

[Benjsh]

Just had a thought too… this is Universal, right?

So are we all prepared for the £89 day ticket and £25 parking fee?

I do wonder in all seriousness if they will become the most expensive park in the UK to visit though. And I bet Alton Towers won’t be far behind following them

Prices will be somewhat irrelevant if the product is strong enough. People will always find the money from somewhere.

Look at the Harry Potter Tour in Watford. That's not a cheap attraction to visit at all given it lasts about 3-4 hours maximum. Think we spent nearly £200 there just for the 3 of us with a couple of small purchases whilst we were there.
It's Potter though so people will pay it.

This won't be any different. People in the UK will pay top dollar if the product is fantastic and merits it.

 

[Benjsh]

2million guests a year that Harry Potter Studios Tour attracts.
Quite incredible numbers for what is a mainly walkthrough experience with no rides that lasts less than half a day.

Really puts things into perspective on the power these franchises have.

 

[The_bup]

Hey, different markets really. People will pop into chessie or Thorpe maybe once or twice a year, but people are going to save up for universal. Remember it is supposed to be pulling tourists from all the globe!

 

[Dave]

Hey, different markets really. People will pop into chessie or Thorpe maybe once or twice a year, but people are going to save up for universal. Remember it is supposed to be pulling tourists from all the globe!

I don’t think the aim is to pull people from all over the globe. Its catchment area will be Europe.

Fact is it may have a single unique IP that might tempt a broader reach (rumoured LOTR as an example), but a lot of the attractions will likely be lifted from other universal parks.

 

[coaster_roaster]

Just to add, if the product is here - I think people will pay. It’s made it to the general publics Facebook. My self-admitted NIMBY mother even said she was excited for it, said the maximum (for the once every four years sorta trip) she’d pay was £110-150 per day ticket.

Although that is extortionate, quite simply many people in this country will never be able to afford Orlando / Florida so they will take what they can get. I know nothing is confirmed yet but if my nearly 60 year-old mother is excited, so am I.

 

[Joel]

I get people will probably pay more for it, but it will be incredibly interesting to see how they price themselves.

I think what might prevent them charging silly prices for tickets will be the initial offering - I believe that should this go ahead, it will be phased in construction and opening, and whatever opens at first will be relatively small - certainly compared to the US offerings.

For an idea I’m thinking no more than say 2-3 small lands with a few rides or attractions in each, and maybe one “e-ticket” style coaster… but again given the weather, I’d expect to see more indoor and weather-proof attractions in mind.

I would hedge a bet that it’ll start small and somewhat cautious to keep costs down, and if they continue to be successful, they will grow the parks further over time, because I just don’t feel they are going to shell out upfront for a huge park to rival their other parks.

Yes Comcast have a lot of dollar behind them, and there is a belief in Comcast that theme parks print money right now… but I also think they will be cautious about how much they spend, and may even have Port Adventura bad memories on their minds still I bet

Talking of themes and rides, again I believe they will struggle to get Harry Potter rights from Warner Bros (everyone seems to think Universal automatically have the rights to it just because of the US parks) for any kind of sensible cost - however - I do think they could attempt to do something with Fantastic Beasts again similar to Epic Universe as it wouldn’t directly compete with WBST in the UK, and I’d hedge a guess that WB wouldn’t mind it so much too… probably charging a pretty penny for that licensing though

I also don’t see that Lord of the Rings would feature - yes it was a popular film franchise, but it’s one that’s over 20 years old now, and the appeal (or even knowledge of!) for the younger market doesn’t exist these days. It may work, but it wouldn’t be an obvious choice, and with a lack of further films to keep it in the publics interest, I just don’t think it’s a serious option.

I would however hedge a bet on seeing something Minions related, and likely something Dreamworks related too.

But I guess time will really tell on those themes too

 

[Danny]

LOTR will probably end up in Saudi before/if it ends up at Universal in the UK.