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[🌎 Universal GB] General Discussion

Benzin said:
The options are endless, but linking them together in a coherent fashion is the difficulty.
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Why would linking them together be a difficulty?

Universal Creative would not be obliged to feature every single location from the LotR's story, that would be absurd, too much even for an entire theme park. So they select a few iconic locations, and design some world class attractions that sit comfortably inside those spaces. They could easily select three contrasting locations such as Bag End (simple, rustic, homely), Rivendell (otherworldly, elegant, inspiring) and Moria (dark, cavernous, threatening) and have unlimited creative space for rides, attractions, eateries and shops. Two rides, an E-ticket and a family friendly C-ticket; a highly themed full-service restaurant; a counter service cafe; and The Green Dragon Inn for ales but not pipe weed and you'd have Tolkien fans coming from across the the world to visit.

I rather like the look of this scene of elvish beauty, and would very much like to spend some time there:

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Does this Universal Park have the potential to outdo all other Universal Parks including ones on Florida and become the best Universal Park
 
JayTricky said:
... I could see them straying away from the original movies/actors which are 25 years old now.
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The rights get significantly more complicated (and expensive) if Universal wanted to include the LotR IP based on the Peter Jackson movies. Not only will they have to agree a deal with Middle earth Enterprises for the right to use the IP, they'd also have to agree a deal with Warner Bros (and New Line? and Wingnut?) for the rights to the movie representations. As much as I'd like to see Ian McKellen reprise his Gandalf and hear Howard Shore's magnificent score, I think that's probably one rights agreement too far.
 
Hid said:
Does this Universal Park have the potential to outdo all other Universal Parks including ones on Florida and become the best Universal Park
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Does it have the potential? Sure, if they commit the time and money to building something better than their current parks. Whether it will or not is something that Universal have control over, although it's a pretty high bar they would need to clear. In 2015 Mark Woodbury was President of Universal Creative and said in an industry conference that it was Universal's aim that "the next thing we do has to be better than the last thing we did". He's now CEO of Universal Destinations and Experiences so he's in the number one position to make that aim come true, or not. We'll see whether he reaches that lofty goal in a few year's time.
 
In honesty it just needs to be as good as or better than DLP which is thier main competition. DLP has it's own issues at the moment so there is an opportunity to eventually overtake it but they will need more lands and IP before than happens
 
Hid said:
Does this Universal Park have the potential to outdo all other Universal Parks including ones on Florida and become the best Universal Park
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I think asking for a Florida beater from day one is a tall order.

Does it have that potential once it’s been open a few decades? Certainly. Am I expecting a Florida-calibre product straight out of the gate? Absolutely not.

Universal Orlando Resort as we know and love it today is a product that has been built up gradually over 35 years. The Universal Studios Florida that opened in 1990 was not nearly as elaborate as that we see today. Ditto with the Disneyland Paris that opened in 1992. Or the PortAventura that opened in 1995. Or the Islands of Adventure that opened in 1999. Or the Universal Studios Japan that opened in 2001.

New theme parks often require a good few years of bedding in operationally to develop properly. They rarely have a “full” lineup on opening day compared to what they eventually develop in the years to come.
 
Hid said:
Does this Universal Park have the potential to outdo all other Universal Parks including ones on Florida and become the best Universal Park
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It probably has the potential. What makes a great theme park is highly subjective, but it'll be nice of us seeing a park with more UK properties thrown in (although of course Harry Potter's British), and they can learn from all their previous experience, and use the latest technology. It also sounds like it's going to have more original attractions (rather than clones) compared to some of the other parks.

If it is true that initially it'll have 1 500 room hotel and aim for 8 million visitors a year, it'll clearly have to be an amazing park with some impressive theming and rides. But to give a comparison, they've built 3 hotels with 1,500 hotel rooms for Epic Universe. To give another comparison, the Themed Entertainment Association estimates that Universal Japan gets 16 million visitors a year, so double what this park's initially aiming for.

I'm sure it'll be pitched as their best park yet, but initially it might not be their best one. I'm sure the standard of theming will be very high though, and some of the headline rides will be real jaw droppers.
 
I’m assuming this is phase 1 what we’re hearing about know and there’ll be further stages with more hotels that no doubt start being built as soon as construction starts to wind up on the main park. Contractors can then be diverted away from the main build to phase 2 etc.

Even when the park is open I’m going to assume they’re going to spend a good decade investing in the park and surrounding area.
 
Matt N said:
I assume Universal will also be multilingual to some extent, seeing as they’ll want people coming from all over Europe.
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I'm going to pre-empt the "this is the DLP topic" stuff and reply here, rather than there. ;)

How do other Universal Parks operate? I assume the US parks might have at least a bit of Spanish, but haven't paid much attention to the Asian parks.

I could see the logic of "there's only one official language in Englandshire, so that's all they're getting". (Most Septics seem to think the Celtic languages are something made up for LOTR). It would certainly be a minefield to try and pick any one mainland European tongue over the others. If anything, a second language in this country is more likely to be Arabic, or Hindi, or Urdu etc. [citation needed] (and for the love of Wardley, please don't read anything in to that!)

I could also see the whole park using American English spelling without knowing the difference.
 
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If IOA is supposedly getting a Zelda land, I can see this getting a Nintendo expansion a few years in. The biggest untapped IP at that point would probably be Luigi's Mansion, which seems tailor made for a theme park dark ride.

They could even give the land a UK focus and have Professor Layton and Pokemon Sword/Shield themed attractions in a village setting with the mansion being the village's stately home.
 
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Dobba said:
If IOA is supposedly getting a Zelda land, I can see this getting a Nintendo expansion a few years in. The biggest untapped IP at that point would probably be Luigi's Mansion, which seems tailor made for a theme park dark ride.

They could even give the land a UK focus and have Professor Layton and Pokemon Sword/Shield themed attractions in a village setting with the mansion being the village's stately home.
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Luigi’s Mansion is also rumoured for Epic Universe, so I guess they’d want to keep the separation between Florida and Bedford.

Japan is getting a Pokémon attraction/land at some point to replace Spider-Man. I could see that IP being one of the expansion spots with it either having the aesthetic of Unova or Kalos (arguably some of the most iconic iconography in the series). You could easily have the supporting attraction be the Pokéball-themed Ferris wheel. It’s such a big IP that has shown more longevity than Potter, and doesn’t hold anywhere near the controversy of Potter.
 
Dobba said:
If IOA is supposedly getting a Zelda land, I can see this getting a Nintendo expansion a few years in. The biggest untapped IP at that point would probably be Luigi's Mansion, which seems tailor made for a theme park dark ride.

They could even give the land a UK focus and have Professor Layton and Pokemon Sword/Shield themed attractions in a village setting with the mansion being the village's stately home.
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Ha, you just answered the question I was about to ask. I couldn't for the life of me remember what the current Universal x Zelda rumours were!

That said... could Zelda come to the UK? It would certainly be a headline IP if it did.
 
Orlando as a whole package of its three Universal parks is clearly going to remain the premier Universal destination, but as an individual park I think and hope Bedford can rival it. The opening concept art looks like a real good start but as and when areas and attractions are officially announced we’ll see just how awesome it’s going to be.

At the moment, with the sheer volume of Epic vlogs, videos and reviews about I’m completely and utterly sold on it being the most amazing theme park that they’re only going to make better, so I think Bedford may be a bit behind, but there’s no shame in that.

Bedford expansions and a second gate though, then we’re talking ;)
 
Squiggs said:
Ha, you just answered the question I was about to ask. I couldn't for the life of me remember what the current Universal x Zelda rumours were!

That said... could Zelda come to the UK? It would certainly be a headline IP if it did.
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Zelda seems ready made for the old Lost Continent area and I can see Universal wanting the higher tier IPs in Orlando and Hollywood as the main money spinner.

Orlando's little brother park getting Mario's brother's ride seems about right.
 
Three expansion slots for the future, I'd go with
- Something Nintendo
- Lord of the Rings(if we aren't getting straight away)
- something dark universe related, seems like the gothic gloomy looks is taylor made for the UK
 
I think it’s very clever what universal have done here and I know they’ve already said it’s not to cannibalise the US market but in a way forcing them to come to the UK to experience the park.

Back To The Future especially is a very smart move by the park to draw in the US peeps who have been pineing for the loss of it at Florida.

I did wonder if How To Train Your Dragon would be an area given Epic but been as it’s just been built there I’m guessing they’ve got other plans and rightly so! However that area does look impressive!

I’m hoping that instead of just a generic Minions Land we get the Illuminations Land instead that way to tie in the Secret Life Of Pets Hollywood has got which looks pretty cool!

I’m really hoping they get a City Walk also, just for the atmosphere and bars alone. And maybe Toothsome. Purely for the milkshakes 👀

I can’t wait to see the planning documents once they go live!
 
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