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[🌎 Universal GB] General Discussion

Whilst I think Universal will bring an overall benefit to the UK, I've always been a little bit sceptical about the more far-flung parks being able to pick up many more visitors. This is purely because of extra travelling and transport. I've always thought it much more likely that the very-near parks will benefit, whatever they are. The way I see it, Universal being in Bedford means that is the resort, and that is where the potential is.

Let's say you have a 4-night stay at Universal, you might spend two days in Universal itself, and look for something to do on the other two days. In this regard, I've always thought Woburn Safari Park is in a good position to pick up extra customers, and I know there are issues with it, but potentially also Gulliver's Land. I thought Shawn also made a great point about possible extra attractions being built near Bedford itself. You never know, you could end up with something like Fun Spot USA, with a significant roller coaster such as a GCI.

And despite my scepticism about many of Universal's customers travelling far, that will undoubtedly happen with some of them. I live near one of the Harry Potter filming locations, and there are far more American tourists there than there used to be. Far more.

Regarding the effect on the UK theme park industry, I don't think it'll harm the bigger parks, but I've always thought the less successful ones might be shunted off the bottom of the list, so to speak. I can see a scenario where we only have about eight:

  • Universal
  • Alton Towers
  • Legoland
  • Chessington
  • Thorpe Park
  • Paultons
  • Drayton Manor
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach

...And I do think ones like Pleasurewood Hills, Lightwater Valley and Flamingo Land have to watch out (hopefully I'm wrong). But if I've learnt one thing over the years, it's that theme parks thrive in places where people are already staying overnight, and in that regard I think the Bedford/Luton/Milton Keynes area is really one to watch.
 
Bowser said:
The always popular with TS ThemePark WorldWide has made a video on how he thinks Universal will change the UK theme park industry.

One thing he suggested was the impact would likely be positive for other theme parks in the industry (as long as they invested and marketed appropriately). HIs main case for this was citing experiences in Florida visiting multiple parks. I've always disagreed with this as Florida is a unique destination people visit specifically for theme parks. It's like suggesting that people would visit multiple casinos if they were built in London just like they do in Las Vegas but i think enthusiasts sometimes get caught up in the bubble of their own hobby.

The other case he put forward was how Parc Asterix has grown since Disneyland Paris was built. I can only find attendance figures going back to 2006 but they appear somewhat stagnant until the late 2010's where they begin to accelerate till present day (excluding Covid obviously). That correlates with what i believe has been significant investment to the park but it also lines up over 20 years after Disney opened so i'm not sure it supports the argument that Universal will bring more visitors to UK parks. Asterix is also relatively close to DLP whereas you'd be very lucky to get from Universal to another theme park in 90 minutes, which further reinforces my belief that multi-park UK trips for tourists will remain a niche experience.

I do wonder how the next 5 years will play out. On the surface, it seems Paulton's and Chessington are investing the most currently. Whether that is to combat Universal or simply one another who can say. Who knows, perhaps we'll see Minecraft advertising in Bedford to entice people away...
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The analysis from The Relevant Media® is, as usual, about as deep as a puddle in a drought.

Comparing the UK market to Florida is a fallacy. Florida works because there is a critical mass of world class destination parks within a 20 mile radius, supported by a massive infrastructure of hotels and transport designed specifically for tourists. The UK has... the M25 and a replacement bus service.

The Parc Astérix comparison is also flawed. Astérix didn't grow simply because Disney opened down the road. Astérix stagnated for years until Compagnie des Alpes decided to invest heavily in major hardware and on site accommodation to turn it into a destination in its own right. It grew because the product improved, not just through osmosis.
jon81uk said:
I don't see one day tickets being three figures. They will be more than other UK parks, but I think its going to be more like £80. Universal Hollywood is $109 (£79) to $154 (£112) for a day ticket. Six Flags Magic Mountain is $55-65 (£40-47), so a little more than the UK Merlin parks. I don't think Florida is comparable because its a multi-day resort.
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You're forgetting inflation. If the park opens in 2031, £80 in today's money will look very different. It would take a 4.56% increase in inflation, for £80 today to be worth £100 in 2031, which isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

If we take look at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. A standard ticket is currently £53.50. That's for a walk through museum with no rides, no re-rideability, and a capped dwell time. Universal will be offering a full day, highly immersive theme park experience. They will position themselves significantly above the Studio Tour. I would be very surprised if a peak day ticket is under £100 by the time the gates open.
xtpower said:
Paulton's have entirely the right way of going about this... They're not trying to make National waves with some big IP,
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This rather ignores the pig in the room...

Screenshot-2026-02-10-at-11-51-28.png
 
Saying the Harry Potter tour thing has no re-ridability is nonsense. They've constantly added new bits and pieces and even have seasonal overlays.

Plus given how they are currently filming a TV show over the next decade they'll be able to bring in props, sets, and even events linked to that in a way they were never able to with the Potter films as they were finished when the studio tour opened.

I do however think the idea there'll be a massive influx of foreign visitors using a trio to Universal GB as a chance to go to other amusement parks is nonsense, sure enthusiasts might do it but then they might just get the eurostar to Disney as likely as they'd go to Alton Towers. More likely most people will add Universal onto a trip to London, Oxford, and Cambridge.
 
East Coast Mariner said:
Regarding the effect on the UK theme park industry, I don't think it'll harm the bigger parks, but I've always thought the less successful ones might be shunted off the bottom of the list, so to speak. I can see a scenario where we only have about eight:

  • Universal
  • Alton Towers
  • Legoland
  • Chessington
  • Thorpe Park
  • Paultons
  • Drayton Manor
  • Blackpool Pleasure Beach

...And I do think ones like Pleasurewood Hills, Lightwater Valley and Flamingo Land have to watch out (hopefully I'm wrong). But if I've learnt one thing over the years, it's that theme parks thrive in places where people are already staying overnight, and in that regard I think the Bedford/Luton/Milton Keynes area is really one to watch.
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I actually disagree with this. I think the Merlin parks, particularly Alton Towers, possibly have the most to lose from Universal arriving depending on how they respond.

With the smaller parks, they’re already smaller fish in the big nationwide pond and often target isolated local or holiday tourist niches that I don’t see Universal eating into in a big way. With Blackpool Pleasure Beach, for example, many guests see it as a part of the wider package of Blackpool and visit as part of a Blackpool seaside holiday. A seaside holiday is a very different product to a break at Universal, so I think Blackpool won’t be overly affected in terms of visitation. I’d say the same about the likes of Great Yarmouth, Pleasurewood Hills and Fantasy Island; they’re parks that frequently attract people going on holiday to the wider seaside area and aren’t really drawing from far away in their own right. And as I said, they’re already smaller fish in the pond underneath Merlin, so the biggest fish changing probably won’t make much difference.

But for the Merlin parks, they will suddenly go from being the big fish controlling the industry to the ones being dwarfed. These are parks that do attract people from far away in their own right for a specific “theme park trip”, and this is the market Universal will be aiming for. And of Merlin’s parks, I think Alton Towers is the one under the most potential threat because the overlap is biggest.

Thorpe Park, I feel, can position itself as a regional day trip thrill park with coasters and flats; even if Universal will have coasters, I don’t see them going hard on the thrills like Thorpe does. Chessington has the zoo that can draw a dividing line; I don’t see Universal ever going down the animal route (although if Chessington continues to undermine the zoo element as they seemingly are now, I think they could be at increased risk). Legoland has the Lego as a dividing line.

But Alton Towers, more so than any of the others, is a whole family short break resort. Universal will be going for this pound, and I think a substantial resort offering from Universal could undermine Alton Towers’ status as the go-to theme park resort for the whole family in Britain without some repositioning from Merlin to draw a harder dividing line between Alton and Universal.
 
Matt N said:
Chessington has the zoo that can draw a dividing line; I don’t see Universal ever going down the animal route.
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It's increasingly not a zoo though and who knows what will be left by 2031.

I think they need the water park approval asap as that will be another USP with Universal unlikely to head into that territory for decades if ever. The south is surprisingly bare for water parks.
 
Bowser said:
It's increasingly not a zoo though and who knows what will be left by 2031.

I think they need the water park approval asap as that will be another USP with Universal unlikely to head into that territory for decades if ever. The south is surprisingly bare for water parks.
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This did dawn upon me after I posted, and I’ve edited my above post accordingly!

I do feel Chessington comes under increasing risk if the zoo element continues to be undermined. That is their main dividing line with Universal.
 
I agree that Alton will feel the most pressure, simply by virtue of its current and long-occupied position in the public consciousness as the biggest, best theme park in the country. The other Merlin parks each have regional, demographic, or IP advantages that @Matt N has highlighted, but Alton Towers stands as its own brand within the Merlin portfolio. Despite what I expect will be a similar scale, I'm not sure it will be able to hold firm against what Universal will be able to offer.

At the same time, I don't expect the resort to immediately collapse. The investment in refurbishments in recent years has probably been wise in the long term, but there will need to be more explicit bang for buck to maintain guest figures.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
You're forgetting inflation. If the park opens in 2031, £80 in today's money will look very different. It would take a 4.56% increase in inflation, for £80 today to be worth £100 in 2031, which isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

If we take look at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. A standard ticket is currently £53.50. That's for a walk through museum with no rides, no re-rideability, and a capped dwell time. Universal will be offering a full day, highly immersive theme park experience. They will position themselves significantly above the Studio Tour. I would be very surprised if a peak day ticket is under £100 by the time the gates open.
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Yes I was thinking more about 2026 prices and inflation will take things up by 2031, but I still think there will be a perception that over £100 is expensive (The Warner Bros tour feels pricey at over £50). I could see first season peak pricing maxing out at £99 to avoid that perception ceiling, then increasing in future years.
 
Matt N said:
With the smaller parks, they’re already smaller fish in the big nationwide pond and often target isolated local or holiday tourist niches that I don’t see Universal eating into in a big way. With Blackpool Pleasure Beach, for example, many guests see it as a part of the wider package of Blackpool and visit as part of a Blackpool seaside holiday. A seaside holiday is a very different product to a break at Universal, so I think Blackpool won’t be overly affected in terms of visitation. I’d say the same about the likes of Great Yarmouth, Pleasurewood Hills and Fantasy Island; they’re parks that frequently attract people going on holiday to the wider seaside area and aren’t really drawing from far away in their own right. And as I said, they’re already smaller fish in the pond underneath Merlin, so the biggest fish changing probably won’t make much difference.
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Yes. The seaside parks should always have an audience as long as people still visit those resorts. Their current troubles are more down to running costs than anything else, I think. Certainly this applies to Great Yarmouth, Fantasy Island, Adventure Island etc. Pleasurewood Hills is a bit different, and needs custom from both holidaymakers and day-trippers, I believe.

Matt N said:
But for the Merlin parks, they will suddenly go from being the big fish controlling the industry to the ones being dwarfed. These are parks that do attract people from far away in their own right for a specific “theme park trip”, and this is the market Universal will be aiming for. And of Merlin’s parks, I think Alton Towers is the one under the most potential threat because the overlap is biggest.

Thorpe Park, I feel, can position itself as a regional day trip thrill park with coasters and flats; even if Universal will have coasters, I don’t see them going hard on the thrills like Thorpe does. Chessington has the zoo that can draw a dividing line; I don’t see Universal ever going down the animal route (although if Chessington continues to undermine the zoo element as they seemingly are now, I think they could be at increased risk). Legoland has the Lego as a dividing line.
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Yep, good points.

Regarding London, I think there will always be a market for the theme parks around that city (Thorpe, Chessington, Legoland). In fact, the three London parks probably stand to benefit the most, out of the big parks. Whilst Universal looks like it will have two huge coasters, I agree with those who say they're unlikely to have more than that, and so Thorpe still has its own niche (I actually think Thorpe could be more popular if it diversified, but that's another matter).

So in that regard, I can see a situation where Alton might become one of the Top 5, rather than one of the Top 3. Most European countries don't really have more than three parks with the sort of top-quality coasters Alton has, so I do agree its status will be lowered. However, part of me believes it's so ingrained in the minds of the nation as the top theme park, that we will sustain this "Top 5" no matter what.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
To think, we were all joking about this being held up by some rare vermin most people would kill on sight. Turns out the hold up is a 2000 year old rubbish dump. Gotta love this country.
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It's not being held up. Universal have known about these spots since 2024 - it's all baked into the construction timeline.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
That all depends on what they find, surely?
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I mean these spots are all meat to be excavated so I'm not sure they'll find anything that would derail the project. Outside of some pristine mosaic or something, it's all going to be pretty bog standard stuff. There's nothing in the docs that implies that these spots were anything but homesteads and farms.
 
xtpower said:
I mean these spots are all meat to be excavated so I'm not sure they'll find anything that would derail the project. Outside of some pristine mosaic or something, it's all going to be pretty bog standard stuff. There's nothing in the docs that implies that these spots were anything but homesteads and farms.
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So long ago, so only bones, no meat.
 
I think they already have a good idea whats actually there, they have been working on it for the last 12 months.

Nothing is likely to be found under there that would derail the project because they can do some work around the archaeology digs
 
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