Universal's New Park/Site B Blue Sky Thread

[JungleSkip]

What are the chances that they come up with an original park icon?

IMO we're still so far out we can't even guess as to what the icon will be

 

[Disneyhead]

First off, we know the 4th gate is just going to be a cobbled together collection of IPs, right? What determines what this park looks like is how they can lump them together and transition from one to the other.

So, the current roster that I'm hearing is Jurassic World, Zelda, Potter, and Nintendo (Pokemon?) as anchor IPs.

They have drawn up a bunch of mini lands from the DreamWorks catalog that they are going to use to plug and play with the remaining expansion pads/dead zones.

(Sidebar: The 2 oldest rumors may come to pass after all.)

 

[fryoj]

They are geared to kids

That's why Dreamworld went with a B&M family suspended coaster for their area
Madagascar Madness | Dreamworld

Besides the Mack Dragon Gliders uses screenz, a perfect fit for Uni. Just make it 3D. I love 5he idea of the indoor plaza that both ride take a peek at about half through their cycle because of heat, and rain issues in Florida. Dreamworks is all about preteens and especially younger. I'd love to see much more done with the Minions.

Let's not forget Far Far Away in Singapore

there's your castle with a B&M made Madagascar family suspended coasterling in the foreground

Not sure it matters but..

Dreamworld's is a Suspended Vekoma.
The pic of the Sitdown in front of the Far Away Castle from Singapore is also a Vekoma.

 

[quinnmac000]

A 400ft castle would take up a **** ton of room

A well made 400 ft castle could also house so many things. Nothing is stating this castle has to be made like WDW castle where you can't explore and place other rides etc inside.

 

[Disneyhead]

A well made 400 ft castle could also house so many things. Nothing is stating this castle has to be made like WDW castle where you can't explore and place other rides etc inside.

The castle would have Shrek's Royal Dining Hall (Massive character buffet), a puppet theater, and the entrance to the boat ride.

Pretty sure we see the boat ride somewhere regardless of if they go with the castle idea.

 

[fryoj]

The castle would have Shrek's Royal Dining Hall (Massive character buffet), a puppet theater, and the entrance to the boat ride.

Pretty sure we see the boat ride somewhere regardless of if they go with the castle idea.

If they really want to poke at Disney, they need to do a 37 minute boat ride that is really boring and repetitive and has a massive stroller corral out front.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

First off, we know the 4th gate is just going to be a cobbled together collection of IPs, right? What determines what this park looks like is how they can lump them together and transition from one to the other.

So, the current roster that I'm hearing is Jurassic World, Zelda, Potter, and Nintendo (Pokemon?) as anchor IPs.

They have drawn up a bunch of mini lands from the DreamWorks catalog that they are going to use to plug and play with the remaining expansion pads/dead zones.

(Sidebar: The 2 oldest rumors may come to pass after all.)

I'm a Potter fan but a third park of it in the same town is a bit much. The Hindsight of a stand alone park of Potter would kick in for me. Now, if it's just Fantastic Beasts and not a whole 'land' area. It's just a me thing but they really need to exploit their Dreamworks animation addition.

Case in point. My boss is going to take his three granddaughters (the oldest is 10) to Disney for the thire time this Jan (the second week) He stays on site and a fan of Wilderness Lodge like myself. He's never once taken them to Universal, just not enough there. A Shrek castle themed hotel that opened up into an immersive land of Dreamwork IPS may change the dynamic for families like that.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yes, we're just in the pre game warm ups.Starting line ups not even announced yet. Lot's of the game left.

 

[Alicia]

(Sidebar: The 2 oldest rumors may come to pass after all.)

Is that, Middle Earth and...?

 

[Disneyhead]

Is that, Middle Earth and...?

Star Trek

 

[Viator]

(Sidebar: The 2 oldest rumors may come to pass after all.)

So wait, when the court case for LOTR went through this past year, NBCUniversal and Warner were already talking with eachother?

If that's the case, that's..actually rather interesting. Shows Universal's stance with Warner on theme park rights for a franchise like that.

As for Star Trek, if we take that seriously; that is what's coming to the MIB Expansion Pad?

 

[Alicia]

As for Star Trek, if we take that seriously; that is what's coming to the MIB Expansion Pad?

Could be what happened to Jurassic Park River Adventure... was supposed to go there, but ended up anchoring the new park next door instead. The why-build-a-ride-when-you-can-build-a-massive-new-land-at-a-new-park situation?

 

[Viator]

Could be what happened to Jurassic Park River Adventure... was supposed to go there, but ended up anchoring the new park next door instead. The why-build-a-ride-when-you-can-build-a-massive-new-land-at-a-new-park situation?

But instead of Jurassic Park, it's Nintendo in this situation.

Personally, it just sounds like to me that UC and UOR outside of projects that are given the green-light, are pure liquid, ever changing.

 

[Donald Razorduck]

So wait, when the court case for LOTR went through this past year, NBCUniversal and Warner were already talking with eachother?

If that's the case, that's..actually rather interesting. Shows Universal's stance with Warner on theme park rights for a franchise like that.

As for Star Trek, if we take that seriously; that is what's coming to the MIB Expansion Pad?

How did that settlement between Warner and the Family effect the IP's theme park use? I thought it was digital rights based

 

[Legacy]

All of this is kinda blowing my mind right now...

So we’re not getting Smokey and the Bandit?

 

[captainmoch]

God, the last thing in the world this new park needs is to make Shrek the front and center Main Street and park icon. I'm not even exaggerating when I'm saying I think that'd make the park a laughing stock.

Shrek is a fine IP. It was extremely popular for a while and has definitely died down but he's still fairly iconic, and giving him an e-ticket attraction would work alright. But he's also considered by many to be a bit of an embarrassment, a bit of early 2000's edginess and gross-out comedy that many people are glad about being dead. Do I agree? Not entirely, I think Shrek 2 is one of the best animated comedies of all time, but I honestly do understand where people are coming from. He's coming back soon, which might give him a decent boost of popularity once again. But I think having the park's 400 foot-tall icon and the entire opening area be based off freaking SHREK would be a massive mistake.

If you're going to have an IP-based icon as the park's centerpiece, go with something like Peach's Castle, from a beloved and timeless series that all ages love, or even something from LOTR that looks grandiose and epic. Going with Far Far Away Castle as the opening area to your park, just for a cheap potshot at Disney, is just a mindbogglingly bad idea.

 

[Dinoman96]

I'd be pretty disappointed if the 4th gate's icon turns out to be based on an IP. It'd look kinda out of place with the gate/globe, Pharos Lighthouse and Krakatau.

 

[captainmoch]

I'd be pretty disappointed if the 4th gate's icon turns out to be based on an IP. It'd look kinda out of place with the gate/globe, Pharos Lighthouse and Krakatau.

I agree. Despite not having a hub and spoke layout in any of their parks, I still have to hand it to Uni, I love their icons. The iconic gate and globe, the shimmering lighthouse, the breathtaking Volcano... all great. The next step being Shrek would just make me gag.

With that aside, I do say I'm really interested in these other things being thrown about for Park 3. The fact that Middle-Earth might be on the table is incredibly exciting. My proposal for the overarching theme? Fantasy. Middle-Earth, Potter, Zelda, Shrek, and to an extent Pokemon all fit that theme. JW would be an incredibly loose fit but meh, they can make it work. Plus I think having full parks that are "Islands of Adventure" and something like "World of Fantasy" would be a much subtler potshot at Disney's MK formula than shoe-horning Shrek as one of the most prominent IPs in your new park.

 

[Scott W.]

This thread has really blown up.

I don't mind Shrek being a big IP in the park. I think the IP was underused in USF and it has so much potential in a theme park but let's be real. This isn't going to be the shinning land and the big sell. It's going to be a solid addition to what will no doubt be a solid varied line up.

The idea of Jurassic World going into the park is interesting. I think Jurassic World is a go, Jurassic Park in IOA needs to go. I'm seeing this park as a good excuse to reshuffle some of the IPs about to a new location without the major downtime that a redo would have plus it will free up some well needed land in the current resort.

 

[zg44]

I can understand IPs making up nearly all of the next park, but the central hub needs to be more serious than a satire like Shrek imo. The main reason I say that is simply because Shrek is sort of an oddball IP in that it doesn't take itself seriously (unlike the rest of the IPs we'll see).

How did that settlement between Warner and the Family effect the IP's theme park use? I thought it was digital rights based

We won't know because the settlement was private and the case was dismissed. The only people that know are the estate and Warners (and whoever is negotiating with either party for the rights).