Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[JungleSkip]

Y'all this is gonna be so much fun. Never thought I'd see a new park from Uni/Disney in Orlando again.

Now, someone build me my Royal Egyptian hotel

 

[Legacy]

There's the current map of Universal/Stan Thomas land ownership in Orlando. Universal's land ownership for the south resort is now over 1300 acres. H/T to @Happytycho for checking the land records and finding the specific parcels Universal got.

I included the Kirkman extension on this map because that right-of-way was already granted on that specific route, so Universal will have to deal with that as it is.

The Mandarin extension (the one cutting across large parts of the property from Universal Blvd. to Sand Lake) is not included because I assume Universal will move that path before actually granting right-of-way/building it, to maximize Universal's land usage.

Talking land rights, right-of-way, foreclosure, land conservation requirements... no clue.

This picture is basically the only thing that matters to me.

 

[Nick]

Yea. Not saying they can’t open before 2023...but absolutely no one should expect that. There’s a lot of things hat need to get approved/signed off on before they even start work. My complete guess is they’re going to try and get all the city approvals for Phase 1 of Site B by the end of the year (meaning we’ll see/hear something solid on it by then, whether officially or by leaks). But then you still have a ton of time for infrastructure installation on the land, and then construction itself.

It’s gonna be a fun time though. Looking forward to enjoying it all with everyone. We have a crazy awesome time in Orlando right now, and who knows, there’s a chance this is the last time we’ll see a development like this in the city

I'm interested to see if UOR will try to get some sort of transportation option between resorts approved as an option aside from buses. They'd need to get approval to use the airspace which is the issue.

Also, the UOR bus pick up/drop off is already way too small and this is before the two hotels at WnW open and then presumably 3-4 hotels open at the new site which will end up being bused over. They are going to need to figure out how to handle that situation, but it's tricky as they have little land to play with in that spot.

 

[JungleSkip]

I'm interested to see if UOR will try to get some sort of transportation option between resorts approved as an option aside from buses. They'd need to get approval to use the airspace which is the issue.

Also, the UOR bus pick up/drop off is already way too small and this is before the two hotels at WnW open and then presumably 3-4 hotels open at the new site which will end up being bused over. They are going to need to figure out how to handle that situation, but it's tricky as they have little land to play with in that spot.

I would not be surprised if the valet area gets the axe and moved in favor of another bus stop option, at least in the short term, once Surfside/Dockside open

 

[Scott W.]

I'm interested to see if UOR will try to get some sort of transportation option between resorts approved as an option aside from buses. They'd need to get approval to use the airspace which is the issue.

Also, the UOR bus pick up/drop off is already way too small and this is before the two hotels at WnW open and then presumably 3-4 hotels open at the new site which will end up being bused over. They are going to need to figure out how to handle that situation, but it's tricky as they have little land to play with in that spot.

I think this is the wrong thread to be having this discussion and should be moved to the UOR expansion, however. You're right, I think a complete revamp of the transportation area is needed at the current resort. Would there be any space under CityWalk to allow for a bus drop off area?

To keep it slightly on topic. Buses with a Nintendo wrap are going to be look dope AF.

 

[happy bunny rabbit]

Talking land rights, right-of-way, foreclosure, land conservation requirements... no clue.

This picture is basically the only thing that matters to me.

Same, when people talk about the court case I get sooo intensely confused, I only really check on here for things like that and I can just :drool:

 

[JungleSkip]

To keep it slightly on topic. Buses with a Nintendo wrap are going to be look dope AF.

Bullet Bill buses ftw

 

[Magic-Man]

Let's not get overly optimistic.

Could 2022 happen? Sure. But it's not a likelihood. You have to remember, this is an entire new resort with a new park, citywalk, hotels, etc all being built on land that needs to be cleaned up first. They also are going to want to carefully plan out how they build out this first phase so it leaves them in a great position for a Second water park, more hotels and a potential fourth theme park far down the line.

This isn't something you rush.

Yea. Not saying they can’t open before 2023...but absolutely no one should expect that. There’s a lot of things hat need to get approved/signed off on before they even start work. My complete guess is they’re going to try and get all the city approvals for Phase 1 of Site B by the end of the year (meaning we’ll see/hear something solid on it by then, whether officially or by leaks). But then you still have a ton of time for infrastructure installation on the land, and then construction itself.

It’s gonna be a fun time though. Looking forward to enjoying it all with everyone. We have a crazy awesome time in Orlando right now, and who knows, there’s a chance this is the last time we’ll see a development like this in the city

Okay, so it opens one year later than that. What's a one year difference, after all the various delays we have seen?

 

[happy bunny rabbit]

Bullet Bill buses ftw

This is all I want.

 

[Scott W.]

Reading the first few pages of this thread is interesting with how things have went.

 

[Nick]

Reading the first few pages of this thread is interesting with how things have went.

It's pretty amazing that this thread started 6 years ago.

Oh how things have changed.

 

[Mad Dog]

There's the current map of Universal/Stan Thomas land ownership in Orlando. Universal's land ownership for the south resort is now over 1300 acres. H/T to @Happytycho for checking the land records and finding the specific parcels Universal got.

I included the Kirkman extension on this map because that right-of-way was already granted on that specific route, so Universal will have to deal with that as it is.

The Mandarin extension (the one cutting across large parts of the property from Universal Blvd. to Sand Lake) is not included because I assume Universal will move that path before actually granting right-of-way/building it, to maximize Universal's land usage.

:thumbsup:A big thank you to you & Happytycho for keeping these maps updated throughout this entire process.

 

[Teebin]

So, now we can start filling-in retention ponds and moving them around. What fun.

Too, this forum and website just became a lot more valuable!

 

[zg44]

I'm interested to see if UOR will try to get some sort of transportation option between resorts approved as an option aside from buses. They'd need to get approval to use the airspace which is the issue.

Also, the UOR bus pick up/drop off is already way too small and this is before the two hotels at WnW open and then presumably 3-4 hotels open at the new site which will end up being bused over. They are going to need to figure out how to handle that situation, but it's tricky as they have little land to play with in that spot.

Yeah, I agree completely.

Prospective room counts for Universal:
Current: 5,600

2020: After Aventura + Wet 'n Wild: 9,000

~2024: After South Resort Phase 1: 13,500

~2026: After South Resort Phase 2: 15,500

We're basically looking at a near tripling of Universal's room count over the next decade under the most likely scenarios. That's a lot more traffic to the current UOR from outside of the current continguous property.

And those South Resort hotel rooms will be feeding regularly into the current UOR given most of those guests will need to be moved to the current UOR for 2-3 days of their stay.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah, I agree completely.

Prospective room counts for Universal:
Current: 5,600

2020: After Aventura + Wet 'n Wild: 9,000

~2024: After South Resort Phase 1: 13,500

~2026: After South Resort Phase 2: 15,500

We're basically looking at a near tripling of Universal's room count over the next decade under the most likely scenarios. That's a lot more traffic to the current UOR from outside of the current continguous property.

And those South Resort hotel rooms will be feeding regularly into the current UOR given most of those guests will need to be moved to the current UOR for 2-3 days of their stay.

You can already see the effect of all those hotel rooms. Even though it's just an indicator, not a true attendance count, monitoring crowd levels on Touring Plans, there aren't many real slow days at Universal anymore. Usually the crowd level predicted slow days end up a couple notches higher than predicted. All of those rooms, which are generally 90% plus occupied (per Comcast/Universal), help to ensure a decent minimum attendance during the times that would have been really slow in the past.

 

[ChrisFL]

Before today I could see an argument for only having three dry parks. But why would Universal have 2 dry theme parks on 600+ acres then buy 1,000 acres (and maybe more) just to put one more dry Park? Even their lawyer said in the court case the property was big enough for two major theme parks.

Why did Walt buy 43 square miles in Florida? Partially to ensure other properties don't mess up their sightlines and traffic (like the 400ft rollercoaster that Universal fought over)

 

[Andysol]

There's the current map of Universal/Stan Thomas land ownership in Orlando. Universal's land ownership for the south resort is now over 1300 acres. H/T to @Happytycho for checking the land records and finding the specific parcels Universal got.

I included the Kirkman extension on this map because that right-of-way was already granted on that specific route, so Universal will have to deal with that as it is.

The Mandarin extension (the one cutting across large parts of the property from Universal Blvd. to Sand Lake) is not included because I assume Universal will move that path before actually granting right-of-way/building it, to maximize Universal's land usage.

Re: The Kirkman Extension- I wouldn't be surprised at all to see the extension be elevated over a couple areas where Universal will have a driving path below it. Whether that's to hotels, or back of house items, or even the small chance of a water park (if they grab those foreclosure properties).

I wish I had a time machine- and I hope they start construction soon- although I wouldn't expect anything for a year at least w/ permits, and engineering, and stormwater, etc. Even in 2023- my oldest will be a teen by the time they finish- that's crazy to think about.

 

[Magic-Man]

I really wonder where the main entrance/citiwalk is going to be. There are tons of spots to put it.

 

[devinp267]

So now with the star flyer being 400ft+, does this mean universals new roof is 400ft + at the south site rather than the 200 they have now???

Edit: cuz I want 450ft warp pipes around the border of the land:exclap:

 

[Magic-Man]

So now with the star flyer being 400ft+, does this mean universals new roof is 400ft + at the south site rather than the 200 they have now???

Edit: cuz I want 450ft warp pipes around the border of the land:exclap:

JUST THINK ABOUT THE HYPOTHETICAL MOUNTAIN RANGE