Lower Lot Redesign | Page 21 | Inside Universal Forums

Lower Lot Redesign

  • Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.
The current assumption is that Revenge of the Mummy will be sentenced to eternal death to make way for Diagon Alley, but the only problem with that is that Florida's layout for Diagon doesn't exactly fit alongside the mountain. You can make it work, but you have to essentially pivot the entire land clockwise along the entrance of Gringotts.


Lower Lot 1 by David Daut, on Flickr


The upside of this layout, at least from the studio's perspective, is this minimizes the number of sound stages that would need to be demolished and (assuming Transformers gets a new facade and the Studio Commissary is bulldozed) eliminates the backlot aesthetic that is no longer en vogue. The downside is that it boxes in the Lower lot, leaving less room for future expansion. There's also no room for King's Cross in this layout. You could fit the station itself in the dark grey area to the right of Diagon, but good luck finding a way to get people back there.


However, there is another way to make Diagon fit on the Lower Lot, and even in a way that maintains the original Florida layout:


Lower Lot 2 by David Daut, on Flickr


In this version, you lose an extra four sound stages, but you have room for a larger London courtyard, and King's Cross Station, albeit a version that's scaled down from its Florida counterpart. This also preserves Revenge of the Mummy which provides extra ride capacity in the short-term and additional expansion space for the future (you tear that sucker down and you could easily fit another SLoP-sized ride, some shops and restaurants and still have room to spare).


As for Nintendo, I have to assume it's going to be at least as big as Diagon, which means you're losing nearly all of the sound stages on the front lot. I have no idea where the studio is going to relocate that much essential production space.

Nice to see your face pop up here. ;)  I will say that I like what you have in mind, as it makes sense..


Although; the more I've thought of it, something started to make sense to me. Considering if ROTM goes for Nintendo, and SS's 22-25 move to the east end of the backlot, you could be able to pull this off;


bCtlgk1.jpg



If Diagons coming over to the Upper Lot, the Studio tour needs a new location, so in my head as of now, the Lower Lot is starting to make legit sense. Counting in Nintendo and SLOP, it'd factor into 4-5 new additions to the Lower Lot; and considering that Nintendo may be possibly getting 10 acres in Orlando, this seems like the best move in USH's part.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: Red Carpet

I think this is a bit much.  My thoughts:


SLoP is guaranteed.


Mummy can become the tour loading area because it offers enough space for the trams to make a U turn.  Plus remember that a Tram Garage and Dispatch will need to be built in this area.


Nintendo is not that big.


Stage 22-25 are not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.


Plus...DA has been all but confirmed where its going in the latest podcast.  Very interesting indeed.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think this is a bit much.  My thoughts:


SLoP is guaranteed.


Mummy can become the tour loading area because it offers enough space for the trams to make a U turn.  Plus remember that a Tram Garage and Dispatch will need to be built in this area.


Nintendo is not that big.


Stage 22-25 are not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.


Plus...DA has been all but confirmed where its going in the latest podcast.  Very interesting indeed.

I'm curious, what would you be thinking for the LL's future layout, especially considering if the Tram plaza moves to where Mummy is?
 
I'm really curious to see what happens as the possibilities are nearly limitless with DWA and Nintendo when you think about those potential attractions.
 
I still think the new tour loading area would be better at the SS12 and surrounding area. -_-  More out of the way of park development and directly connected to timeline drive.
 
I think the best place to start with this speculation is to determine what we think is safe from the wrecking ball. And to be honest, I would only put two items on that list - Jurassic Park (not including the café) and Transformers. I don't think anything else down there is safe. In fact, I might go so far as to speculate that the new grab and go is a proactive measure to cover the imminent demise of one of the older food locations. That would explain why its almost never open. It's time has not yet come.
 
I think it'd be a smart move to theme the facades around Transformers and SLOP as an expanded New York area like on the Upper Lot. This can eventually transition into the Nintendo area through a tunnel of some sort. A green pipe perhaps? Then the upper lot entrance can be fully themed to Art Deco once Cartooniversal is demolished.. They can connect the new building to the current New York facades and rework those to match Universal Blvd.
 
I still think the new tour loading area would be better at the SS12 and surrounding area. -_-  More out of the way of park development and directly connected to timeline drive.

I'd like to see it return to the front entrance area, like it was for years before the Lower Lot was its own thing. One day when Waterworld gets removed. There is a few tight squeezes back there now, but not entirely impossible.


I know this isnt even being considered, just ramblings from my nostolgic past.
 
what see happening in the lower lot will be the obvious construction of SLOP and at the same time make transformers have a New York  facade with an autobot crashed into or a old new york warehouse.  YEAR 2 : demolition of studios  construction of diagon or a NEW potter world    YEAR 3: Construction on former mummy ride it could be the new tram area or universal monsters theme ride since by then the mummy reboot and other monster movies will be taking off around that time so that could be a possibility. YEAR 4: nintendo world   .....so in other words the lower is going to be how the upper lot was just recently with the construction of springfield and potter world  and huge *CLuster F*$% in a small area but think of the pic updates on this site :)
 
what see happening in the lower lot will be the obvious construction of SLOP and at the same time make transformers have a New York  facade with an autobot crashed into or a old new york warehouse.  YEAR 2 : demolition of studios  construction of diagon or a NEW potter world    YEAR 3: Construction on former mummy ride it could be the new tram area or universal monsters theme ride since by then the mummy reboot and other monster movies will be taking off around that time so that could be a possibility. YEAR 4: nintendo world   .....so in other words the lower is going to be how the upper lot was just recently with the construction of springfield and potter world  and huge *CLuster F*$% in a small area but think of the pic updates on this site :)

I still think we're getting a Universal Monsters themed ride of some sort in the future.
 
I'll repeat what I said in the Project 831 thread: " So long, you gaffer/grip-congested service nook with your super thin fries, surprisingly terrific breakfast and mediocre sandwiches with ungodly long wait times. So long location of numerous hideaway awkward phone calls that I took while blushing when trams passed by. Goodbye, white whale of many USH foodies. You will be missed"


:(


...alright now that we're done crying, onto new horizons!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aaron