Future Universal Projects and Parks

[ChrisM]

The post you quoted is pretty misinformed. I've dabbled in visual departments for both the big resorts (via internships and shadowing throughout college) and met plenty of people in these creative/design teams that held set design majors. The important thing to remember is that your degree is just a piece of paper--what will get you a job is 1.) background 2.) experience and most of all 3.) passion. If you go and apply for Imagineering or Creative and sell them on you, your experience, and what you bring to the table, you'll have a much better shot at doing what you want to do vs just selling them on the title of your degree. My advice is to get as many connections as possible and INTERN while you can. I didn't do any internships in what my degree was for and it gave me a wide network and lots of good experience. While I'm currently looking at grad schools right now rather than full-time professional jobs, I'm sure that this will come in handy. Don't let anyone tell you no, people who are actually in the industry will tell you it's all about you rather than your diploma, especially in something as varied as Design (I bet some of those people don't even have degrees).

Agreed, I was going to say this as well. It's simply not true that scenic design doesnt have a large impact on theme parks. I know a number of designers who work for Disney and Universal, who work or have worked in Scenic Design, or hold a degree in it. Illustartion is another big field in Theme Park Design, but designing for physical enviroments that people will interact with is a bit different than illustrating it. But as OrlandoGuy says is its about YOU, the people you know, and opprotunities you attack.

Edit- Also CAD skills and 3D modeling is a HUGE plus. Learn as many different programs as you can (including Sketch-Up, its one of the first programs I get asked about when talking to theme park designers), be as good as you can with all of them, but be amazing in atleast one.

 

[ChristopherSE]

Thanks guys! I definitely want to learn as much as I can in several fields of design, but set design really seemed a good fit for me, considering my passion for theatre and, ultimately, what I want to do in theme parks. If I am anything, it's passionate and driven And i definitely plan on interning. I was looking at both the Disney College Program and the Disney Internship Program. I know DCP may not benefit much in terms of design, but working in the parks themselves can be invaluable and also a good way to show you're committed to the parks, I feel. And if I'm not mistaken, the Internship Program has an imagineering internship, which obviously sounds great. Of course, I won't limit myself to Disney, but I'm unfamiliar with Universal's programs if they have them.

Edit - I have some CAD experience from technical drawing and architecture classes I've taken in high school, but I definitely plan on becoming more proficient on the computers in college. I really enjoyed working on computers so I'm excited

 

[Quint]

Excuse me?!?!?

opcorn:

 

[Mad Dog]

Excuse me?!?!?

:fight: And in this corner

 

[alomar]

That said, I think a few here would really enjoy standing next to a tech wonder and watch it execute its routine.

They are resurrecting Steve Jobs?

 

[JungleSkip]

Okay, I'm just bringing this up for the hell of it. Someone called "AFF Universal" bought a plot of the Lockheed land. @maxairmike says it's not a big plot of land. They spent 27 million on it. That's a LOT of money. This is the main reason I don't see Uni getting a third gate.

 

[kingcooger]

The main reason being they did not buy all the land in one go?

 

[Teebin]

Why do you think that Universal City Management is still on the docs? I thought they sold that years ago. I don't get it.

 

[JungleSkip]

Why do you think that Universal City Management is still on the docs? I thought they sold that years ago. I don't get it.

Universal City Property Management III isn't owned by UOR/Comcast. It's a shell company for Stanely Thomas.

EDIT: Also, for the record, I don't think UOR is the one that bought this land. Just wanted to bring it up for the people that might be able to make heads or tails of it.

 

[Teebin]

Universal City Property Management III isn't owned by UOR/Comcast. It's a shell company for Stanely Thomas.

I thought that all of the NoC docs for everything at Universal Orlando Resort was listed under UCPM or is there a slight difference.

 

[NJBrandon]

I thought that all of the NoC docs for everything at Universal Orlando Resort was listed under UCPM or is there a slight difference.

That's Universal City Development Partners.

 

[Teebin]

That's Universal City Development Partners.

Ah... thanks NJB! That tricked me.

 

[maxairmike]

Looks to me like nothing to get too interested in from a development point. One lot is right in the middle of the Kirkman extension to Destination Pkwy next to the Hilton, another is a tiny 1.5 acre development just to the right of the corner of Convention Way in front of the skywalk, and the other one I was able to pinpoint is sandwiched between the Hyatt/Peabody and Hyatt's expansion land.

I'm still trying to pin down the 3 carve-outs mentioned from the larger UCPM lots, but those are proving extremely hard to locate.

 

[Hockeyman55]

@maxairmike maybe those little plots of land are where they are putting supports for the universal monorail

 

[Teebin]

Wow, we have sucked it all up and chewed the hell out of it! Now, this place is crickets...

 

[NJBrandon]

Wow, we have sucked it all up and chewed the hell out of it! Now, this place is crickets...

Yup. I had the same feeling. We basically know at this point how the next 2-3 years will go.

 

[Nick]

Universal City Property Management III isn't owned by UOR/Comcast. It's a shell company for Stanely Thomas.

EDIT: Also, for the record, I don't think UOR is the one that bought this land. Just wanted to bring it up for the people that might be able to make heads or tails of it.

If you want to reap rewards and rake in money, you have to shell it out first.

 

[JungleSkip]

So Comcast's CFO today says the company is committed to their parks investment, and they see parks as a growth area for the next 20 years.

 

[Nick]

So Comcast's CFO today says the company is committed to their parks investment, and they see parks as a growth area for the next 20 years.

While nice to hear, I didn't expect him to say that it was time to pack up the bags and lock the doors

 

[JungleSkip]

While nice to hear, I didn't expect him to say that it was time to pack up the bags and lock the doors

Sure, but the 20 years comment at least shows they're looking pretty far into the future.