Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[quinnmac000]

Well it could work since they are adding this bridge to cross the road and it would add more revenue and jobs to the city of Orlando, so I don't see the city telling Universal no but more so what would they add that would add more appeal to get people out to Citywalk. They have way too much going on in the main citywalk area and they would something new and fresh to add if they expanded it like an ice rink or something.

 

[Cole]

Well it could work since they are adding this bridge to cross the road and it would add more revenue and jobs to the city of Orlando, so I don't see the city telling Universal no but more so what would they add that would add more appeal to get people out to Citywalk. They have way too much going on in the main citywalk area and they would something new and fresh to add if they expanded it like an ice rink or something.

Totally, I feel like if they made a city walk 2 they should definitely add more shows and experiences to make the parks look better. Stuff you wouldn't be able to have in the normal city walk like a ice skating rink, laser tag and a full wicked show every night like broadway. A couple restaurants with experiences like that, city walk could be a park in itself and really rival Disney springs

 

[quinnmac000]

I think if they were to expand it and to rival Disney Springs, the expansion would have to hit all the areas Disney missed and one for such is an ice skating rink. You get those super hot summer days and people will want to go and do something that's rather chilly.

Add a free entry Universal Museum...It has been around since 1912 so the history of it is immense and so many stories could be told.

I think a stage venue would be great, the problem is getting the rights and making it exclusive to Universal. La Nouba is so popular at Disney because they have the only La Nouba show in the world and if you were going to do a musical, it would have to be top tier awesomesauce that the entire family would enjoy. Suggest two theaters each with a different broadway style show one geared towards women and the other a comedy and the show change out every 3 to 4 years.

Add in a dining in the dark restuarant, (the restaurant thats pitch black and you have to eat in darkness, a cool mobster based restaurant, a indie/hipster bar with local indie groups being booked to perform and poetry readings etc.

Add a huge bookstore. Some people like to have down time on their vacation and though the sales on digital books are increasing a lot of people still like to have hard copies.

Make a park like area with fountains and no shops but just nature and maybe so horse drawn buggies. When its all set and done sometimes people just want to enjoy nature after a long day of being in a park. Walking down a brick lane, late night with their SO or riding a horse drawn buggy just adds a little simpleness that is just nice.

Make a neighborhood like area filled with mom and pop specialty shows...like a mom and pop soda shop,an actual bakery, a barber shop, a drugstore along with one of a kind stores with exclusive Universal merchandise that everyone will want. Just because you are on vacation doesn't mean you won't use these shops.

And then if they still wanted to expand, I would mind a little Italy, Chinatown, Louisiana Bayou etc breakdown with international cuisine that could rival Epcot.

 

[Cole]

I think if they were to expand it and to rival Disney Springs, the expansion would have to hit all the areas Disney missed and one for such is an ice skating rink. You get those super hot summer days and people will want to go and do something that's rather chilly.

Add a free entry Universal Museum...It has been around since 1912 so the history of it is immense and so many stories could be told.

I think a stage venue would be great, the problem is getting the rights and making it exclusive to Universal. La Nouba is so popular at Disney because they have the only La Nouba show in the world and if you were going to do a musical, it would have to be top tier awesomesauce that the entire family would enjoy. Suggest two theaters each with a different broadway style show one geared towards women and the other a comedy and the show change out every 3 to 4 years.

Add in a dining in the dark restuarant, (the restaurant thats pitch black and you have to eat in darkness, a cool mobster based restaurant, a indie/hipster bar with local indie groups being booked to perform and poetry readings etc.

Add a huge bookstore. Some people like to have down time on their vacation and though the sales on digital books are increasing a lot of people still like to have hard copies.

Make a park like area with fountains and no shops but just nature and maybe so horse drawn buggies. When its all set and done sometimes people just want to enjoy nature after a long day of being in a park. Walking down a brick lane, late night with their SO or riding a horse drawn buggy just adds a little simpleness that is just nice.

Make a neighborhood like area filled with mom and pop specialty shows...like a mom and pop soda shop,an actual bakery, a barber shop, a drugstore along with one of a kind stores with exclusive Universal merchandise that everyone will want. Just because you are on vacation doesn't mean you won't use these shops.

And then if they still wanted to expand, I would mind a little Italy, Chinatown, Louisiana Bayou etc breakdown with international cuisine that could rival Epcot.

Well now that I think about it, city walk has the most exclusive restaurants in the industry. You know what would be really nice? A country walk. A really nice little town area instead of a city that feels more homelike and suburban. Could include a theatre district, food areas and ice skating rink with a cohesive theme and relaxing vibe. Have a hotel with a incredible view of a fountain area and a town statue it would be a phenomenal way to get to the water park and 4th gate. You could also have little events to rival limited time magic like having a annual picnic, contests, battle of the bands and much more. I'd really like this

 

[quinnmac000]

That sounds awesome with a bunch of Central Park NYC atmosphere thats leads to a new resort, 4th gate, and water park. Which has there been any updates about the waterpark?

 

[Cole]

That sounds awesome with a bunch of Central Park NYC atmosphere thats leads to a new resort, 4th gate, and water park. Which has there been any updates about the waterpark?

Yeah it would be amazing!!! Not really, we got the name "wondersea island" from a document saying that universal trademarked the name. People are saying its a theme park water park hybrid and it'll definitely deserve the title of a official gate. My question is does anybody have a idea how this new resorts layout is? My hope is for it to be as convenient as the original resort with everything close by each other and for country walk to be bigger and more immersive than city walk. If they kept the same layout but replaced the river in between the parks and city walk with more country walk (a town square with a statue?) then I'll definitely be happy

 

[anihilnation]

I'd love an ice skating ring, the idea of citywalk 2.0 as something that is more than just retail and restaurants/clubs is great.

 

[Cole]

I'd love an ice skating ring, the idea of citywalk 2.0 as something that is more than just retail and restaurants/clubs is great.

I definitely think a theater district is necessary at this point aswell.

A comedy club, concert venue (house of blues) wicked show and possibly a local theater company to make a couple shows around the year (could be a subscription thing) and possibly a despicable me show would be more than perfect for this.

Stuff like that could turn universal into a 5 day resort and it would also bring more locals in to check out the new shows

 

[quinnmac000]

Add a super nice cafe/bookstore with poetry readings and open mics, you will have locals running in there. I don't think so much about the concert venue since they have the hard rock venue as part of citywalk.

Oh Universal's own better version of DisneyQuest would be good too.

 

[Cole]

Add a super nice cafe/bookstore with poetry readings and open mics, you will have locals running in there. I don't think so much about the concert venue since they have the hard rock venue as part of citywalk.

Oh Universal's own better version of DisneyQuest would be good too.

Ehh I feel like universal needs a laser tag place more than a disney quest. A problem with video games is that they age, what was groundbreaking and incredible back then looks like garbage now (mario 64) if universal wanted a updated Disney quest then they would have to update the entire thing every couple years so it doesn't become dated. I see as more trouble then it's worth

 

[MrRoamer]

I think a Laser Tag with Arcade similar to DisneyQuest could be pretty cool. Video games do age but they are able to very easily return on investment, and it is much easier to update a game rather than a full blown attraction. Throw in some of the occulus rift capabilities and it could definitely generate some buzz.

 

[quinnmac000]

Ehh I feel like universal needs a laser tag place more than a disney quest. A problem with video games is that they age, what was groundbreaking and incredible back then looks like garbage now (mario 64) if universal wanted a updated Disney quest then they would have to update the entire thing every couple years so it doesn't become dated. I see as more trouble then it's worth

I think it would be a good time for Universal to get a partnership with Ubisoft and Nintendo and take over the gaming market in some form. Video games are a huge part of life. 7.7 million people play World of Warcraft, around 3 million play minecraft, and it can go on and on. If Universal cornered that market before Disney, now Universal could hold huge game conferences like Comic Con in orlando etc.

 

[Cole]

I don't know if the video game market is nessisarily on universals list of things to be a part of. I can see them wanting to make friends with sony for their games and properties but for them to hold cons are conferences? I don't see it happening. Most game companies are really strict about their properties (Nintendo) and trying to gain the rights to make a theme park ride or experience is just impossible. Video games keep coming up on this board and if it's not for horror nights I just don't see it

 

[quinnmac000]

The reason who those rights are exclusive is because they want to have 100% control over the material so it doesn't get altered from the original vision. If Universal is willing to give them the same rights they did J K Rowling then i'm sure they would gladly give Universal the okay.

 

[MrRoamer]

Wasn't saying a video game themed area, even though the one in Japan does have Monster Hunter. I was saying something similar to a Disney Quest or even a Dave & Buster with laser tag for an expanded City Walk. It would be nice to have specifically themed ones like a hunt for Jaws as something like Pirates in Disney Quest. They may even be able to get local companies to develop and maintain them like N-Space or EA.

If you don't think there is a chance of them having any arcade games due to licensing, that is incorrect. Both parks and every resort has an arcade. I was just at SeaWorld on Saturday and was asked if there was a Dave & Busters nearby, so it could potentially draw an audience.

 

[Cole]

The reason who those rights are exclusive is because they want to have 100% control over the material so it doesn't get altered from the original vision. If Universal is willing to give them the same rights they did J K Rowling then i'm sure they would gladly give Universal the okay.

not really, you see universal tried to sue nintendo when they made donkey kong because the name was too similar to king kong. even though that was 30 years ago, no way in hell are they going to make up for that. universal almost destroyed nintendo

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Wasn't saying a video game themed area, even though the one in Japan does have Monster Hunter. I was saying something similar to a Disney Quest or even a Dave & Buster with laser tag for an expanded City Walk. It would be nice to have specifically themed ones like a hunt for Jaws as something like Pirates in Disney Quest. They may even be able to get local companies to develop and maintain them like N-Space or EA.

If you don't think there is a chance of them having any arcade games due to licensing, that is incorrect. Both parks and every resort has an arcade. I was just at SeaWorld on Saturday and was asked if there was a Dave & Busters nearby, so it could potentially draw an audience.

I can see a arcade but definitely not a land or something as big as disney quest

 

[quinnmac000]

I just don't get why two huge populations get ignored by Universal and Disney when it could definitely be the best money maker which are Manga/Anime fans (merchandising alone for costumes would make Uni a fortune) and video games (everyone wants to see their fave video game world come to life). If there was some way they could add it to a park or devote an area to them, they will hit a demographic disney has chosen to neglect (the Studio Ghilibi stuff) and can make mad cash off of.

 

[mahnamahna]

I just don't get why two huge populations get ignored by Universal and Disney when it could definitely be the best money maker which are Manga/Anime fans (merchandising alone for costumes would make Uni a fortune) and video games (everyone wants to see their fave video game world come to life). If there was some way they could add it to a park or devote an area to them, they will hit a demographic disney has chosen to neglect (the Studio Ghilibi stuff) and can make mad cash off of.

Mario, Pokemon, Halo and World of Warcraft are the only video game franchises I could see coming to a Universal theme park. The rest might be too niche unless they group them together (sci-fi, 8 bit, fantasy, etc).

I do agree that Disney definitely should add something for Totoro or Spirited Away (the two most well-known Ghibli movies)... Tokyo Disney Resort is the only place I could ever see that happening though.

 

[Cole]

I just don't get why two huge populations get ignored by Universal and Disney when it could definitely be the best money maker which are Manga/Anime fans (merchandising alone for costumes would make Uni a fortune) and video games (everyone wants to see their fave video game world come to life). If there was some way they could add it to a park or devote an area to them, they will hit a demographic disney has chosen to neglect (the Studio Ghilibi stuff) and can make mad cash off of.

You have to realize that anime and manga have such a small percentage of fans in the USA. If we saw a one piece, naruto or Miyazaki attraction somewhere in orlando almost everybody in the USA would say....what? Anime is only really relevant in Asian cultures (that's why they have a one piece show) over in the USA is had a kind of cult fanbase, it's big but nowhere near as big to draw in huge crowds as something like
Transformers would. Sure there are tons of cons and websites dedicated to it but I still think it's irrelevant for American audiences

 

[DragonSlayer]

Adding my 0.02 here - I don't think a theatre on the scale you guys are talking about is practical in any way. You can't just port Wicked or another show in its existing state. The running costs of a Broadway / West End scale show are astronomical, and you have to be able to guarantee very high percentage bookings for every night you run. Even accounting for all the people in the Resorts and all the day guests and locals as potential audience, that would still not be enough to sustain a show of the scale being suggested.

Wicked costs $800,000 per week to run. Spiderman: Turn of the Dark cost just shy of $1m per week. And this doesn't even count initial outlay production costs. Wicked's best week to date had it bring in $3m in bookings for one week (an 8-show week before Christmas). These are the numbers of a large-scale musical, and they're unsustainable in a setting like this.