Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[Magic-Man]

That'll be interesting- and I agree- we'll have a water park and dry park.
I would think that they'd stagger the openings- Dry park year one and water park the year after.
For them to open both simultaneously- that would be a huge feat that is pretty unprecedented. But hell, this whole this is unprecedented.

More attractions equals more $$$$

 

[Galaxy Defender]

wow, I know no one probably can guess, but is it more likely that Uni opens one at a time, or both at the same time?

I hope they do the parks one of the time whether it be dry or wet. There is only so much good theme park design talent around. I would hate to see quality suffer.

 

[zg44]

I'll say that I'll be amazed if it doesn't open with a water park to go along with the dry park, though

That'll be interesting- and I agree- we'll have a water park and dry park.
I would think that they'd stagger the openings- Dry park year one and water park the year after.
For them to open both simultaneously- that would be a huge feat that is pretty unprecedented. But hell, this whole this is unprecedented.

Yeah, I'm sure they have a blueprint with timelines and all of that, but it probably looks something like this:

Phase 1:
3rd dry park, CityWalk 2.0, 3-4 hotels with 4500 rooms
Completion by March-May 2023 (some parts or all may open up to 12 months earlier than that)

Phase 2:
water park, 2 hotels with 2000 rooms
Completion by March-May of 2024 or 2025

Phase 3 (speculative, only if the 3 dry parks are pulling 10 million+ annually and all hotels are running at 90% capacity):
4th dry park, 3-4 hotels with 5000 rooms
Completion around March-May of 2031 or 2032 (hotels can be built earlier if Phase 1-2 hotels are at capacity)
Also depends on IP situation (i.e. maybe grabbing Florida DC rights from WB when that contract with Six Flags comes up to negotiation).


Basically, we're looking at a 3 Phase, 15-20 year plan for the properties; that's how I envision the process.

 

[ReelJustice]

That'll be interesting- and I agree- we'll have a water park and dry park.
I would think that they'd stagger the openings- Dry park year one and water park the year after.
For them to open both simultaneously- that would be a huge feat that is pretty unprecedented. But hell, this whole this is unprecedented.

Disney opened Typhoon, Pleasure, Island, and MGM in the same year.

 

[Ridgepole]

Yeah, I'm sure they have a blueprint with timelines and all of that, but it probably looks something like this:

Phase 1:
3rd dry park, CityWalk 2.0, 3-4 hotels with 4500 rooms
Completion by March-May 2023 (some parts or all may open up to 12 months earlier than that)

Phase 2:
water park, 2 hotels with 2000 rooms
Completion by March-May of 2024 or 2025

Phase 3 (speculative, only if the 3 dry parks are pulling 10 million+ annually and all hotels are running at 90% capacity):
4th dry park, 3-4 hotels with 5000 rooms
Completion around March-May of 2031 or 2032 (hotels can be built earlier if Phase 1-2 hotels are at capacity)
Also depends on IP situation (i.e. maybe grabbing Florida DC rights from WB when that contract with Six Flags comes up to negotiation).


Basically, we're looking at a 3 Phase, 15-20 year plan for the properties; that's how I envision the process.

Remember; "objects in the mirror are closer than they appear"

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Disney opened Typhoon, Pleasure, Island, and MGM in the same year.

MGM turned out to only be a half-day park. This might be a good example of why not to open up multiple parks at the same time.

 

[JungleSkip]

MGM turned out to only be a half-day park. This might be a good example of why not to open up multiple parks at the same time.

MGM was built to be a 1/2 day park though. It was supposed to be a side attraction at the beginning.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

MGM was built to be a 1/2 day park though. It was supposed to be a side attraction at the beginning.

Really? I thought it mainly was a race to beat Universal building a studio theme park in Orlando.

 

[JungleSkip]

Really? I thought it mainly was a race to beat Universal building a studio theme park in Orlando.

Right, but it wasn't meant, at the time, to be much more than a studio tour. It wasn't built with the idea that it'd be an Epcot/MK style expansive theme park

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Right, but it wasn't meant, at the time, to be much more than a studio tour. It wasn't built with the idea that it'd be an Epcot/MK style expansive theme park

It would be interesting to read up on WDWs third park opening. If anyone has a link to a good article I would love to see it.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

It would be interesting to read up on WDWs third park opening. If anyone has a link to a good article I would love to see it.

Check out Martin's videos on early MGM-Studios. He includes loads of history and concept art. Also read Universal vs Disney by Sam Genaway.

 

[devinp267]

Thanks. Good to be back. Life and a heavy workload got in the way. Just started catching up yesterday. Perfect timing.

Glad to see it is still a very civil forum

If this isn't sarcasm, stay tf out of the Nintendo thread.

 

[devinp267]

That'll be interesting- and I agree- we'll have a water park and dry park.
I would think that they'd stagger the openings- Dry park year one and water park the year after.
For them to open both simultaneously- that would be a huge feat that is pretty unprecedented. But hell, this whole this is unprecedented.

Honestly if they were to build a hell of a 3rd dry park plus expansions and a waterpark, would a 4th be necessary? Also It seems disney knows it has enough already to deal with, is another park for them necessary being the amout of improvement all of their parks need?

 

[Galaxy Defender]

If this isn't sarcasm, stay tf out of the Nintendo thread.

Not sarcasm. Have noticed that thread but have decided to gloss over the less civil portions.

 

[devinp267]

Not sarcasm. Have noticed that thread but have decided to gloss over the less civil portions.

Yeah, same people everytime man, just ridiculous. Glad to have ya back:thumbsup:

 

[JungleSkip]

Honestly if they were to build a hell of a 3rd dry park plus expansions and a waterpark, would a 4th be necessary? Also It seems disney knows it has enough already to deal with, is another park for them necessary being the amout of improvement all of their parks need?

I personally don't think you'll ever see a 4th dry park. With that being said, I would wager a bet Universal will leave the option open just in case.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

I personally don't think you'll ever see a 4th dry park. With that being said, I would wager a bet Universal will leave the option open just in case.

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.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

Disney opened Typhoon, Pleasure, Island, and MGM in the same year.

MGM and Pleasure Island literally the same day and Typhoon Lagoon exactly one month later. Grand Floridian and Caribbean Beach opened within the prior year, and the Swan and Dolphin within the following year.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I personally don't think you'll ever see a 4th dry park. With that being said, I would wager a bet Universal will leave the option open just in case.

The Orlando market has to hit saturation at some point.

We're going to have to see some theme park closures or else there will simply be too many theme parks in Orlando. There won't be enough people to work at the parks and there won't be enough visitors to keep all of the parks open.

If SeaWorld goes out of business and closes its doors, I could see Universal taking over their market share and opening a fourth park. But, Universal + Disney are going to start seeing smaller returns on their investments because there just aren't enough people taking major vacations to go around.

 

[JungleSkip]

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.

Oh it's big enough. It gives them the option to build another, which at this point is more important to them than the reality of building another, hence why I said they'll "leave the option open". I just don't think they're ever going to see the demand necessary for a 4th one.