Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[Mad Dog]

October begats Christmas holiday season.

 

[Scott W.]

Mark Woodbury better get his azz down there with a shovel right now!

He's got this.

 

[Mike S]

Would they really open up a new theme park (and citiwalk. And resort. And possibly a water park) in October? Is that a smart move?

Worked well for Magic Kingdom. And Epcot. And avoids the hottest times of the year.

 

[s8film40]

Time to start camping out to be the first one inside the park! It's legal to camp out in a construction site, right?

You can rent an apartment in the complex that’s right there next to the property or the new one they're building right now. Just make sure to get one with a nice view of the construction so you can setup a webcam for everyone to watch.

 

[quinnmac000]

Also I'm expecting HHN to still be continuing so while they work out issues with the new park...most may be at the other campus giving them quite a few evenings to work out kinks.

 

[Viator]

Oct. 1st 2022.

That would put them right up against Epcot's 40th, which would be a big middle finger.

 

[s8film40]

That would put them right up against Epcot's 40th, which would be a big middle finger.

Right up against MK’s 50th would be even bigger. I’m sure Disney is planning some year long celebration.

 

[captainmoch]

My theory:
- Legal stuff still takes a while to clear up, meaning no true action happens on the site until the end of summer.
- Around fall, extensive land cleanup begins.
- By the end of the year, the resort isn't vertical at all. However, pretty much all of the prep work is ready.
- Starting at the beginning of 2019, Universal starts hardcore building the crap out of this resort. The CityWalk area and a few of the hotels take around 2 years and are done by 2021, with the park itself not opening until the target date of October 1st, 2022.
Extra theory:
- A second water park will be built, but construction on that part of the plan won't begin until the initial CityWalk/hotel construction is done (in around 2021), leading to around a 2023-2024 opening.

 

[Viator]

Right up against MK’s 50th would be even bigger. I’m sure Disney is planning some year long celebration.

Forgot about the 50th, but wouldn't they then just do two because of Epcot as-well?

Either way, that would be...quite the interesting thing, and that the only way I can buy it, is if Universal is going to go City Council by June.

 

[Scott W.]

You can rent an apartment in the complex that’s right there next to the property or the new one they're building right now. Just make sure to get one with a nice view of the construction so you can setup a webcam for everyone to watch.

MK opened 1st October 2071. I'm assuming there will be a 1 year celebration (Hopefully without a cake castle :yuck which would end 30th September 2022. The party has to continue some where...

 

[Disneyhead]

Would they really open up a new theme park (and citiwalk. And resort. And possibly a water park) in October? Is that a smart move?

 

[s8film40]

Forgot about the 50th, but wouldn't they then just do two because of Epcot as-well?

Either way, that would be...quite the interesting thing, and that the only way I can buy it, is if Universal is going to go City Council by June.

Epcot 40th will be overshadowed by WDW 50th they won’t celebrate it as MK’s 50th it’ll be the resort as a whole. They’ll likely do something day of for MK and if they stretch it out long enough they may end it with Epcot’s 40th. The overarching marketing will be “Come celebrate WDW’s 50th anniversary all year long”.

If Universal could get things ready by then they could kick off their new park at a point when Disney is trying to capitalize on their biggest anniversary yet. It would be a win-win for guests as they could celebrate WDW’s 50th and whatever Disney has in store with that and see Universals new park in its first year.

 

[zg44]

@captainmoch
The legal stuff is completely over. Universal has the Master Declarant rights to the entire 2200 acres and took over Stan Thomas' land on Thursday; judge dismissed the case on the same day since the Master Declarant rights changed hands so there's no legal issue remaining to be resolved.

 

[captainmoch]

@captainmoch
The legal stuff is completely over. Universal has the Master Declarant rights to the entire 2200 acres and took over Stan Thomas' land on Thursday; judge dismissed the case on the same day since the Master Declarant rights changed hands so there's no legal issue remaining to be resolved.

I meant more in the way of passing permits and such. With how much land that is, I figure it would take a fair amount of time for land clearing/construction to truly start.

 

[Viator]

@captainmoch
The legal stuff is completely over. Universal has the Master Declarant rights to the entire 2200 acres and took over Stan Thomas' land on Thursday; judge dismissed the case on the same day since the Master Declarant rights changed hands so there's no legal issue remaining to be resolved.

Perhaps it has nothing, but Universal has stopped the Stormwater case, and are actively looking to find alternatives with Orange County that can benefit both parties.

Coupled with the new bridge, perhaps they are trying to be more collaborative with Orange County, and the City of Orlando to ensure that the (and this is how I am calling it) NBCUniversal Southern Evolution Plan under-way at a quicker ratio, hence the target date being sometime around Late 2022/Early 2023?

 

[zg44]

I meant more in the way of passing permits and such. With how much land that is, I figure it would take a fair amount of time for land clearing/construction to truly start.

Yeah that's fair; the more important thing appears to be that Universal left the 2 parcels that were still designated as Brownfield/cleanup sites by the state with Stan Thomas, so there shouldn't be any unknown issues that pop up in the land preparation process.

Perhaps it has nothing, but Universal has stopped the Stormwater case, and are actively looking to find alternatives with Orange County that can benefit both parties.

Coupled with the new bridge, perhaps they are trying to be more collaborative with Orange County, and the City of Orlando to ensure that the (and this is how I am calling it) NBCUniversal Southern Evolution Plan under-way at a quicker ratio, hence the target date being sometime around Late 2022/Early 2023?

Yeah, that's important, I think Universal is going to be way more collaborative now with everybody around there since they have all the land and the Master Declarant rights; they need to start getting stuff rubber stamped so legal actions are likely to be toned down...

 

[Teebin]

@captainmoch
The legal stuff is completely over. Universal has the Master Declarant rights to the entire 2200 acres and took over Stan Thomas' land on Thursday; judge dismissed the case on the same day since the Master Declarant rights changed hands so there's no legal issue remaining to be resolved.

What power does a Master Declarant have over the land in the area that has already been developed? The top golf, andreti, hotels and apartment buildings etc.? What does the 2200 acres encompass?

 

[Mad Dog]

Perhaps it has nothing, but Universal has stopped the Stormwater case, and are actively looking to find alternatives with Orange County that can benefit both parties.

Coupled with the new bridge, perhaps they are trying to be more collaborative with Orange County, and the City of Orlando to ensure that the (and this is how I am calling it) NBCUniversal Southern Evolution Plan under-way at a quicker ratio, hence the target date being sometime around Late 2022/Early 2023?

Yep. Sounds like a good faith step to smooth over any negative responses from previous discussions/suits.

 

[Happytycho]

@captainmoch
The legal stuff is completely over. Universal has the Master Declarant rights to the entire 2200 acres and took over Stan Thomas' land on Thursday; judge dismissed the case on the same day since the Master Declarant rights changed hands so there's no legal issue remaining to be resolved.

Clarification: Universal acquired all the master declarant rights, but they also removed the land Stan kept from being subject to those declarant rights. (They applied new restrictions about no non-universal theme parks to that land.)

 

[zg44]

What power does a Master Declarant have over the land in the area that has already been developed? The top golf, andreti, hotels and apartment buildings etc.?

Generally, master declarant rights apply to undeveloped property. A property owner has the right to build what the property district allows/zones for that land.

But there's private restrictions/covenants that a master declarant can place on the land, such as Universal's original rule in the property district that nobody can build a theme park in the 2200 acre property district without the permission of the master declarant.