Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[Teebin]

With all that parking, it suggests they expect those warehouses and that small office building will be very active. I don’t buy the notion of overflow parking for the current resort personally, but we shall see!

 

[paintervision]

With all that parking, it suggests they expect those warehouses and that small office building will be very active. I don’t buy the notion of overflow parking for the current resort personally, but we shall see!

UO TMs Park in the North parking garage, their own parking garage, and occasionally at Dr. Phillip’s High School durning Christmas peak. Even if this was just parking for Volcano Bay TMs, that would simplify things a little bit.

 

[Scott W.]

So SandLake will be a backstage entrance, which suggests all guest traffic will be directed down Universal Blvd.

I assume that there still be an entrance from Sand Lake Rd otherwise Universal Blvd will be more of a nightmare. I think some of the roads here will be temporary for construction and then get an overhaul nearer completion.

I don't understand the warehouses. Each is 200,000+ sq. ft. with 80+ dock doors. What do they need to move with that type of volume?

This is kind of an unprecedented scenario for anyone in Orlando. The last park to open in Orlando was IOA in 99 and that had some of the benefit of being added to an existing resort. I think Universal are using all their experience to future proof the infrastructure of this resort, so what may be overkill now might make more sense in 20 years.

These warehouses could be used to service the current resort as well.

Could this also allow for more space to open up in the current parks, by moving offices to there?

I think the current resort is relatively barebone that I don't think much land would be freed up and even if it was, it would probably be patchy to allow any expansion into these areas. I think USF is pretty walled in on top of that by the showbuildings and HE track around the perimeter.

 

[Happytycho]

UO TMs Park in the North parking garage, their own parking garage, and occasionally at Dr. Phillip’s High School durning Christmas peak. Even if this was just parking for Volcano Bay TMs, that would simplify things a little bit.

Another option is that they could use the 2,500 temporary parking spaces they are building on a couple of parcels farther south to help solve that problem. Though those spots could also just be for the construction workers on the south site.

 

[fryoj]

So SandLake will be a backstage entrance, which suggests all guest traffic will be directed down Universal Blvd.

Theres a Kirkman Extension thats going to run all the way to Destination Parkway that will handle a lot of Universal's guest traffic.

 

[WAJAS]

Theres a Kirkman Extension thats going to run all the way to Destination Parkway that will handle a lot of Universal's guest traffic.

Yeah, they got that extension to Mandarin coming in the near future. They’ll both be public roads do guest could and will use them to get to the new resort, but I think I won’t be the main entrance area for it.

 

[Legacy]

What everyone has to remember is that, in a similar way to WDW, Universal South, is going to have support offices for everything right at the park. There’s going to be Finance, HR, Wardrobe, F&B immediately serviced right there. Universal already has an “Islands” office that provides admin support to TMs homed to Islands. CityWalk has their own offices too. The only “shared” support is Wardrobe, F&B, Maintenance Support, and I think IT.

The new resort is going to have everything there. The warehouses will get used for storage now, like I said, but can be converted to offices later if it’s needed.

 

[fryoj]

Yeah, they got that extension to Mandarin coming in the near future. They’ll both be public roads do guest could and will use them to get to the new resort, but I think I won’t be the main entrance area for it.

With how the extension cuts through the property at the Southern part, I think it'll end up like the northern property where Universal Blvd cuts through and they will bridge over it. Whether it'll be parking or Hotels on the West with the Park and everything else on the East is yet to be seen. Either way, it'll be an integral part of the resort. I personally think they will use Kirkman as their main travel route for the busses as well.

 

[Happytycho]

Questions I've been thinking about that we don't have answers to, and likely won't:
-Warehouse 1 has 96 truck bays/dock doors, warehouse 2 has 92. Why do they need the ability to load/unload 190 trucks at once?
-Why build 2 smaller warehouses instead of one big one? Why are they different sizes rather than identical?
-Why are they putting the parking lots all on the south side of the property? What is it they want to do with the area right next to sand lake road, and why there?
-The plans call for building an internal road to connect to the future Kirkman Road. There are no other "roads to nowhere" in the plans, or even places that look clearly designed for extension/connection. Are they trying to limit long term use of Mandarin drive?
-This land shares only a small border with the large parcel we expect to become theme parks. These plans call for that area to be . . . a drainage pond?
-There nothing that stands out as any type of bus stop. Is this all the parking they need for this land currently?

 

[paintervision]

Questions I've been thinking about that we don't have answers to, and likely won't:
-Warehouse 1 has 96 truck bays/dock doors, warehouse 2 has 92. Why do they need the ability to load/unload 190 trucks at once?
-Why build 2 smaller warehouses instead of one big one? Why are they different sizes rather than identical?

Part of the reason for that may be that the plans call for that many truck bays, but they will build far fewer. More likely, they have to design those in before they build the building, than pay to append the plans later to expand. I work in a building with six truck loading docks, but that can be expanded to basically the entire North side of the building... but there’s no need for that yet. That’s pretty standard for most warehouses.

As far as “why two warehouses,” that’s probably a building or tax code reason. Many times, they can only build on a set portion of the land, which is why there are so many mobile office trailers brought in (like behind Simpsons). I don’t know what the rules for this land would be, since it’s out of Orlando City proper, but that might have something to do with it.

 

[Nick]

Could this also allow for more space to open up in the current parks, by moving offices to there?

There's really not a ton that can be moved. Things backstage are there for a reason and it's because they serve an everyday purpose in almost all cases.

The only stuff I can think of that maybe could be moved is some of the stuff in the lot next to MIB, but even some of that is just stored there and used in the park frequently. Considering how much of a hassle it would be to constantly move these things back and forth, it's not worth it in most cases unless it's, say, Holiday or Mardi Gras storage, since that stuff is only used for about two months at a time each.

 

[UK-Trigg]

Those warehouses will come in useful for hiding things from prying eyes and flying Bio's.

 

[Disneyhead]

My guess is those are centralized merchandise warehouses that will service the entire resort.

 

[jtsalien]

Could this also allow for more space to open up in the current parks, by moving offices to there?

Not remotely. Current UOR is bursting at the seems already backstage. This will be almost all support for the expansion. Plus philosophically, they wouldn't move support offices away from the area they're supporting.

 

[tielo]

Not sure why offices are located so far away and uncreative. Look at Efteling, the whole backdrop in the photo is an actual office.

And here is the (also nice) backside.

Even the inside is nice.

 

[Teebin]

Those Dutch are so mischievous and clever...

 

[Scott W.]

Those Dutch are so mischievous and clever...

 

[MagicMagicMagic]

Not sure why offices are located so far away and uncreative.

These buildings aren't that uncreative looking... The main office building has an art-deco type of style, and the short sides of the warehouses that will face Sand Lake have a design that matches the soundstages from the parks:

 

[Viator]

These buildings aren't that uncreative looking... The main office building has an art-deco type of style, and the short sides of the warehouses that will face Sand Lake have a design that matches the soundstages from the parks:

Perhap's it is just the colors..but if it's colored that way, I absolutely love it.

Looks very nice and lean, and that I have to give them props as it looks fantastic!

 

[Doug A.]

It also appears that they are going for prefabricated concrete walls according to the plans. Should go up relatively quickly once construction commences.