Universal's New Park/Site B Blue Sky Thread

[tielo]

Universal likely won't build a parking structure until its absolutely necessary, just like they didn't on the original resort property. Surface lots are much cheaper to build, like Disney typically does. Until they're looking at the 4th dry park and are pressed for land again, they probably won't waste their money on a garage.

It would be insanely shortsighted to first build a flat parking area and later invest in a garage. Universal is going to use every single inch of this land and with the prices the theme parks ask for parking I'm sure they write it off in less then 2 years. No need for those awefull smelly trains to move people around and added shade and comfort for guests and workers. Building flat parking space like Disney does is short sighted for sure.

 

[GoUCFKnights]

They'll build the parking garage first (just like they've been doing with the hotels). The land is too valuable for wasting on giant parking lots. As much space as they have with the new plot, they'll want to make the most of it from the start. Plus it's easier to deal with stormwater runoff with a garage than a parking lot. A regular lot not only takes up more space but also requires larger retention ponds.

I hope you're right. They've been space constrained on the north campus and thats why every hotel has a garage now, but they did wait until they were space constrained to build the 2 huge parking garages and the employee parking garage. And they're waiting until the last possible moment to extend the employee parking garage on the north campus.

But there are advantages to Universal as well for building a huge surface lot. Surface parking lots are sometimes part of a future approval strategy. There usually is no scrutiny given to building surface lots at all, and then once they're built, replacing a surface parking lot with just about anything eliminates any possibility of environmental concerns and reduces the likelihood of anyone being petitioning against the replacement of it since its such an undesirable land use. As development codes get stricter and stricter and there is more and more requirements for natural/open space/maintaining tree coverage requirements, etc, and building a surface parking lot on the land of a future 4th dry park will ultimately "lock in" today's codes. Unless of course they do get less stringent, but then they can still take advantage of that as well.

And cost is far less then a parking garage, especially a huge one with escalators and moving walk ways, on top of the standard features. Like per parking spot, I'm sure its at least 75% cheaper to build a surface spot, probably even less expensive then that. Plus I'm not sure there timeline for the 4th dry park, but they're likely to get most of the useful life out of the surface lot. I'm not sure on maintenance costs of garages, but Universal's existing ~20 year old garages are badly in need of a renovation, I know others have commented on the poor state of it on the forums, but tons of lights out/electrical problems, many of the moving walkways and escalators don't work and are continually breaking down, and it wouldn't be surprising to hear they have cracks and other items that need or are receiving remediation.

Plus the timeline likely will allow them to get most of the useful life out of a surface parking lot, as it doesn't sound like anyone thinks a 4th dry park will be coming before 2030, so if they get the lot built next year (so they can use it for staging/construction worker parking), it likely will be about ready for resurfacing around the time Universal is ready to get started on the 4th dry park, and they can just build a garage then instead, and at the appropriate size for the three parks we expect the new land to have, and there is of course a cost to spending the money earlier then needed... it probably doesn't help them financially at all in the long term to build a garage first to avoid wasting the surface lot, and it definetely hurts them financially in the short term to build the garage instead of a surface lot on land that will be sitting empty for 10+ years.

While guests may say its nice to have the covered parking and I no doubt prefer if they would build a garage, I doubt it will affect anyone's willingness to pay for the parking, so there is no financial advantage. It just makes little sense for them to build a garage when they could build the surface lot on the site of the long term future dry park #4.

 

[Teebin]

So, Bio hasn’t taken any aerials of that south parcel next to the convention center... the one on which a flat parking lot was to be built per permits. At the time months back, we concluded that it was to be used for construction workers.

 

[FatalBubbles]

Yes, I've mulled that over myself, since I'm one that really really enjoys the leisurely & relaxing on site Universal cocoon. And, like you, Nile's article intriqued my thoughts....This is just me....my feelings, and how I think I'll do Universal once the new park opens. I'll probably continue to stay on the main campus, since that's where the bulk of Universal will remain for a good while, since I really like the ease of movement, usually a walk or water taxi, through the complex. Even when I stay at CBBR, I usually don't take the bus (even though they're very convenient, fairly quick, and always one or two waiting), and I'll take the leisurely walk unless it's just way too hot. Generally we only spend 4 to 6 hours a day in the Universal parks. The rest of the time is resort pool, resort dining/drinking, or CitiWalk. Once the new park is built, I'm guessing I'll probably hop over there twice on a vacation, but I'll tour like I do the WDW parks, namely, I'll spend a longer day there, something like 8 to 11 hours.....Doing it that way, I'll still get to live the Universal main site cocoon life of leisure and relaxation. The new park will basically replace the one or two 'day' drives I sometimes take to WDW.....I'll probably just do WDW as a once every two or three years vacation on site at WDW and take a couple of day trips to Universal when I'm there...Bottom line is that I'll probably be spending a little more time at Universal and eliminating the WDW day trips between main WDW vacations, therefore a little less time at Disney. I really need to continue the Universal cocoon since I'm relaxed after an on site Universal vacation. Contrast that with my much less relaxing (though I love the 4 WDW parks themselves) vacations when I feel like I need another vacation to relax after returning from the hectic, have to travel/drive everywhere, plan everything to a T, no spontaneous fun, Disney vacation.

Is it confirmed they will not have any kind of monorail or something of that sort to get from north to south?

 

[Teebin]

Is it confirmed they will not have any kind of monorail or something of that sort to get from north to south?

Nothing is confirmed to my knowledge.

 

[Mad Dog]

Is it confirmed they will not have any kind of monorail or something of that sort to get from north to south?

No one here really has a handle on how that will be handled. Mostly just educated guesses at this point in time......

 

[Teebin]

But I am hoping for a vacuum tube tunnel where the doors close and then reopen 5 seconds later and you are there.

 

[Mad Dog]

But I am hoping for a vacuum tube tunnel where the doors close and then reopen 5 seconds later and you are there.

Transporter beam for me. ....but in reality I'd like to see them utilize that green median strip on Universal Blvd. , that's most of the way to the expansion area, with some form of non bus transportation.

 

[Alicia]

But I am hoping for a vacuum tube tunnel where the doors close and then reopen 5 seconds later and you are there.

Yea, that'd be cool, I guess... but can I interest you in a dedicated bus lane instead?

 

[JungleSkip]

Is it confirmed they will not have any kind of monorail or something of that sort to get from north to south?

Confirmed? No. I personally would not hold my breath.

But I am hoping for a vacuum tube tunnel where the doors close and then reopen 5 seconds later and you are there.

Futurama land confirmed.

 

[Magic-Man]

TPU hinted at four worlds, Nintendo being an obvious one. That leaves us with three others. I'm guessing: Star Trek, a DreamWorks property (...Berk?) and possibly Potter/Fantastic Beasts. Could be a wildcard as well, but that would make for a Potter land in each dry park. Nintendo obviously would be given the featured presence as it would be comprised of many sub-lands with Mario, DK, Kirby, Pokemon if it's not put into USF, etc. There will most likely be a Port Of Entry-style intro "land". TPU also said it's a game changer in how they will separate the lands and such, which led me to my indoor prediction. But we'll see.

I do think that Uni will be getting this theme park up and running sometime in 2021, to compete with the 50th. A lot of tourists will come down for it, and might as well try to steal some. I think there will be a small CityWalk-ish component on the outside, but not nearly as big as some think it will. As for hotels, I doubt it's a priority. Parking is probably a bigger issue, as Universal is steadily adding capacity and I highly doubt that will end soon.

I got a couple of issues with this:

First off, no way that they only include a single DW property. They’ll be multiple.

I doubt that Star Trek would be given a full-fledged land just yet. LOTR, Classic Monsters, etc fit this bill.

No way that this opens in 2021.

While I think TPU’s info is accurate when it comes to there being four main lands, I don’t see them being single IP areas. It’ll probably be like Magic Kingdom, where each area includes multiple IP’s. Nintendo gets Mario, Donkey Kong, possibly something else. DW gets Berk, Shrek, Trolls. If they get LOTR, it’ll probably go into a Fantasyland-style area with Classic Monsters. As for the last area, I have no clue. Maybe Sci-Fi?

 

[Mad Dog]

I've heard 5 full lands from a couple of pretty prominent insiders.

 

[JungleSkip]

I could see there being 4 "lands", but with a bunch of mini-lands with them

-DreamWorks (Shrek, Trolls, Dragon)
-Nintendo (Mario, DK, Pokemon maybe)
-Monsters(?)
-3rd Party Land

 

[Magic-Man]

I've heard 5 full lands from a couple of pretty prominent insiders.

Question: Would the entrance area count as a full land in this scenario?

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I've heard 5 full lands from a couple of pretty prominent insiders.

If that's the case, I'd guess this:

1: Entrance area
2: DreamWorks (Shrek [Far Far Away], Trolls, Dragons)
3: Nintendo (Mario, DK, Yoshi)
4: Wildcard
5: Third Party-related

 

[Magic-Man]

My predictions:

1. Entrance and hub
2. Nintendo (Mario, DK, Splatoon, Zelda)
3. DreamWorks (Dragons, Shrek, Trolls, small Madagascar section)
4. Fantasy (LOTR, Classic Monsters)
5. Sci-Fi (Star Trek, Godzilla)

 

[JungleSkip]

I think people need to give up the dream of LOTR. And if that does come, it would have its own land for sure.

 

[Magic-Man]

I think people need to give up the dream of LOTR.

DON’T LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS! JUST! DO IT!

 

[Mad Dog]

Question: Would the entrance area count as a full land in this scenario?

No.....plus supposedly some form of hub and spoke design.

 

[JungleSkip]

My pie in the sky, absolutely no info whatsoever outside of SNW, thoughts on the composition of Park 3:

-Entrance area themed to Far, Far Away. Tons of jokes on Disney's behalf. A big Shrek boat, maybe flume, ride anchors the land, with maybe some flat rides and a clone of the Dragon Coaster or the Puss in Boots coaster from Singapore
-Berk, with a Dragon-flying E-ticket, definitely some flat rides for "dragon riding training", and a show with the Creature Tech puppets/AAs
-Trolls with a few smaller scale dark rides, a big play area in the Trolls' tree, some sort of dancing street show
-Super Nintendo World as we know it
-Another Nintendo property, whether it's Pokemon or Zelda
-Classic Monsters. I think they'll get their due here.
-The Lost World. Similar to the land in Singapore where they'll throw together some random properties in an Adventure-y setting. Waterworld will finally come to Orlando. Maybe a Godzilla ride here.
-Random 3rd Party Land. I'd personally go after Loony Tunes and Hannah Barbara things here. I know they're "old", but I think there's enough nostalgia to keep them popular.

I'd also say if this year's Fantastic Beasts can be bigger than the last, that will show up in the park.