Universal's New Park/Site B Blue Sky Thread

[Magic-Man]

How many billion is this park gonna be budgeted for? Looks like 3 bill to me

I’m thinking 3-4 billion, but that includes the theme park, water park, CityWalk, and hotels.

 

[OrlLover]

That is supposedly the name of the new park.

Silly me I thought you said Fantastic Beasts. :thud:

 

[Legacy]

This also works well with the Fantastic Worlds concept.

I think so, too.

 

[Happytycho]

How many billion is this park gonna be budgeted for? Looks like 3 bill to me

I'm guessing they start out aiming for 3 billion but that it ends up being more like 4.
Plus a billion for the initial set of hotels.
And another billion for citywalk/parking/internal transportation.

 

[JungleSkip]

Here's how I see a "Petal" park layout working. Like I mentioned, it's a modified hub and spoke. Difference is the traditional hub and spoke features "straight" layouts from the hub (weenie in the back with little deviation, the petal allows constant "forward" movement without much need to backtrack.



The center of each area (including the hub) can stores, rides, restaurants, landscaping, whatever.

Okay, this is better than how I pictured it. Only thing that might not work is a night show location, but this could be really cool if this is what they went for, especially if the hub is fun and creative

 

[Legacy]

Okay, this is better than how I pictured it. Only thing that might not work is a night show location, but this could be really cool if this is what they went for, especially if the hub is fun and creative

The main hub becomes for more critical in this structure, than probably any other layout. The question becomes, do you leave the hub fairly open where you can see all the different worlds' entrances, or do you build it up and force movement.

In regards to a nighttime show, I think projection throughout the hub multiple launch sites "behind" each land becomes the only traditional way to do it.

Other, more innovative options:

- Don't do a single, massive show, but rather give each World its own show. One gets fireworks. One gets a fountain/projection show. One gets a parade. Etc. It would emphasize the "isolation" between the lands, encourage repeat attendance, and take advantage of one of Universal's arguable strengths; they're better at smaller scale entertainment.

- "Reverse" the shows location - instead of doing it in the back of park, build the park's entrance (and exit) on a grand enough scale that the nighttime show can be shown in the same direction as guests leave (imagine if MK did a massive fireworks show over Main Street Station).

 

[Happytycho]

Yes.

Are they also planning to build a water park?

And if so, how do they feel about the VB situation with it being disconnected from citywalk and requiring everyone to take busses? Would they be willing to do that type of thing again?

 

[Magic-Man]

Are they also planning to build a water park?

And if so, how do they feel about the VB situation with it being disconnected from citywalk and requiring everyone to take busses? Would they be willing to do that type of thing again?

Any water park that ends up being built will be connected to the Citywalk.

 

[Happytycho]

I was messing around measuring acreages on the Orange County Property Appraiser's Website and ended up deciding to try sketching out a full concept for how the layout of site B could work based on the discussion today about there being themed hotels and multiple parks.
I would recommend not trying to read too deeply into the exact sizes, shapes, and locations of the various parts, as the intent was simply to get a sense of what might fit and roughly how it could go together. I also have no clue how much land is actually need for hotels that are part of the park, so I made what I hope is an overestimate, and things could easily be shifted a bit if I'm mistaken in either direction.

Black = Roads
Grey = Parking Garages
Purple = Citywalk
Red = Theme Parks
Orange = Water Park
Green = Hotels
Green w/ White Outline = Park Integrated Hotels
Blue = How waterways could work if they want water taxis
Filled areas would be the first phase, items with only outlines could be later phases.

 

[quinnmac000]

I was messing around measuring acreages on the Orange County Property Appraiser's Website and ended up deciding to try sketching out a full concept for how the layout of site B could work based on the discussion today about there being themed hotels and multiple parks.View attachment 7975
I would recommend not trying to read too deeply into the exact sizes, shapes, and locations of the various parts, as the intent was simply to get a sense of what might fit and roughly how it could go together. I also have no clue how much land is actually need for hotels that are part of the park, so I made what I hope is an overestimate, and things could easily be shifted a bit if I'm mistaken in either direction.

Black = Roads
Grey = Parking Garages
Purple = Citywalk
Red = Theme Parks
Orange = Water Park
Green = Hotels
Green w/ White Outline = Park Integrated Hotels
Blue = How waterways could work if they want water taxis
Filled areas would be the first phase, items with only outlines could be later phases.

Universal owns all the SLRC Holdings' (thats one of their subsidaries) land too so it wouldn't be the compacted.

Additionally Comcast already set 23 acre parking area next to the convention center which makes it unlikely they would want a parking garage so near the parks.

 

[Griffin C]

In that picture, note the "Addision on Universal" on the bottom right there

 

[GadgetGuru]

I’m thinking 3-4 billion, but that includes the theme park, water park, CityWalk, and hotels.

I’m thinking the same 3-4B, but I was thinking that would be for the theme park, CityWalk and 2-3 hotels.

I can’t see them building too many hotels because of capacity worries. That’s a lot of capacity to add to hotel-room-rich Orlando at once. CityWalk is a big question mark. They could make it gigantic or super small with the intention of expanding later.

I can’t see them building a water park and theme park at the same time. Theme park comes first and then the success proves that another water park would be feasible.

 

[Viator]

I'm guessing around 3.5 Billion; and it goes for quite a few things such as Transportation (Infrastructure/Backstage/Road improvements), Entertainment (Theme Park & VillageWalk), and Hotels (2 at the start, one right next [or above entrance] of the initial theme park; and the other being near the new VillageWalk).

 

[Magic-Man]

I’m thinking the same 3-4B, but I was thinking that would be for the theme park, CityWalk and 2-3 hotels.

I can’t see them building too many hotels because of capacity worries. That’s a lot of capacity to add to hotel-room-rich Orlando at once. CityWalk is a big question mark. They could make it gigantic or super small with the intention of expanding later.

I can’t see them building a water park and theme park at the same time. Theme park comes first and then the success proves that another water park would be feasible.

TPU hinted at there being more than a just a theme park at opening, and I’m hoping that means that a water park will be included. He’s already talked about a new Citywalk and hotels, so I don’t get why he would hint at something he’s already talked about.

 

[Griffin C]

Looking at the property appraiser website, Universal and SLRC have hundreds upon hundreds of acres of land, this leaves them with tons of room for parks, hotels, etc, maybe even a water park. This new part of USO would possibly come in phases, when it comes to hotels, especially if they want to start mostly with the parks, possible CityWalk, etc. So from looking over the course of the next few decades, the budget has a high chance of expanding if it does come in phases. If they DO plan on using majority of the land for parks, hotels, etc. and maybe leave some for backstage and other stuff, this would make the total budget around 4-6 billion in my eyes.

Another thing I did is overlay the feature park of Universal Beijing, and based on where I put it (approx. in the mass grading site), it's a perfect fit:

 

[Happytycho]

Universal owns all the SLRC Holdings' (thats one of their subsidaries) land too so it wouldn't be the compacted.

Additionally Comcast already set 23 acre parking area next to the convention center which makes it unlikely they would want a parking garage so near the parks.

I'm aware of the parking project south of Universal Blvd. that they were trying to get approved last year, but that was definitely not for guests and seems to have stalled as there have been no reports of progress. Is that what you were referring to or is there something else?

I don't think they have an option but to build more garages. They need spots for guests to park and long term they don't have room to do flat lots.

I’m thinking the same 3-4B, but I was thinking that would be for the theme park, CityWalk and 2-3 hotels.

I can’t see them building too many hotels because of capacity worries. That’s a lot of capacity to add to hotel-room-rich Orlando at once. CityWalk is a big question mark. They could make it gigantic or super small with the intention of expanding later.

I can’t see them building a water park and theme park at the same time. Theme park comes first and then the success proves that another water park would be feasible.

It probably won't be all at once but rather in quick succession. I think that we only get one park, citywalk, and 2 hotels the first year, but then the next 3 years have another 2-3 hotels and the water park. I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression with coloring of the water park on my map; I expect it to be built before the second dry park and given that there's only one I didn't feel a strong need to differentiate the phase.

 

[quinnmac000]

So Universal has three main large parcels of land all which can support a theme park and hotels.
There is the North Eastern SLRC 245 acres.

The main area is 654 acres (not including the 101 acre plot dedicated for the warehouses).

Lastly you have the South East large plot covers 183 acres. (Edit: I stand corrected its actually 207 acres)

That still leaves 3 plots left over (Convention center parcel is 23 acres, southwestern isolated I-drive plot next to top golf is 20 acres, plot on i-drive next to Lockheed Martin is 17.25 acres). The I-drive plots can manage to tie to the main plot if Universal were to obtain two more plots of land. (UCPM plot between the two Universal owned I-drive plots and the one located next to Ripley's would give them 56.4 additional acres).

For point of reference:
The Royal Pacific Resort (the largest Universal Resort) is 53 acres. (of note: that also includes the retention pods and parking garage)
The Endless Summer Resorts covers 47.54 acres including the parking garage but 10.4 acres of the plot is unusable land in the lake)
The Two Guest Parking Garages cover 69 acres.
Citywalk 1.0 is 35 acres
IOA is 101.1 acres including backstage areas
USF is 128.3 acres including park admin buildings, the sound stages, and Universal Studios Administration facility.
Universal Employee parking is 24 acres.
Volcano Bay is 31 acres.
Adventura Hotel is 6 acres.

Each one of those three large parcels could fit one Royal Pacific sized resort, 10 acre parking garage, and one IOA sized park if Universal really wanted it. (North East plot would still have 81 acres left, South East plot would have 43 acres, main plot is enormous so obviously it can fit).

With this even in regards to the 4th park, Universal has tons of options in regard to the scale. Even if they did two 150 acre parks on the main plot with a 50 acre water park, 50 Acre parking area, 50 acre city walk, 5 resorts each with a higher limit of 50 acres: they would still have 54 acres remaining. Don't get me wrong the areas would and design would be weirdly shaped to fit all of those things but they still have that option when developing. Even they could do a Beijing sized park (300 acres) on the main plot as @Griffin C has shown above and still have options for later.

(Source: Orange County Property Appraisers office)

 

[OrlLover]

So Universal has three main large parcels of land all which can support a theme park and hotels.
There is the North Eastern SLRC 245 acres.

The main area is 654 acres (not including the 101 acre plot dedicated for the warehouses).

Lastly you have the South East large plot covers 183 acres. (Edit: I stand corrected its actually 207 acres)

That still leaves 3 plots left over (Convention center parcel is 23 acres, southwestern isolated I-drive plot next to top golf is 20 acres, plot on i-drive next to Lockheed Martin is 17.25 acres). The I-drive plots can manage to tie to the main plot if Universal were to obtain two more plots of land. (UCPM plot between the two Universal owned I-drive plots and the one located next to Ripley's would give them 56.4 additional acres).

For point of reference:
The Royal Pacific Resort (the largest Universal Resort) is 53 acres. (of note: that also includes the retention pods and parking garage)
The Endless Summer Resorts covers 47.54 acres including the parking garage but 10.4 acres of the plot is unusable land in the lake)
The Two Guest Parking Garages cover 69 acres.
Citywalk 1.0 is 35 acres
IOA is 101.1 acres including backstage areas
USF is 128.3 acres including park admin buildings, the sound stages, and Universal Studios Administration facility.
Universal Employee parking is 24 acres.
Volcano Bay is 31 acres.
Adventura Hotel is 6 acres.

Each one of those three large parcels could fit one Royal Pacific sized resort, 10 acre parking garage, and one IOA sized park if Universal really wanted it. (North East plot would still have 81 acres left, South East plot would have 43 acres, main plot is enormous so obviously it can fit).

With this even in regards to the 4th park, Universal has tons of options in regard to the scale. Even if they did two 150 acre parks on the main plot with a 50 acre water park, 50 Acre parking area, 50 acre city walk, 5 resorts each with a higher limit of 50 acres: they would still have 54 acres remaining. Don't get me wrong the areas would and design would be weirdly shaped to fit all of those things but they still have that option when developing. Even they could do a Beijing sized park (300 acres) on the main plot as @Griffin C has shown above and still have options for later.

(Source: Orange County Property Appraisers office)

Yep they have plenty of land.

 

[Happytycho]

The issue that much of the land has wetland protections, and I think that universal is going to have a really hard time getting rid of most of those. As it stands now, they can't at all touch the north 245 acres, the south 207 acres, or around 100 acres on the east side of the main section. That basically leaves them with the land I marked on my map above, the warehouse land to its north, and the disconnected parcels to the west and south

 

[tielo]

You know how Beijing has a hotel across the entrance? What if instead of that, the park has 4 hotels around the outer edges. A DreamWorks Hotel, a Nintendo Hotel, a Potter hotel, and a Jurassic World hotel. Each with it's own entrance to the park.

PhantasiaLand in Germany has 2 hotels incorporated in their park. They expand the theme of the land they are part of. They have their own entrances to the park too. It saves a ton of space.