I decided to do another one of these, but centered around the idea of redoing USF (shocking, I know). It's an (overly) ambitious proposal for a dramatic transformation to bring IP lands into USF and set the park up for a stronger future. I know that the cost would probably be unreasonable, and some of the proposed changes are weird and likely to be unpopular. Yet, land is at premium for UOR, and this is the best long term approach I came up with.
I've left hotels off the list, since I figure they're coming anyways and I can't really predict when. Also, in many of the later years I have left IP's unspecified because I don't feel ready to determine what exactly the best combinations would be, but I imagine LOTR, Zelda, KFP, and Shrek being on the list of candidates along with other Dreamworks and Illumination IP's that may not exist yet. With that in mind, here's the plan:
2020:
-Bourne opens
-Shrek closes
2021:
-Jurassic Coaster opens
-East half of Kidzone closes (play areas & coaster)
2022:
-A new theater replaces shrek, ideally of the non-screen type
-VB expansion opens
-West half of Kidzone closes (Barney & Animal Actors)
2023:
-Epic Universe opens with the four rumored lands
-A new Minions land replaces the east half of Kidzone featuring a newly built Minion Mayhem with 3D, a clone of Freeze ray sliders from USJ, and some themed shops to sell more merch
-Old minions ride closes; HRRR closes; one of Lost Continent or Toon Lagoon closes
-The universal studios store is temporarily relocated to the former minions building; phased construction of a new entrance to USF begins
2024:
-Universal wonderland replaces the west half of Kidzone featuring a Trolls flume ride, a play area, and a relatively unthemed coaster that extends north into the expansion pad
-Phased construction on the new USF entrance continues
-FFL and MIB close
2025:
-The monsters phase 2 ride opens at Epic Universe
-A new IP land replaces LC or TL (whichever closed in 2023)
-New USF entrance and universal studios store is completed
2026:
-Pokemon replaces FFL and MIB and extends into the expansion area while featuring a new dark ride, a show, a kids coaster, and a play area
-The remaining of TL or LC closes
2027:
-A new dark ride opens at the front of USF highlighting many Universal films (and former park attractions?) as a modern, Universal version of the "Great Movie Ride"
-SNW:Mario at Epic Universe is expanded with a new area featuring other characters from the mario family of games and a Luigi's mansion dark ride
-Mummy and F&F close
2028:
-A new IP land replaces TL or LC
-Simpsons closes whenever the contract ends
2029:
-A new IP land replaces Mummy and F&F
2030:
-Another expansion opens at Epic Universe, could be an IP land or a water park
2031:
-Universal Wonderland is expanded onto the former Simpsons area including a small dark ride on the scale of SLOP but with a Dreamworks/Illumination IP that's relevant at the time
There's a lot happening here, so I made a rough layout of what USF might look like in late 2027: *see notes below*
Notes:
- The general color scheme is blue for rides, green for shows, red for play areas, yellow for entrance buildings, and purple for restaurants, shops, and other general filler.
- Most buildings are sized based on comparables at other universal parks, except for the flume which is the shape and size of WDW's splash mountain. Thus, I would expect the actual shapes in the "Universal Wonderland" area to be quite a bit different, but this at least shows the space is there.
- I know that areas like Pokemon would also be laid out differently than my drawing for thematic reasons, but again I just wanted a sense of how things could fit.
- The entrance redesign is just a concept as well, and there are plenty of other ways it could be done to achieve the same improvements.
- This is just a quick mock up in google earth, so please don't judge it too heavily. There are lots of things worth criticizing about this proposal, but the drawing quality isn't one of them.