Universal Great Britain - Speculation & Rumors

[Clouday]

Maybe I’m reading too much into blurry concept art, but to the right of the presumed Paddington land, backing onto the hotel there looks like a green plinth with a duck on it. It doesn’t seem to match any of the other foliage or greenery on the map - any ideas?

 

[tommyhawkins]

Oooo you tease, you!!

Caveat this by saying I haven't seen the movies since they were released, but this is where im at with the space, feel free to chip in with the lore but this is what I think could fit......its about 700metres long btw

 

[Spike101]

Now I'm sure that, or kind of half sure that Universal have patented a ride vehicle thats part water ride/part coaster, I'm sure it was on one of Alicias podcasts, maybe as a possible ride to go in Lost Continent in IOA, wouldnt that be amazing with what you imagined Tommy.

 

[BBPH]

Now I'm sure that, or kind of half sure that Universal have patented a ride vehicle thats part water ride/part coaster, I'm sure it was on one of Alicias podcasts, maybe as a possible ride to go in Lost Continent in IOA, wouldnt that be amazing with what you imagined Tommy.

I think you’re referring to the flying boat ride which is believed to have been pitched for Zelda at some point, this is probably unlikely as it would need a taller building.

Possible Zelda Ride Concept to Replace Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure

A thought for @tommyhawkins idea could be the Mack Rocking Boat.

The first of these opens at Futuroscope in France this year.

 

[LPCaptainDeath]

Caveat this by saying I haven't seen the movies since they were released, but this is where im at with the space, feel free to chip in with the lore but this is what I think could fit......its about 700metres long btw

...Then again, this brings me back to that schematic of the ride vehicle that starts as a boat and gets picked up by something and starts flying. At first i thought it would work best for Legend of Zelda, but now i'm seeing it is literally PERFECT for LotR. Boat ride from Rivendell on the Anduin where we get picked up by the eagles right before the falls past The Argonath, probably putting us back down around Lorien/Mirkwood for some cool moments before reaching Gondor.
View attachment 25878

Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking this would be amazing

 

[Spike101]

I think you’re referring to the flying boat ride which is believed to have been pitched for Zelda at some point, this is probably unlikely as it would need a taller building.

Yup that would be the one I was thinking of, glad I'm not going senile!

 

[tommyhawkins]

I think you’re referring to the flying boat ride which is believed to have been pitched for Zelda at some point, this is probably unlikely as it would need a taller building.

Possible Zelda Ride Concept to Replace Lost Continent in Islands of Adventure

A thought for @tommyhawkins idea could be the Mack Rocking Boat.

The first of these opens at Futuroscope in France this year.

Yup that would be the one I was thinking of, glad I'm not going senile!

I wasn't referring to a ride system like that, which we may still see for Zelda in the expansion pad at epic, I was referring to a much simpler ride system that doesn't need huge show building (the point of the whole tweet thread and small size of buildings in the area) the mack system that Callen suggested is a log flume on steroids, and could be super fun

 

[JT01]

If they were really going with Lord Of The Rings, there's no way they'd try to squeeze it into such a small plot of land especially when they have so much space available for expansion. It just doesn’t make sense. An IP of that scale needs and deserves a large, immersive area, something on par with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I just can’t see it working in this limited space unless the concept art changes drastically.


Let’s be honest, this park needs a major IP like LOTR, because what we've seen so far in the concept art isn’t going to be enough to attract international crowds. Unfortunately, I think we need to brace ourselves for disappointment. The location of this supposed "red herring" plot is tiny. If it were connected to a larger expansion area, maybe there’d be some hope but right now, it’s sandwiched between Minions and the Waterworld stage. It’s just not a spot that makes sense for a flagship IP land.

 

[DrStarlander]

Let’s be honest, this park needs a major IP like LOTR, because what we've seen so far in the concept art isn’t going to be enough to attract international crowds

Yeah, there's nothing in this park (yet) to get me there from the US. Even if I was visiting the UK for other reasons I'd rather go to the Harry Potter movie studio attraction, or many other places.

I love BttF but why a roller coaster for a nostalgic IP? I'm the perfect demo for the nostalgia (I'm in my mid 50s) and BttF was my era. But I'm not likely to get on a roller coaster that does 88 mph...backwards. I've already had back surgery!

If it was a Radiator Springs Racers type high-speed dark ride with lots of scenes across all three movies, you bet, I'd want to go. But a coaster? I can pass on the park without feeling like I'm missing anything. I'll watch the POV videos of the queue which will I'm sure will be cool and save a lot of money to travel elsewhere.

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

Let’s be honest, this park needs a major IP like LOTR, because what we've seen so far in the concept art isn’t going to be enough to attract international crowds.

Ok, one thought I’ve had this entire time over this “USGB needs a big attractor IP” discussion is that, well, Minions and Jurassic ARE that. I feel in Theme Park spaces like these, we write off these IPs because they’ve become staples in Universal Parks, but they’re staples for a reason, they’re both still incredibly popular Film Franchises that have both brought in literal Billions in money, with each new instalment still bringing in quite a bit of money. Despicable Me 4 brought in just under a billion, and whilst we can’t quite be sure how well this new Jurassic film will do, the last one did gross a billion. These franchises will ABSOLUTELY bring the general public in

And in terms of “International crowds”, for one I do kind of doubt this Park really NEEDS to, with how big of a population the UK has and how strategically it’s in a spot where most of the country will be able to get there easily. But actually talking about international visits, immediately just on the basic concept alone, this is more than likely gonna bring in quite a few from other European countries, as it will be MUCH less expensive and elaborate than travelling to other Universal Parks in other countries way further away, so combine European visitors with the UK population, a not insignificant portion of which already have interest in visiting Universal (one of the reasons they’re even building here), and I don’t think this Park needs some big IP not seen before to attract people

 

[rob@rar]

And in terms of “International crowds”, for one I do kind of doubt this Park really NEEDS to, with how big of a population the UK has and how strategically it’s in a spot where most of the country will be able to get there easily. But actually talking about international visits, immediately just on the basic concept alone, this is more than likely gonna bring in quite a few from other European countries, as it will be MUCH less expensive and elaborate than travelling to other Universal Parks in other countries way further away, so combine European visitors with the UK population, a not insignificant portion of which already have interest in visiting Universal (one of the reasons they’re even building here), and I don’t think this Park needs some big IP not seen before to attract people

That sounds a bit like “we don’t need to go the extra mile to create something unique and amazing for this park, because the Brits and other Europeans who are on a budget will come anyway, but not to worry about Orlando attendance as people will still travel trans-Atlantic to visit the amazing things we are building there”. Not sure that makes great business sense, but whatever the attendance projections say I’d find it very disappointing.

Jurassic World no doubt is a major IP, but I’ve done Jurassic Park in Orlando and LA so another chunk of dinosaur IP in Bedford will be nice but it won’t have me itching for the park to open in six years. Minions is cute, but I’d consider it a Kids’ Land so once again limiting my anticipation. Waterworld? WTF? What is uniquely proposed for this park (so far), Back to the Future, to me feels a bit lightweight to anchor an entire land, and I’m in the demographic that saw all three of the movies in the cinema when they were first released. And do we really need BTTF to be another coaster? Very much in to speculation, but Shrek and Paddington lands seem to boost the attractions targeted at younger visitors, at the cost of attractions for older teens and adults. Seems a bit bizarre to me.

What seems to be noticeable by their absence are world class dark rides in the (admittedly early days) artwork. Nothing being speculated on in this forum about an attraction with the quality of HP’s Forbidden Journey or the new Ministry ride, nothing like the new Epic Monsters ride. I’m looking forward to the park opening and I live close enough that I’m probably going to be an annual pass holder, but I have to confess to being a bit underwhelmed so far and that’s going to affect how often I visit the park, even with an AP. With the growing online coverage of Epic Universe I know what Universal are capable of, and so far I’m not seeing it proposed for Bedford, which looks a bit pedestrian by comparison. Hopefully that will change and there’s a fair amount of misdirection in that one piece of artwork released so far. I think we really need to see a major land with the weight of something like Lord of the Rings, anchored by a world class dark ride.

 

[rob@rar]

Yeah, there's nothing in this park (yet) to get me there from the US. Even if I was visiting the UK for other reasons I'd rather go to the Harry Potter movie studio attraction, or many other places.

I love BttF but why a roller coaster for a nostalgic IP? I'm the perfect demo for the nostalgia (I'm in my mid 50s) and BttF was my era. But I'm not likely to get on a roller coaster that does 88 mph...backwards. I've already had back surgery!

If it was a Radiator Springs Racers type high-speed dark ride with lots of scenes across all three movies, you bet, I'd want to go. But a coaster? I can pass on the park without feeling like I'm missing anything. I'll watch the POV videos of the queue which will I'm sure will be cool and save a lot of money to travel elsewhere.

That articulates well my disappointment with what’s been released by Universal so far in that one piece of artwork. Sure, nice to have a Universal park nearby, but nothing absolutely compelling to demand attendance.

 

[Chessy]

I think we can all safely agree it has to have at least two unique attractions to stand out from other parks?

There has to be a unique E ticket attraction (most likely a dark ride) that can’t be found anywhere else. I think rollercoasters are great but a unique indoor attraction is where I would be heading.

 

[GAcoaster]

I think the model of two dark ride/E-tickets like Epic got, alongside a couple of great coasters and a mix of smaller attractions is a reasonable expectation. It seems to be the model they used for Beijing as well.

 

[rob@rar]

I think the model of two dark ride/E-tickets like Epic got, alongside a couple of great coasters and a mix of smaller attractions is a reasonable expectation. It seems to be the model they used for Beijing as well.

I agree, that would be a reasonable expectation for the Opening Day roster. But I’m not seeing it. Two coasters - BTTF and Jurassic World, but no indication of two e-ticket dark rides and the smaller attractions we can speculate about seem very younger-child focused. On current evidence, which I accept is very early days, the park feels quite ‘unbalanced’ to me.

 

[JT01]

I know a lot of people feel differently, but for me, the BTTF coaster is the only thing that's really gotten me excited so far but I’m a big coaster fan. That said, there’s definitely a noticeable lack of dark rides, which is something this country really needs more of. Look at Universal Beijing they’ve got Jurassic, Transformers, and Forbidden Journey. This park needs at least three E-Ticket dark rides for adults, with one being completely unique. Beijing’s standout was Jurassic until this park opens that is.


I’ve said it before, but the overall balance just feels off. Jurassic absolutely dwarfs every other land. Aside from Minions, the rest of the lands look significantly smaller in comparison. And honestly, the lake feels unnecessarily large it’s taking up space that could be better used for lands.

 

[Dinosaurus]

I have to say, I'm pretty surprised to see people discounting the park already based on concept art which is highly unlikely to be the final product. Just think back to the Epic concept art, and especially the Beijing concept art, which are different to the final product. There are lots of buildings in the USGB concept art that we simply have no idea about, and we don't even know if they're to scale. The IPs are purposefully obscured and there are no doubt some placeholders in there until they're ready to share more. The top right of the park, which obviously looks Shrek-like, feels like such a massive red herring that I'm convinced there's more to be revealed.

 

[JT01]

No one is dismissing the park entirely. Yes, some people are feeling underwhelmed with what’s been revealed so far, and while we all acknowledge that things can change, we can only form opinions based on the official information we’ve been given.


Most people recognize that the rumored plot is likely a red herring but if we’re analyzing that specific location based on overlays of the land, it does appear to be quite a small space. That’s why some are skeptical it could accommodate a major IP.


As I mentioned, people are simply sharing their thoughts based on what’s been officially shown. Until something new is revealed, those opinions and concerns are perfectly valid.

 

[Altonsky]

Tommy did say he potentially expects the expansion plot at the back to be included in that area to be included in whatever land/IP that is going to be and that makes complete sense

 

[tommyhawkins]

If they were really going with Lord Of The Rings, there's no way they'd try to squeeze it into such a small plot of land especially when they have so much space available for expansion. It just doesn’t make sense. An IP of that scale needs and deserves a large, immersive area, something on par with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I just can’t see it working in this limited space unless the concept art changes drastically.


Let’s be honest, this park needs a major IP like LOTR, because what we've seen so far in the concept art isn’t going to be enough to attract international crowds. Unfortunately, I think we need to brace ourselves for disappointment. The location of this supposed "red herring" plot is tiny. If it were connected to a larger expansion area, maybe there’d be some hope but right now, it’s sandwiched between Minions and the Waterworld stage. It’s just not a spot that makes sense for a flagship IP land.

Tommy did say he potentially expects the expansion plot at the back to be included in that area to be included in whatever land/IP that is going to be and that makes complete sense

what i suggested as a ride is about 3.5 acres, that we can see, what would the concept art look like if it wasnt released for another 2 years, like Epic Universe's was?

Can I also make a point of saying that we would be getting a world class Jurassic World Dark Ride, the only reason more people arent raving about it is because it is not in a US park, this ride is 5000 miles away from Bedford

Separately, why are we having the same conversations about the same IP, instead of other potential lands......USH are about to do Fan Fest, theyve got a fully immersive Star Trek experience with like 10 actors and actual tv set. I'm not sure HOW Star Trek would work in a land, but i know UC could probably pull it off if they did. Similarly no one is talking about how Bond would work, or a paddington dark ride