Universal Great Britain

[Lost Meerkat]

Bedford, "It's a great place to build a theme park", says Universal's new ventures president - Bedford Independent

Page Thompson, the president of new ventures at Universal Theme Parks & Resorts has told the Bedford Independent that...

www.bedfordindependent.co.uk

Local paper already published on todays consultation, they clearly visited earlier.

 

[rob@rar]

I wrote some notes after…

• I also spoke to Page Thompson after the presentation who said they are working with both parties in gov. He said he has spoken with Keir Starmer and listed many others. He said they have all been fantastic. (What else could he say lol)

Not sure if this helps?

It certainly does help. Great to hear that they are speaking to Labour, including Starmer himself. I don't think that a change in government will reduce the support for a massive investment in the area, but my concern is that a general election in the autumn and a new government might just slow down the process as the new Ministers get up to speed. If Universal are already speaking to Labour that's going to really help smooth the process, even with a change of government.

I'm impressed that Universal brought out the Big Guns for these public presentations. The head of New Ventures and the head of regulatory affairs will be centrally involved in Universal's go/no-go decision on USGB, so another great sign about how invested the company already is. They could have sent Minions (see what I did there) to do a bit of public glad-handing, but instead they sent very senior staff. All very encouraging.

 

[yepthatguy]

That's perfect, thanks.

The Manor Road refurb in regards to busses sounds good, wonder if they'll bus people from Milton Keynes too. Also great that they're talking to both gov's, so they're not blindsided after the election.

*edit* I've quoted both your posts today on towerstreet (with credit and a link), so you're becoming a mini-celeb over there, a real yep the guy so to speak .

Hahahah that’s cool. I’m just a normal fella, who wants this to happen like so many of us. Loads on this forum with awesome insight and nice people too.

Honestly though, it totally made my day going down there.

Hopefully someone will post some pics or video. If not I can try later.

Bedford, "It's a great place to build a theme park", says Universal's new ventures president - Bedford Independent

Page Thompson, the president of new ventures at Universal Theme Parks & Resorts has told the Bedford Independent that...

www.bedfordindependent.co.uk

Local paper already published on todays consultation, they clearly visited earlier.

Paul who wrote the article was there today too. Someone introduced me to him.

 

[GAcoaster]

From the generally positive local reaction and Universal's apparent enthusiasm to build, I'd be shocked if this doesn't get the green light from all involved, but stranger things have happened.

Seems like worst case scenario is Comcast sells the property for more than they paid simply because some of the preliminary site prep will be complete by the time they make their decision and will be ready for someone else to build something else.

 

[bedfordmassive]

Recording of the meeting today from YouTube - credit to “Mark Rides” which I presume is a stage name. Skip to 3:40 for the meat.

 

[Altonsky]

What guest attendance figures are they hoping for? I read that they mentioned 8 Million ish, is that accurate?

 

[yepthatguy]

What guest attendance figures are they hoping for? I read that they mentioned 8 Million ish, is that accurate?

8.5m visitors a year I think.

 

[Altonsky]

8.5m visitors a year I think.

Well it’d be amazing if they achieve that, it’s entirely possible anyway.

 

[bedfordmassive]

All local vibes positive I have to say. They really did that presentation well - the chocolate toothpaste comment at the end is a small but nice touch (local) Where Did Chocolate Toothpaste Originate From?

I don’t think the beer reference was random either. There used to be huge brewing here with Charles Wells brewery ( Charles Wells (brewer) - Wikipedia ) which was huge but taken over and now just a brand brewed elsewhere. The family have set up a new small brewery in Bedford which is great.

Anyway, lots of attention to detail on show.

 

[gbird]

Big week for Bedford with the Winklevoss twins investing in Bedford Football club too

 

[rob@rar]

8.5m visitors a year I think.

Was that first year attendance? I think that’s a significant target if it is for the first year, which I find quite encouraging. To me it indicates they think their opening offer will be good enough to attract a lot of people, including those who have already had a “full fat” Universal experience in Orlando. If the GB park falls well short of what Universal offer in Florida I’d guess plenty of families will save their money for an expensive 2 weeks in Orlando, rather than a substandard 2 or 3 days in Bedford. Universal GB will have several markets it is competing in: the UK market (Alton Towers, Thorpe, etc); the European short break market (Disneyland Paris, etc); and competing with itself in Orlando. If they think they’ll get 8.5m in the first year or two, they must be planning a very competitive offering from the outset.

 

[yepthatguy]

Big week for Bedford with the Winklevoss twins investing in Bedford Football club too

I saw that today in the news.

There are 2 football teams who play next to each other.

Bedford Town is the bigger club with a small stadium.

Bedford United / Valario was bought by a crypto trader / podcaster called Pete. He renamed the club to Real Bedford FC, changed the club colours to orange and black and changed the logo to a skull and cross bones, then pumped a load of money in.

Looks like he has got some outside investment in the Winklevoss’s.

You can see both clubs grounds and pitch with a stand as you drive down the A421 near Cardington. Access is via a slip road off there.

 

[bedfordmassive]

Big week for Bedford with the Winklevoss twins investing in Bedford Football club too

I completely missed this - weird times

 

[xtpower]

A thought I've been having is that the Lake Zone is going to be a very nature driven area, especially with the Restoration Area taking up so much space - perhaps that could be a home for a LOTR area in the future? Where they can build the LOTR area seamlessly with the RA space, so that it feels bigger and more epic than it would if it was it's own self-contained zone among other zones.

 

[yepthatguy]

A thought I've been having is that the Lake Zone is going to be a very nature driven area, especially with the Restoration Area taking up so much space - perhaps that could be a home for a LOTR area in the future? Where they can build the LOTR area seamlessly with the RA space, so that it feels bigger and more epic than it would if it was it's own self-contained zone among other zones.

I posted a while back but messed my edit so don’t think it saved, that (tin foil hat on) the Universal top brass would be flying into Cranfield airport (15mins drive away), and taking private chauffeur through the rural English countryside (it really is about as English as it gets) to the site, the whole time thinking … “LOTR, we have to do LOTR!”…

 

[xtpower]

I posted a while back but messed my edit so don’t think it saved, that (tin foil hat on) the Universal top brass would be flying into Cranfield airport (15mins drive away), and taking private chauffeur through the rural English countryside (it really is about as English as it gets) to the site, the whole time thinking … “LOTR, we have to do LOTR!”…

Give me a Hobbiton Hotel and I might spend every other weekend there.

 

[yepthatguy]

Give me a Hobbiton Hotel and I might spend every other weekend there.

Maybe the local weather will sit well with the theme too.

Thats the very last thing that is on my mind with this proposal. The weather has been pretty rubbish since this whole thing was announced in December.

The videos show Orlando attractions like outdoor water parks but i don’t think we’ll see that.

 

[Chessy]

I'm interested to see how they landscape the area and resort. And where they place their big entrance marquee signs etc.

I know driving into the Orlando resort they have their own unique road signage, maybe that would follow suit? It's good to add that touch so you know you are within the resort boundaries.

I'd imagine Manor Road would be completely realigned and widened, maybe two lanes each direction.

 

[ProjectUniversal]

I'm interested to see how they landscape the area and resort. And where they place their big entrance marquee signs etc.

I know driving into the Orlando resort they have their own unique road signage, maybe that would follow suit? It's good to add that touch so you know you are within the resort boundaries.

I'd imagine Manor Road would be completely realigned and widened, maybe two lanes each direction.

The main entrance won’t be off manor road. It will be a completely new on/off ramp from the 421 bypass.
I should think manor road will remain as a local route and service entrance to both sides.

 

[Chessy]

The main entrance won’t be off manor road. It will be a completely new on/off ramp from the 421 bypass.
I should think manor road will remain as a local route and service entrance to both sides.

Yeah I know about the main entrance off the A421. Just thinking how they will incorporate Manor Road as it’s a bit too small scale atm for a major park.