Universal Great Britain

[rob@rar]

$30+

Grim. I’ve not visited since 2022 and I think is was $25 then, which I thought was exorbitant. If it’s gone up by five bucks since then it feels like price gouging. Wonder what the rate of inflation for parking has been over the last couple of decades?

 

[Mike2024]

I'm into the whole film making side of things, and experiences, rather than big thrill seeking rides. I've gone off of them in recent years. Maybe it's just age?

 

[Scott W.]

Is Universal Orlando currently $25 for standard parking? If you are in Orlando for two weeks as most Brits seem to be, unlike domestic visitors, the parking charges add a considerable cost to your holiday. I remember when it was $10 a day which felt OK to me, but when it gets to $20+ it began to feel like very poor value for money. I think you’re right to say that Brits would consider a £20 parking charge at Universal GB to be well in to rip-off prices territory.

It’s $32 for regular parking now. Staying on site is just as bad.

 

[rob@rar]

Good letter from Mohammad Yasin, although slightly concerning that he’s felt the need to ask for assurances that the negotiations process is back on track after the election. Let’s hope he’s pushing on an open door with Lisa Nandy and her colleagues in DCMS and the project gets the priority we’d all like to see. Sounds like they’ve not yet agreed on the level of government support for the train station(s) and the road improvements needed around the A421.

Anyone know who else was in the meeting with Mohammad Yasin? I was pleased to see John McReynolds is in the UK, hopefully leading for Universal in their government negotiations, but who was the other guy, the one in the middle of that photo that Yasin posted on Twitter?

 

[Chessy]

When I was there last September we stayed in a Universal hotel so paid no parking charges as we got the shuttle bus. The only parking we did pay for was the Disney Parks at $30 per day! I’m not sure what an acceptable charge would be here, personally I wouldn’t want to pay more than £15 which equates to nearly $20.

 

[Della]

Seriously it really grates on me when people keep talking about Harry Potter. It's terrible. I hate the movies and the park at Universal.

It's interesting that tommyhawkins got the hump and disappeared from this thread right around the time you first posted, co-incidentally he hated Harry Potter too.

 

[Jake S]

It's interesting that tommyhawkins got the hump and disappeared from this thread right around the time you first posted, co-incidentally he hated Harry Potter too.

Let's cool the conspiratorial chat. I also don't think this is a fair read on Tommy's position, which is that this park won't include Harry Potter representation for a variety of reasons we don't need to rehash right now.

 

[BBPH]

It's interesting that tommyhawkins got the hump and disappeared from this thread right around the time you first posted, co-incidentally he hated Harry Potter too.

Let’s not, Tommy deserves way more credit than being associated with a troll lol.

——

 

[Steeb]

Or… perhaps as fans of or people who work in the industry, we hope the best for everyone and that both can easily be successful.

I’m no Merlin defender, but we just can’t compare them to the likes of Universal or Disney.

Absolutely fair to call me out on that, agreed that the ideal will be that both being successful will be the best outcome. I think I just get frustrated with Merlin as they have the ability to be so much better than they are.

FWIW, I have equally frustrated feelings about DLP.

 

[tommyhawkins]

It's interesting that tommyhawkins got the hump and disappeared from this thread right around the time you first posted, co-incidentally he hated Harry Potter too.

Haha that's hilarious, especially as I never once spoke about what I think of potter. I haven't disappeared anywhere. I have a very busy job outside of this forum, and I've been doing really dull things like visiting the Epic site in person and trying to figure out the neat stuff for the park that IS getting potter. But fine

 

[Luke Hutchinson]

Does anyone else find Mohammad Yasin’s most recent letter to DCMS/ Lisa Nandy concerning? It sounds as though the Conservative Government were unable to come to an agreement with Universal? I really can’t see Labour being all that more amenable as much as I’d like them to be

 

[havaska]

Does anyone else find Mohammad Yasin’s most recent letter to DCMS/ Lisa Nandy concerning? It sounds as though the Conservative Government were unable to come to an agreement with Universal? I really can’t see Labour being all that more amenable as much as I’d like them to be

No. It’s all politics to make the Labour Party look good. You sow the seed of the Conservatives couldn’t come to an agreement, and oh look, now it’s Labour in charge and my, they *have* managed to get an agreement. Cheers all round and a big pat on the back to Labour for getting a multibillion pound investment into the UK and growing the economy, *just like they said they would*. Big PR boost for the new government that proves we were all right for voting Labour and that we should do so again in the future.

 

[extrobeiuf]

Does anyone else find Mohammad Yasin’s most recent letter to DCMS/ Lisa Nandy concerning? It sounds as though the Conservative Government were unable to come to an agreement with Universal? I really can’t see Labour being all that more amenable as much as I’d like them to be

Not too concerning- it absolutely should be a 2-way negotiation, and negotiations take time. Each side will need to give / concede from their starting position.
The UK gov shouldn’t just be handing over everything in a plate, but 1) ensure a fair deal for UK tax payers, 2) still be an attractive investment proposition.

That said, given Labours position/rhetoric on planning/investment/building, it wouldn’t be a good look to lose this, and I’m sure they’re aware of that.

 

[Doug88]

People are giving the UK government too much credit. Our government are terrible at negotiating and if theirs a right or wrong way 9/10 they choose the wrong way.

I'm not being a troll. In my opinion reading that letter everything is pointing to a no go. Something this big will never happen in our country because planning takes years and lots of companies decide to pull out half way through the planning process. I think the stat is something like 50% of projects that get planning permission are actually completed.