The Future of PortAventura

[Magic-Man]

I don't see this as a likelihood ever since the ride would be just as popular either way and Universal saves money on paying for rights by using The Mummy.

That's my thought process as well. But if for any reason Mummy gets rethemed (Hollywood being more likely than Orlando), Uncharted is the easy pick.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

That's my thought process as well. But if for any reason Mummy gets rethemed (Hollywood being more likely than Orlando), Uncharted is the easy pick.

Unless they do a Mummy sequel, which becomes more likely the deeper into the nostalgia cycle and the Brendan Fraser renaissance.

I'd really much rather talk about how this ride is supposed to be opening in four months when the building isn't enclosed, which is much more interesting than the usual IP talk.

 

[rageofthegods]

I don't really see Universal going for Uncharted when they have other IP that's bigger or that they have more ownership over to choose from. The movie did just okay and the franchise's peak popularity was two console cycles ago. From Sony alone, you have Jumanji and Ghostbusters as potential replacements, both arguably bigger in terms of name recognition and merchandising.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I don't really see Universal going for Uncharted when they have other IP that's bigger or that they have more ownership over to choose from. The movie did just okay and the franchise's peak popularity was two console cycles ago. From Sony alone, you have Jumanji and Ghostbusters as potential replacements, both arguably bigger in terms of name recognition and merchandising.

Ghostbusters is the only IP I would find acceptable to replace Mummy

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

PortAventura has recently begun to theme the exterior of the Uncharted show building, using a very interesting process of applying pre sculpted pieces to the show building's exterior.





My Spanish is a little rusty, but the vlogger seems to indicate that the seams between the rock elements are quite prevalent up close, though the theming is still in its early stages. Hopefully the final product will put to rest any concerns about the show building ruining the immersive theming within the Wild West land.

 

[rageofthegods]

So is this happening or not.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

So is this happening or not.

:shrug:

 

[GAcoaster]

International deals are always more involved and take longer than expected.

 

[pablo_es]

Hello all!! I'm Pablo from Spain. First of all, sorry if my english is not good enough, I'm not bilingual but I'll try my best. I've been following this topic a lot to know your opinions about the possible future re-purchase of PortAventura by Universal. In Spain we are very excited because the rumors are stronger than ever. Since Universal left there has always been a huge desire for their return. For the fanbase, that were the best years of the resort. Despite having spent almost 20 years since they left, Universal is well remembered. The subsequent owners have been horrible, and it has been passing from hand to hand. There has always been the illusion that Universal will return to the park since they did not leave because of bad economic results but because of the purchase of the company from General Electrics who were not interested in the parks sector. Universal said goodbye to the park in the last closing show "Fiestaventura" with a "Hasta pronto" (translate to "See you soon") and a promise to come back. This is why there have always been rumors of his return but not as strong as those of now.

Right now the owners of PortAventura are two investment funds, Investindustrial (Italian - 50.1% of the shares) and KKR (American - 49.9% of the shares). Investindustrial manage the park since 2013. These companies seek to increase the value of the companies they buy to sell them at a higher price according to package investment cycles. PortAventura's investment package is over and in 2024 they have to increase capital. They are two companies that by their nature are looking to sell the park, they are not theme park managers, and the latest movements suggest that they are in full search of a buyer.

I will try to summarize the local rumors that exist in Spain, which seem to come from insiders

- In August 2022, the first rumors of visits by Universal executives to the park arise. Normally they make visits every time to negotiate the use of the licenses that the park still uses (Woody, Betty, Shrek, express pass ...) but this time it seemed different. The meeting seems to have been between senior executives of NBCUniversal and the Bollini family, owners of Investindustrial.
- In September it goes viral on twitter #LaUltimaCena ( #TheLastDinner) with memes about the alleged meeting that would be taking place between the owners of PortAventura and Universal.
- New merchandising of Woody, Betty... arrive with the large Universal logo, at the same size as PortAventura one. Before it only came out in small print below.
- A well-known content creator of the park pulls information of supposed purchase negotiation that would still be in the air. However, it seems that workers inside believe that the purchase would be already made. He gave data about the renewal of Universal brands in the European registry, some of them of park management such as Hollywoodland. He also talks about PortAventura owners's alleged long trip to the IAAPA. The park begins to hire employees it had subcontracted and buys several hotels in the area. Supposedly all these changes are due to Universal's demands to improve the park to make the purchase. Among them open the park more days a year. PortAventura until last year was closed from January to March. This year it has opened in February with the Carnival season (Mardi Grass), event that Universal started in the park and that was not done since its departure. As you see, a lot of changes with a strong rumours. He commented that the 2023 season would be one of transition and improvement and tuning thing.
- And voilá this season the maintenance of the park has improved, there are more things painted, restored, closed spaces are being opened ... It has even returned the street theme animation that they eliminated years later from the Universal departure!! Almost 15 years without street animation.

-There is also the Hard Rock project as a citywalk that was stopped by political issues and that was commented that it could be linked to the return of Universal. The government approved the budget to build the Hard Rock project last month after being idle for 7 years.
- The latest rumors suggest that there would already be an agreement or that it would be missing little and that the date of the announcement would be on Halloween. All park workers have allegedly been summoned to a meeting where they have to dress elegantly without saying why. And two names would be in the table: Universal's Europe Resort or Universal's PortAventura Resort.

Sorry for the long post. There are more things and information that has been shared in Spain but I think I have commented the most important. There are many things that maybe are coincidence, maybe not...
There is a very big hype about this possible purchase and hopefully it will come true!

 

[Nico]

Hello all!! I'm Pablo from Spain. First of all, sorry if my english is not good enough, I'm not bilingual but I'll try my best. I've been following this topic a lot to know your opinions about the possible future re-purchase of PortAventura by Universal. In Spain we are very excited because the rumors are stronger than ever. Since Universal left there has always been a huge desire for their return. For the fanbase, that were the best years of the resort. Despite having spent almost 20 years since they left, Universal is well remembered. The subsequent owners have been horrible, and it has been passing from hand to hand. There has always been the illusion that Universal will return to the park since they did not leave because of bad economic results but because of the purchase of the company from General Electrics who were not interested in the parks sector. Universal said goodbye to the park in the last closing show "Fiestaventura" with a "Hasta pronto" (translate to "See you soon") and a promise to come back. This is why there have always been rumors of his return but not as strong as those of now.

Right now the owners of PortAventura are two investment funds, Investindustrial (Italian - 50.1% of the shares) and KKR (American - 49.9% of the shares). Investindustrial manage the park since 2013. These companies seek to increase the value of the companies they buy to sell them at a higher price according to package investment cycles. PortAventura's investment package is over and in 2024 they have to increase capital. They are two companies that by their nature are looking to sell the park, they are not theme park managers, and the latest movements suggest that they are in full search of a buyer.

I will try to summarize the local rumors that exist in Spain, which seem to come from insiders

- In August 2022, the first rumors of visits by Universal executives to the park arise. Normally they make visits every time to negotiate the use of the licenses that the park still uses (Woody, Betty, Shrek, express pass ...) but this time it seemed different. The meeting seems to have been between senior executives of NBCUniversal and the Bollini family, owners of Investindustrial.
- In September it goes viral on twitter #LaUltimaCena ( #TheLastDinner) with memes about the alleged meeting that would be taking place between the owners of PortAventura and Universal.
- New merchandising of Woody, Betty... arrive with the large Universal logo, at the same size as PortAventura one. Before it only came out in small print below.
- A well-known content creator of the park pulls information of supposed purchase negotiation that would still be in the air. However, it seems that workers inside believe that the purchase would be already made. He gave data about the renewal of Universal brands in the European registry, some of them of park management such as Hollywoodland. He also talks about PortAventura owners's alleged long trip to the IAAPA. The park begins to hire employees it had subcontracted and buys several hotels in the area. Supposedly all these changes are due to Universal's demands to improve the park to make the purchase. Among them open the park more days a year. PortAventura until last year was closed from January to March. This year it has opened in February with the Carnival season (Mardi Grass), event that Universal started in the park and that was not done since its departure. As you see, a lot of changes with a strong rumours. He commented that the 2023 season would be one of transition and improvement and tuning thing.
- And voilá this season the maintenance of the park has improved, there are more things painted, restored, closed spaces are being opened ... It has even returned the street theme animation that they eliminated years later from the Universal departure!! Almost 15 years without street animation.

-There is also the Hard Rock project as a citywalk that was stopped by political issues and that was commented that it could be linked to the return of Universal. The government approved the budget to build the Hard Rock project last month after being idle for 7 years.
- The latest rumors suggest that there would already be an agreement or that it would be missing little and that the date of the announcement would be on Halloween. All park workers have allegedly been summoned to a meeting where they have to dress elegantly without saying why. And two names would be in the table: Universal's Europe Resort or Universal's PortAventura Resort.

Sorry for the long post. There are more things and information that has been shared in Spain but I think I have commented the most important. There are many things that maybe are coincidence, maybe not...
There is a very big hype about this possible purchase and hopefully it will come true!

Pablo thank you so much for this! It’s very exciting!

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Hello all!! I'm Pablo from Spain. First of all, sorry if my english is not good enough, I'm not bilingual but I'll try my best. I've been following this topic a lot to know your opinions about the possible future re-purchase of PortAventura by Universal. In Spain we are very excited because the rumors are stronger than ever. Since Universal left there has always been a huge desire for their return. For the fanbase, that were the best years of the resort. Despite having spent almost 20 years since they left, Universal is well remembered. The subsequent owners have been horrible, and it has been passing from hand to hand. There has always been the illusion that Universal will return to the park since they did not leave because of bad economic results but because of the purchase of the company from General Electrics who were not interested in the parks sector. Universal said goodbye to the park in the last closing show "Fiestaventura" with a "Hasta pronto" (translate to "See you soon") and a promise to come back. This is why there have always been rumors of his return but not as strong as those of now.

Right now the owners of PortAventura are two investment funds, Investindustrial (Italian - 50.1% of the shares) and KKR (American - 49.9% of the shares). Investindustrial manage the park since 2013. These companies seek to increase the value of the companies they buy to sell them at a higher price according to package investment cycles. PortAventura's investment package is over and in 2024 they have to increase capital. They are two companies that by their nature are looking to sell the park, they are not theme park managers, and the latest movements suggest that they are in full search of a buyer.

I will try to summarize the local rumors that exist in Spain, which seem to come from insiders

- In August 2022, the first rumors of visits by Universal executives to the park arise. Normally they make visits every time to negotiate the use of the licenses that the park still uses (Woody, Betty, Shrek, express pass ...) but this time it seemed different. The meeting seems to have been between senior executives of NBCUniversal and the Bollini family, owners of Investindustrial.
- In September it goes viral on twitter #LaUltimaCena ( #TheLastDinner) with memes about the alleged meeting that would be taking place between the owners of PortAventura and Universal.
- New merchandising of Woody, Betty... arrive with the large Universal logo, at the same size as PortAventura one. Before it only came out in small print below.
- A well-known content creator of the park pulls information of supposed purchase negotiation that would still be in the air. However, it seems that workers inside believe that the purchase would be already made. He gave data about the renewal of Universal brands in the European registry, some of them of park management such as Hollywoodland. He also talks about PortAventura owners's alleged long trip to the IAAPA. The park begins to hire employees it had subcontracted and buys several hotels in the area. Supposedly all these changes are due to Universal's demands to improve the park to make the purchase. Among them open the park more days a year. PortAventura until last year was closed from January to March. This year it has opened in February with the Carnival season (Mardi Grass), event that Universal started in the park and that was not done since its departure. As you see, a lot of changes with a strong rumours. He commented that the 2023 season would be one of transition and improvement and tuning thing.
- And voilá this season the maintenance of the park has improved, there are more things painted, restored, closed spaces are being opened ... It has even returned the street theme animation that they eliminated years later from the Universal departure!! Almost 15 years without street animation.

-There is also the Hard Rock project as a citywalk that was stopped by political issues and that was commented that it could be linked to the return of Universal. The government approved the budget to build the Hard Rock project last month after being idle for 7 years.
- The latest rumors suggest that there would already be an agreement or that it would be missing little and that the date of the announcement would be on Halloween. All park workers have allegedly been summoned to a meeting where they have to dress elegantly without saying why. And two names would be in the table: Universal's Europe Resort or Universal's PortAventura Resort.

Sorry for the long post. There are more things and information that has been shared in Spain but I think I have commented the most important. There are many things that maybe are coincidence, maybe not...
There is a very big hype about this possible purchase and hopefully it will come true!

Gracias Pablo.

Como se relaciona el proyecto Uncharted con estos cambios? Parece que sea un proyecto muy importante al complejo turístico. (lo siento si mi espanol es malo)

 

[pablo_es]

Gracias Pablo.

Como se relaciona el proyecto Uncharted con estos cambios? Parece que sea un proyecto muy importante al complejo turístico. (lo siento si mi espanol es malo)

Tu español es bueno!!!

As far as I know, Uncharted is a project that comes from before. It was rumored by content creators that one of Universal's requests to make the purchase is to have the attraction built in time. They are going at a good pace, it is scheduled to open from June, although there is no confirmed date yet.

It was also said that PortAventura could have been advised on the project. PortAventura and Universal have always had contact because of the licenses that still exist in the park.
Woody woodpecker is the star of the park. Everybody loves him. There's no PortAventura without Woody now.
And in Orlando his zone is gone. Send us his rollercoaster!!

By the way, this is the official Uncharted facade render shared by PortAventura

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Universal Europe Resort makes me ask...does that mean they're looking at a proper Gate 2 finally?

 

[TheUniC6]

I'm a bit late to this thread, But I heard on Youtube from Vash Sky (the guy who is on a bulk of OG55's videos) and WDWPro that For a Universal park in Europe (a built from the ground up one at least) Germany is now in consideration.

 

[pablo_es]

Universal Europe Resort makes me ask...does that mean they're looking at a proper Gate 2 finally?

Rumors say they want to do it. The land where they planned the 2nd park in their 2000 masterplan is still intact. They need at least SNW if they want to compete with Disney. Could be in PortAventura or could be in another country.

Other well-known theme park content creator in Spain, but PortAventura is not his home park, said that the re-purchase will not happen and in the famous meeting between Universal and Investindustrial, they talked about licences and Universal tried to sell a minipark like Texas or Las Vegas to PortAventura.

I'm a bit late to this thread, But I heard on Youtube from Vash Sky (the guy who is on a bulk of OG55's videos) and WDWPro that For a Universal park in Europe (a built from the ground up one at least) Germany is now in consideration.

I do not know if they had more information but supposedly this came from a concept art of Island of Adventure and Universal Studios Orlando that, because of the water and the mountains, they thought it was the future park in Germany leaked. They even thought the Volcano Bay volcano was a miniland of How to Train Your Dragon. The artist said, as she indicated on her Instagram, that it was her reinterpretation of Orlando parks and denied that it was other parks. They kept saying that it seemed strange until they had to delete the video where they commented on the images because of the mistake.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Wonder if the supposed Germany park will use concepts from the original Universal Hollywoodland concept.

 

[erider]

I would love a completely new Universal park build from the ground up in Germany, I live in the Netherlands which is pretty close. And flights from the Netherlands to Barcelona have gotten pretty expensive, so it's getting harder to justify a weekend trip there.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm a bit late to this thread, But I heard on Youtube from Vash Sky (the guy who is on a bulk of OG55's videos) and WDWPro that For a Universal park in Europe (a built from the ground up one at least) Germany is now in consideration.

So OG55 and WDWPro are horrible people - homophobes, transphobes, and long histories of racism and Islamophobia. So let me say farfanoogin them.

They’re also incredibly stupid. He couldn’t believe someone would make a fan art commission for UOR.

 

[salismetho]

They’re also incredibly stupid. He couldn’t believe someone would make a fan art commission for UOR.

One of the craziest theories I've seen to date

 

[pablo_es]

Some easter eggs in Port Aventura...

Volcano Bay appears in the new map of Polynesia

And you might recognize this real Easter egg.....