Universal Studios Beijing (Locked Thread)

[Allen The Actor]

I figured that's what it was, that's why I mentioned it. I can definitely see Japan and Beijing getting the Kong ride as well.

 

[Alexshow.]

It was spilled by Michelle on the Furious opening periscopes that the Furious Franchise is heading its way to Bejing. Of-course, this is not confirmed by Universal but expect this to be a different experience, more than the opened Supercharged.

 

[Alexshow.]

Big news today as Universal announces that the Universal Beijing Resort is now official.


http://www.china.org.cn/bjzt/2015-09/14/content_36580276.htm

The Beijing Universal theme park deal was signed on Sunday in New York, indicating a milestone for the project to move forward.


The Universal Beijing Theme Park and Resort Joint Venture Agreement Signing Ceremony was held in New York at the headquarters of Comcast NBCUniversal.


The project was approved last September by China's State Council and the National Development and Reform Commission after 13 years of negotiation and planning. After the approval, various involved parties have worked hard to push forward the progress and business negotiations.


The joint venture agreement marked the project's new milestone, establishing a solid foundation for it to enter into substantial operation phase. After the agreement was signed, Chinese and American parties formed the joint venture as soon as possible and plan to begin various preparation and construction work.


Li Shixiang, Executive Vice Mayor of Beijing, attended the ceremony and met with Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, Stephen B. Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal and Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts in New York. Li pledged strong support from the Beijing government for the project to create a good environment for building and operating a world class theme park. He also expected more investments from Comcast NBCUniversal in the future.


Roberts thanked the Beijing government for their help and support, saying he is very optimistic about Beijing's future development. Besides the theme park, they will look for more opportunities to enlarge their business in China, especially in Beijing.


According to previous reports, the overall investment in Beijing's Universal theme park will be more than 50 billion yuan (US$7.85 billion), in which 21.5 billion yuan (US$3.37 billion) will be invested into building the core area. The development of the first phase of the theme park will be finished in 2019 and Beijing's subway line 7 will also be extended to allow an easier commute to the park.


Beijing's Universal theme park and support facilities will occupy a 120-hectare site in Tongzhou District, Beijing. The theme park will be accompanied by a Universal CityWalk entertainment complex and a first-ever Universal-themed resort hotel. The theme park will blend China's rich cultural heritage with Universal Parks & Resorts' unique family entertainment experience and Hollywood movie culture with Hollywood mogul Steven Spielberg as a creative consultant.


The park will be jointly owned by Beijing Shouhuan Cultural Tourism Investment Co., Ltd., a consortium of four state-owned companies, and Universal Parks & Resorts, a business unit of Comcast NBCUniversal. The sequel projects after 2019 will include the second theme park, a water park and another five resort hotels.


Universal Beijing will be the sixth and largest Universal Studios theme park ever built.

Well; let us spread out in Joy as its officialy going underway.

 

[Allen The Actor]

I'm actually very excited for this project. With all the many theme parks being built in China recently, the competition to build the newest and biggest theme park is growing immensely. Just as Shanghai Disney will be Disney's biggest and most unique "castle" park to date, I definitely think this will end up being Universal's most unique and ambitious park as well.

Now if they could only do something about all that pollution....kinda silly talking about building a "world class destination" in the press release in such a backwards and polluted area, but that's the world we live in!

They also mentioned a Universal themed hotel in the press release. I wonder if Hollywood or Orlando could get something like that soon too, especially with both planning future hotels as we speak.

 

[Alexshow.]

The funniest thing to me about the article is that they already said that if its a success; future endevevors in the resort would go to a Second gate, waterpark and 5 more damned resort hotels! Funny but hey, follow what worked great and do it for China. Atleast they'll have more rooms than Disney when that happens.

 

[malice]

Looking at the concept art map, I'm kind of underwhelmed by the design. I can see a lot of recycled attractions in there.

 

[Allen The Actor]

I'm sure they'll only expand the park once Universal Creative comes up with new attractions based on Nintendo. Remember, a lot is I'm development at UC, so they can still add a lot to this park. Kind of like how Shanghai Disney added a few "last minute" attractions.

 

[Alexshow.]

Looking at the concept art map, I'm kind of underwhelmed by the design. I can see a lot of recycled attractions in there.

In a manner of speaking, its a lot. But from what I see, it feels like that Universal Beijing will become our MK. As strange as it is due to the recycled attractions, a lot of them are favorites.

 

[disneyversal]

I hope that J.K. Rowling shoots this down, because Diagon Alley should be Orlando exclusive. Also, not a huge fan of the location. I can't imagine myself visiting Beijing with all that smog to go to Universal. Even Orlando is hard what with all the humidity. They should instead make Hollywood a resort.

 

[Ryan]

I hope that J.K. Rowling shoots this down, because Diagon Alley should be Orlando exclusive. Also, not a huge fan of the location. I can't imagine myself visiting Beijing with all that smog to go to Universal. 

1) Diagon Alley will never, ever, ever stay permanently exclusive to Orlando. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of "when". I highly doubt Rowling cares about inane things like "resort exclusivity", just make it the way she wants and put it wherever Universal wants. I'd say money talks, but I don't think it's an issue in the first place.

2) You may not want to go to Beijing, but it's like Disneyland in Shanghai: there's an audience, that's why it's being built.

 

[Allen The Actor]

I hope that J.K. Rowling shoots this down, because Diagon Alley should be Orlando exclusive. Also, not a huge fan of the location. I can't imagine myself visiting Beijing with all that smog to go to Universal. Even Orlando is hard what with all the humidity. They should instead make Hollywood a resort.

That's just the thing....as Brover said, you aren't the target audience, so Universal most likely doesn't care if you visit Beijing or not. Yeah, it'd be cool for us theme park fans to visit all the different theme parks around the world and to see "exclusive" attractions, but people who can afford to travel the country or the world are an even smaller population than ultra theme park fans, and we're small as-is.

I don't have the means to travel to Orlando at this point in my life, for example, so I'm thrilled we're getting Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. My reasoning for not wanting Diagon Alley here in Hollywood, for example, hasn't been because I want it exclusive to Orlando, but because I'd like to see our limited space used wisely in Hollywood and save room for other franchises.

 

[disneyversal]

I don't think population equals audience. Look at how Hong Kong Disneyland has the lowest attendanceof any Magic Kingdom park. By the train of logic, it should be the most visited.

 

[Aaron]

I hope that J.K. Rowling shoots this down, because Diagon Alley should be Orlando exclusive. Also, not a huge fan of the location. I can't imagine myself visiting Beijing with all that smog to go to Universal. Even Orlando is hard what with all the humidity. They should instead make Hollywood a resort.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/lhckuhUxcgA?feature=oembed

 

[Chris]

I have a feeling that J.K. only has control over design and final approval.  Where this attraction goes in terms of real estate is all under Warner Bros and Universal Creative control.  Remember that there will still be some sort of control over this property by the people who design it and operate it.

 

[Ryan]

I don't think population equals audience. Look at how Hong Kong Disneyland has the lowest attendanceof any Magic Kingdom park. By the train of logic, it should be the most visited.

HKDL is in a different part of China and was not built well, and opened to poor reviews. Expansions have helped the park grow more and more. It also has a more obscure location.

Shanghai and Beijing are prime locations, and if the parks are great, then it will be highly attended. SDL is already proving to seem fantastic and the Chinese are currently considering restricting American non-VIP access to the park to make room for the throngs of people they see attending. Shanghai Disneyland is basically not being built for international tourists in mind, period.

 

[Alexshow.]

Universal Studios Beijing has began construction


http://beijing.china.org.cn/2015-11/06/content_36999511.htm


And theres a fitting gif here because its going to be fun to see this go up.

 

[Alexshow.]

In a interesting thing, NJBrandon on OU (VERY Reliable) pointed that USB will be housing a brand new attraction based off of the Nickelodeon IP; Spongebob Squarepants.

 

[Alexshow.]

DP, Some words from Steve Burke; CEO of NBCUniversal..

"We'll own 30 or 40 percent of the park. Our partners are on the same schedule to get the park open by 2020," Burke said. "We have full models and drawings. We know what attractions will be there. We've got complete agreement on sort of the way the structure of our arrangement's going to work…We have hundreds of people currently working on the project and look forward to getting it open in a few years."

 

[Alexshow.]

Universal Beijing Resort has officially broken ground as of today; October 31st.


http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/universal-studios-theme-park-breaks-ground-in-china-report/3249450.html

 

[Joey]

Do we know what’s coming to this expansion at universal studios Beijing besides new hotels will there be new rides new lands new Retail or dining experiences new shows etc