Universal Studios Beijing (Now Open)

[quinnmac000]

interesting how fast that post got deleted...hmmm.

 

[Magic-Man]

interesting how fast that post got deleted...hmmm.

Huh?

 

[quinnmac000]

Huh?

New layout no longer on Themeparx and also no longer on Sina.

 

[Magic-Man]

New layout no longer on Themeparx and also no longer on Sina.

That’s weird. It’s still there for me.

 

[Descendo]

It's still there for me too.




Is anyone else interested in the two versions of the concept art of the park in the two images? The one that has the close up of the first park with a bigger lagoon, and then the image that has the resort plan with the hotels, CityWalk and the 2 parks. If you look at the one of the whole resort, you can see that at some point during the design process, the 1st park was going to have a small lagoon with bridges, an inverted Wizarding World and lots of other changes (I'm not talking about that aerial-view placeholder artwork they released upon announcing the park)

Does anyone know which of these two, if either, is close to the final design? The whole-site concept is captioned with "Early layout of Universal Beijing", but maybe the other image is an even earlier concept? The blurry concept image released a few months ago is much more similar to the one with the wide lake/non-mirrored Wizarding World (sorry it's really hard to explain myself without being able to link the pictures haha).

Also, there's the recent rumor that they're investing more into the Universal Beijing Resort because of Shanghai Disneyland's success. But as they've almost gone vertical with construction to get it open in time for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, how much do we think will be changed from the original plans? Maybe just building a few more of the rides that were originally intended for future expansion? According to all of the leaked concept art from over the months, it looks like they're not gonna cover up the FJ show building so hopefully that could be where some of the extra budget will be going towards.

I know that this art isn't finalized. As quinnmacooo mentioned, the park is still being designed and that much of this concept art was just for the bidding for the construction companies, but it is more to go on than nothing, and I am curious to read into every bit of information that we are given

 

[brianlo]

For starters, Universal currently lists both the Frog Choir and the Durmstrang/Beauxbaton show as two different attractions. So the attraction count is certainly meaningless.

Next, I certainly hope this isn't still in a design phase, otherwise they aren't looking at opening this side of 2022 at this rate.


I don't think this remotely changes my view that this park lacks real creativity, a meaningful unifying theme or avoids being lazy copy and paste jobs...

But the Jurassic World and Kung Fu Panda lands are promising enough that I remain enticed, even if Orlando probably lifts one or both in the third park. The actual opening day lineup, with all my opinions on the actual content, is quite solid.

-The pterodactyl suspended coaster sounds like a good idea.
-Kung Fu Panda land again looks more and more promising. That might be the one thing that really delivers.
-Despicable me looks to lack any additional Dreamworks content, which is not surprising. The land is good.
-Converting Superhero Island to Transformers Island is still lazy, will the spinner be Bumble Bee's Storm Force?
-If they are lifting Despicable Me Minion Mayhem that is beyond mind numbing. Seriously, you are building a new dedicated land, can you anchor it with something other than an overlay of an overlay?
-I hope the theatre in Hollywood is a unique for China attraction (maybe even IP light).
-F&F, maybe it will catch on fire during construction. Maybe.

 

[brianlo]

Also, there's the recent rumor that they're investing more into the Universal Beijing Resort because of Shanghai Disneyland's success. But as they've almost gone vertical with construction to get it open in time for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, how much do we think will be changed from the original plans?

Cynically, probably nothing as meaningful as the dollar figure would imply. I think they ran into cost over runs and clearly have run way behind schedule, like Shanghai. This is another coverup like the 800 million Shanghai "added" for "extra attractions"...

The precedent is there.

 

[OrlLover]

For starters, Universal currently lists both the Frog Choir and the Durmstrang/Beauxbaton show as two different attractions. So the attraction count is certainly meaningless.

Next, I certainly hope this isn't still in a design phase, otherwise they aren't looking at opening this side of 2022 at this rate.


I don't think this remotely changes my view that this park lacks real creativity, a meaningful unifying theme or avoids being lazy copy and paste jobs...

But the Jurassic World and Kung Fu Panda lands are promising enough that I remain enticed, even if Orlando probably lifts one or both in the third park. The actual opening day lineup, with all my opinions on the actual content, is quite solid.

-The pterodactyl suspended coaster sounds like a good idea.
-Kung Fu Panda land again looks more and more promising. That might be the one thing that really delivers.
-Despicable me looks to lack any additional Dreamworks content, which is not surprising. The land is good.
-Converting Superhero Island to Transformers Island is still lazy, will the spinner be Bumble Bee's Storm Force?
-If they are lifting Despicable Me Minion Mayhem that is beyond mind numbing. Seriously, you are building a new dedicated land, can you anchor it with something other than an overlay of an overlay?
-I hope the theatre in Hollywood is a unique for China attraction (maybe even IP light).
-F&F, maybe it will catch on fire during construction. Maybe.

I agree with some of the things your saying but this is not China 2nd Park so of course they are copying and pasting attractions just like Disney does to its new parks. Lazy isn’t the word I would use considering most of the rides are probably going to be a little different to what we have anyway.

 

[Descendo]

Madagascar caught on fire during its construction in Singapore so there's hope for F&F! Surely they have heard the F&F feedback is atrocious, right? Please? ray:

Cynically, probably nothing as meaningful as the dollar figure would imply. I think they ran into cost over runs and clearly have run way behind schedule, like Shanghai. This is another coverup like the 800 million Shanghai "added" for "extra attractions"...

The precedent is there.

Ah I see. well that's not so good. It would've been cool if they had decided to make 2.0 version of the castle like they did with Shanghai's. The Great Hall would make a killing. Harry Potter is super popular in China and the elite love to spend money on their kids so an exorbitant dining reservation wouldn't be out of the question. Well even if 0.1% of the 1.5 billion were willing to pay, it'd be still be enough to warrant building it.

 

[brianlo]

I agree with some of the things your saying but this is not China 2nd Park so of course they are copying and pasting attractions just like Disney does to its new parks. Lazy isn’t the word I would use considering most of the rides are probably going to be a little different to what we have anyway.

Totally, but well over 4/5ths of Shanghai was entirely unique. That's the main comparison from a recency perspective and this project is a direct corollary of it. I mean, really it was just Pooh and SDMT (which apparently Orlando lifted). Pan was redone marginally and Soaring over the World launched with the park.

Not to play favourites, but I very much think some of Disney's efforts with first parks reek of laziness, Hong Kong version 1.0 being the most obvious one. That's why Hong Kong remains so miffed. They saw what they got (a half-hearted Disneyland) and what Shanghai got (a deconstructed castle park).

 

[OrlLover]

Totally, but well over 4/5ths of Shanghai was entirely unique. That's the main comparison from a recency perspective and this project is a direct corollary of it. I mean, really it was just Pooh and SDMT (which apparently Orlando lifted). Pan was redone marginally and Soaring over the World launched with the park.

Not to play favourites, but I very much think some of Disney's efforts with first parks reek of laziness, Hong Kong version 1.0 being the most obvious one. That's why Hong Kong remains so miffed. They saw what they got (a half-hearted Disneyland) and what Shanghai got (a deconstructed castle park).

Disney and Universal did a lot of budget cutting especially back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Hong Kong hadn’t had any investment since it was built so now that is being corrected. Who said this park isn’t going to be unique ?

 

[brianlo]

Who saids this park isn’t going to be unique ?

Just based on what we know. 2 lands are currently unique, the wrapper for most other things is unique, but the contents for those are available elsewhere today.

 

[Jamesh22]

New post on Themeparx.....lordy ...

and the dome is a show not a ride.

Very interesting!
Looks like there is still a 'coaster' in front and around of the dome, guess it's still possible it goes inside?

 

[Magic-Man]

Very interesting!
Looks like there is still a 'coaster' in front and around of the dome, guess it's still possible it goes inside?

This is what really confuses me. The first leaked layout image clearly showed track inside the dome building, but not much outside. The second leaked layout image clearly showed a lot of track outside, but not inside. The coaster looked much shorter in the second image as well. I don’t know if that’s due to inconsistencies, or the layout got changed, or something else.

 

[UNIrd]

I hope there aren't many clones at this park. I'm really hoping for a plussed Universal Studios Singapore. I feel like at the park, they went to the drawing board knowing they needed coasters, dark rides, a rapids ride, a boat ride, a special FX show, etc to make the park well-rounded and used the IPs appropriately to make them work.

I really hope this park doesn't suffer because they can plug-and-play Minions, Transformers, Forbidden Journey, Fast & Furious, etc. since they already have them ready-to-go, no R&D necessary. The most promising part of the park for me is that Transformers coaster, even if it's just a re-themed Hulk.

 

[Magic-Man]

I really hope this park doesn't suffer because they can plug-and-play Minions, Transformers, Forbidden Journey, Fast & Furious, etc. since they already have them ready-to-go, no R&D necessary. The most promising part of the park for me is that Transformers coaster, even if it's just a re-themed Hulk.

You’re not looking forward to the two new Jurassic World rides and the KFP land?

 

[UNIrd]

You’re not looking forward to the two new Jurassic World rides and the KFP land?

Sure, depending on what they are. They might also be clones of what we're getting in UOR Park 4.

 

[Magic-Man]

Sure, depending on what they are. They might also be clones of what we're getting in UOR Park 4.

Beijing’s coming first, though. If anything, UOR Park 4 might get clones of Beijing’s lands/attractions.

 

[Disneyhead]

I would expect any non-clone new attractions coming to Beijing would make their way to Orlando's new park. The good thing though is if Beijing gets a lot of clones that we already have, then they will have to create more new attractions for here.

 

[Magic-Man]

I would expect any non-clone new attractions coming to Beijing would make their way to Orlando's new park. The good thing though is if Beijing vets a lot of clones that we already have, then they will have to create more new attractions here.

Hmmmmm *stares at Jurassic World*