Universal Studios Beijing (Now Open)

[UNIrd]

I'm progressively worried about the park itself.

1. Hollywood featuring Fast and the Furious
2. Transformers + B&M Transformers coaster (can't tell if it's an actual Hulk clone).
3. Hogsmeade 1.0
4. Waterworld
5. Kung Foo Panda Land (1 headliner)
6. Despicable Me Area - Super Silly Funland Pier, ?Minion Mayhem (+/- additional Dreamworks offering)
7. Jurassic World (New Headliner)

So they're building USH basically. I didn't know that was the flagship to base an entirely new park off of minus the Studio Tour. Wonderful.

 

[quinnmac000]

Do we have recent quotes addressing these issues? Unfortunately I think most of that lip service is from very outdated PR. I know it was stated at the project inception, but in the proceeding years we've been told a lot of those things have been cut by various sources.

I actually don't on spec believe the company line for that very reason. Recall Disney and Shanghai pulled the same thing when they "Expanded" Shanghai Disneyland with 800 million dollars. Really the only thing they did was cover up cost over runs. The same appears to have occurred here... Hogsmeade is not a new addition for example.



I'm not buying into the Universal wasting all the good stuff on the first park as an excuse... by that logic there is nothing left for a third park in Orlando? However, that's really not my concern. It's on the balance of uniqueness and being allowed to design a park from the ground up. Not on there being a lack of attractions, the number seems perfectly reasonable.

From March from people actually working the project.

Construction on a brand new Universal Studios in Beijing is underway!

Estimated at about 300 acres large, the theme park and neighboring resort will include attractions from other Universal theme parks as well as new attractions that reflects China’s cultural heritage.

Universal Studio’s first theme park in China also aims to be a “smart city” in its development and management, and it will be constructed with the help of advanced technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and artificial intelligence.

In fact, Autodesk and BSH Investment recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore the use of VR, human and machine interaction and Autodesk’s Forge platform for the development of the world-class tourist destination.

Coming soon: Universal Studios Beijing | In the Fold

Additionally from Chinese press this year

n fact, theme parks are not isolated, single cultural products, but a deeper cultural experience. The team of China and the United States conducted in-depth analysis and research. The Beijing Global Theme Park project should not only reflect the connotation of Chinese cultural elements, but also meet the principles of the theme of the theme park film. Among them, the first phase of the planning and design of some Chinese cultural elements experience display projects and content, in the planning and construction of the follow-up project in the resort, will further enhance the content of Chinese cultural elements.

被上海迪斯尼成功所鼓舞 北京环球影城预算增至65亿美元_侨报网
Web Site Blocked
First park will have chinese elements with the second theme park being almost entirely Chinese themed (Think back to Universal's plan for Universal second japanese theme park plans for Okinanwa being 100% Japanese theme)

From July,

Not only that, Beijing Universal Studios will also adopt many of the world's latest technologies, and will surpass the current largest park in Universal Orlando, USA. It is planned to build 7 major scenic spots, with a total of about 27 attractions and large-scale performances not including the most classic Jurassic Park, Minions, Jaws White Shark, Harry Potter and so on. In the first phase of the Universal Studios, there will be other entertainment projects that are exclusive to Universal Studios Beijing. In addition, theme attractions , fireworks, tour and other visual experience projects will include Chinese elements. The initial plan for Chinese elements will reach 35%, and the Chinese Kung Fu Panda area will be made exclusive. Beijing Universal Studios' signature project.

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At present, Universal Studios has five theme parks around the world, including the world's park in Los Angeles, the largest Universal resort in the world in Orlando with it film and adventure island park , as well as the Osaka park and the smallest Singapore park. The size of Beijing Universal Studios will be larger than any other one. The core area of the park is 1.2 square kilometers, and the total area of the resort is more than 4 square kilometers. The total investment is more than 50 billion US dollars, including the first and second phases of the theme park and a water park and five other resort hotels.

The most classic rides in Universal Studios are Simpson's Adventures, the Mummy Revenge Roller Coaster, the Jurassic Park Rapids and the Shrek 4D Cinema.Not only these most classic rides will appear in Universal Studios Beijing, but some of the latest ring-shadow devices will also appear in Beijing, including Despicable Me, the Terminator, and the Transformers 3D ride. By then, Beijing Universal Studios will become the most comprehensive, richest and most innovative theme park in the world. The most popular and bright spot is the Harry Potter theme park. This includes not only the iconic Hogwarts School of Magic in Harry Potter and the famous scenes of Diagonal Lane, Hagrid's Pumpkin Hut, but also the 4D rider Harley Porter, which brings together the world's cutting-edge technology. .

Moreover, this western theme park also knows how to do as the Romans do. According to the people in charge of the park, in order to better integrate into Chinese culture, the company will personally create more Chinese-style rides for Beijing Universal Studios to bring together more Chinese elements. This includes the exclusive creation of the cartoon "Kung Fu Panda" as a signature facility in Beijing. In addition, the organizers also considered the long-term factors in Beijing's winter season, and will develop more indoor amusement facilities according to specific conditions to meet the winter needs, so that visitors can feel the charm of Beijing Universal Studios regardless of the season.

https://wemedia.ifeng.com/70585101/wemedia.shtml

This contradicts what Spirit was saying in regards to Beijing in which he complained that Universal didn't think things through with the weather/smog by having everything outdoors. I know the insider who stated things were being cut and it turns out he hasn't been right about a few things in regards to this project.
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Going through more research,

Citywalk also has now been expanded to include Asian Games Arena/Stadium to be used for E-sports.

The indoor waterpark seems to be Jurassic World theme if we go be this image.
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More Concept Art from the ecology study

The area is divided into four different areas with different feelings. They are using rough translation: Shallow Pond, Chunhua Valley, Happy Shores, and Jingang Bay. This areas are further broken down into subdivisions each with unique settings.


Shallow Pond which is the one farthest left is a wetland area which will be comprised of yellow iris, reed, eucalyptus, willow, eucalyptus and so on. Here is plantwork for a section of the area.

Chunhua Valley is a more romantic area similar to a mountain area and full of Cherry Blossom Trees. The main plants include: spring, peach, willow, apricot and so on. Here is plant and looks for certain area

Happy Shore is what will be seen by those coming right directly from the subway station and from citywalk proper with the goal of a vibrant waterfront. The main plants include pine, eucalyptus, willow, and plum. This was posted earlier


The last area will focus on being a beautiful golden harbor that yearly reminds people of autumn. The main tree species include: Acer truncatum, Ginkgo biloba, white wax, and golden silk weeping willow.

 

[Nick]

Even more worrying is that the one or two unique things they are building will probably appear in Florida.

This is why I don't bother going to any other Universal resorts in the Comcast era because I know everything will end up cloned an probably in Orlando at some point.

 

[UNIrd]

This is why I don't bother going to any other Universal resorts in the Comcast era because I know everything will end up cloned an probably in Orlando at some point.

I really did enjoy Universal Studios Singapore. There's enough unique attractions to make it worth the visit and I really liked the smaller attractions that made the lands feel more whole, which is definitely what's missing from the other resorts.

 

[quinnmac000]

Universal Studios Beijing tickets will cost between 400 Yuan ($58.80 USD )to 500 Yuan ($73.50) at opening with ~27 opening day attractions.

It is understood that the two hotels in the first phase of the project include the Universal Hotel with approximately 800 rooms and the Nojin Hotel under the BTG Group witha pproximately 450 rooms. But in the future, the number of hotels in the entire resort will expand to more than two, including a super luxurious five-star hotel with the rest being three- and four-star hotels, positioning is mass tourism.

The first phase will require about 10,000 day to day employees. In engineering, there will be large basement? (Backstage area) in the park to with equipment and operations to maintain attractions. The equipment in the park is controlled by the computer in the underground machine room. The operation and maintainence process of each attraction will be monitored from here. Such technical maintenance requires a large number of professionals. For example, its said that Universal Studios in Orlando, USA has only 1,500 backstage staff while most are service personnel serving tourists. These also require training.

From the progress, it is expected that recruitment of service personnel will begin in the second half of 2019. In addition, the first phase of the park is expected to receive 12 million passengers per year.

Of the known attractions, the ones already seen will be in the park, however, on request of the Chinese investors, the Chinese IPs and elements being used will be announced jointly at a later time as they aren't sure how to implement them.

It was iterated there will be two theme parks, 5 hotels, citywalk, and waterparks with the theme parks accounting for half the land area.

The construction company who built Shanghai Disney will be using their lesson learned as they won the bid to do main construction for Universal Studios Beijing.

According to Chinese media, using western and chinese practices, this park will revolutionize the construction standards of theme parks around the world and this will be the most technologically advanced theme park resort with the Chinese government sending their best and brightest companies to assist.

 

[OrlLover]

Universal Studios Beijing tickets will cost between 400 Yuan ($58.80 USD )to 500 Yuan ($73.50) at opening with ~27 opening day attractions.

It is understood that the two hotels in the first phase of the project include the Universal Hotel with approximately 800 rooms and the Nojin Hotel under the BTG Group witha pproximately 450 rooms. But in the future, the number of hotels in the entire resort will expand to more than two, including a super luxurious five-star hotel with the rest being three- and four-star hotels, positioning is mass tourism.

The first phase will require about 10,000 day to day employees. In engineering, there will be large basement? (Backstage area) in the park to with equipment and operations to maintain attractions. The equipment in the park is controlled by the computer in the underground machine room. The operation and maintainence process of each attraction will be monitored from here. Such technical maintenance requires a large number of professionals. For example, its said that Universal Studios in Orlando, USA has only 1,500 backstage staff while most are service personnel serving tourists. These also require training.

From the progress, it is expected that recruitment of service personnel will begin in the second half of 2019. In addition, the first phase of the park is expected to receive 12 million passengers per year.

Of the known attractions, the ones already seen will be in the park, however, on request of the Chinese investors, the Chinese IPs and elements being used will be announced jointly at a later time as they aren't sure how to implement them.

It was iterated there will be two theme parks, 5 hotels, citywalk, and waterparks with the theme parks accounting for half the land area.

The construction company who built Shanghai Disney will be using their lesson learned as they won the bid to do main construction for Universal Studios Beijing.

According to Chinese media, using western and chinese practices, this park will revolutionize the construction standards of theme parks around the world and this will be the most technologically advanced theme park resort with the Chinese government sending their best and brightest companies to assist.

Thanks for all the info. I see you said 27 opening day attractions for Beijing so 30 for the new "Fantastic Worlds" wouldn't be out the question in my opinion. Also it seems like this park is going to have a lot of unique cultural elements incorporated which should help it stand out among the other parks.

 

[Mad Dog]

27 opening day attractions. Well, if it's like Universal & Disney usually do, they both play pretty loose with what they term attractions (Rides/Shows/M&G/Parades etc.). As of my May brochure/map, USF and IOA both list 32 attractions each. So it seems like at opening Beijing will have a bit less than USF or IOA. That sounds about right since Disney Shanghai had considerably less than Disneyland or MK at (Shanghai) opening....Soooo, perhaps this is a harbringer of the number of attractions that Universal will open the new Orlando park with. Namely a bit less than USF & IOA at this point in time. That total number sounds in the ballpark with what Dave (Disneyhead) has said.

 

[Disneyhead]

27 opening day attractions. Well, if it's like Universal & Disney usually do, they both play pretty loose with what they term attractions (Rides/Shows/M&G/Parades etc.). As of my May brochure/map, USF and IOA both list 32 attractions each. So it seems like at opening Beijing will have a bit less than USF or IOA. That sounds about right since Disney Shanghai had considerably less than Disneyland or MK at (Shanghai) opening....Soooo, perhaps this is a harbringer of the number of attractions that Universal will open the new Orlando park with. Namely a bit less than USF & IOA at this point in time. That total number sounds in the ballpark with what Dave (Disneyhead) has said.

22 was the number that I have heard for the new Orlando park.

 

[Viator]

Themeparx has gotten hold of an updated version of the layout, giving a lot of interesting information in just an image.

I won't link it, for obvious reasons; but it does paint a very interesting picture for the park.

 

[Jamesh22]

Few interesting things from the Themeparx post if it's 100% correct:
1) F&F Supercharged is still coming despite being fairly lousy. Would have been better if they had used the Radiator springs style tech to make something 'decent'
2) That JW dome coaster was a curve ball, didn't see them getting more than the gyrosphere dark ride.
3) Actually looks like a good well rounded park, I wonder if this is the 'plussed' version after the extra money was signed off or if more attractions will come?

 

[OrlLover]

Few interesting things from the Themeparx post if it's 100% correct:
1) F&F Supercharged is still coming despite being fairly lousy. Would have been better if they had used the Radiator springs style tech to make something 'decent'
2) That JW dome coaster was a curve ball, didn't see them getting more than the gyrosphere dark ride.
3) Actually looks like a good well rounded park, I wonder if this is the 'plussed' version after the extra money was signed off or if more attractions will come?

I’m pretty sure they have improved on tech for Supercharged in order to make it somewhat decent. Yes the park seems like it has a good lineup of attractions. The JW area seems like the most exciting area to me as well.

 

[Disneyhead]

Supercharged will have AA drivers and 3D. Not that that will improve it that much, but it will at least be better than ours.

 

[Jamesh22]

The JW area seems like the most exciting area to me as well.

Me too. At first I couldn't understand why they put the JW land in the middle of the park as it made it 'land locked' but they seem to be making a good job of it.

Supercharged will have AA drivers and 3D. Not that that will improve it that much, but it will at least be better than ours.

Well that's at least something, and the restaurants near it might add a nice themed touch too if F&F themed.

 

[Magic-Man]

Themeparx has gotten hold of an updated version of the layout, giving a lot of interesting information in just an image.

I won't link it, for obvious reasons; but it does paint a very interesting picture for the park.

Wow. And you didn't even mention the concept art that also leaked, along with everything else. KFP is an indoor land now?

 

[Mike S]

Supercharged will have AA drivers and 3D. Not that that will improve it that much, but it will at least be better than ours.

Why doesn’t ours have 3D?

 

[Viator]

Why doesn’t ours have 3D?

My guess lies to the idea that UOR has a bit too much in 3D attractions for resort-wide.

 

[Magic-Man]

22 was the number that I have heard for the new Orlando park.

Hopefully that only includes rides and shows, not parades, play areas, etc.

 

[Viator]

Hopefully that only includes rides and shows, not parades, play areas, etc.

Dave can probably tell me wrong, but I'd assume he'd refer to Rides & Shows (Parades, enclosed/exposed stage shows, Parades, and Nighttime Spectaculars); and that there will be quite a few plots ready and primed for after the opening, to ensure that they don't have to go automatically into a second park or a water park; and to keep the high on the initial roster of UOSouth.

Beijing, looks good; really good. Love the way the layout is being handled, as it gives me quite a bit of hope.

So, taking into consideration of what's been rumored and/or confirmed..

- Jurassic World (Full Land with Multiple Rides)
- Transformers (Full Land with Multiple Rides)
- The Great Wall
- Kung Fu Panda
- WaterWorld
- Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade (Hippogriff/FJ/Ollivanders)
- Despicable Me/Minions (Version of DMMM, with a seemingly enclosed version of Super Silly Fun Land)
- Fast & Furious (with AA drivers & 3D)

That's not counting any of the possible other additions that would be culturally related with China as-well.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Why doesn’t ours have 3D?

... ironically the ONE ride 3D might have improved... if possible

 

[Magic-Man]

Anybody else surprised that River Adventure isn’t coming? You’d think that it’d be an easy shoo-in.