Universal Great Britain

[Scott W.]

Maybe, but I'd imagine Universal thinks they can considering DLP is in the $100 range now and this park would be considered a premium versus other parks in the UK.

You can still get a DLP 1 park 1 day ticket for £50 but then again, by the time this park opens, £100 could easily happen.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'd guess they'll price it competitively with Disney Paris. That's how they do it in Orlando. Disney has different pricing in their International markets, basically depending on the economic situation in the country the park's located. I'd expect Universal to use this same criteria. They already do it in Japan & China.

 

[BBPH]

I have no words to describe how buzzing I am for this rumour.

The UK is desperate for a location like this. I am very interested to see Comcast’s thoughts of crowd demographics, there is kind of two tribes of park goers over here; those that pay £15 a month to visit all Merlin Parks & attractions, and those that spend big bucks to travel to Orlando (of course there are people fitting in both groups ‍)

I’m intrigued what the “Merlin Mum” reaction is going to be regarding a probable £100+ a day park.

Very exciting times

Opening hours and weather proofing could play a big part here, our parks have shockingly short hours.

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

As a brit, super excited for this potential Park, a Universal Studios in the UK has been an absolute pipe dream for me ever since I was a kid, so if it actually comes to life, that would be crazy to see

I'm interested in how this Park could be, especially after their last Resort in Beijing had so much money put into it yet is still suffering financially, and whether or not they'll take lessons from the performance of that Resort when building this new one

 

[havaska]

As a brit, super excited for this potential Park, a Universal Studios in the UK has been an absolute pipe dream for me ever since I was a kid, so if it actually comes to life, that would be crazy to see

I'm interested in how this Park could be, especially after their last Resort in Beijing had so much money put into it yet is still suffering financially, and whether or not they'll take lessons from the performance of that Resort when building this new one

There’s a lot of money in the UK especially around London which is one of the most expensive cities on Earth. There’s a lot more potential for profit than Beijing in my opinion.

 

[Jake S]

I'm interested in how this Park could be, especially after their last Resort in Beijing had so much money put into it yet is still suffering financially, and whether or not they'll take lessons from the performance of that Resort when building this new one

I don't think the impact of COVID and the Chinese government's response to it can be overstated when evaluating the performance of the Universal park in Beijing. I'm sure there will be lessons learned from the construction and opening of that park, but many of its problems are (god willing) unlikely to impact a new resort built in the United Kingdom.

They will, of course, have a whole host of new and intriguing issues to deal with if they build a park in the London area. But that would be true no matter where they built a resort, be it in England, Spain or Dubai.

 

[tommyhawkins]

As a brit, super excited for this potential Park, a Universal Studios in the UK has been an absolute pipe dream for me ever since I was a kid, so if it actually comes to life, that would be crazy to see

I'm interested in how this Park could be, especially after their last Resort in Beijing had so much money put into it yet is still suffering financially, and whether or not they'll take lessons from the performance of that Resort when building this new one

How much money do you think they spent on it?

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

How much money do you think they spent on it?

It was like, 6.5 Billion, right?

 

[tommyhawkins]

It was like, 6.5 Billion, right?

im pretty sure some of that included stuff prepping for the second park

 

[Mad Dog]

That's a minority partnership with Chinese interests, so Universal's share should be somewhat less than 50% of the park cost....The main value to Universal was preferred access to the Chinese film distribution and theatrical viewing process. Like Disney with Shanghai, that was the main financial aspect driver of this park build. So all costs have to be looked at in the light of the movie stuff.

 

[GAcoaster]

That's a minority partnership with Chinese interests, so Universal's share should be somewhat less than 50% of the park cost....The main value to Universal was preferred access to the Chinese film distribution and theatrical viewing process. Like Disney with Shanghai, that's was the main financial aspect driver of this park build. So all costs have to looked at in the light of the movie stuff.

As well as better copyright protections for their films and IPs.

 

[Chessy]

Hi newcomer here, just found this interesting.

Trying to think where they could potentially build this park? Somewhere along the M4 corridor might be a good idea between London and Reading. Not far from a multitude of good transport links.

I can see the reasoning for London, as it's not far from Paris and many tourists visit both London and Paris. Plus it's a good competition for Disney. London is also a major international destination with high tourist numbers and can sustain a resort like this, also many Brits are familiar with Universal from their travels to the states. If it's a unique lineup of attractions I can't see it cannibalising a lot of Universal Orlando's sales. Not having to translate any IP's for the attractions might be attractive to Universal too as the knowledge of English throughout Europe is decent.

In relation to weather/climate it's not necessarily an issue as many of Universals attractions are indoors anyway. Disneyland Paris experiences winter as does Tokyo Disney to some extent. You have to remember Florida deals with tropical storms and I have seen rides routinely shutdown due to inclement weather, and also chilly spells over winter. But as always indoor attractions remain weather proof and operational.

The UK is in need of a high quality resort, I just fear the planning system in the UK is too drawn out and puts investors off sometimes. Unless the government is putting their backing into such a project which makes it easier, if it's true and they already have land then that's a huge bonus. Hopefully the rumours turn out to be true but we'll see I guess.

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

Hi newcomer here, just found this interesting.

Trying to think where they could potentially build this park? Somewhere along the M4 corridor might be a good idea between London and Reading. Not far from a multitude of good transport links.

I can see the reasoning for London, as it's not far from Paris and many tourists visit both London and Paris. Plus it's a good competition for Disney. London is also a major international destination with high tourist numbers and can sustain a resort like this, also many Brits are familiar with Universal from their travels to the states. If it's a unique lineup of attractions I can't see it cannibalising a lot of Universal Orlando's sales. Not having to translate any IP's for the attractions might be attractive to Universal too as the knowledge of English throughout Europe is decent.

In relation to weather/climate it's not necessarily an issue as many of Universals attractions are indoors anyway. Disneyland Paris experiences winter as does Tokyo Disney to some extent. You have to remember Florida deals with tropical storms and I have seen rides routinely shutdown due to inclement weather, and also chilly spells over winter. But as always indoor attractions remain weather proof and operational.

The UK is in need of a high quality resort, I just fear the planning system in the UK is too drawn out and puts investors off sometimes. Unless the government is putting their backing into such a project which makes it easier, if it's true and they already have land then that's a huge bonus. Hopefully the rumours turn out to be true but we'll see I guess.

I feel it's likely the Government will put backing into this, it's such an obvious moneymaker and would be a big draw to London and the UK as a whole

 

[Scott W.]

Hi newcomer here, just found this interesting.

Trying to think where they could potentially build this park? Somewhere along the M4 corridor might be a good idea between London and Reading. Not far from a multitude of good transport links.

I can see the reasoning for London, as it's not far from Paris and many tourists visit both London and Paris. Plus it's a good competition for Disney. London is also a major international destination with high tourist numbers and can sustain a resort like this, also many Brits are familiar with Universal from their travels to the states. If it's a unique lineup of attractions I can't see it cannibalising a lot of Universal Orlando's sales. Not having to translate any IP's for the attractions might be attractive to Universal too as the knowledge of English throughout Europe is decent.

In relation to weather/climate it's not necessarily an issue as many of Universals attractions are indoors anyway. Disneyland Paris experiences winter as does Tokyo Disney to some extent. You have to remember Florida deals with tropical storms and I have seen rides routinely shutdown due to inclement weather, and also chilly spells over winter. But as always indoor attractions remain weather proof and operational.

The UK is in need of a high quality resort, I just fear the planning system in the UK is too drawn out and puts investors off sometimes. Unless the government is putting their backing into such a project which makes it easier, if it's true and they already have land then that's a huge bonus. Hopefully the rumours turn out to be true but we'll see I guess.

Hello, welcome!

I think outside of London makes sense, cheaper land and more options.

I think they would head north though to be closer to the rest of the uk.

Depending on how far they want to go, near Luton sounds like a good area. Far enough away from London but still have strong transport links with a major airport and sizeable labour force nearby.

 

[leavesonthelawn]

Hello, welcome!

I think outside of London makes sense, cheaper land and more options.

I think they would head north though to be closer to the rest of the uk.

Depending on how far they want to go, near Luton sounds like a good area. Far enough away from London but still have strong transport links with a major airport and sizeable labour force nearby.

Plus I live near there, perfect location

 

[Scott W.]

Plus I live near there, perfect location

If they go for it, they’ll make their money back in a year.

 

[Chessy]

I don't know what the intellectual property rights are to do with building Harry Potter attractions outside the US. But considering WB are already present in the UK with the studio tour, I don't know how that affects it? It seems logical to have a Wizarding World if this park were built. Considering Harry Potter has its roots in the UK. Even if they were to explore an area and attractions they haven't built before.

 

[Alicia]

Posting these here for completionism.

The UK park is full size.

And here we go again, in the eternal loop of talking about the UK park in the Portaventura post instead of its own post

 

[Viator]

Posting these here for completionism.

I was gonna make a "time is a flat circle" joke on the PortAventura thread, but I am glad that is reinstilled.

I will say, it'd be fun if @UER came over here, to actually discuss this you know. Seen people focus on pocket bubbles to not realize other aspects.

 

[UER]

I was gonna make a "time is a flat circle" joke on the PortAventura thread, but I am glad that is reinstilled.

I will say, it'd be fun if @UER came over here, to actually discuss this you know. Seen people focus on pocket bubbles to not realize other aspects.

I don't have much to say about this, the concept logo somehow seems fake to me, if you look at Universal Japan for example, the globe is centered in that part of the world, while in the concept the globe is centered in the same longitude as in the Universal Hollywood/Orlando logo

But at the same time the domain registered in september clearly says "Universal Studios", so as of now my opinion is:

They went batshit crazy and shomehow thought that building a Hollywood style park in the UK and a Orlando sized one in Spain is a good idea