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Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

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Ugh that would suck if true. I know things are down right now but I'm sure it will rebound again at some point, why not keep forging ahead and have a shiny new park to get people back?
 
To be fair, in this situation "postponed indefinitely" could mean anything from "we don't know if we'll restart in one year or two" to "maybe we'll try again in ten years."
True. But if that’s how they’re discussing it internally, it’s not a good sign. An indefinite postponement invites ideas, which invites meddling, and meddling causes delays.
 
This "feels" different though from what was reported about the earnings call yesterday. Did something change in 24hrs? Or is this just a more accurate depiction of what was said on the call?
 
This "feels" different though from what was reported about the earnings call yesterday. Did something change in 24hrs? Or is this just a more accurate depiction of what was said on the call?
Something changed last night. Supposedly Comcast put their foot down and demanded that all work stop immediately and other actions be taken to save money. I believe that led to a lot of layoffs today, as well as the temporary ride closures.
 
Depends on your viewpoint. Nothing has changed from a project standpoint. It's been on hold for a while, they just reiterated that point yesterday. Unfortunately, with all the ongoing economic issues and the loss of the money maker that is HHN, more layoffs occurred, which is what the difference is. There will be other cutbacks, soon.

Is the project safe? No, it would be foolish to think that in the climate we're in. The longer the COVID pandemic goes on, the less likely EU happens. It's not inside info here, just common sense. I think at this point, it's a safe bet to expect a different park than what was originally planned.

Is the project cancelled? No. Comcast has every intention to make this park happen and will try to get through all this by any means until they can't.

Unfortunately, that means more people may lose their jobs.
 
I wouldn't say canceled, IMHO.
Right.... canceled would mean pack it in, sell the land, and just live with two parks forever (or until they buy the land back for the third time in 2033). My money has always been on more than a 1-2 year delay but not a complete walk-away from the plot. While the fan community is always focused on what‘s now and wow, the industry is a perpetual long play.

One of the biggest problems right now is that there is no data to actually forecast off of - it’s all just guessing. International visitation is hugely important to Universal (moreso than Disney) and that’s currently a line of zeroes. It won’t be that way forever, but anybody who says they can forecast when it won’t be zero or what the ramp up looks like is full of ****.

I want to be mindful that there are people with jobs at risk across the city, but it’s long overdue for both Comcast and Disney to put their Orlando operations under the microscope. There are great people at both, but there’s a lot of what Mark Cuban would describe as the day traders who can make money in a bull market but can’t navigate a bear market.
 
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Don’t want to thread-drift too far, but I think you’re going to see a lot of locals-focused festival-type stuff for the foreseeable future and not the reposition of EU ideas. It took SeaWorld years to figure out that they’re essentially a regional park, but once they did they turned things around with a 12-month schedule of reasons to keep coming back. Disney and Universal are currently regional parks too and - never thought I’d say this - it wouldn’t hurt for them to look at the SeaWorld playbook.
 
Anyone want to start a “Save Epic Universe” GoFundMe? I can contribute $25 from my “Rebuild Jaws” fund. :grin:
 
Not surprising.

If you are a shareholder with Comcast your eye is on one business inside NBC Universal that bled money like no other in the 2Q - theme parks. By virtue of its various businesses Comcast is positioned very well to sustain the crippling impacts of the pandemic and that may bode well for the parks. It certainly affords them the leverage to at least sustain all aspects of parks if they so choose.

However, when essentially the entire net change in earnings for NBC Universal comes from Theme Parks - that is a problem (Earnings are down around 28% year over year for NBC. Within NBC, Theme Parks are down a staggering 130% - meaning on an annualized basis the parks could lose over a *billion dollars).

Its not all gloom and doom. We are only a year removed from parks being nearly 25% of NBC’s income at the halfway point of the year. The point being is that when you are literally losing 100’s of millions of dollars quarterly its not the time to be investing in a new theme park. I haven’t even touched on the macroeconomics that relate to this. I just can’t.

My soul hurts so badly for people who rely on the parks and tourism to earn a living.

Wear a fing mask.
 
I poked around a bit for some info. Here are the rumors I was told. Remember these are rumors about on going discussions. They are not a plan yet.

EU, as we know it is dead. Pencil in the 3rd gate for a 2030 Grand Opening. Everything else cancelled except the 2 things below.

They finish up the Velocicoaster and a Diet JW placemaking around the land.

ALL available resources thrown at fast tracking SNW into KidZone so they can try and catch up to Hollywood so they can do a big national ad campaign for both coasts.
 
I poked around a bit for some info. Here are the rumors I was told. Remember these are rumors about on going discussions. They are not a plan yet.

EU, as we know it is dead. Pencil in the 3rd gate for a 2030 Grand Opening. Everything else cancelled except the 2 things below.

They finish up the Velocicoaster and a Diet JW placemaking around the land.

ALL available resources thrown at fast tracking SNW into KidZone so they can try and catch up to Hollywood so they can do a big national ad campaign for both coasts.

This lines up with nothing I’ve heard.
 
At this point in time there are just too many unknowns, and lack of meaningful data, for Comcast to make a final decision.
* So much depends on a vaccine, when it hits, and how effective it will be.
*Washington is presently unable to reach agreement on a stimulus package, quite opposite of the bi partisan $3 trillion agreement they quickly reached in the early spring.
What happens with those talks will have a lot to do with how the economy rebounds.
*There's an election in ninety some days. Lots of uncertainty until that happens.
*International tourism is dead everywhere. What happens in that sector all depends on vaccine development.
*All theme/amusement park attendance is probably at close to the worst case scenario. Tourists are visiting places like beaches and outdoor travel in big numbers. But they won't
visit destinations where they have to wear masks in the summer heat. Parks are in a damn if you do, damn if you don't, situation with masks. No matter what route they took, they'd get criticized,
or tourist visits withheld.
*Without any meaningful data, everything is just a best guess when theme park tourism will rebound. Most everything depends on factors that are beyond Comcast's control.
So, at this point in time, the best course is probably to cut costs and sit pat until more information is available. Executives can't make decisions without sufficient information, and there really isn't any
right now. When the dust clears, which will probably be in about 10 to 12 months, or maybe a bit longer, they'll have a better perspective available to determine what route to go.
 
ALL available resources thrown at fast tracking SNW into KidZone so they can try and catch up to Hollywood so they can do a big national ad campaign for both coasts.

If SNW moves to Kidzone, they lose their marquee IP for that park. If that happens, I wouldn't expect to see EU any time soon.

I'm sorry to hear of more layoffs, but with HHN wiped out it was unfortunately inevitable. I hope they get rehired ASAP.
 
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