Universal Great Britain - Speculation & Rumors

[JT01]

I really hope it’s not a Shrek-themed land. Aside from the Jurassic area, there just aren’t many exciting IPs for me. Don’t get me wrong, the Back to the Future coaster looks incredible, but the land itself seems like it’ll just be generic American-style building facades. Minion lands are always the weakest areas in the parks, and I’m not sure how they’d create a truly immersive land with Paddington.


After following the construction of Epic Universe and seeing what they’re capable of—especially with immersive areas like How to Train Your DragonI’m starting to feel a bit underwhelmed. I’m really hoping Shrek is just a placeholder and they’re planning to introduce a more mature, fantasy-driven IP instead.

 

[Della]

Did anyone catch a confirmed name for this park now it’s official?

Is it “Universal Studios Great Britain” for certain?

Unless I am mistaken, they have never mentioned Great Britain on their official website or any press stuff, it's only been unofficial sources that have used that term. They themselves have always said Universal UK project. I don't think they'd call it Universal GB because it's a bit offensive to exclude to Northern Ireland like that (for the Americans - Great Britain refers to the island that contains England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is the sovereign nation that consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). The term Great Britain is not used commonly, I'd say I'm from England or the UK.

They won't call it Universal Bedford as no one globally knows where Bedford is. They won't called it Universal London as that's offensive to Bedford, as Bedford is definitely not in London and the whole press conference we saw yesterday was about how good this theme park will be for Bedford and how they want to respect the local area. I'd say it will be Universal UK! Has a nice ring to it.

 

[EllieB]

Universal Resort United Kingdom is a possibility.

It could never be Universal Studios UK though, because no one is going to sign off on making the park initials USUK when everyone will then call it "Usuk" lol

It could be Universal England. That is where it is, after all. But I suspect it's more likely to be UK.

 

[Della]

Universal Resort United Kingdom is a possibility.

It could never be Universal Studios UK though, because no one is going to sign off on making the park initials USUK when everyone will then call it "Usuk" lol

It could be Universal England. That is where it is, after all. But I suspect it's more likely to be UK.

USUK is not the best haha

Universal UK Resort? UUKR

 

[Altonsky]

Universal Resort United Kingdom is a possibility.

It could never be Universal Studios UK though, because no one is going to sign off on making the park initials USUK when everyone will then call it "Usuk" lol

It could be Universal England. That is where it is, after all. But I suspect it's more likely to be UK.

Got a soviet ring to it

USUK is not the best haha

Universal UK Resort? UUKR

Also sounds Soviet

 

[Della]

lol just Universal UK then - UUK. I think outside of online theme park forums the abbreviations are not really used

 

[havaska]

Unless I am mistaken, they have never mentioned Great Britain on their official website or any press stuff, it's only been unofficial sources that have used that term. They themselves have always said Universal UK project. I don't think they'd call it Universal GB because it's a bit offensive to exclude to Northern Ireland like that (for the Americans - Great Britain refers to the island that contains England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is the sovereign nation that consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland). The term Great Britain is not used commonly, I'd say I'm from England or the UK.

They won't call it Universal Bedford as no one globally knows where Bedford is. They won't called it Universal London as that's offensive to Bedford, as Bedford is definitely not in London and the whole press conference we saw yesterday was about how good this theme park will be for Bedford and how they want to respect the local area. I'd say it will be Universal UK! Has a nice ring to it.

Disagree. It’s in GB so calling it Universal Great Britain is fine. It also rolls off the tongue a lot easier than Universal UK.

 

[EllieB]

lol just Universal UK then - UUK. I think outside of online theme park forums the abbreviations are not really used

Generally, you're probably right, however if you make your initials USUK then you're asking for the UK media to use them every time you screw up ever.

They could pick a different type of name entirely, something like Universal: British Expedition or Universal: Adventure Island (yes, I know, I know lol) or Universal's Worlds of Adventure just to mess with Disneyland Paris and Merlin, haha.

 

[tommyhawkins]

So who is regurgitating old Park Stop information and pretending to be a source for the BBC then?

James Bond and Paddington could star at Universal UK

Lord of the Rings and 007 – but not Harry Potter – are expected at the Bedfordshire theme park.

www.bbc.co.uk

I have a full 2D layout for the park similar to what I did for Epic back in the day , I will post it when it's ready. I can say that the park has room for three sizeable expansion pads ..and I don't believe they're done designing the park lands, just the master plan, also there's room for expansion for "paddington" or BTTF area fwiw


For the love of god PLEASE tell me why you think the back half is Jurassic World/Park, when it has zero recognisable features, this building would be the main weenie for the park as it's direct line of sight as you walk in and yet it looks like nothing obvious from any of the movies, here is what JW looks like from Beijing artwork

 

[Descendo]

James Bond and Paddington could star at Universal UK

Lord of the Rings and 007 – but not Harry Potter – are expected at the Bedfordshire theme park.

www.bbc.com

"Rollercoasters based on Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Minions are among the few rides that will not be under cover."

Regarding the BBC article, I agree that it's not be based on information from accurate sources. The point that stood out to me is that Beijing's Loop-Dee Doop-Dee is an indoor coaster-- it's just a façade coaster track that borders the outside of the indoor pier building.


"At this point it will be little details they tweak, like 'Let's use a different shade of paint on that Lord of the Rings castle'," they said."

Minas Tirith is the only Middle-earth "castle" that comes to mind of being somewhat recognisable; it seems like an interesting choice if they do go down the Gondor route (as I don't think they'd have space for Hobbiton/Rivendell too!). Here's hoping BBC is wrong!

 

[Alicia]

James Bond and Paddington could star at Universal UK

Lord of the Rings and 007 – but not Harry Potter – are expected at the Bedfordshire theme park.

www.bbc.com

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

View attachment 25921

“And the park will be called, Universal Fantastic Worlds”

 

[ParadoxPortals]

I can't help but feel the central lake takes up a unnecessarily significant amount of space

Strong agree, I'm really tired of giant central lake-based theme parks.

James Bond and Paddington could star at Universal UK

Lord of the Rings and 007 – but not Harry Potter – are expected at the Bedfordshire theme park.

www.bbc.com

The article does (seemingly) incorrectly state that there will be 3 outdoor coasters in the park though (Minions Land has an indoor coaster and it's building exterior has a fake coaster atop as theming (it's to look like Super Silly Fun Land from the film series). This is why I feel we may still be getting a bit of misinformation from official sources. I bought yesterday's Daily Mirror newspaper, the one that leaked and revealed the project's green light and concept art, and it had like 2-3 errors that should've been easy to avoid.

I feel confident BBC are on the money, they aren't ones to post unsourced info. So with that being said I'm guessing the 'Shrek' bit is just a placeholder to obscure things. Which makes sense as that corner is by far the vaguest and least detailed of the areas. I'm also of a mind that we won't get an exact copy of the Minions area from Beijing, because that is by far the weakest themed are in Beijing and I'm thinking Universal won't want any weak-link areas.

Agree on Shrek, and agree on Minions, but I worry Minions will make it into the final park. It saves on R&D costs, the exterior looks pretty and interesting in photos (even if in reality the miniland is quite poor), and matches Universal's possible current strategy of cloning things from their non-Orlando international parks in the UK to save money whilst still offering attractions that would appear 'new' to their European audience.

Last night I looked at the very first Epic Universe concept art, then looked at the UK park concept art released, and based on how Epic looks now it’s finished, I suspect it will be very close.

This is just my own opinion.

By all counts and reports though…

No Super Nintendo World
No Harry Potter

And also the official project website no longer contains any wording relating to an SDO that I can see…

IDK on the concept art accuracy thing, the recently-opened Universal Studios Beijing also had vague concept art published at first that got replaced by a drastically different layout later down the road. Sure, Epic was mostly accurate (apart from small things like the scrapped Monsters theatre show being replaced by the Werewolf coaster), but this UK layout feel really vague and not finalised, I think it'll be like Beijing where they workshop the plan this year before groundwork commences next year.

 

[Disneyhead]

"Rollercoasters based on Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Minions are among the few rides that will not be under cover."

Regarding the BBC article, I agree that it's not be based on information from accurate sources. The point that stood out to me is that Beijing's Loop-Dee Doop-Dee is an indoor coaster-- it's just a façade coaster track that borders the outside of the indoor pier building.

But what if this time, the coaster on top of the pavilion is an actual coaster. It looks much different than the Beijing version in the concept art.

 

[EllieB]

Load/unload inside and then it launches you outside for the actual coaster would be much cooler than the coaster being inside, in my opinion. But that would need the entire ride redesigning so it's essentially a completely new ride at that point I guess.

Regarding the stage of concept art accuracy, I may be wrong but weren't Epic much further along in their process when they released their concept art than we are here? Being earlier in the process would leave a lot more room for things to be changed.

 

[Disneyhead]

Load/unload inside and then it launches you outside for the actual coaster would be much cooler than the coaster being inside, in my opinion. But that would need the entire ride redesigning so it's essentially a completely new ride at that point I guess.

Regarding the stage of concept art accuracy, I may be wrong but weren't Epic much further along in their process when they released their concept art than we are here? Being earlier in the process would leave a lot more room for things to be changed.

Remember, Epic's OG concept art that they released, was painted over to hide which IPs were included. This is very much the park they are going to build with certain details painted out.

 

[Descendo]

But what if this time, the coaster on top of the pavilion is an actual coaster. It looks much different than the Beijing version in the concept art.

Maybe! Although being that high up would be the most terrifying kid's coaster ever

 

[tielo]

In the end this is concept art. Yes Universal often fills in that art in reality but not always. For a part they keep their cards close to their chest due to the competition, and things can and will change. All suggestions that are offered are great but in the end it's the execution that counts for me. Will it be on the high level of Epic Universe or will it be something between the regular Studio parks and Universal Kids. What makes me happy is that I don't see studio buildings in the concept art. I expect that element is for sure gone.

 

[CoasterFan247]

But what if this time, the coaster on top of the pavilion is an actual coaster. It looks much different than the Beijing version in the concept art.

I totally agree. If it were the same it'd have the same visually pleasing design. It's too jumbled for pure aesthetics. Also the right of it seems to have a catwalk and could be wheel driven curved lift from a station we can't see at the back.

The space is a bit small but there are those single-width coasters that could do it.

It could in effect be a real version of what the Beijing one imagines.

 

[yankeetrex]

Wicked has two parts in regards to prevalence. Its based on the Wizard of Oz which is public domain and known for over 100 years. Wicked has also been a part of the UK theatre seen since 2006 showcasing the IP to over 8.5 million people since that time. So in terms of staying power, i would argue its also showcased it.

But in terms of solely Wicked and UK popularity using numbers. Wicked Part One grossed more at the UK box office than the last Jurassic World movie did by a decent amount. Wicked Part One also was the highest grossing film released in 2024 in the UK market and the tenth longest running show on the West End. Arguably, this IP is stronger in the UK than it is in the states. Lastly, Universal and co have actively reached out to the team to potentially work on a third film in the series.

We do know the Mark Woodbury (Universal Parks CEO) has stated they have been working on a Wicked theme park attraction (s) meaning Universal does see it as an option.

If you want to play a 1 V 1 game, put Wicked up against Jurassic world. It made almost 25 Million more. If you want to say recently Wicked has made more, sure, but Jurassic World eclipsed it heavily. I just don't see the staying power of Wicked over the long haul. It feels like a flavor of the month right now. I could be proved wrong, but the IP doesn't feel like it has universal demographic appeal.