Universal Great Britain - Speculation & Rumors

[JT01]

I’m not sure why universal brought the land with the giant lake already there. They labelled half of it as a conservation area, with any buildable parts being a long thin sliver next to it that would appear to be unsuitable in shape for another park. Maybe they’re thinking car parking ‍

It wouldn’t really make sense to build a second park on that parcel of land, based on how they’ve laid out the main park and CityWalk. There’s no clear way to provide direct access from CityWalk to two separate gates, which suggests to me that this resort wasn’t originally designed with multiple parks in mind at least not in the same way other Universal resorts have been.


Unless they repurpose the car park into a small second gate somewhere down the line, the current layout doesn’t support a traditional two-park setup. In contrast, if you look at Universal Beijing, it’s obvious from the start that it was planned with future expansion in mind, including space and layout for a clear second gate.

 

[tommyhawkins]

It wouldn’t really make sense to build a second park on that parcel of land, based on how they’ve laid out the main park and CityWalk. There’s no clear way to provide direct access from CityWalk to two separate gates, which suggests to me that this resort wasn’t originally designed with multiple parks in mind at least not in the same way other Universal resorts have been.


Unless they repurpose the car park into a small second gate somewhere down the line, the current layout doesn’t support a traditional two-park setup. In contrast, if you look at Universal Beijing, it’s obvious from the start that it was planned with future expansion in mind, including space and layout for a clear second gate.

Like I say in my tweets I believe the Mixed use area is for hotels and a waterpark, but they have room for a mini-park, and the parks will be connected if thats the case, as they will have a shuttle infrastructure. it just wont be walkable like UOR north campus parks

 

[FBarnhill]

Looks like a trade mark has been spotted for BTTF guys, I think this confirms what the spike coaster will be!

Trademark

Why not just bring back the original?

 

[Viator]

delete

 

[bobjarred442]

Hi all , just wondering if we know the current status of this site (in red) next to the proposed park. would it be suitable for possible expansion? or is it planned to be something else.

 

[MangoDance]

The more I look at the concept the more I'm bummed by how small it appears, spent a bit of time finding the concept arts for their other parks and this honestly looks to be the smallest at this stage, it's closer to the kids universal kids park concept art in size than it is to say Beijing, which just by building count alone had a couple of extra E-ticket size buildings in it's original concept, then it's 2nd more detailed concept made a couple of them even larger, you would have to erase the entire kung-fu panda area and Hogwarts and a couple of minor attractions to get it down to UK size.

The footprint itself isn't the issue, but it has a lot of empty space (obviously for future expansion!) in that footprint which makes it comparatively look bigger than it really is on paper.

Really hope the rumoured LOTR area will fill one of the expansion slots rather than say, the Shrek area, which already seems too small to house an e-ticket.

I've also heard rumours that the mainstreet is where the shops and dining will be, hope this is just wrong and there is a whole separate city-walk area that's not featured yet.

Edit: crude mock showing the above, based on perspective correction and matching the size of the minion area

 

[ParkRumors]

Seems Universal has locked down the trademarks for LoTR as of a few years now--going back to 2022. It is coming out today as new trademarks are being filled in the UK for BTTF and Jurassic too.

That LoTR trademark is not related to Universal or theme parks whatsoever.

 

[Jake S]

we gotta stop taking that Universal Apex account seriously.

 

[xtpower]

Still, the BTTF trademark has me JACKED!

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

we gotta stop taking that Universal Apex account seriously.

I fall for it everytime.

 

[Viator]

I honestly fell for it through another individual altogether that I didn't think on until realizing it was a dupe. That was my bad.

The new BTTF trademarks though are fun.

 

[masekwm]

Hi all , just wondering if we know the current status of this site (in red) next to the proposed park. would it be suitable for possible expansion? or is it planned to be something else.View attachment 25984

It's another flooded pit, you can see it on the right of this photo, I expect the hatched red area to be included at some point it seems to have had a clean up.

 

[CoasterFan247]

The more I look at the concept the more I'm bummed by how small it appears, spent a bit of time finding the concept arts for their other parks and this honestly looks to be the smallest at this stage, it's closer to the kids universal kids park concept art in size than it is to say Beijing, which just by building count alone had a couple of extra E-ticket size buildings in it's original concept, then it's 2nd more detailed concept made a couple of them even larger, you would have to erase the entire kung-fu panda area and Hogwarts and a couple of minor attractions to get it down to UK size.

The footprint itself isn't the issue, but it has a lot of empty space (obviously for future expansion!) in that footprint which makes it comparatively look bigger than it really is on paper.

Really hope the rumoured LOTR area will fill one of the expansion slots rather than say, the Shrek area, which already seems too small to house an e-ticket.

I've also heard rumours that the mainstreet is where the shops and dining will be, hope this is just wrong and there is a whole separate city-walk area that's not featured yet.

Edit: crude mock showing the above, based on perspective correction and matching the size of the minion area

The scale's way off, if you look at the window size near the entrance on the overlaid buildings vs those on the right of the underlying buildings it's almost like 2x difference, plus angle would make a huge difference on the size of things at the back of the pack. Better to compare actual plot size.

That said it's definitely looking like it'd benefit from a real standout area, as someone else mentioned if they expect the visitor numbers mentioned it'll need to have a bigger draw than just "it's a Universal park". While the concept looks exciting and things like Jurassic Park/World are reliable and a crowd-pleaser, there's nothing particularly "wow" like a castle or dark universe. I'm hoping there is something like LOTR to be revealed as that big flagship area.

 

[Ludus]

The more I look at the concept the more I'm bummed by how small it appears, spent a bit of time finding the concept arts for their other parks and this honestly looks to be the smallest at this stage, it's closer to the kids universal kids park concept art in size than it is to say Beijing, which just by building count alone had a couple of extra E-ticket size buildings in it's original concept, then it's 2nd more detailed concept made a couple of them even larger, you would have to erase the entire kung-fu panda area and Hogwarts and a couple of minor attractions to get it down to UK size.

The footprint itself isn't the issue, but it has a lot of empty space (obviously for future expansion!) in that footprint which makes it comparatively look bigger than it really is on paper.

Really hope the rumoured LOTR area will fill one of the expansion slots rather than say, the Shrek area, which already seems too small to house an e-ticket.

I've also heard rumours that the mainstreet is where the shops and dining will be, hope this is just wrong and there is a whole separate city-walk area that's not featured yet.

Edit: crude mock showing the above, based on perspective correction and matching the size of the minion area

View attachment 25987

I agree, looking at the concept art it appears significantly smaller, with smaller lands, smaller theming elements and smaller attractions with a significant amount of the land being taken by the central lake, which ironically is the only thing that appears bigger than Beijing... as excited as I am for this it's heartbreaking to see.

 

[JT01]

The more I look at the concept the more I'm bummed by how small it appears, spent a bit of time finding the concept arts for their other parks and this honestly looks to be the smallest at this stage, it's closer to the kids universal kids park concept art in size than it is to say Beijing, which just by building count alone had a couple of extra E-ticket size buildings in it's original concept, then it's 2nd more detailed concept made a couple of them even larger, you would have to erase the entire kung-fu panda area and Hogwarts and a couple of minor attractions to get it down to UK size.

The footprint itself isn't the issue, but it has a lot of empty space (obviously for future expansion!) in that footprint which makes it comparatively look bigger than it really is on paper.

Really hope the rumoured LOTR area will fill one of the expansion slots rather than say, the Shrek area, which already seems too small to house an e-ticket.

I've also heard rumours that the mainstreet is where the shops and dining will be, hope this is just wrong and there is a whole separate city-walk area that's not featured yet.

Edit: crude mock showing the above, based on perspective correction and matching the size of the minion area

View attachment 25987

I’m kinda feeling the same way at the moment, it’s starting to seem like we might be getting a more scaled-back, budget-conscious version of a Universal park to start with. What concerns me most is the number of comments I’ve seen from Europeans on social media saying they won’t bother visiting unless the park includes major IPs like Harry Potter or Nintendo—franchises that are front and center in other Universal parks around the world.


From the concept art, it looks like we’re only getting one major E-ticket dark ride aimed at adults, while the other big attractions appear to be coasters. The rest of the lineup seems heavily geared towards kids and families. Jurassic World clearly dominates the park in terms of size and presence, while the other lands feel noticeably smaller in scale. The lake is taking up so much a lot space seems overly large.

 

[Ludus]

I’m feeling the same way, it’s starting to seem like we might be getting a more scaled-back, budget-conscious version of a Universal park to start with. What concerns me most is the number of comments I’ve seen from Europeans on social media saying they won’t bother visiting unless the park includes major IPs like Harry Potter or Nintendo—franchises that are front and center in other Universal parks around the world.


From the concept art, it looks like we’re only getting one major E-ticket dark ride aimed at adults, while the other big attractions appear to be coasters. The rest of the lineup seems heavily geared towards kids and families. Jurassic World clearly dominates the park in terms of size and presence, while the other lands feel noticeably smaller in scale.


It’s definitely making me wonder whether this version of the park will have the broad, international appeal needed to draw in visitors from across Europe and beyond or if it's going to feel more like a regional offering with limited must-see attractions for older audiences.

Also that lake is taking up so much necessary space its huge for no reason

That's definitely the vibe I'm now getting, I believe this will be the first of a series of smaller European regional parks spread across multiple countries which honestly I can see working in Europe quite well. I don't think a single European mega park is the plan. For example, Universal Spain with Harry Potter, Universal Germany with Nintendo etc...

Again, this isn't negativity, this is great for the UK and I'm very excited. But I think people might need to adjust their expectations on what this park might end up being. I expect to see a more scaled down, compact universal experience.

 

[JT01]

I don't think they will create another studios park in europe, that wouldn't make sense, but they might be starting off this park more budget conscious

 

[tommyhawkins]

That's definitely the vibe I'm now getting, I believe this will be the first of a series of smaller European parks spread across multiple countries which honestly I can see working in Europe quite well. I don't think a single European mega park is the plan. For example, Universal Spain with Harry Potter, Universal Germany with Nintendo etc...

Again, this isn't negativity, this is great for the UK and I'm very excited. But I think people might need to adjust their expectations on what this park might end up being. I expect to see a more scaled down, compact universal experience.

I think actually that people need to adjust their expectations of what stage of planning the park is in right now, changes were being made to Epic for many years, rides were cut...added....same with other buildings, theres a good chance the park is in the 30-50% stage of planning, IE they have the master-plan similar to what i created the other day. they have some anchor IP/lands they are ready to go with, partly because they already exist and when you are lifting rides from other parks most of the work is done its easier to tweak than design from scratch. they clearly have their two roller coasters locked down. By my count the park has 3-4 Eticket rides, so far.

There is absolutely no suggestion that this is a scaled down park, do people not realize how much land it is sitting on? it fills the footprint. No one buys excessive amounts of anything without good reason
More importantly they are projecting 8.5M visitors per year, which means they need to build to that capacity. Beijing opened with 7 lands and sees 9Million visitors per year. When i did the ride capacity numbers for Epic, it is sitting at around 6.5-8.5Milion visitors a year.

NBCU dropped artwork for Epic Universe dropped 4 years before it was due to open. Were getting something two years earlier than that.

The more I look at the concept the more I'm bummed by how small it appears, spent a bit of time finding the concept arts for their other parks and this honestly looks to be the smallest at this stage, it's closer to the kids universal kids park concept art in size than it is to say Beijing, which just by building count alone had a couple of extra E-ticket size buildings in it's original concept, then it's 2nd more detailed concept made a couple of them even larger, you would have to erase the entire kung-fu panda area and Hogwarts and a couple of minor attractions to get it down to UK size.

The footprint itself isn't the issue, but it has a lot of empty space (obviously for future expansion!) in that footprint which makes it comparatively look bigger than it really is on paper.

Really hope the rumoured LOTR area will fill one of the expansion slots rather than say, the Shrek area, which already seems too small to house an e-ticket.

I've also heard rumours that the mainstreet is where the shops and dining will be, hope this is just wrong and there is a whole separate city-walk area that's not featured yet.

Edit: crude mock showing the above, based on perspective correction and matching the size of the minion area

View attachment 25987

The scale's way off, if you look at the window size near the entrance on the overlaid buildings vs those on the right of the underlying buildings it's almost like 2x difference, plus angle would make a huge difference on the size of things at the back of the pack. Better to compare actual plot size.

That said it's definitely looking like it'd benefit from a real standout area, as someone else mentioned if they expect the visitor numbers mentioned it'll need to have a bigger draw than just "it's a Universal park". While the concept looks exciting and things like Jurassic Park/World are reliable and a crowd-pleaser, there's nothing particularly "wow" like a castle or dark universe. I'm hoping there is something like LOTR to be revealed as that big flagship area.

The 2D plan i posted the other day is to scale, you might need to scroll up in the thread to find that

 

[JoeMcSqueezy]

Why not just bring back the original?

Because making a new, fresh attraction is much better and more interesting than just rehashing a 30 Year Old screen simulator, in an entirely new resort no less, just for the sake of people being nostalgic for it

 

[DanM]

The universal exec told Starmer directly that it would be 4 lands. I can’t see how they expect to get 8.5m visitors per year with that tbh.