Universal Great Britain - Speculation & Rumors

[pumpkinbot343]

Ockham’s Razor tells me they will likely just clone Hogsmede. I understand Woodbury said “no clones”, but being that the Potter get was so late in the development, what’s stopping them from just straight-up cloning FJ? It would feel like a crime to have A UK Universal park and not have Hogsmede featured in the home country.

i know nothing of this Britain park, but what if they cut out Hogsmeade entirely and have Diagon Alley with Hogwarts?

 

[rob@rar]

i know nothing of this Britain park, but what if they cut out Hogsmeade entirely and have Diagon Alley with Hogwarts?

That would be a bit odd as those two locations are hundreds of miles apart in terms of actual geography.

 

[Jake S]

That would be a bit odd as those two locations are hundreds of miles apart in terms of actual geography.

Looks intently at Wizarding World Paris

 

[rob@rar]

Looks intently at Wizarding World Paris

Sure, and it's a bit odd there as well. Universal's response to their mishmash of London and Paris seems to be along the lines of "best not think too deeply about this, muggle"

 

[nikem3]

If the intent is not to cannibalize the international audience going to Orlando, I imagine Harry potter does not come to this park. That seems to be the one IP that would cause people to still travel to Orlando and experience. MAYBE Jurassic Park as well, but I feel like everything else is probably fair game. Not to mention Jurassic World seems to be a rumored land.

 

[xtpower]

I'm doing a thread reread and how many times have we ended up talking about Potter? I think that says how impactful it is as an IP that no matter what, we kept coming back to it in discussions.

As it is, I do not believe Universal will clone any of the major Orlando rides, for any of the IP's. Mark Woodbury talked about attractions when he cited 'cannibalisation', not specific IP's. Which makes sense, why would you deliberately handicap your new Park's appeal if you have the freedom to use an IP that would do gangbusters? Especially when people will travel just to ride the latest and greatest rides, so by not cloning attractions but using the same IP you still have appeal but you reduce the cannibalisation aspect.

 

[nikem3]

I get what you are saying, but I feel like that speaks to my overall point that the IP is so popular people will continue to travel for it even if their park is incredible. If you build another Hogsmeade with a great ride that isn't Forbidden Journey or Hagrid's, are you really going to spend thousands of dollars to come see Hogsmeade again in Orlando? Will it be different enough to warrant spending a week in Orlando and multiple visits to the Universal parks?

I don't think you will handicap your new park at all because the competition of true theme parks with large, well known IPs is very slim in the UK and surrounding areas. The rumored IPs of Lord of the Rings, 007, Paddington, Back to the Future, Jurassic World, are all large enough for people not to be overly upset that Harry Potter isn't there to the point they don't show up.

 

[xtpower]

I get what you are saying, but I feel like that speaks to my overall point that the IP is so popular people will continue to travel for it even if their park is incredible. If you build another Hogsmeade with a great ride that isn't Forbidden Journey or Hagrid's, are you really going to spend thousands of dollars to come see Hogsmeade again in Orlando? Will it be different enough to warrant spending a week in Orlando and multiple visits to the Universal parks?

I don't think you will handicap your new park at all because the competition of true theme parks with large, well known IPs is very slim in the UK and surrounding areas. The rumored IPs of Lord of the Rings, 007, Paddington, Back to the Future, Jurassic World, are all large enough for people not to be overly upset that Harry Potter isn't there to the point they don't show up.

UGB won't be competing with the UK Parks, it's competition would be DLP and they are projecting 8.5m visitors right from the off. They will want to make sure the park appeals enough to do so. It seems that internally Universal feel that Potter is required and they are rumoured to be willing to pay the exorbitant amount having Potter requires.

Personally I feel that LOTR is more than enough to be the marquee IP to anchor the Park. But according to rumour Universal feels Potter is required and as such we've been discussing it as such.

Now, if Universal introduce Potter and LOTR, I think that 12.5m future year projection wouldn't seem out of reach.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I get what you are saying, but I feel like that speaks to my overall point that the IP is so popular people will continue to travel for it even if their park is incredible. If you build another Hogsmeade with a great ride that isn't Forbidden Journey or Hagrid's, are you really going to spend thousands of dollars to come see Hogsmeade again in Orlando? Will it be different enough to warrant spending a week in Orlando and multiple visits to the Universal parks?

I don't think you will handicap your new park at all because the competition of true theme parks with large, well known IPs is very slim in the UK and surrounding areas. The rumored IPs of Lord of the Rings, 007, Paddington, Back to the Future, Jurassic World, are all large enough for people not to be overly upset that Harry Potter isn't there to the point they don't show up.

Some (not myself) would disagree about the bolded IP being “big enough”.

 

[tommyhawkins]

I get what you are saying, but I feel like that speaks to my overall point that the IP is so popular people will continue to travel for it even if their park is incredible. If you build another Hogsmeade with a great ride that isn't Forbidden Journey or Hagrid's, are you really going to spend thousands of dollars to come see Hogsmeade again in Orlando? Will it be different enough to warrant spending a week in Orlando and multiple visits to the Universal parks?

I don't think you will handicap your new park at all because the competition of true theme parks with large, well known IPs is very slim in the UK and surrounding areas. The rumored IPs of Lord of the Rings, 007, Paddington, Back to the Future, Jurassic World, are all large enough for people not to be overly upset that Harry Potter isn't there to the point they don't show up.

People have lots of reasons to go to Florida - the obvious one being Disney - as ive said before the casualty of a park filled with lots of things from Florida might be USGB not Orlando - Uni can't assume their most loyal customers will do both - for example DLP is right on our doorstop but is so expensive personally I'd rather just go to WDW and spend less going somewhere like Europa. So if they fill the park up significantly with Orlando stuff I am just not going to this one.

Discussion often feels stuck in a 2010 mindset, when Potter single-handedly transformed Universal Orlando. Today’s market and theme park environment has evolved: parks like Epic Universe are designed as a sum of immersive lands, not a single IP anchor. I'm not convinced that today (or by 2031) Potter alone moves the needle either way like it did in 2010. The main party at risk here is WB Studio Tour. Which by 2031 will be expanded and potentially have it's own attractions. The binary choice might be whether the Tour demographic want to spend a day with the authentic sets or go to a fake land that maybe has one lmajor ride? Perhaps Universal could offset anyone that chooses them over the tour that by compensating WB with £50–100m annually. But the real question is whether Universal needs Potter to carry this park at all, given the strength of the other IPs they’ll include, as @nikem3 points out. I would be disappointed if they gave up a chunk of valuable real estate of the park to rebuild a 21 year old ride when something different and fresh (which could be potter or not) that sets this park apart from all the other Uni parks could go instead

 

[Chessy]

People have lots of reasons to go to Florida - the obvious one being Disney - as ive said before the casualty of a park filled with lots of things from Florida might be USGB not Orlando - Uni can't assume their most loyal customers will do both - for example DLP is right on our doorstop but is so expensive personally I'd rather just go to WDW and spend less going somewhere like Europa. So if they fill the park up significantly with Orlando stuff I am just not going to this one.

Even though DLP is a short trip away, we always choose Florida due to the vast array of what’s on offer. We’d rather pay a bit more and have a well rounded experience. I have been to DLP but not since 2007 and that’s because it hasn’t added anything significant for quite some time. However I may visit again in the next few years as I believe they have some big expansions coming.

I’m quite confident there won’t be any clones at the Universal UK park from Florida. From other Universal parks elsewhere such as Beijing or Japan? Possibly yes as very few people from the UK visit those parks.

 

[xtpower]

We have visual confirmation of the critter/newt fencing from @masekwm and also Manor Road homes being boarded up.


It's all very exciting. Also, tomorrow @ProjectUniversal will drop a video that shows more critter/newt fencing and actual digging on the topmost spot of the Lake Zone - Badger Watch is a go, I repeat Badger watch is a go.

 

[EllieB]

Even though DLP is a short trip away, we always choose Florida due to the vast array of what’s on offer. We’d rather pay a bit more and have a well rounded experience. I have been to DLP but not since 2007 and that’s because it hasn’t added anything significant for quite some time. However I may visit again in the next few years as I believe they have some big expansions coming.

I’m quite confident there won’t be any clones at the Universal UK park from Florida. From other Universal parks elsewhere such as Beijing or Japan? Possibly yes as very few people from the UK visit those parks.

I'm the opposite of this; can't afford Florida so it's DLP all the way for me. Nothing they could put in the UK park would make a difference to me visiting Florida, because I can't afford it anyway!

 

[xtpower]

I'm the opposite of this; can't afford Florida so it's DLP all the way for me. Nothing they could put in the UK park would make a difference to me visiting Florida, because I can't afford it anyway!

I too cannot afford Florida, but I want unique and new rides because I want our Park to be able to stand on it's own as a global destination. Instead of just being a mix of clones from around the World.

 

[rob@rar]

People have lots of reasons to go to Florida - the obvious one being Disney - as ive said before the casualty of a park filled with lots of things from Florida might be USGB not Orlando - Uni can't assume their most loyal customers will do both ...

I agree, this is a much more important issue as far as duplicate rides are concerned. My first theme park experience was DLP. Rather than stopping me going to Orlando because I'd already seen a version of the Magic Kingdom, it encouraged me to go to Orlando because there was so much more of that theme park excellence on offer. If Orlando had been my first experience, would I have gone to DLP? Maybe not, especially as I might have concluded that I'd already experienced everything that Paris had to offer while I visited Orlando.

I think too much concern is being attached to the cannibalisation issue. Yes, lots of Brits visit Orlando, just over 900,000 last year, but the UK's population is 69 million so Universal is creating a massive new market of potential visitors by building in Bedford. The possibility of Orlando losing a few British visitors is pretty small beer compared to the domestic audience that Universal is hoping to attract in Bedford, and that's before you start thinking about visitors from the rest of Europe.

If Universal want to minimise the possibility of Brits deciding not to visit Orlando because they've "done it all" in Bedford, there is pretty easy solution to that potential problem. Build world class and unique attractions, which reside within beloved IPs. It's what they've done extremely well over the last 20 years, as even the most cursory glance at their track record will show. So it should be business as usual for Universal Creative, the only thing which will hold them back is a lack of ambition (and investment) by UDX and Comcast.

 

[nikem3]

I agree, this is a much more important issue as far as duplicate rides are concerned. My first theme park experience was DLP. Rather than stopping me going to Orlando because I'd already seen a version of the Magic Kingdom, it encouraged me to go to Orlando because there was so much more of that theme park excellence on offer. If Orlando had been my first experience, would I have gone to DLP? Maybe not, especially as I might have concluded that I'd already experienced everything that Paris had to offer while I visited Orlando.

I think there is a caveat to this though. DLP may have a lot of overlap with Magic Kingdom, but WDW also has Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom and two water parks. That makes it a completely unique experience. I understand the argument of "well I don't HAVE to go to Magic kingdom", but most of the time those vacation packages make it worth to to visit every park.

I'd also be interested to know what Universal estimates US travel to Bedford might be with completely different attractions and IPs.

 

[rob@rar]

I think there is a caveat to this though. DLP may have a lot of overlap with Magic Kingdom, but WDW also has Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom and two water parks. That makes it a completely unique experience. I understand the argument of "well I don't HAVE to go to Magic kingdom", but most of the time those vacation packages make it worth to to visit every park.

I'd also be interested to know what Universal estimates US travel to Bedford might be with completely different attractions and IPs.

I don't think that's a caveat, I think that's the actual point that is being made. Some people are saying that that if Bedford gets a Wizarding World land loads of Brits (and other Europeans?) will decide they don't need to visit Orlando, therefore Universal would be foolish to build a new Harry Potter experience at Bedford. But as you rightly point out, Orlando is way, way, way, way more than just the Wizarding World lands across the three Universal theme parks. There will still a huge pull factor for people to travel to Orlando, even if they feel they've already done the Harry Potter and Jurassic Park experiences in Bedford.

Personally I think the best possible advert for visiting the Universal parks in Orlando is to build a world class Universal park in Bedford, and I think it is right to say that Harry Potter will be the biggest IP that draws families to Universal UK. For some people a holiday in Orlando is definitely outside of their holiday budget and a UK location will be their only realistic option, so it won't make any difference what is built in Bedford. But I think for a larger number of people, having a wonderful time visiting Universal UK will encourage them to save for that holiday of a lifetime in Orlando. I know that's how it worked for me. Didn't have any desire to spend a huge amount of money visiting Orlando, but then I spent a few days at DLP and became hooked. Two years later we'd saved up enough to have that trip of a lifetime, getting to Orlando shortly after Animal Kingdom opened. At that point things got a bit out of hand and we visited the following year for the opening of Islands of Adventure, then two years later with my sister and her boyfriend, then the year after that with my parents, and a number of other Orlando holidays over the 27 years since that first trip. All of that followed that first experience at DLP, a short break which I only reluctantly went on. As I said, the best possible advert for Brits to fly to Orlando is to build the best possible Universal theme park in Bedford.