Universal Orlando Resort Expansion News (Part 2)

[Alicia]

So there is room for some hotels and one park esentially based on the plans then. No room for a 2nd waterpark?

There is still room for hotels or a waterpark on the east and south sides of this contiguous property. Plus, they also have the ~400 acres of satellite parcels that they can build on as well.

Building to the east of the parking lot will need to be postponed for a few years though, as there is still a bit of clean up to be done before they get the greenlight to build there... which probably explains why the site has been set up in the way it has.

It's also possible a water park could be built directly next door to the new park, on the west side of the parking lot, sharing its land... But from what we heard about them saving entire sections of space for adding new "worlds" down the line, I'm thinking they want to keep that entire space for the new park alone.

 

[Mad Dog]

and if, in the future, they build a parking garage in place of the flat lot, that will free up a lot of acreage next to the park. Similar to IOA being carved out of a section of the original USF flat lot.

 

[natespf]

Was hoping for a boutique in-park access hotel. There still could be one, but looks like it would utilize the same parking lot as the theme park if so, (so probably not).

To be fair a road owned by a resort/hotel is a private road. The main roads would be given up to the local government. The parking for the hotels would be part of a different project and not included in these plans.

So there is room for some hotels and one park esentially based on the plans then. No room for a 2nd waterpark?

The size of the property has not shrunk.

 

[Alicia]

To be fair a road owned by a resort/hotel is a private road. The main roads would be given up to the local government. The parking for the hotels would be part of a different project and not included in these plans.

The private road on top-left is also shown as a main way in to the theme park for fire rescue. And it goes under a corrugated metal tunnel, it just feels like backstage to me. But you never know.

 

[natespf]

The private road on top-left is also shown as a main way in to the theme park for fire rescue. And it goes under a corrugated metal tunnel, it just feels like backstage to me. But you never know.

I thought that long ago but I keep getting inklings the other way. I am trying to avoid conformation bias as both Resort Road and Private Road labels could apply to guest and non-guest areas.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this additional access for emergency respondents is new but the road was part of the original plan. It's always been a big beefy road with double dedicated turn lanes.

Then with the layout of the service road and the need for an overpass, while it could have been laid out differently to intersect after a security checkpoint and not need the overpass otherwise.

I'm still waiting for more information before I decide, but I don't see this as conformation to the contrary.

 

[Alicia]

I thought that long ago but I keep getting inklings the other way. I am trying to avoid conformation bias as both Resort Road and Private Road labels could apply to guest and non-guest areas.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this additional access for emergency respondents is new but the road was part of the original plan. It's always been a big beefy road with double dedicated turn lanes.

Then with the layout of the service road and the need for an overpass, while it could have been laid out differently to intersect after a security checkpoint and not need the overpass otherwise.

I'm still waiting for more information before I decide, but I don't see this as conformation to the contrary.

But there’s no parking lot located back there for a hotel. So if it was to happen, it’s not in the cards from the start. The resort parking lot and backstage parking lots against Sand Lake are pictured, but none here.

 

[natespf]

But there’s no parking lot located back there for a hotel. So if it was to happen, it’s not in the cards from the start. The resort parking lot and backstage parking lots against Sand Lake are pictured, but none here.

Yes, but there's a bunch that's also not included in these plans. I mean that road doesn't even connect to the service entrance, but I'm pretty sure it will before opening. There's no parking for any of the hotels, there's no hotels, heck the themepark doesn't even have any attractions. I'm really not trying to sound mean (imagine a smile on my face). I'm just saying we know there's more to the plans either way, I just don't see that as conformation.

 

[Alicia]

WFTV has a piece up with an aerial photo... That means aerial footage will be up later today. I'll link it here when it goes up.

New details emerge on Universal Orlando's expansion plans for new park, coaster | WFTV

 

[GoUCFKnights]

But there’s no parking lot located back there for a hotel. So if it was to happen, it’s not in the cards from the start. The resort parking lot and backstage parking lots against Sand Lake are pictured, but none here.

My understanding is if its a parking garage, the drainage is handled a little differently, and it wouldn't show up on these plans (just as every other building does not). The hotels are more likely to have parking garages to get the feel they want and fit in their final master planned footprint.

 

[Mark laderman]

According to that article these revisions show 16,000 parking spaces

 

[Alicia]

According to that article these revisions show 16,000 parking spaces

Yup. Which makes more sense than the 5000 or whatever it said in the original development plans. Someone told me they lie in early plans to keep people like us off their scent. Now that it’s 16,200 parking spots, it should be clear they’re building a theme park (not that it wasn’t already obvious before).

 

[Mad Dog]

Shows you how accurate Theme Park Insider is. He just had an article on the new amended plans and still is quoting the flat lot as 5,000 spaces. Give me IU for Universal prime info . The other sites are secondary by far.

 

[s8film40]

5,000 seems low, but 16,000 seems really high. That new plan includes them in the drawing, anyone want to count them?

 

[Alicia]

5,000 seems low, but 16,000 seems really high. That new plan includes them in the drawing, anyone want to count them?

High for a park, but include new CityWalk and overflow for the original resort/Volcano Bay and I think it makes a little more sense. A little.

 

[JungleSkip]

High for a park, but include new CityWalk and overflow for the original resort/Volcano Bay and I think it makes a little more sense. A little.

Maybe TM parking as well? Or maybe there will be a resort in the new CityWalk/attached to the front of the park and that could be where they'll park as well? Lots of possibilities

 

[s8film40]

Ok, I counted one row it hurt my eyes, but I did it. Seems like a standard row has 150 spots and there are 44 rows. So that works out to 6,600 spots. That's a really rough estimate and I didn't take into account the shorter rows, but I didn't count the bus parking and the other unusual spots at the front. Seems to me this is 7k - 8k tops.

 

[JungleSkip]

Ok, I counted one row it hurt my eyes, but I did it. Seems like a standard row has 150 spots and there are 44 rows. So that works out to 6,600 spots. That's a really rough estimate and I didn't take into account the shorter rows, but I didn't count the bus parking and the other unusual spots at the front. Seems to me this is 7k - 8k tops.

Is what they're showing meant to represent every single spot? Or is it just "Hey this is a parking lot"

 

[s8film40]

Is what they're showing meant to represent every single spot? Or is it just "Hey this is a parking lot"

It's very detailed and it seems reasonable they would work that all out ahead of time to account for adequate parking for what they anticipate. Also the scale seems correct so even if they reconfigure it it won't change how many cars you can park in that space. It may not be an exact number, but the only way I can see them fitting 16k in that space is if it's a three level garage.

MK I believe is 12k so does this seem significantly bigger than that one.

 

[JungleSkip]

It's very detailed and it seems reasonable they would work that all out ahead of time to account for adequate parking for what they anticipate. Also the scale seems correct so even if they reconfigure it it won't change how many cars you can park in that space. It may not be an exact number, but the only way I can see them fitting 16k in that space is if it's a three level garage.

MK I believe is 12k so does this seem significantly bigger than that one.

Wait, just realized something, are you counting each spot as a single spot? Because the way they usually set these up is two cares per parking space.

 

[s8film40]

Wait, just realized something, are you counting each spot as a single spot? Because the way they usually set these up is two cares per parking space.

There's a line down the middle of the rows to illustrate what your talking about. I counted the spots on one side of one row (75) then doubled.