Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[JungleSkip]

I agree . Probably will be buses, but that's sure asking for trouble. 45 minutes to get from the intersection of Universal Blvd. & Hollywood to Hard Rock hotel entrance should tell them something, and send those red flag alerts out.

Eh. I'm sure they'll figure it out.

 

[Mad Dog]

Eh. I'm sure they'll figure it out.

Launching 'flying buses' might work. Next step up from coaster launches.

 

[Disneyhead]

I think we'll travel between parks on a Submarine.

 

[Magic-Man]

I think we'll travel between parks on a Submarine.

Oh, so that’s what happened with that old SeaWorld Orlando concept!

 

[DuelingDragonskid]

Oh, so that’s what happened with that old SeaWorld Orlando concept!

Don’t speak of that ride

 

[Magic-Man]

Don’t speak of that ride

I didn't speak, I typed

 

[Mike S]

I think we'll travel between parks on a Submarine.

I hope it’s Yellow.

 

[DuelingDragonskid]

I hope it’s Yellow.

And BLASTING yellow submarine

 

[Viator]

I think we'll travel between parks on a Submarine.

Don't you mean that Water Taxi Bridge?

 

[Mike S]

And BLASTING yellow submarine

Yes that was the joke.

 

[Joseph]

we need a great hall.And a chamber of secrets. It would really flesh out the experience.can they add on to Hogwarts castle?

 

[Scott W.]

In case anyone was curious as to how Sandlake Rd interchange with I-4 is supposed to look like after Beyond the Ultimate, here is a video of it.

Here's more info about his type of interchange:

Diverging diamond interchange - Wikipedia



Skip to 8mins 15secs.

 

[darkridelover]

I love Diverging Diamonds

 

[ThrillRideLover3214]

Is it just hotels that are being built at the former Wet N Wild location? I think a new citywalk would be a nice addition. How about a restaurant/sports bar lounge similar to ESPN Zone at Disneyland or a Pro Sports Experience like we will see at WDW with the NBA experience. At Disney Springs.

 

[Viator]

Is it just hotels that are being built at the former Wet N Wild location? I think a new citywalk would be a nice addition. How about a restaurant/sports bar lounge similar to ESPN Zone at Disneyland or a Pro Sports Experience like we will see at WDW with the NBA experience. At Disney Springs.

Both are directly for Universal Endless Summer Resorts, Dockside (2020) and Portside (2019).

Both are to be the cheapest of the hotels affordable for Universal Orlando as of now, and there are no plans for a dining/retail complex like Citywalk at that area.

 

[tidecat]

Is it just hotels that are being built at the former Wet N Wild location? I think a new citywalk would be a nice addition. How about a restaurant/sports bar lounge similar to ESPN Zone at Disneyland or a Pro Sports Experience like we will see at WDW with the NBA experience. At Disney Springs.

It’s just hotels. Anything like a second CityWalk will be built at the much larger site down Universal Boulevard that contains the new park(s) under development.

In all honesty, International Drive is effectively its own CityWalk. The challenge for Universal is to see how much of it they can acquire if/when non-Universal hotels start going out of business. Endless Summer Resort is designed for guests who just need a basic hotel, but want it under the Universal umbrella.

 

[zg44]

Major news:

Stan Thomas is out of Orlando according to growthspotter:

Developer Stan Thomas apparently loses title to property near Universal expansion - GrowthSpotter


Apparently, Stan Thomas had already given a pocket deed for the land to UC Funds/CPR Money 2 years ago that they filed last week since Stan Thomas is facing foreclosures on a lot of properties. The whole thing is complicated by the fact that there's still a foreclosure suit on this land going on with another lender, AFF Universal, to Stan Thomas which sold its claim against the land to GRE Delta.


So the current status of the extra land that Comcast could buy is now this:

CPR Money holds the deed to the land with GRE Delta trying to take control of it with the foreclosure suit. This may be why Comcast didn't try to buy those pieces of property given that the ownership situation has been complicated on them for 2 years as we're finding out now...; we'll see what happens when it resolves.


In my opinion, this is probably a good thing since it moves us closer to resolving the status of those properties; I can't imagine CPR Money wants to hold onto them long. They probably want to sell for the highest price as quickly as possible instead of potentially losing that land to GRE Delta in foreclosure.

 

[Happytycho]

Major news:

Stan Thomas is out of Orlando according to growthspotter:

Developer Stan Thomas apparently loses title to property near Universal expansion - GrowthSpotter


Apparently, Stan Thomas had already given a pocket deed for the land to UC Funds/CPR Money 2 years ago that they filed last week since Stan Thomas is facing foreclosures on a lot of properties. The whole thing is complicated by the fact that there's still a foreclosure suit on this land going on with another lender, AFF Universal, to Stan Thomas which sold its claim against the land to GRE Delta.


So the current status of the extra land that Comcast could buy is now this:

CPR Money holds the deed to the land with GRE Delta trying to take control of it with the foreclosure suit. This may be why Comcast didn't try to buy those pieces of property given that the ownership situation has been complicated on them for 2 years as we're finding out now...; we'll see what happens when it resolves.


In my opinion, this is probably a good thing since it moves us closer to resolving the status of those properties; I can't imagine CPR Money wants to hold onto them long. They probably want to sell for the highest price as quickly as possible instead of potentially losing that land to GRE Delta in foreclosure.

I imagine universal wouldn't want to pay CPR Money market price for land either given that they could still potentially lose the land to GRE Delta too. And I wouldn't be surprised if there was a third mortgage on the land that's in play as well.

It seems that waiting for the lawsuit and ownership to completely clear up could easily take a year, if not more. I doubt universal wants to wait that long to begin developing their plans for site B, although given their current activity I wouldn't put it past them. Perhaps it is time to think about ways that land (UCPM parcel 1 in particular) could be effectively integrated into the site at a later date.

 

[zg44]

I imagine universal wouldn't want to pay CPR Money market price for land either given that they could still potentially lose the land to GRE Delta too. And I wouldn't be surprised if there was a third mortgage on the land that's in play as well.

It seems that waiting for the lawsuit and ownership to completely clear up could easily take a year, if not more. I doubt universal wants to wait that long to begin developing their plans for site B, although given their current activity I wouldn't put it past them. Perhaps it is time to think about ways that land (UCPM parcel 1 in particular) could be effectively integrated into the site at a later date.

Yeah, I have to imagine that Universal plans on getting Parcels 1 and 2 at some point before they can get into the hands of a different long-term developer (which would make them much more difficult, if not impossible to obtain later) if they actually are a part of Universal's long-term thinking.


I suppose they could build on the two currently owned parcels adjacent to Parcel 2 though without obtaining Parcel 2 in the middle. That's probably planned to be a huge budget resort sort of like the south resort's version of Endless Summer Resort, so I guess it could be split into 3 hotels covering the 3 parcels like how Endless Summer Resort is split by Universal Blvd. Still would probably be nice for all 3 to be integrated into one huge resort of 4000 hotel rooms with Parcel 2 included from the beginning.


Parcel 1 is definitely more important given it's an important 34 acres right next to the main proper of the resort; that would likely need to be a part of the original planning depending on how much of it is hotel space and how much stretches towards the rest of the resort; since that land connects directly to the resort proper, and I imagine Universal has been thinking about how they want to handle crossing the Kirkman extension. If another 34 acres is added to the west of the extension, that factor of moving people across Kirkman extension (by foot?) becomes even more important.

 

[Happytycho]

Yeah, I have to imagine that Universal plans on getting Parcels 1 and 2 at some point before they can get into the hands of a different long-term developer (which would make them much more difficult, if not impossible to obtain later) if they actually are a part of Universal's long-term thinking.


I suppose they could build on the two currently owned parcels adjacent to Parcel 2 though without obtaining Parcel 2 in the middle. That's probably planned to be a huge budget resort sort of like the south resort's version of Endless Summer Resort, so I guess it could be split into 3 hotels covering the 3 parcels like how Endless Summer Resort is split by Universal Blvd. Still would probably be nice for all 3 to be integrated into one huge resort of 4000 hotel rooms with Parcel 2 included from the beginning.


Parcel 1 is definitely more important given it's an important 34 acres right next to the main proper of the resort; that would likely need to be a part of the original planning depending on how much of it is hotel space and how much stretches towards the rest of the resort; since that land connects directly to the resort proper, and I imagine Universal has been thinking about how they want to handle crossing the Kirkman extension. If another 34 acres is added to the west of the extension, that factor of moving people across Kirkman extension (by foot?) becomes even more important.

I agree that parcel 2 is likely to be a prime value, but I believe its development is far enough in the future that land acquisition should have ample time to be resolved. The Mandarin extension is planned to run across the north border of parcel 2, which creates some division, and the universal parcel to its north has a very low height limit which decreases the odds of something substantial being built there anytime soon. Multiple hotels is a possibility, but I also think an eventual 3-4k room resort on parcel 2 and the one to its south is the most likely and ideal outcome.

I'm of the belief that the parking garages will be on the south/southeast side of the new site, and if they got parcel 2 right away they locate some or all of the parking west of Kirkman, which would really open up possibilities for the large contiguous portion of the site. Acquiring it later in the construction process and just adding an additional hotel on that side of Kirkman is certainly a reasonable option, but as you suggested, they will need to have some plan for transporting a significant number of people across the Kirkman extension and past any new parking garages that are built just east of the extension. I'll be interested to see what they end up doing, but at this point I just want some more information or permits to pick apart and speculate on.