What a difference a few months makes.
Over the summer, we wrote about Universal’s five new theme parks it had in development all across the globe, from Asia to Eastern Europe. We had estimated then that so many new properties would not only make Universal Parks and Resorts a far bigger player in the industry (it’s currently number three, behind Merlin Entertainments and, of course, the Disney Company), but a far more serious threat to the 500-pound gorilla that is Disney.
Well, things have changed, painting a different picture for the company. But even though a number of those proposed locations have either been cancelled or, perhaps, indefinitely delayed, the remaining parks still look to give Universal an advantage in a few key indicators – and, possibly, provide it with a brand-new flagship resort that will be bigger and, just maybe, more formidable than its Universal Orlando Resort in Florida.
That’s quite the bold statement, but we think you’ll agree with the assertion – and, indeed, with our getting all bubbly with excitement.
Get ready for one wild ride.
5. Universal Studios South Korea
Location: Hwaseong, South Korea
Opening date: N/A
Announcement date: May 22, 2007
Current status: CANCELLED
Just one month after our previous report, it was formally announced that Universal Studios South Korea was cancelled, making official what had been rumored for months – if not years – beforehand.
If you find USSK’s demise depressing – given that it was meant to be Universal’s second resort, with a water park, slew of hotels and convention space, and the biggest CityWalk in the world – you should take solace in the fact that the company seems to have salvaged most, if not all, of these plans (not to mention its $3 billion price tag) and lumped them all together with the proposal for Universal Studios Beijing.
4. WonderSea Island
Location: Universal Orlando Resort
Opening date: TBA 2017
Leak date: April 27, 2011
Current status: Rumored
On the one hand, not much has changed in the rumored status of the WonderSea Island water park for Universal Orlando (which, according to some accounts, might actually be named Volcano Bay); it’s still actively being worked on, and it’s still slated to go right next-door to the brand-new Cabana Bay Beach Resort.
On the other hand, there have been some recent rumblings that the project’s budget has been cut, perhaps substantially so (maybe that reported 200-foot volcano icon will be cut down to a “mere” 100 feet). If true, it will be disappointing, to say the least, as the ongoing rumors over the past year in particular have made WonderSea truly sound like the next-generation of water parks, influencing all subsequent developments, both in Disney’s and the really-real world.
The only way to know for sure is when Universal finally makes the project official (current scuttlebutt has that happening in 2016) and, of course, when the park opens in the summer of 2017.
3. Universal Studios Moscow
Location: Moscow, Russia
Opening date: TBA 2018
Announcement date: December 20, 2012
Current status: Planning
What is supposed to be Universal’s smallest (at just 37 acres) and only indoor theme park venture has ground to something of a standstill, with the latest update directly from the construction site showing no discernable progress whatsoever.
Such a dismal reality on the ground doesn’t bode well for the future, specifically fueling the latest rumors that the project has been dead in the water for a while now – just like its counterparts in Dubai and South Korea – and that it’s only a matter of time before the company makes it official.
Of course, the latest news from the only other American theme park venture in Europe – Disneyland Paris has just asked for a roughly $1.2 billion bailout from the Disney Company (the third time it’s done so over the past 22 years) – doesn’t bode well for an Eastern European park, but the fact remains that (a) Universal Studios Moscow would be structured fundamentally differently, both physically and financially, and (b) east of the Balkans is still an entirely untapped resource for the major theme park operators.
The bottom line: though looking increasingly unlikely, don’t write off USM just yet.
2. Universal Studios Beijing
Location: Tongzhou, China
Opening date: TBA 2019
Announcement date: October 13, 2014
Current status: Prepping for construction
This is where the real excitement is at. When Universal made the official announcement just last month, it dropped several bombshells – gone was the paltry 51-acre park, with a massive 1,000-acre resort that instantly overshadows the size of Universal Orlando (and, incidentally, a number of Disney’s properties across the globe) taking its place.
Universal Studios Beijing itself will occupy some 296 acres, making it nearly three times the size of either Universal Studios Florida or Magic Kingdom, and almost exactly the same dimensions as the colossal Epcot. Needless to say, this will be the company’s biggest park yet. Going into the remaining 700 acres will be the largest CityWalk shopping/dining/entertainment complex in the world, at least one hotel, and ample parking.
The grand total for such a large-scale development? $3.3 billion (the land alone cost $300 million when it was sold off last March), which Universal will not only pony up itself, but whose spending will be directly overseen by the company, as well; although NBCUniversal will be working with four Chinese state-owned partners, it won’t be franchising out the project to a local owner, as happened with its parks in Japan and Singapore (and as Disney did in Japan, as well [Disney doesn’t technically own its theme park in Hong Kong, but it does have a 49% stake in the venture]). This makes it the first major foreign-owned theme park in Beijing – a major step forward for both Universal and China.
But the real star at USB will be, of course, the attractions. While Universal has yet to formally announce any of them, it has promised that they will consist of rides from its other parks and that they will “reflect China’s cultural heritage.”
Just what the ported-over rides will be has been a hot topic of discussion and speculation all across the enthusiast press; using the only piece of concept art as a guide, such sites as Theme Park Insider and Disney and More have spotted Jurassic Park, Far Far Away (themed, but of course, to Shrek), Madagascar, Sesame Street, and Revenge of the Mummy – in other words, lands that house nearly every single E-ticket the company has from around the world.
Best of the best, however, is the inclusion of not one Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but two – both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are situated very close to one another, with the Hogwarts Express running between them, just as in Orlando. One single park containing so many revolutionary attractions is almost more than one can handle.
Unfortunately, it really might be too good to be true – precisely given the huge number of properties all lined up one after the other (along with some attractions that we know can’t legally be instituted in Beijing, such as the Incredible Hulk Coaster), many have surmised that the concept art is just full of placeholder rides, and nothing more.
Then again, when Universal Studios Dubailand was still on the drawing board, the company was kicking around taking its older attractions and retheming them to new(er) IPs – such as, for example, taking the Incredible Hulk and reskinning it as Men in Black. Could that be what’s going on here?
Fortunately for us all, Universal Studios Beijing will be opened by the end of the decade, and we’ll have plenty of time to see for ourselves.
1. Universal Orlando’s third gate
Location: Universal Orlando Resort
Opening date: TBA 2020s
Leak date: N/A
Current status: Blue-sky planning
What’s the latest word on Universal’s still-deep-in-the-design-stage third park for its Orlando resort? Just last week, height balloons were dispatched in and around the International Drive area. While such a sight is a common occurrence in Orlando – they herald the imminent arrival of a new attraction – having three sets of balloons in three different locations measuring three different heights is certainly out of the ordinary.
Given that they were near Universal Orlando, Wet ‘n Wild (which Universal owns), and an empty parcel of land near Fun Spot, it has led many – chief among them our friends at Behind the Thrills – to believe that Comcast is secretly purchasing up the land in the area for the new round of theme park(s), hotels, and, possibly, shopping/dinning complexes that are increasingly rumored to be on the way.
As for what these new additions might hold for theme park-goers, the only word we have to go on for the moment is the assertion that the park – at least, in its current, blue-sky design state – is nothing short of “incredible.”
