Back in 2015, news broke just before Christmas that Universal had purchased a 450-acre property known as the Sand Lake Road complex near Universal Blvd. At the time this property was the largest undeveloped area in the I-Drive tourism area, and with a location just a few minutes from Universal Orlando Resorts’ theme parks, many assumed that this land purchase was setting the stage for Universal Orlando Resort to expand in a real way with new parks, hotels and more. However, it looks like this land purchase from two years ago wasn’t the end of Universal’s plans, as resort-owner Comcast quietly made a BIG move yesterday that should get Universal fans VERY excited about the future….
Universal quietly adds another 100 acres to an already HUGE expansion area
Yesterday it was revealed that Universal Orlando Resort owner Comcast purchased 100 more acres of land off of Sand Lake Road, adding more land to the aforementioned 450 acres of land that was purchased in 2015, bringing their total land ownership (spread across several parcels) in this new area up to nearly 600 acres, and nearly doubling Universal’s current land. You can see the new purchase above, which is highlighted in red, alongside the 2015 purchase, highlighted in green. For comparison, the existing Universal Orlando Resort is highlighted in blue.
To get a sense of how big these two parcels are together, consider that the current Universal Orlando Resort, including the two theme parks, Volcano Bay, CityWalk, and all six current and future hotels sit on approximately 800 acres. With the addition of this new land buy, Universal could easily have the space to build two or three additional theme parks, another shopping district, and potentially half a dozen new hotels as well.
Of course, Universal has not provided any news on what their plans for the land include, but longtime well-sourced rumors have indicated that Universal’s goal is to build more theme parks, and then shopping and hotels around the theme parks. And with such a massive area of land now in their possession, it would seem these rumors are likely correct.
However, though Universal now has a bunch of land, there’s one MAJOR hurdle they will still need to overcome in order to make their massive expansion plans a reality…
The transportation issue
As you might have noticed from the map shared on the previous page, this new land area is several minutes’ drive away from the current Universal Orlando Resort. Though guests can easily walk between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, while Universal is planning this massive expansion they will definitely need to figure out how the best way to “connect” these two massive resort areas. An elevated rail similar to Walt Disney World’s monorail has been hinted at in the past, but such a project would require extensive permitting from the Orange County Government and could pose issues for other local businesses as well as residents in the area, making this a feasible, but unlikely option.
Though there’s no way to know for sure, we’d guess that Universal will likely elect to expand their bus system (which currently only connects guests to Volcano Bay and specific hotels) to include stops at the theme parks and hotels built in this new area to create a cohesive resort. Though busses aren’t the most ideal form of transportation, Walt Disney World has used them to great effect, and Universal is likely hoping it can do the same.
So what happens next?
Image: Universal Orlando Resort
It’s hard to believe that Universal’s “secret” plan to build additional theme parks, hotels, and more has been in the works for over two years now, with not as much as a peep from officials about this ambitious undertaking. However, those hoping for an official announcement sometime in the near future will probably be disappointed, as Universal is reportedly looking to purchase a few more land parcels before they are done with the acquisition phase of their big expansion plan.
In the meantime, expect Universal to focus on its plans for the Aventura hotel (opening in 2018) as well as share the first details for the two new Harry Potter attractions coming to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and of course Nintendo Land. With so many current projects in the works at the existing Universal theme parks, and no definite land boundaries (yet) for the future park space, it seems safe to say that we’re probably still at least another year or two from an official announcement of this massive expansion.
Are you still excited for this new project? What do you think Universal will end up building? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
