The theme park industry continues to perform well, despite the woes that have hit the global economy since 2008. In fact, there are dozens of new parks under construction (or soon to be) all over the world, including brand-new additions from the likes of Disney, Universal, and Six Flags. Although many of them are in the growing Asian market, there are also plans for new sites in both Europe and America.
Every month, Theme Park Tourist rounds up the new parks that are in the pipeline for locations all over the world. In addition to a description of what’s in store with each project, we also look at progress on funding and construction – as well as some contextual analysis as to why the millions of theme park fans around the globe should be excited for them.
1. The Marvel Experience
Location: touring across North America
Opening date: December 12, 2014 (in Scottsdale, Arizona)
Current status: Under construction
We’ve been excited about the Marvel Experience ever since it was first announced, and the fact that it’s seen more than its fair share of delays (it officially kicks off its tour in December, some six months later than initially proposed) has done nothing to diminish that.
In fact, the closer we get and the more we hear about the Experience, the more excited we become. The mobile mini-theme-park-esque attraction boasts a lot of firsts (which Hero Ventures, the brand-new company behind the enterprise, is only too keen to remind you of), including, most impressively, brandishing the world’s only 360-degree, 3D stereoscopic dome. (The company also totes the experience as being the world’s first “hyper-reality tour,” whatever that means.)
The premise works a little something like this: seven large domes are erected over a roughly two-acre footprint (not unlike Agent Phil Coulson’s setup in the original Thor). This 80,000-square-foot space will house a “state of the art” 4D motion ride, augmented reality games, a life-size recreation of the SHIELD Quinjet (as seen in the TV series Agents of SHIELD), and the aforementioned 3D dome, along with numerous eateries, vendors, and the like.
This mobile SHIELD operation will come along to your neck of the woods in an effort to recruit you as an agent. All of the various attractions at the Marvel Experience will track your training progress via RFID technology; once you’re ready, you’ll be deployed to battle against Hydra and its “army of evil Adaptoids.”
Of course, along the way, guests will interact with established Marvel superheroes in a series of three- to four-minute animated films. The roster was assembled from all of the various media properties that the comic book company is currently producing, ranging from children’s cartoons to the upcoming original Netflix series to, of course, the Marvel Cinematic Universe – thus, such recognizable heavyweights as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, the Vision, Nick Fury, Spider-Man, and Wolverine will be on hand to greet brand-new recruits.
Tickets are already on sale (exclusively through Ticketmaster) and start at $27.50.
Only the first leg of the Marvel Experience’s tour has been announced so far, consisting of:
- Scottsdale, Arizona: December 12, 2014 – January 3, 2015
- Dallas, Texas: January 9 – February 1, 2015
- San Diego/Del Mar, California: February 7 – 22, 2015
- San Francisco, California: February 27 – March 22, 2015
2. London Paramount Entertainment Resort
Location: Swanscombe, United Kingdom
Opening date: Spring 2020
Current status: In planning
London Paramount Entertainment Resort was originally announced in October 2012, but it initially hit a series of obstacles that were both mundane and bizarre (including a nest of rare jumping spiders being found – and then being safely removed – from the future construction site).
More recently, however, the resort was granted the title of “Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project” by the British government (the first project to receive such a designation), which allows its developer, London Resort Company Holdings, to report directly to the secretary of state rather than go through various local authorities. And just this past month, initial government approval has been issued, meaning that the development process is well and truly underway.
As previously reported, London Resort Company is looking to create a full-fledged resort that is even more expansive than Disneyland Resort Paris, including an indoor water park, a sprawling dining/shopping/entertainment district, sporting facilities, “creative space,” service buildings, 5,000 hotel rooms, and, even, a staff training academy. The whole £2 billion project will be situated on Swanscombe Peninsula (not unlike Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio), on the site of a former cement works.
The latest development may not necessarily be the most expansive or informative, but it is nonetheless the most exciting yet – a sneak peek into Paramount London’s attractions and park layout (not to be confused with its Spain counterpart’s concept art blowout), which Disney and More has been nice enough to post on its site.
Arguably the centerpiece of the park is Plaza Futura, which will largely be dedicated to the perennial Star Trek franchise. The recently-released concept artwork shows a post-modern Starfleet Academy building, suggesting that Paramount London will be basing the land off of the recent J.J. Abrams films (which were released in 2009 and 2013) as opposed to the traditional Trek franchise (which started on the small screen in 1966 and didn’t die out until 2005); for better or worse, Abrams and company opted to eschew Gene Roddenberry’s distinctive aesthetic for a sleeker – but also more pedestrian – look that seems more at home with, say, Minority Report.
Given that Abrams also opted to drop the franchise’s characteristic scientific interests in favor of endless Star Wars-style action sequences, the decision to use the newer incarnation may be the more appropriate for a theme park – particularly given London Resort’s choice to devote both a motion simulator and a launched roller coaster to the IP.
The real meat and potatoes of the project, however, has less to do with concept renderings and more with ambition. London Resort Company Holdings has already boasted that the themed resort will be the “best entertainment attraction in Europe” and is already expected to bring in some 15 million guests in its very first year.
If such a grandiose claim can come true, Paramount London would instantly eclipse Disney’s perpetually struggling French property – and a new race for European dominance would most likely ensue, given the Disney Company’s reluctance to cede any territory anywhere on the planet.
The pace of development on London Paramount Entertainment Resort is expected to exponentially pick up as the August 2015 deadline for a planning application approaches. Once construction finally commences in 2016, it will proceed in a four-year phased timetable, with a grand opening currently scheduled for Easter 2020.
