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, things were quiet until last year, when 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.
And though it seemed that Universal was getting everything together for its big not-so-secret-expansion, another year passed and no announcement was made. However, it looks like we finally may be seeing some traction on this project, thanks to a new legal development and some well-timed local news reports
According to the Orlando Business Journal, Universal has settled a lawsuit with Georgia developer Stan Thomas, which was apparently behind the delay in development on this massive 3-year land purchase. Though details of the lawsuit settlement were not made public, Universal’s lead attorney in the case reportedly told the judge that “two large theme parks” could be developed on the land, which is of course what has been rumored, but never confirmed. And now, there’s something else to consider too…
Local News reports part of Nintendo Land has been moved to new park
Image: Nintendo
Though official reports about the future of Universal Orlando Resort, including Nintendo Land, have been pretty sparse, the rumor mill has been fairly active, with some very detailed descriptions of planned attractions leaking online.
Originally, the plans for Nintendo Land were rumored to include attractions based on Mario Kart and a Donkey Kong roller coaster, but now local news station WFTV is reporting that those rides will be moving across the street to one of the new land parcels that will eventually be a part of Universal’s third and fourth full theme park (even though Universal likes to call Volcano Bay, their third theme park, we’re still not buying it). Though there are of course still plans to bring Nintendo Land to Universal Studios Florida in the very near future, it looks like Universal is hoping to spread Nintendo out the same way they have with the Harry Potter License, and will now be focusing on a Pokémon attraction at Universal Studios Florida for the pilot Nintendo Land.
So what happens next?
It’s hard to believe that Universal’s “secret” plan to build additional theme parks, hotels, and more has been in the works for nearly four years now, with not as much as a peep from officials about this ambitious undertaking. However, with Universal’s legal problems seemingly being solved, and Universal reportedly in talks with the Orange County Government about creating a unique transportation solution for guests wanting to visit the new parks, it looks like things are finally starting to really come together for this project. Though 2018 might be too much to hope for with regard to an official announcement, we’d guess that by this time next year, these new parks are at least confirmed to be in development with a launch year window (potentially as soon as 2021) in sight.
In the meantime, Universal Orlando Resort is likely focusing on the 2018 opening of its all new Aventura Hotel, as well as the recently announced new Value hotel category, which will see the opening of Surfside Inn and Suites in the summer of 2019 and Dockside Inn and Suites in 2020. And with three new hotels opening in three years, it seems Universal may just be prepared for their new theme parks to open at the beginning of the next decade.
Image: Universal Orlando Resort
Are you still excited for this new project to finally be confirmed? When do you think Universal will end up officially confirming their expansion plans? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
