Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[Bryce]

Still want a DisneySea sort of park. Though of course, that is probably 100% likely to NOT happen.

 

[Ultimate17]

I love the idea of the Mario Kart ride a few of you have thrown out! Imagine 6-8 trackless ride vehicles that look like Karts from the games that you dont "really" drive, but you do have the ability to use the power ups by steering to a spot or aiming a reticule of some kind. Throw a banana peel on your in car screen at your brother's vehicle then watch his ride vehicle spin out in real life, only to have your little sister zoom past you as she used a mushroom power up. Have it indoor and have awesome surroundings with sweet Nintendo music as you travel through multiple racetracks. It would never be the same experience twice!

 

[Hockeyman55]

Mario Kart for the win! I would love to see a video game land, think that would be a great way to appeal to some of the you get kids playing the games now along with us kids at heart

 

[Felipe]

I just want to see a return of BTTF, I don't think it'll happen but boy do I want it.

I think the only way this could happen would be within Universal's own "Great Movie Ride."
Otherwise, the franchise would just be featured on shows like CineSpec, and in Meet & Greets, as it is right now.

I take it you have never had to buy a $13 dollar bottle of sun block at a water park before ound:

But seriously, as Skip said, its also about getting people on site and getting them to stay longer. I wouldn't think water parks brought in as much revenue as a theme park, although im sure they do fairly well on food.

Yes, and there still needs to be a profit in the admission price too for both types of parks. I think the original reference was more towards the % markup being more on food and merchandise. Let's say a family spends $400 to get into the park for one day, are they going to spend more than $400 in food and merch?

Some things to consider about a water park too, they take up less space, are a smaller investment, cost less to operate and maintain. As well as the ratio of employees to the size of the park and number of guests, more would be needed in a traditional park.

I am curious about the revenue aspect of it. I am sure the numbers are way different, but I would also think that the cost of operations in a water park would be much, much, muuuch less than a theme park in all aspects, so it would mean a bigger profit margin. And as mentioned, they would still sell a lot of overpriced food and merch, as is already customary in water parks, and all tourist attractions They could still sell tie-in merch like clothes, toys, etc. as they would in theme parks, but they could also have water-related themed merch, like floaters and water toys in whatever themes they have in this themed water park. They could also sell specialty drinks a la Butterbeer, Energon... so there's lots of options for possible revenue apart from admission and parking.

I'm new here (from Ottawa), actually hoping to land a job building simulators starting in June.
To me this thread is better than RCT! LOL

:welcome: aboard! Good luck on landing that job :thumbs: And you've got some great ideas there! I see Star Trek come up on most people's lists. I think Universal should be strongly considering this, whether for a third gate or for the plot between Simpsons and MiB.

 

[shiekra38]

I love Universal and would love to see what they could accomplish with a third gate, but I fear it would be detrimental to the resort as a whole...The parks are in the middle of changing their identity and the resort is starting to get recognition in places it hasn't before...it's not about the number of parks it's about quality of experience...I say continue to expand IOA and USF to meet the coveted 'day-park' award...in my opinion, Magic Kingdom and possibly Epcot are the only parks that have achieved that spot...

After that is done, then 3rd gate

 

[natespf]

I love Universal and would love to see what they could accomplish with a third gate, but I fear it would be detrimental to the resort as a whole...The parks are in the middle of changing their identity and the resort is starting to get recognition in places it hasn't before...it's not about the number of parks it's about quality of experience...I say continue to expand IOA and USF to meet the coveted 'day-park' award...in my opinion, Magic Kingdom and possibly Epcot are the only parks that have achieved that spot...

After that is done, then 3rd gate

I think that they are already getting to that point now. Don't forget that it would be a 5-10 year project to plan and build another park. So if they were to wait until "we have done all we can do at USF and IoA" it would be too late. A third gate would give the opportunity for us to enjoy our loved rides longer, while they can still hop from park to park keeping it fresh. If you think about it people had fits when Kongfrontation, BTTF and Jaws closed. Now I am not saying these rides should never be replaced, but they had a few more good years left.

I think they can keep going down the right path and keep the quality level high as well as add another park. IMO Uni could actually raise the quality level that way, giving them more wiggle room to do different things. They got a lot going into USF, then moving on to IoA, if a 3rd gate went in they could hop back onto USF after that and just keep the rotation of freshness going.

I was the one who brought up a 5th gate, and I guess some people did not know it was only a joke. But a 3rd gate is no joke IMO... There is not enough now, and they are very limited on space. So a 3rd gate would add more space for more stuff, and still not be TOO much. There is a balance between quality and quantity and I believe Uni can do it right :happy:

 

[insanepizzaguy]

If there is a third park, I'm hoping that one of the main lands would be a Doctor Who land. There would be an awesome E-Ticket, a ride/show where you're in The Tardis as it's crashing, and a Cybermen shooting ride. There would also be all kinds of great mazes and scarezones based on different Doctor Who villians/monsters. If something like this happened I think I would :died:.

 

[HomerFan]

Here's a crazy idea...how about they just take down CityWalk and make it part an expansion of USO and part expansion of IOA...I've never been too impressed with the CityWalk anyway...it has plenty of land and they already own it

 

[braddillman]

Doctor Who doesn't have enough broad appeal, and plenty of people who know he's a sci-fi figure have no interest. I didn't have much interest until the current doctor #11. (The Pandorica/Big Bang 2 hooked me, I knew what the most feared monster was ;-)

BTW there is already a pretty spify attraction here:

http://www.doctorwhoexperience.com/

I saw it in 2011 (or was 2010?) when it was in London. The main attraction was just a walkthru, with plenty of props, etc. at the end. Definitely worth it if you ever get the opportunity.

You might be able to turn it into a land, but I think it would make more sense as part of a combined sci-fi land. After all, given his nature, the doctor could travel and fit in anywhere. He'd actually do pretty well in HHN if he had broader recognition, imagine the stone angels. For that matter, put the TARDIS in London in USF. (Not gonna happen) People would confuse it with the muggle entrance to the ministry for magic.

But the real icing on this cake would be to have doctor who meet doctor Brown for a combined meet-n-greet. That would be heavy.

 

[shiekra38]

Here's a crazy idea...how about they just take down CityWalk and make it part an expansion of USO and part expansion of IOA...I've never been too impressed with the CityWalk anyway...it has plenty of land and they already own it

But...I like Citywalk...Believe it or not Citywalk is great for people staying on site and it's a great way to make money off of those staying on site

 

[Bryce]

But...I like Citywalk...Believe it or not Citywalk is great for people staying on site and it's a great way to make money off of those staying on site

I like CityWalk too. The atmosphere is a lot of fun and it has a lot of extra things to do for people on-site, such as shopping, mini-golf, a movie theater and The Blue Man Group. Plus it has some good restaurants and is a perfect bridge between IOA and US.

 

[HomerFan]

I like CityWalk too. The atmosphere is a lot of fun and it has a lot of extra things to do for people on-site, such as shopping, mini-golf, a movie theater and The Blue Man Group. Plus it has some good restaurants and is a perfect bridge between IOA and US.

While I believe CityWalk has its place, if its a matter of no more expansion or no more City Walk, what would you choose?

To me CityWalk is just a place full of bad chain restaurants and overpriced stores that aren't too unique.

 

[natespf]

While I believe CityWalk has its place, if its a matter of no more expansion or no more City Walk, what would you choose?

To me CityWalk is just a place full of bad chain restaurants and overpriced stores that aren't too unique.

I don't see that idea as very practical right now. There are actually plans to add more shops etc to CW, and don't forget that it makes money for Uni.

 

[Gambit]

While City Walk does have its flaws it's not going anywhere. It main purpose is to keep guest on property after the parks are closed for the day, and it does it's job pretty well. The longer you keep guests on property the more $$$ you can squeeze out of them.

 

[HailSouthern84]

Agreed! My wife and me have taken to using the mini golf as a way to let the traffic get out of the garages at closing. Plus, it is a good place to find lunch in a restaurant that has good AC during the summer.

 

[tribbleorlfl]

According to everything I know, the only viable land Universal still owns are the empty areas within the current boundaries of the resort. Any further expansion outwards would involve purchasing land (likely land they used to own).

And what is interesting (and ironic) about this plot of land was back when I was hired in '99, they made a big deal in orientation that the master plan at the time called for a luxury resort, golf course, water park and 3rd theme park on this plot. There was even a giant aerial map in wardrobe showing all of the properties confirming this land as "luxury resort development."

We were understandably confused when they decided to sell the property, but figured they were trying to stabilize the financial standing of the resort following 9/11.

 

[shiekra38]

And what is interesting (and ironic) about this plot of land was back when I was hired in '99, they made a big deal in orientation that the master plan at the time called for a luxury resort, golf course, water park and 3rd theme park on this plot. There was even a giant aerial map in wardrobe showing all of the properties confirming this land as "luxury resort development."

We were understandably confused when they decided to sell the property, but figured they were trying to stabilize the financial standing of the resort following 9/11.

So those blue sky plans may resurface then..awesome!

 

[Teebin]

So those blue sky plans may resurface then..awesome!

Nah, they have gone a completely different direction now. This Cabana 50's-60's thing is the style the design team is pulling now. Look at the mini-golf and how retro that is.

 

[natespf]

And what is interesting (and ironic) about this plot of land was back when I was hired in '99, they made a big deal in orientation that the master plan at the time called for a luxury resort, golf course, water park and 3rd theme park on this plot. There was even a giant aerial map in wardrobe showing all of the properties confirming this land as "luxury resort development."

We were understandably confused when they decided to sell the property, but figured they were trying to stabilize the financial standing of the resort following 9/11.

Those would be neat to see.

I know there are a lot of big differences in what was actually made and these old master plans:

But notice the transit station connecting to the parking garages. :idea2:

This one also had a golf course.

And what about the set-up of the 2 hotels south of IoA :drool:

Hard Rock Cafe is at it's original location, CW and IoA are quite different.

 

[TheMackMachine]

Hard Rock Cafe is at it's original location, CW and IoA are quite different.

This had to be the first the iteration with Tooniversal Studios and the Warner Bros. characters. No?