Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[fryoj]

Odd that you would mention it as I have had 2 different people tell me in the past week that Uni has locked in Tolkien.

Don't tease....

Well... that’s one for P4rk, unless that rumored Toon Lagoon replacement happens.

Oh, they get Tolkien, it'll be in both IOA and the South park. Between the Shire, Mordor, and Rivendell, you've got two-three slam dunk areas, and you could make an argument for a couple more.

 

[WAJAS]

The 528 isn't a new highway, which I know you know. Not sure what your wordplay is indicating. You mean the new toll within the 528? It already connects Universal Blvd, but that seemingly gets overshadowed by the technical road start of 'Orangewood Blvd'

I meant it’d be a new dinfect connection when the south property is developed. Are those new lanes going to have an exit onto Universal Blvd though? Didn’t think about that.

 

[JungleSkip]

Odd that you would mention it as I have had 2 different people tell me in the past week that Uni has locked in Tolkien.

:faint:

 

[zg44]

I am sure this has been posted before, but I am reposting it because I don’t recall seeing it myself. It is regarding LOTR. If anyone has anything newer then please post.

Could theme park fans be a step closer toward a Lord of the Rings land?

At this point, we're probably not going to hear anything about Tolkien unless an insider spills the beans; none of the parties involved will comment until they have an actual contract in place and are ready for a grand announcement roughly 3 years before opening Tolkien lands (similar to the grand announcement for Harry Potter).

By that logic, I'd guess we hear about Tolkien in 2018 or 2019. Then IoA gets a Tolkien land around 2021 or 2022 and the 3rd dry park gets it at opening.

I would expect Tolkien to appear in both IoA and the 3rd dry park as @fryoj mentioned; it can provide a strong anchor in IoA to match SNW going to USF, and there are so many renowned Tolkien regions that it makes sense to put it in two parks.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

I meant it’d be a new dinfect connection when the south property is developed. Are those new lanes going to have an exit onto Universal Blvd though? Didn’t think about that.

Ahhh. Okay I understand now.

The new lanes wont have exits and entrances to existing surface roads no. Only in and out of toll traffic.

The already existing lanes are being upgraded to double capacity both on and off east and west bound with the anticipation of added traffic. This is including traffic light timing in the area as well

Only thing left is a full destination parkway completion which is under construction as well. It will all be super connected

 

[JungleSkip]

At this point, we're probably not going to hear anything about Tolkien unless an insider spills the beans; none of the parties involved will comment until they have an actual contract in place and are ready for a grand announcement roughly 3 years before opening Tolkien lands (similar to the grand announcement for Harry Potter).

I would expect Tolkien to appear in both IoA and the 3rd dry park as @fryoj mentioned; it can provide a strong anchor in IoA to match SNW going to USF, and there are so many renowned Tolkien regions that it makes sense to put it in two parks.

Spitballing, off the top of my head, if it went into both parks I'd do the following:

Replace Toon Lagoon proper with Erebor and Lake Town. Turn Dudley into Erebor, giving IoA a true in-park weenie. Replace the Toon Lagoon shops and restaurants with Lake Town, and turn Popeye into a Dwarf Barrel River Ride. Replace the Toon Lagoon theater area with The Shire.

For Park 3, focus on Rivendell, Gondor, and Mordor.

Middle Earth - The Hobbit and Middle Earth - The Lord of the Rings

Boom.

 

[Mad Dog]

Like a basketball game....Teebin lobs a long pass to Disneyhead for a slam dunk basket....Sounds like we were set up.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Spitballing, off the top of my head, if it went into both parks I'd do the following:

Replace Toon Lagoon proper with Erebor and Lake Town. Turn Dudley into Erebor, giving IoA a true in-park weenie. Replace the Toon Lagoon shops and restaurants with Lake Town, and turn Popeye into a Dwarf Barrel River Ride. Replace the Toon Lagoon theater area with The Shire.

For Park 3, focus on Rivendell, Gondor, and Mordor.

Middle Earth - The Hobbit and Middle Earth - The Lord of the Rings

Boom.

Knowing how Universal rolls I think any replacements will be a total rebuild, not just a Frozen retrofit.

 

[JungleSkip]

Knowing how Universal rolls I think any replacements will be a total rebuild, not just a Frozen retrofit.

FWIW, when I say "Turn Dudley into" I mean a complete knock down and rebuild.

I think Popeye would be foolish to demolish when it can become a scene literally straight out of the film/movie easily.

 

[zg44]

Spitballing, off the top of my head, if it went into both parks I'd do the following:

Replace Toon Lagoon proper with Erebor and Lake Town. Turn Dudley into Erebor, giving IoA a true in-park weenie. Replace the Toon Lagoon shops and restaurants with Lake Town, and turn Popeye into a Dwarf Barrel River Ride. Replace the Toon Lagoon theater area with The Shire.

For Park 3, focus on Rivendell, Gondor, and Mordor.

Middle Earth - The Hobbit and Middle Earth - The Lord of the Rings

Boom.

Yeah, this is fairly sensible; Hobbit going to IoA and LOTR to 3rd dry park.

Timing depends on everything else, but I could see 2018 or 2019 announcement for Hobbit in IoA and then a lot of "wink wink" as to the eventual LOTR plots in the 2nd resort.

 

[jrn14]

I know this is pretty far fetched but any chance that Universal would attempt to include "The Hunger Games" in Park 3.. I know they have been trying to do the theme park thing and I believe they are doing it in Dubai.

 

[JungleSkip]

I know this is pretty far fetched but any chance that Universal would attempt to include "The Hunger Games" in Park 3.. I know they have been trying to do the theme park thing and I believe they are doing it in Dubai.

Hunger Games's popularity fell off a cliff pretty quickly. I doubt it.

Plus it's literally a franchise about dead children...so again I doubt it.

 

[zg44]

I know this is pretty far fetched but any chance that Universal would attempt to include "The Hunger Games" in Park 3.. I know they have been trying to do the theme park thing and I believe they are doing it in Dubai.

Naw, Lionsgate is already setting up a Times Square attraction for that; Universal would demand North America exclusivity if it was to contract for that; probably no interest on the Universal side.

AFAIK, the insiders around here have mostly said Universal is focused on Tolkien and Star Trek as the next major IPs for the parks.

 

[fryoj]

Spitballing, off the top of my head, if it went into both parks I'd do the following:

Replace Toon Lagoon proper with Erebor and Lake Town. Turn Dudley into Erebor, giving IoA a true in-park weenie. Replace the Toon Lagoon shops and restaurants with Lake Town, and turn Popeye into a Dwarf Barrel River Ride. Replace the Toon Lagoon theater area with The Shire.

For Park 3, focus on Rivendell, Gondor, and Mordor.

Middle Earth - The Hobbit and Middle Earth - The Lord of the Rings

Boom.

I think the Shire will be a more fleshed out area than just the TL theater. LOTR's Diagon alley basically. Shops and restaurants. The ride(s) I'm not sure what you do unless they do it as a kiddie area. Nothing is popping into my head. But the visuals of the hills and Hobbit holes are one of the more recognizable of the series. I think a Shire/Rivendell combined area is visually logical.

If they didn't already have the volcano at VB, I'd think Mt Doom would make a hell of a weenie for park 3. And, if they don't figure out the tech to make the eye of Sauron watch and track guests, I'll be pissed. lol

 

[JungleSkip]

I think the Shire will be a more fleshed out area than just the TL theater. LOTR's Diagon alley basically. Shops and restaurants. The ride(s) I'm not sure what you do unless they do it as a kiddie area. Nothing is popping into my head. But the visuals of the hills and Hobbit holes are one of the more recognizable of the series. I think a Shire/Rivendell combined area is visually logical.

The TL theater are is a significant piece of land. The theater itself is large and there's a lot of wasted space around it. Without needing a big showbuilding (in my head the Shire doesn't have a ride) you have enough room for shops and restaurants.

I wouldn't pair Rivendell with the Shire, as the two would be too similar in offerings (IMO). Erebor and Lake Town offer more of a chance for rides.

If they didn't already have the volcano at VB, I'd think Mt Doom would make a hell of a weenie for park 3. And, if they don't figure out the tech to make the eye of Sauron watch and track guests, I'll be pissed. lol

Minis Tirith would make one heck of a Weenie

 

[Legacy]

So, the next park is looking like:

Tolkien
Star Trek
Nintendo- Hyrule
Dreamworks (including Kung Fu Panda and Shrek)

Other possibilities:
WWoHP - Fantastic Beasts
Christmas Land OR Berk (whichever doesn't make it into Islands)
Minion Land

Jurassic World still doesn't sit right with me...

That's an intriguing mix, actually. I don't know if any of the IPs are "needle-movers" on their own, but there's a nice variety.

Actually, if Tolkien is locked in, I feel like P4rk needs Christmas over IoA because it would be so visually different.

 

[fryoj]

Minis Tirith would make one heck of a Weenie

I've thought about that, but didn't think it was iconic enough in the LOTR hierarchy. By that I mean, Mt Doom, the two towers, Shire, and maybe even Rivendell are more recognizable to the GP. That being said, it could be a land all by itself because of it's layout. Big ride building with rings of shops and restaurants, maybe even a show. It'll just come down to how much space they want to dedicate to LoTR.

 

[JungleSkip]

@Legacy LOTR is definitely a needle mover. Idk if it’ll be as big as Potter/SW, but it’ll definitely be as big of a draw as Nintendo

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Odd that you would mention it as I have had 2 different people tell me in the past week that Uni has locked in Tolkien.

 

[zg44]

If I had to rate IPs in terms of how much they move the needle in terms of Orlando/Hollywood parks attendance, the rankings would probably be something like 1) Harry Potter, 2) Star Wars, 3) Tolkien, 4) Nintendo, 5) Star Trek. Harry Potter is probably well ahead of the middle 3, and Star Trek is probably a fair bit behind the middle 3; all of those have large and dedicated fanbases with only Star Trek's being noticeably smaller than the others.

And I should point out that all 5 should have a positive impact on attendance versus original creations or most other IPs; those all have built in fanbases and any casual vacationer will know of them (of course different places are different; in Japan for example Nintendo should be even bigger than Harry Potter; you literally won't even be able to walk around USJ when that land opens, it will be packed to the absolute maximum).

So yeah, I think you can easily justify a 4th park launching with LOTR as its strongest anchor and then Fantastic Beasts, Hyrule, and Star Trek as additional IPs. Of course, that's not yet including Universal-owned IPs which we'd also expect to show up.