Universals Property for theme parks (good "news")

[ChrisFL]

Not really news as it's always been there, but...

Many people were upset when Universal sold the extra 2,000 acres that were planned for expansion...BUT

Universal appears to have plenty of room for another theme park on it's regular property...if they do some creative changes to one road:

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/image.aspx?t=4&s=11&x=1134&y=7871&z=17&w=2

This looks to be at least as large as IOA's property, although contorted differently. They could even possibly add another hotel to the back end if need be, it looks like

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I do not get it though. They have so much less land than Disney I cannot even understand whey they would sell any of it. I was kind of hoping for some sort of Harry Potter "land". I know there had been speculation on the boards before as to when, where and who might make this happen.

 

[Dax]

The problem is that Universal does not own Harry Potter....Warner Bros does....

This is a major topic of discussion for my DH And I....we would love to see a HP type ride or show....but dont see it in the near future.

 

[Figment22]

Originally posted by Dax
The problem is that Universal does not own Harry Potter....Warner Bros does....

Yes, but I remember reading that Universal has purchased the rights to potential Harry Potter theme park attractions, along with similiar rights to the Lord of the Rings properties. I, too, have been hoping for an HP attraction. A few years ago, Universal used to sell substantial Harry Potter merchandise in one of the shops in the Lost Continent, but no longer

I guess we can still dream.....

 

[Metallicat]

ooooh, I would LOVE to see them build something related to The Lord Of the Rings! (my favorite movies of all times)
I thought I read somewhere that Disney may build a Harry Potter attraction where 20, 000 leagues under the sea is being drained. maybe the person who said that didn't know what they were talking about. who knows? so, don't quote me on that one!

 

[JT3000]

They have more than enough room for another theme park, and maybe even another hotel or water park. The problem is, how would they get people there? The unused land is too far away from CityWalk to be connected. They would have to build a 2nd entrance to the new stuff, including another parking garage, which would confuse tourists (not saying they're stupid, but they aren't always the smartest people in the world).

 

[Tenacious D Fan]

They should make a Six Flags in Florida, then you'd have good roller coasters like Superman and it would be fun for the kids. If they were making a 3rd theme park it would be a waste of time building a Harry potter land. It would be better if they had something like Toon World, where Harry Potter could be put in and any other things like an added Marvel area

 

[kellymonaghan]

The plot of land that is just to the left of the RPR convention center in the TerraServer photo is earmarked for a fourth hotel. Planning is now underway for that hotel and they have the zoning, I've heard. Still undecided are things like size, theme, number of restaurants, etc.

This is the next logical expansion, as it would provide more rooms for conventiongoers. (That convention center is BIG!)

The land Universal sold was across I-4 and was owned byn a defense contractor. Some of that land near the Orlando Convention Center was sold to hotel developers for a hige profit. A sound business decision, in other words.

I have no inside information, but it seems possible that Universal decided to sell the rest of the parcel because the land might be contaminated by its former use in the defense industry. Maybe not enough to make it a major problem, but enough to make it unsuitable for a theme park where kids would play. Just a thought.

 

[ChrisFL]

Originally posted by kellymonaghan
I have no inside information, but it seems possible that Universal decided to sell the rest of the parcel because the land might be contaminated by its former use in the defense industry. Maybe not enough to make it a major problem, but enough to make it unsuitable for a theme park where kids would play. Just a thought.

I had forgotten about that, but it apparently was an issue that they at first had said would have no trouble disposing of. At any rate, I wonder if now they'll hold off on the hotel idea...

BTW, I was at Universal on Monday, rode Dr. Doom, and luckily was able to get a great view of the land. There is nothing at all on it currently from what I could see

 

[DocBosch]

I’ve noticed this area for a while now. I would actually confuse it with the Lockheed Martin property, and point it out as such to friends while on Doom or coming off that off ramp from I-4. After I realized it wasn’t, it started to seem like it was too small to actually build something on short of another hotel. Then recently I drove by it up Sand Lake Rd, and it dawned on me just how big it really is. I kept driving by IOA, and noticed it was just as big, at least lengthwise. I checked TerraServer image and it seemed almost the same amount of land as IOA, only in a different shape.

They can’t get ride of that street in order to consolidate both areas because it’s an off ramp, which I’m sure Universal or the city paid a lot for. But I think they could possibly build a smaller, oddly shaped park in the bigger, western piece of land, and leave the eastern piece for the new resort. A while ago there were some rumors at IOACentral of a possible new Island that nobody knew where it’d go. I thought that possibly, if the rumors were true, they had figured out a way to transport guests across that street (a boat, perhaps?) into the area in question, where a new Island or two would sprout.

I also had the idea of maybe moving all or some of the administrative space on the west side of Universal Studios (especially all that staff parking) to the currently unused land, giving USF a lot of room for expansion. While we’re on that, from looking at the aerial photo, it seems like the staff parking area north of Wild West Stunt Show and MIB isn’t really being used.

Anyway, I was looking at the Lockheed Martin property, east of I-Drive and U-Blvd, and it doesn’t seem as big as I once thought it was. Does anybody have the Convention Center link to the aerial picture of the area that details what the land is going to be used for that was posted here a while back?

-Kevin

 

[robvia]

Doc is correct. The roads you see in the middle of the picture are the off/on ramp to I-4. I take that road everytime I leave USF. Yes, the land area is big, but not enough for another park. I agree with Kelly on the 4th hotel. I think they'll move the road to the left out of the way of the hotel, extend the lagoon (water taxi), and extend the parking lot in the back.

IOA/USF doesn't need 3 or 4 parks like Disney. They need new thrill rides in the parks they have now. Disney has 2 or 3 thrill rides in each park, the rest is shows, kiddie rides, and play grounds. To a local, it's not fun having to visit 4 parks to get on all of them. For visitors spending a week, they're ok with it.

I'd rather USF build the 4th hotel, connect them all with a monorail that goes to HRC, and put thrill rides in IOA. Not some Van Helsing simulator. Gosh, I'm glad they axed that lame ride. Build the B&M Flyer. They also need the monorail between USF and IOA because it's alot of walking to get between the two.

And I agree, the west side of the parking lot behind USF could be moved to that open area near I-4 to make more room for USF. The only thing is, it's alot of walking getting from the front of USF to the back.

Making people hop between multiple parks, and then walk from the entrance to the back, wears them out. They need monorails, and it doesn't need to be the huge one like Disney has. It can be a smaller version like the one in Hershey which does a tour of the park, or the kind you see in airport terminals.

 

[kellymonaghan]

Originally posted by robvia
They also need the monorail between USF and IOA because it's alot of walking to get between the two.

Doesn't anyone remember my brilliant solution to this problem? Another pair of "dueling" coasters. One begins in IOA and ends in USF, the other begins in USF and ends in IOA.