Time for the war to begin.

[ford91exploder]

According to the President of Universal Resort Orlando they are buying the land to go into the cattle business. So probably nothing for the Mouse to worry about.

Hmm, I thought WDW was in the cattle business as well, They did after all build the cattle chutes behind Main St after all...

 

[ford91exploder]

You left out who Universal actually was for a while which was a hedge fund that was running it into the ground. Their only outlook was to run the place cash flow positive until it could be sold off either as a whole or piece by piece.

You mean just like WDW is being run now with the exception it's not owned by a private equity house.

 

[ford91exploder]

I know there's speculation of transport methods but what's the most likely direct route for anything except buses? do we know sort of where the actual parks will be or?

Airport style light rail, Long lasting, comfortable, automated and fast. Think MCO terminal to gate shuttles with more cars buses are the lazy way to handle transport especially without an automated dispatch system, Think the 'Local Motion' system in boston, buses of various sizes are automatically routed to destinations via GPS based on need and number of PAX the hospitals and financial industry uses them instead of the 'T'.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I highlighted in purple the convention center. I wonder where Uni will put their new hotels on the new land (in red)?

 

[Goofyernmost]

I highlighted in purple the convention center. I wonder where Uni will put their new hotels on the new land (in red)?

View attachment 278280

Wanna bet that they eventually buy that golf course that they now wrap around?

 

[matt9112]

still cant believe universal did not buy a smidge more land during original conception phase in 90s the houses and stuff surround the place. nightmare to deal with those people I'm sure.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Just shows that they weren't planning to rival Disney.

I still think that they aren't obsessed with being a rival, but, they are doing whatever they can to bring up attendance for their own parks. That might be rival, but, they cannot win at least not in the foreseeable future, so they are just doing what they can to bring their own number up.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

@marni1971 said after D23 that "the gloves are off for the next decade".

 

[2351metalcloud]

still cant believe universal did not buy a smidge more land during original conception phase in 90s the houses and stuff surround the place. nightmare to deal with those people I'm sure.

If I understand what I have read elsewhere previously, Universal used to own a similar amount of land in Orlando to what they own now if not more than what they now own; but some of the land was sold when Universal was run by Vivendi. If they had more land than they own now, then they could have had more space with vegetation or other things between those suburbs and future parks and other things they might have wanted to build.

 

[ford91exploder]

Well... most of that is old news. That Uni was in the process of buying all that foreclosed land was well-known. The hiccup was that the previous owner was looking for a payday by claiming a right to keep Uni from building theme parks there. What is news is that the courts have told that guy, "nope."

The history:

1. Most of that land was owned by Lockheed Martin.

2. Uni bought the land from LM.

3. Uni self-imposed a restriction on the land that it can't be used for a theme park.

4. Uni sold the land to Thomas with the stipulation that the theme-park-restriction remained. And, aha! We now know why Uni bought and sold the land: to keep anyone else from buying the land with the purpose of putting up a competing theme park by attaching the restriction to it.

5. Thomas lost the land due to foreclosure during the Great Recession (most likely he couldn't afford the real estate taxes). Land reverted to Orlando.

6. A different real estate buyer bought the foreclosed land.

7. Uni bought the land back.

8. Uni got their ducks in a row with Orlando zoning to put a theme park there.

9. Thomas pops back up with the claim that when he bought the land, he was given the duty of making sure the land was never used for a theme park. And even though the land was foreclosed on, he retained that right and was going to exercise it to keep Uni from building theme parks on it, and so he sued. [It was pretty obvious he was looking for a pay-out from Uni to drop the suit.]

10. Uni decides to make the southern most part of the area overflow parking for the Orlando Convention Center. It's pretty clear that Uni is angling the new property to be the go-to theme park destination for all the folks in the local hotels attending conventions.

11. Uni just won the suit against Thomas. There is nothing restricting them now from developing all that land pretty much as they wish (though, very likely there will be wetland considerations for a that big chunk on the east where there's ponds, canals, and low-lying drainage swamps.

In the pic below, all the red and all the orange is now Uni's free and clear to develop as they like (zoning and conservation permitting).

View attachment 277374

Looks like they only need a couple of parcels in the upper LH quadrant to tie everything together and then the entire property is tied together and they even have a bridge over the highway. Those parcels are likely to be expensive but 'worth it' from having the entire property being under UNI control.

 

[ford91exploder]

If I understand what I have read elsewhere previously, Universal used to own a similar amount of land in Orlando to what they own now if not more than what they now own; but some of the land was sold when Universal was run by Vivendi. If they had more land than they own now, then they could have had more space with vegetation or other things between those suburbs and future parks and other things they might have wanted to build.

Towards the end Vivendi was selling everything including the furniture to keep themselves afloat. A water company based in France trying to become a media powerhouse who did not see that trainwreck long before it happened.

 

[Gelatoni]

Do disney fan boys ever run to the universal fan site like they do here to stir stuff up? I always feel like they need to make up for being fans of a lesser park

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Do disney fan boys ever run to the universal fan site like they do here to stir stuff up? I always feel like they need to make up for being fans of a lesser park

@miketheboss is our resident "Disney Troll" over at Inside Universal. It's not terribly surprising, this is what he looks like.

 

[fngoofy]

Playing catch up to what? Uni's rides are mostly stale rehashes of the same thing, Harry Potter being the exception. Disney is still pretty far ahead - although it sounds like Uni is investing heavily to try catching up, and Disney better see that threat for what it is if they want to remain on top.

Buying SeaWorld isn't the answer IMO, neither is a 5th gate (yet). After the current plans, DHS and AK need one or two more lands each, with E-Tickets added, to make them into > 1 day parks, MK needs a refurb throughout the park. Once that's done, a 5th gate would be in order.

Agreed.
We went to Uni for the first and last time in Sept. SO expensive for a one day park hopper with unlimited FP. With the exception of the HP stuff, the parks were sad and unimaginative. I don't know why they haven't done away with all of IoA and just made it HP land.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Agreed.
We went to Uni for the first and last time in Sept. SO expensive for a one day park hopper with unlimited FP. With the exception of the HP stuff, the parks were sad and unimaginative. I don't know why they haven't done away with all of IoA and just made it HP land.

Just curious, how much does a one day park hopper with unlimited Fast Pass cost at WDW?

 

[imperius]

While some of the theming at Universal isn’t up to Disney fans standards. They have more rides I want to re-ride and enjoy doing so compared to Disney. Disney has some but others are just a boring re-ride.

 

[Tom P.]

Just curious, how much does a one day park hopper with unlimited Fast Pass cost at WDW?

Ticket prices are tiered based on the time of the year. A "regular" season one day ticket with Park Hopper is currently $174.00.

All WDW tickets technically have "unlimited FastPass," but you can only book three FastPass reservations in advance. Once you've used the third, you can then book them one at a time using the MDE app or in-park kiosks.

 

[fngoofy]

Just curious, how much does a one day park hopper with unlimited Fast Pass cost at WDW?

Well for Uni, for 2 adults and 1 child we paid like $850 at the park.
For WDW it is $552 (and not unlimited FP, but free for the 3+ you can get.)

I guess my bigger point it, that while WDW is $552 for 3 people, 1 day, 3 people for 7 days is about $1800.
There is no way I could imagine being at Uni for 7 days. Other than the HP stuff and the MiB ride, we thought the rides were lame.

Mummy, Jurassic Park, and Seuseland were all HUGE disappointments. Hulk was just overkill, and the 4D rides were vomit inducing.
ET was almost MST3K level of bad, and the faux streets fronts were just disappointing.

If you want to mainline adrenaline and don't ever lookup from your feet and going to the park in the first place wasn't your idea, then I can see how people conflate WDW and Uni. Otherwise, they aren't in the same class of experiences.

 

[gsimpson]

still cant believe universal did not buy a smidge more land during original conception phase in 90s the houses and stuff surround the place. nightmare to deal with those people I'm sure.

UO originally bought a LOT more land, including all of the land the convention ceter sits on. When GE was their corporate overlord they sold off most of the land for a quick shot to the stock price. Then vivendie (sorry if I spelled that wrong) sold of more when they needed cash.

 

[Touchdown]

Why can’t you be a fan of both? I love WDW, it’s my favorite park but I also love Universal (along with Cedar Point, Busch Gardens, Dollywood, etc.). If the two chains “War” it only stands to benefit us the consumer with more new experiences and/or a price war. The only victim I see of this war is Busch Gardens and Sea World, they are in a horrible place financially and can’t compete, I fear that chain is going to go under sometime in the next 5 years, which makes me really fear for my favorite regional park (Busch Gardens Williamsburg.)