Time for the war to begin.

[ford91exploder]

When do you think the Universal Vacation Club will launch and what will the buy in price be?

Never, Because Unversal's hotels actually belong to Lowe's hotels, So UNI is not in the hotel business they are in the theme park business, Obviously Comcast owns the land the hotels are built on and may even own the buildings.

I can see convention space in the future though, Have your convention at Universal Orlando and have your family vacation with you.

 

[beertiki]

The queue for the train is amazing. When you enter the boarding area, and see the train... perfect.

Everything seems so real, while Pandora is just so fake.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The queue for the train is amazing. When you enter the boarding area, and see the train... perfect.

Everything seems so real, while Pandora is just so fake.

Well, that could be because a train station is a real thing that you have seen and know they exist and what they should look like. Whereas Pandora is a completely imaginary place so yea, it is pretty much the definition of fake. However, that makes Pandora more real imaginary place then a fake train station, don't ya know!

 

[Tom Morrow]

If your only takeaway from Pandora is "it's just a bunch of fake plants", then you are simple and small minded, or a delusional fanboy. Sorry, not sorry.

To me, all of Wizarding World feels artificial because they have the freaking soundtrack blasting everywhere, just to make absolutely sure you are aware that you're in Harry Potter land. Don't get me wrong, overall I do think that Wizarding World is great, but if you really objectively look at it, that level of detail had been achieved by Disney many times in the past, just never all committed to one IP before. Just look at Asia and Africa in DAK - they're absolutely dripping with detail and immersion, but there isn't an IP attached so people tend to not fully recognize it.

 

[matt9112]

Quality over quantity....

so wait times....is what you really mean.

 

[Horizons '83]

so wait times....is what you really mean.

?

 

[matt9112]

?

not enough attractions to soak up crowds....they spend amazingly large amount of money on single attractions that often leave the rest of the project on the cutting room floor. you know that elusive third attraction that NEVER seems to get built.

 

[Horizons '83]

not enough attractions to soak up crowds....they spend amazingly large amount of money on single attractions that often leave the rest of the project on the cutting room floor. you know that elusive third attraction that NEVER seems to get built.

Got ya, I agree on not having nearly enough attractions but many times it dilutes the quality when you think quantity is the end game. Although, I don't know why on earth we can't have both. It can be done for sure.

 

[matt9112]

Got ya, I agree on not having nearly enough attractions but many times it dilutes the quality when you think quantity is the end game. Although, I don't know why on earth we can't have both. It can be done for sure.

we could have both.....all the nickle and diming would make more sense to most of us if the experience was earth shattering and leading the industry across the board but they have become IMHO complacent. they could build the same stuff with less money if they tried and implemented changes and they could simply spend more on park cap x.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Poop just got real!

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Good for Universal. I remember when Disney used to be so high up that they didn't stand a chance, but it seems lately management is getting lazy and using Universal's gameplan for superheroes and IPs. Great job, $hapek, for keeping this going.

 

[Horizons '83]

Good for Universal. I remember when Disney used to be so high up that they didn't stand a chance, but it seems lately management is getting lazy and using Universal's gameplan for superheroes and IPs. Great job, $hapek, for keeping this going.

Just gets tiring hearing the same commentary Universal Vs. Disney blah blah blah

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Just gets tiring hearing the same commentary Universal Vs. Disney blah blah blah

I'm sorry. Am I wrong though?

 

[Disneyhead'71]

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.

 

[Horizons '83]

I'm sorry. Am I wrong though?

This is an opinion board, everyone is right...right?

 

[Goofyernmost]

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.

I had read that some of the land was over by the Orange County Convention center. It's getting to the point where they are spreading out pretty wide and it seems like connection and transportation to those areas will be complicated and expensive. It seems like a lot of prime property has still got to be annexed to connect the rest of the property. By the time they get that all done, Florida will probably be underwater.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

I had read that some of the land was over by the Orange County Convention center. It's getting to the point where they are spreading out pretty wide and it seems like connection and transportation to those areas will be complicated and expensive. It seems like a lot of prime property has still got to be annexed to connect the rest of the property. By the time they get that all done, Florida will probably be underwater.

They aren't going to buy all the land between. It will be 2 seperarte campuses roughly 3.5 miles apart. Each with 2 theme parks, 1 water park, an entertainment district, and about 15,000 hotel rooms (totaling 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 2 entertainment districts, and roughly 30,000 hotel rooms). They are looking at transportation options, but busses will definitely play a part.

 

[Goofyernmost]

They aren't going to buy all the land between. It will be 2 seperarte campuses roughly 3.5 miles apart. Each with 2 theme parks, 1 water park, an entertainment district, and about 15,000 hotel rooms (totaling 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, 2 entertainment districts, and roughly 30,000 hotel rooms). They are looking at transportation options, but busses will definitely play a part.

OK, kinda makes WDW seem uncomplicated. With the added fun of I-4/Kissimmee traffic in the area. I hope they put all the stuff that I don't like in the new one and save me some time.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Poop just got real!

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).

 

[matt9112]

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

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?