Universal rumored to be in talks with Elon Musk’s Boring Co.

[DCBaker]

Article from the Orlando Business Journal:

"Business leaders across Orlando’s tourist district told Orlando Business Journal the next step in transforming transportation along International Drive and the surrounding area may involve a unique partnership between Universal Orlando Resort and entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Specifically, several local business leaders and industry experts say they have heard chatter that Musk's The Boring Co. and the Comcast-owned theme park giant may be working on a tunnel-like project in Central Florida.

The Boring Co. is a Bastrop, Texas-based infrastructure/tunnel construction firm founded by Musk in 2017. Boring is known for its tunnel projects such as the "Vegas Loop" — which is an underground public transit system connecting people to different parts of the city using Tesla vehicles.

Maria Triscari, president and CEO of The International Drive Resort Area Chamber of Commerce, said she has heard the discussion of a project like the "Vegas Loop" coming here — and she believes it will happen one day.

“It’s definitely been in the talks because we want to be a cut above the rest, and that’s the type of thing that needs to happen, and that's the kind of people we have on the I-Drive Corridor, the visionaries. They are just so forward thinking,” Triscari said.

Joshua Wallack, owner of Mango's Tropical Cafe on International Drive, said he has heard the rumblings of Boring looking to expand its services here — and he is in full support of it.

“It’s out there in the real estate community — Boring is looking at the whole I-Drive district, basically having the Orange County Convention Center to Epic Universe on a [loop] and they have a broker in the market looking for properties right now and actively speaking to property owners,” Wallack said.

OBJ reached out to Universal and The Boring Co. and has not yet received a response.

However, one real estate expert familiar with the matter did corroborate Triscari and Wallack's comments of The Boring Co. and Universal discussions — and added that other players in the tourist sector possibly could be involved.

An Orange County spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, and an Orlando spokesperson said via email, “There has not been any formal paperwork filed or conversations about such an endeavor.” In addition, an OBJ public records request for documents, memos and emails did not result in any produce correspondence between the companies and the county.

Meanwhile, Dennis Spiegel, CEO of International Theme Park Services — a consulting firm for the leisure and attractions industry — said he also has heard chatter about the potential partnership.

If the rumor is true, Spiegel said, it will be a good idea, as he believes the biggest issue right now in Orlando is transportation. He also compared Universal investing in a "loop system" to the monorails at Walt Disney World.

“When you have these kinds of programs, it enhances the guest stay and it makes them want to stay on property,” Spiegel said. “As we know, for decades Disney has been the master of that, through their hotels, their transportation and their number of [theme parks] keeping their visitors on their property.

Currently, there are a few projects in the pipeline to address transportation along I-Drive — some hitting milestones — but still a bit away from completion."

Links to the article: https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2025/07/10/universal-elon-musk-boring-company-tunnel.html

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[maxairmike]

Oh absolutely not! A) Don’t let that…I can’t use the applicable words here…anywhere near this area with his infrastructure ideas. B) A tunnel, in Central Florida!? Sure, throw enough money at something and it can be done, but this is about the stupidest idea they could have. Adding another lane to the roads would be more effective, and that’s usually a wash. It’s the most idiotic version of “public transit” one could imagine. A monorail or a fully custom light rail/tram vehicle would likely be (way) cheaper.

Use an actual, proven and efficient mass transit system, not the dumb Tesla tunnels.

 

[Dranth]

Wow. That doesn't sound like a great idea or monetarily responsible given the issues with tunneling in Florida.

 

[lazyboy97o]

The Vegas Loop is a poster child for over promising and under delivering.

It is also ridiculous that Universal has been able to skirt blame for stymieing and possibly killing the last big transit initiative for the area.

 

[JT3000]

Boring indeed. Someone needs to bore into Musk's tiny brain and remind him of Florida's geography. His tunnel would be a sink hole before long.

The Vegas Loop is a poster child for over promising and under delivering.

It is also ridiculous that Universal has been able to skirt blame for stymieing and possibly killing the last big transit initiative for the area.

Did I miss something? Because it was Disney and their unwillingness to share a line with any competing attractions that killed all the rail proposals. Universal was on board for those.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Did I miss something? Because it was Disney and their unwillingness to share a line with any competing attractions that killed all the rail proposals. Universal was on board for those.

Disney was completely onboard with the Brightline expansion to Tampa and even had an agreement to place a station on Disney property. Unlike past projects this was not conditioned on a lack of stations located elsewhere.

Universal and [another] fake grassrooots group opposed the approvals Brightline needed to build tracks along the FL-417 right of way that would have allowed serious work to begin moving forward. They wanted Brightline to follow the more expensive FL-528 route. They offered some land but nothing compared to the minimum $1 billion cost difference between the two routes. Because they wanted others to pay for their preferred route, Universal was behind putting together the current Sunshine Corridor plan that will have Brightline use new Sunrail tracks to be built along FL-528. By switching the project to a government project, it has now completely restarted at square one, complete with a new set of studies to determine if it makes sense to build rail between the airport and the attractions area and funding fights as Sunrail is a multi-county and state project but this expansion is entirely within one county. Even accounting for Brightline’s overly optimistic timeline projections, the project is now pushed back by years with no clear path forward or funding sources. Universal of course could have just filled Brightline’s funding gap (either directly or even through their new special district) for their preferred route and had those approvals sought.

 

[JoeCamel]

Oh absolutely not! A) Don’t let that…I can’t use the applicable words here…anywhere near this area with his infrastructure ideas. B) A tunnel, in Central Florida!? Sure, throw enough money at something and it can be done, but this is about the stupidest idea they could have. Adding another lane to the roads would be more effective, and that’s usually a wash. It’s the most idiotic version of “public transit” one could imagine. A monorail or a fully custom light rail/tram vehicle would likely be (way) cheaper.

Use an actual, proven and efficient mass transit system, not the dumb Tesla tunnels.

How about if they build in a couple of heartline rolls and add a speed tunnel to the project?

 

[Minthorne]

I have a bad feeling about this.

 

[mkt]

A tunnel between Universal Studios Florida and the new park by the convention center sounds cool on paper, but in Florida? Not realistic.

For it to even work, you'd need at least 40 inches of reinforced concrete to deal with the water table, soil conditions, and structural loads. That’s serious engineering. And the cost? It's absurd enough that a gondola, or even a monorail starts to look like a budget option.

This is why PortMiami is the only place in Florida with a vehicular tunnel. It made sense there because the port moves billions in cargo and passengers every year. PortMiami’s economic impact on Florida in a single year is more than Epic Universe will generate in a whole decade.

Different scale, different priorities.

 

[JoeCamel]

A tunnel between Universal Studios Florida and the new park by the convention center sounds cool on paper, but in Florida? Not realistic.

For it to even work, you'd need at least 40 inches of reinforced concrete to deal with the water table, soil conditions, and structural loads. That’s serious engineering. And the cost? It's absurd enough that a gondola, or even a monorail starts to look like a budget option.

This is why PortMiami is the only place in Florida with a vehicular tunnel. It made sense there because the port moves billions in cargo and passengers every year. PortMiami’s economic impact on Florida in a single year is more than Epic Universe will generate in a whole decade.

Different scale, different priorities.

But it's Eloni, he can do anything....

 

[mkt]

But it's Eloni, he can do anything....

I don't think there's enough ketamine in the world

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I have not followed the Vegas Loop project particularly closely, but my impression was that it turned out to be essentially an underground Tesla taxi service with pretty low capacity. Would that really be worth all the effort replicating in Florida?

 

[mkt]

I have not followed the Vegas Loop project particularly closely, but my impression was that it turned out to be essentially an underground Tesla taxi service with pretty low capacity. Would that really be worth all the effort replicating in Florida?

No, it wouldn’t be worth the effort.

Just looking at the numbers: it took a $61 billion annual economic engine to justify a 4,200-foot, $1.5 billion tunnel in Miami. A 3.1-mile tunnel to connect both campuses of Universal Orlando would easily cost more - and while Universal’s impact on Florida is big (around $7–8 billion/year with Epic Universe), it’s still nowhere near what PortMiami contributes.

And to be fair, Miami faces a lot of the same tunneling challenges as Orlando... maybe worse. High water table, porous limestone, major flood risks. But the difference is PortMiami supports international trade, not just tourism. That’s a completely different funding conversation. It pulled in federal dollars and solved freight congestion for one of the country’s busiest ports.

A theme park, no matter how successful, doesn’t carry that same strategic value. So spending billions to tunnel under Kirkman Road just isn’t in the same league. For that money, you could fund a massive expansion toward Epic - or make a serious down payment on a fourth gate.

To connect both campuses in a meaningful way, buying above-ground right-of-way for a private monorail, light rail, or gondola system would likely be cheaper. You’d get more flexibility, faster deployment, and fewer engineering headaches. And if they wanted to go really cheap - but still cool - an elevated-lane BRT could be a smart solution.