What we need is a map where we can see the land that Universal owns! Could anyone make one?
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Universal to build a new On-Site Hotel
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What we need is a map where we can see the land that Universal owns! Could anyone make one?
John
Well-Known Member
I will give you one thing Jimbo, your loyal. Not sure if anyone said that UNi was in position to take over the top spot in OTown. Thing is they dont have to and IMO dont want to. Its all about the almighty dollar. UNI is no doubt building on a major mistake of Disney's (fact). They are agressively going forward with expansion (fact). Besides refurbs every project Disney has done in the past....ohhhh say 20 yrs?... has been cut down to minimal size (fact). To most of us Disney will always be king, but some of us are taking notice what is going on up the road. No one is implying that UNI has won the theme park war.....they are just winning the battle at this moment in time. We are just spectators sitting on the sidelines watching it unfold.
There has been a philosphy change at both parks from what they "WERE". This you can not deny. One is moving forward and one has decided to stay the course, ofcourse unless you want to buy into DVC then there are all kinds of great new offerings. As an older/more mature adult guest, what has Disney done to offer me more? At the new FL expansion? A resturant? Mine Coaster? ask me in two yrs. AA? for families with children....my child is 25. You keep saying this is all Doom & Gloom, none of what is going on at UNI will add up to anything that will close the gates at Disney. But you are in denial to think it wont have an impact on Disney's bottom line....and in the Theme Park Wars.....that is all that matters.
GLaDOS
Well-Known Member
Right...but the informed guest going to either of these resorts is going to figure out pretty quickly that they aren't going to need things like that.
TarzanRocked99-
Well-Known Member
funny that they are spending over a billion dollars on X-pass to do just that
GLaDOS
Well-Known Member
It'll be interesting to see once this new resort opens. It's doubling the amount of rooms Universal has. That's a lot. And possibly a lot more cars on the resort. i could see they rolling it out when this place opens.
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
I'll see what I can do, but you can see the properties yourself in map view on the Orange County Property Appraiser site.
nepalostparks
Well-Known Member
They are not spending a billion dollars on xPass. They are spending a billion dollars on NextGen technology, which xPass is a part of, but not the entire thing.
Also, although we have a lot of speculation on what xPass might become, there is no official indication that the xPass system will only be available to Deluxe Resort guests.
Thanks, I'll have a look!
John
Well-Known Member
Neo, I agree with you totally. I wonder why they havnt had some type of announcement on what it is going to be. They already have started its testing and installation. Maybe it will be kept secret....us never knowing exactly what it intails? A secret project. Maybe we dont want to know....
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
Alright, to the best of my abilities doing this as quickly as I could jumping between Photoshop and the OCPA website, here is an Google Maps view of the properties Universal owns (some smaller parcels are combined). These are not exact property boundaries.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
People stayed at Walt Disney World Resorts before the introduction of Magical Express. They could also save by staying off property.
Thank you so much for creating that map!
Now, that's really interesting!
The large bit of land above Universal Boulevard is part of the area I was wondering whether Universal could buy, but it turns out they already have it!
If Universal could buy out Festival Bay Mall, then they could nearly have a path running from their current parking garages to the large area of land (with a few bridges) - the main problem would be the Premium Outlets, but, as I said, they are looking to expand Vineland Avenue - if Universal would be willing to help fund that, maybe they would sell this outlet?
Buying out Tangelo Park and the little area below that would be useful as well!
They could make Festival Bay a new parking garage - replace the current ones with more CityWalk offerings. Have the big plot of land as new theme park(s)/another water park, and have the land between Ronal Reagan Turnpike/West Sand Lake Road as a new hotel!
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
To the Festival Bay Mall bit; the place is living on its last bit of borrowed time. The only thing keeping it afloat is the Bass Pro Shop and existence of the outlets back there. Those outlets are actually very busy, and I don't think expanding the Vineland outlets will hurt them at all. I don't personally go to that outlet mall (I-Drive), though, so it may not be as booming as some suggest. The possibility is there, but I don't find it very likely. Festival Bay Mall is on its way out, though.
For the Tangelo Park suggestion...yeah, never gonna happen. They'd have better luck moving Dr. Phillips HS. That little community is one reason Orlando Thrill Park got killed.
For the Tangelo Park suggestion...yeah, never gonna happen. They'd have better luck moving Dr. Phillips HS. That little community is one reason Orlando Thrill Park got killed.
Horizonsfan
Well-Known Member
Festival Bay Mall was recently acquired by a new development group that wants to convert it into additional outlets. In fact its the former owner of the premier outlets located across the street. If they have any idea of what Uni is up to, they're not going to give up that land easily. Even if they did, I'm not sure that Uni would want it. It's a lot of land but its in a kind of awkward location.
If they truly want to use the properties that they currently own:
Given that Major Blvd and its hotel is the next likely area to be acquired/developed, I'd think they'd focus on taking all of Kirkman road south. They'd in essence make Kirman their main artery connecting the "original" property, the major blvd area, and the land to the south. The hardest part would be working around Lockheed. I don't really see Lockheed being willing to sell.
The other possibility for their property to the south is to use it as a tool in acquiring more desirable property. By that I mean, combining physical land with a cash buyout to whatever properties they want. Could make it all that more appealing for the current property owners to get out.
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
I also just went through and came up with the market and assessed value of the parcels breaking up/bordering the largest plot between Universal Blvd. and Sand Lake Rd.
Market Value: $38,020,863
Assessed Value: $34,457,277
The additional acreage of said properties totals to 202.16 acres. For some sense of scale/comparison, IOA is 101.62.
In other words, with the land Universal has and the land adjacent to the property to remove some holes/possible problematic boundaries, they could build at least another resort area comparable to what they've already built (2 parks, parking garages, resort hotels, and a dining/nightlife/shopping district).
Market Value: $38,020,863
Assessed Value: $34,457,277
The additional acreage of said properties totals to 202.16 acres. For some sense of scale/comparison, IOA is 101.62.
In other words, with the land Universal has and the land adjacent to the property to remove some holes/possible problematic boundaries, they could build at least another resort area comparable to what they've already built (2 parks, parking garages, resort hotels, and a dining/nightlife/shopping district).
maxairmike
Well-Known Member
Valid points and pretty decent ideas, but I can fill you in on the working around Lockheed part that I bolded, and it might not be very hard as long as Universal is willing to pay (which they obviously are). There is a 100 acre plot included in the numbers I posted above that appears to be a failed/abandoned condo resort development (Palazzo LLC...anyone recognize the name from another failure closer to Disney?). This plot butts right up against part of the northern boundary of their large plot between Universal Blvd. and Lockheed. If they could gain transportation easements/ROW via Kirkman land, you could go straight into that property.
Oh, and thanks for the Festival Bay bit, I didn't know they had bought it.
Oh, and also interesting that the land is 15x more valuable than the building ($15mil for the land, $1mil for the building). Of course the building is starting to go to crap because of lack of maintenance, so not really surprising.
jt04
Well-Known Member
The concept art for the new hotel is perfect. Home run for a Florida locale and sunshine.
This is very similar to what Splitsville was going for originally then we got the updated version. Aesthetically it is more mid-sixties whereas the old version was more late 50's early 60's IMO. I definitely prefer the earlier design.
Kudos to the design team. I might have to move there. lol
This is very similar to what Splitsville was going for originally then we got the updated version. Aesthetically it is more mid-sixties whereas the old version was more late 50's early 60's IMO. I definitely prefer the earlier design.
Kudos to the design team. I might have to move there. lol
How is it any different when Disney adds a new resort/DVC? People get all excited over that as well.
I somewhat agree. However, it at least LOOKs like it will actually be themed, instead of tacky oversized props.
That's false. The resort never had express pass. So it can't take it away. As I said in another thread, the unlimited Express Pass can be purchased by ANYONE who visits the parks. Until we see the pricing structure for this hotel, I will reserve judment on whether or not it actually matters. I agree that it is definitely a negative, but I wonder if it's a door to them to start charging all resort guests for the express pass (at a discount, I would think).
Because unlike you, most people on this board have the capability to think. The FPs at Disney are FREE to ALL guests. On-site, off-site, day guests from Mars, etc. NO ONE pays for it.
Universal charges for their Express Pass. On-site guests received it for free as an incentive to stay on-site. And let's face it, Universal needed it, not just for people to stay at the hotels, but to visit the parks.
They can't take something away from a resort that never had it.
That may or may not be true. But guests staying at the new resort will be able to purchase the express pass. Whether or not one is better-off staying off-site will depend on the room rates and transportation options.
So you're praising a hotel Disney built while lamenting that other people are praising Universal for building a new hotel, did I get that right? And Disney very much will be worriede about Universal, especially if people do indeed decide to split their stay by staying at Universal.
These are the innovators who introduced a 20+ year-old film and 30+ as something new for the resort? The innovators who created, essentially, a slide show on the Castle? Where are the new rides? Oh yeah, a Little Mermaid Ride based on 40 year old technology. A Restaurant. NeVer seen one of those before!
Besides, why do you care? It's not like you would stay at it.