Disney may have chosen France over the United Kingdom all those years ago, but now the UK has won the latest Theme Park battle: getting the European continent’s first Universal Studios Theme Park.
According to the BBC, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has confirmed the long rumoured plans, hosting a press conference earlier today with Comcast Corporation President Mike Cavanagh. Alongside the announcement came a few pieces of information, and the first concept art for the park. Here’s what we know.
The Location
The park will be located on a former brickworks site in Bedfordshire, a little over 100km out of London. Universal has purchased 476 acres of land to build the park, with the option to extend the site to some 700 acres.
How will we get to the park?
With the Prime Minister on board, and tens of thousands of infrastructure jobs promised, the park will be a boost for upgraded transport to and from the area. Getting there will be made easier by the promised expansion of rail lines to the area, as well as the confirmed expansion of London Luton Airport, which is less than 40km away from the planned park site. So more flights will be making their way to Luton, giving a more direct line to the park for international visitors.
What IP will be at the park?
Four lands are promised, though no details on what those lands will be.
We can presume the Illumination brand would be featured for the little ones (e.g. Despicable Me / Minions), and they have yet to build an international Universal park without Jurassic Park.
I’d be interested to see if Harry Potter is on the cards, given its popularity and the fact that it originated here. But do Warner Bros. have the exclusive rights in that region, given the already popular studio attraction? This is unclear.
And could Super Nintendo World come as well? Once their new Orlando and Singapore locations open up later this year, they have no other scheduled expansions.
In concept art revealed (see above), the park will revolve around a central water feature – not dissimilar to their Singapore location. Though seemingly at a much larger scale. There are at least three outdoor roller coasters, and a lot of indoor attractions – which, given the weather in the UK, seems like a good plan. No doubt Singapore point is a reference for this as well, given their heat, humidity and regular rain.
And do I spot a Waterworld-esque live show up the back there? There are also plans for an on-site, 500 room hotel.
What will they call it?
This hasn’t been confirmed, but we don’t see them calling it Universal Studios Bedford. So you can assume Universal Studios London or Universal Studios UK would be the front runners.
The Opening Date
We don’t have a specific opening date, but “2031” is the target. This is ambitious considering no work seems to have begun yet on the site. But given how relatively quickly they have pulled Epic Universe together, it’s completely achievable.
Stay tuned to the AU as more details develop!
