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Universal United Kingdom Resort | Bedford, UK | Theme Park

Bowser said:
The majority of people who visit Universal UK will have never visited a Universal park anywhere let alone experienced a Harry Potter world. They will be delighted to experience the amazing replica that they've only seen on a screen before.

There's a reason Universal and Disney replicate their most popular IP's in each region.
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True. I guess my thinking though was a lot of British families who love theme parks do holiday in Florida. So if its too similar, is it not risking feeling samey? I get a lot of people won't have been to Florida however. I do just hope if there is a Harry Potter themed area there is something completely unique to the UK there. Not just a copy of Orlando. I get some bits might be exactly the same, but just one unique attraction at least to diversify it a little.
 
jasone said:
Anyway, I really wish Universal would stop pushing HP, not just because of Rowlings views, but also its just getting a bit tired and overdone when there are so many interesting IP's wiithout any attractions anywhere in the world. If you can go to the same Harry Potter worlds in so many different places it becomes a bit jaded and unimaginative.
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I agree with others that most people probably won't be visiting multiples of Universal's parks, so in that sense it doesn't matter, but I do agree that it's high time people move on to another series. I don't know if it's recency bias but it does truly feel that nothing is original anymore. Everything is a remake or a reboot or sequels upon sequels. The Harry Potter books exist and the movies exist. Why is there a television series NOW? I'm begging HP fans to read literally any other book.

The Harry Potter lands with relatively minor tweaks could've fit onto other IPs and the results would probably be just as good cause it's a Universal park (outside Texas). Disney pushes Star Wars stuff, but at least they come out with new stories in the same universe unlike HP which is currently just rehashing the same story all over again and people are gonna keep lapping it up. And yet Disney isn't slapping a Star Wars land in every park.
 
jasone said:
True. I guess my thinking though was a lot of British families who love theme parks do holiday in Florida. So if its too similar, is it not risking feeling samey? I get a lot of people won't have been to Florida however. I do just hope if there is a Harry Potter themed area there is something completely unique to the UK there. Not just a copy of Orlando. I get some bits might be exactly the same, but just one unique attraction at least to diversify it a little.
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Harry Potter is still one of the youngest franchises that Universal rely on at its theme parks.

Elsewhere we have the likes of Jurassic Park, Jaws, Nintendo, Transformers, The Mummy, The Simpsons, Transformers etc. We even have rumours of the first BTTF themed land, a series that will be over 45 years old by the time the park opens!

Only a few of the animated series like Minions and How to train your Dragon are more "contemporary" additions.

I think the majority of visitors would have been incredibly disappointed not to get Harry Potter in the UK, even if it's "just" a clone. I do appreciate the enthusiast perspective of wanting something unique and it would be nice to at least have an updated ride.

Besides, if you want a completely original HP world you can always head to Warner Bros Movie World in Abu Dhabi in a few years which will probably blow them all out of the water.
 
jasone said:
She literally pours her wealth into funding groups to actively revoke trans peoples rights in this country. Shes also not your average 61 year old, she has a huge platform and uses it to discriminate and push her views.
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This! Also the "lots of people her age have those views, it's normal!" argument is utterly flawed. If my great grandfather was a rampant racist, is it ok because he's old fashioned? Of course not!

I agree that I wish they'd branch away from HP a bit, but I suppose it's clearly what makes the money still, so I doubt it'll change anytime soon! The ministry land at Epic is proof that they've run out of ideas now. The atrium in the queue is impressive, but the land and ride do not feel like Potter at all because they've already done all of the good settings before.
 
Bowser said:
I suggest we either get her a log in then or move on.

In actual news, at the IAAPA this week Universal announced that phase 1 of the expansion will be under construction by the time the park opens in 2031!
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Agreed!
I'm very curious what the expansions will be and will they start construction noticeably after main construction or alongside
 
I'm surprised Universal haven't tried to improve Forbidden Journey given how many times it's been cloned. It's notoriously nauseating and I really think they should tame it slightly so it's more suitable for the whole family. Those dome screen sections do me in. 🤮
 
davidm said:
and this chap isn't happy

www.bbc.co.uk

Universal UK Resort work leaves homeowner 'heartbroken' at move

Ritchie Wood is almost brought to tears at he looks at the empty homes once loved by his neighbours.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
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I feel for the guy, I really do. It must be awful to lose your home of 11 years and know that it's going to be torn down. Being a tenant he's not getting any benefit from the inflated prices that Universal have presumably been paying the home owners.

However I feel like the media is trying really hard to create a negative narrative here and it's annoying me. A renter losing their home can happen for a multitude of reasons - any time a landlord decides to terminate or not renew a tenancy agreement. It must happen to tens of thousands of people a year. In fact it happened to me once many years ago when my landlord decided to sell on the property I was renting. Strangely the BBC were not interested in my story at the time. The only unusual thing in this case is that it's for a theme park. Even the guy in the article is kind of philosophical about it and the BBC are kind of putting words in his mouth.

Anyway, personally I'm absolutely buzzing to see the project ramping up.
 
Peet said:
However I feel like the media is trying really hard to create a negative narrative here and it's annoying me.
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Hmm imagine that. I don’t feel for the guy, some things are bigger us. “Im expected to be homeless in 2 months” … He has 2 months to find a new place.. we have FIVE YEARS of construction threads until we find out what they have built on top of this guys house 😎

Bring on the bulldozers 🚜 and get this thing moving
 
YoshiPoseidon said:
Hmm imagine that. I don’t feel for the guy, some things are bigger us. “Im expected to be homeless in 2 months” … He has 2 months to find a new place.. we have FIVE YEARS of construction threads until we find out what they have built on top of this guys house 😎

Bring on the bulldozers 🚜 and get this thing moving
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I do have sympathy for the chap having myself being given 2 months to find a new place earlier this year. It sucks massively.

But it happened to thousands of people in London earlier this year with the changes in landlord rules and wasn't covered in the news at all.

(Note he will have had 4 months notice minimum thanks to those exact new rules)
 
Overall, I think it's a pretty good sign that something as small as one guy (who's renting anyway) being made to move has been made into such a big issue. It just shows how overwhelmingly positive the general reaction is.
 
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