What's new
By:
FORUMS - COASTERFORCE

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Universal United Kingdom Resort | Bedford, UK | Theme Park

Nicky Borrill said:
I can't believe this is on page 3 of the rumours section... Meanwhile, in Dan's latest video it looks like ground works are now well under way, with lots of heavy machinery on site.

Did London Resort affect us this badly? 🫣😂🤣😂
Click to expand...
I think it shall be referred to as "The Park that shall not be named" in the future

Nice to hear things are moving forwards but I was never a dirt photo botherer. Call me when there's vertical construction.
 
Shawn has a video out... First official TPW construction VLOG... Claims that construction has officially started... But that's not the point of my post...

In the video there's a bit where he is looking out from Stewartby over a field, not a Universal field, but one close by....

Screenshot 2026-02-26 210205.jpg

It gives you a perspective if you haven't been to the site yet, as to just how massive it is... This field, as far as the distant hedgerow, is marked in green on the map below... Where as the other marked areas are all just the core zone and lake zone... (Excluding East and West gateway.) The land they own is absolutely massive.

Screenshot 2026-02-26 210622.jpg

Anyway, just thought some of those who had never visited the site might be interested in some perspective.
 
I like John Burton's stuff. He'll have meatier budgets, which will result in far better attractions than what we have already at the Merlin parks. At the end of the day Merlin is only a regional park operator, their stuff doesn't hold a candle to what Universal are known for. With that said, themed entertainment is actually an art form made up of multiple other art forms including but not limited to cinema and theatre. One only needs to read the Marty Sklar book 'One Little Spark' to gain more of an appreciation for what theme park creatives dream up in general.
 
CineramaMax said:
I like John Burton's stuff. He'll have meatier budgets, which will result in far better attractions than what we have already at the Merlin parks. At the end of the day Merlin is only a regional park operator, their stuff doesn't hold a candle to what Universal are known for. With that said, themed entertainment is actually an art form made up of multiple other art forms including but not limited to cinema and theatre. One only needs to read the Marty Sklar book 'One Little Spark' to gain more of an appreciation for what theme park creatives dream up in general.
Click to expand...
You must only be saying that to get a reaction, 60 million annual visitors, 130 locations, across 4 continents. "Only a regional park operator ". Universal have fewer visitors, fewer parks, across fewer continents BTW. Obviously that doesn't make Merlin better, but what's the point of an obviously inaccurate dig that Merlin are only a regional operator?
 
MannekenPis said:
You must only be saying that to get a reaction, 60 million annual visitors, 130 locations, across 4 continents. "Only a regional park operator ". Universal have fewer visitors, fewer parks, across fewer continents BTW. Obviously that doesn't make Merlin better, but what's the point of an obviously inaccurate dig that Merlin are only a regional operator?
Click to expand...
In terms of scale of individual attractions, I think they’re right.

Yes, Merlin has more visitors, but in terms of the calibre of individual attractions they operate, Merlin aims squarely for the cheaper, smaller-scale regional market and invests in its attractions accordingly. Whereas Universal builds more expensive, higher-calibre attractions that pull people from across the world and gain huge visitor numbers individually.

Merlin attains high aggregate guest figures through raw quantity of parks and attractions. Universal attains them through far less attractions and ridiculous numbers of visitors per attraction. While they do operate less attractions, the calibre of attraction they do operate is on a different level, makes far more money and resultantly has far more money put into it.

The propositions are fundamentally different, which is why Universal offers greater budgets and probably offers greater freedom as a result for a creative like John Burton.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top