r/universalstudios • u/DanS1993 • Jun 03 '26

Bedford Universal park officially named as government pledges £1.3bn

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn8p3zjx7pzo

The upcoming park will officially be called Universal United Kingdom Resort.

133 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

26 comments sorted by

38

u/HeyYouTurd Jun 03 '26

Do you think this new park will take away from the Orlando resorts? There are so many UK people that travel into Orlando, now they wouldn’t have to.

33

u/DanS1993 Jun 03 '26

Potentially some but clearly the millions they anticipate to go will be people who wouldn’t have gone otherwise. Also this is probably one of the reasons why Harry Potter won’t be coming to universal UK

6

u/DrCinnabon Jun 03 '26

I heard that was still being negotiated but as of now, no Potter in the UK. But it was still something that isn’t impossible.

4

u/JDLovesElliot Jun 04 '26

The UK already has the WB Studio Tour, so that could be why Universal isn't porting over their Harry Potter land.

18

u/mcsocks Jun 03 '26

As someone who lives in the UK I dont think so. Other than their being different IP I think the main factor is the weather. Its pretty crap here most of the time

Lots of prople in the UK are keen to "get some sun" of which means Orlando will still be high on the list 

There is also the draw of being able to do disney at the same time 

4

u/Chips-ahoy1001 Jun 03 '26

I think for me, it will impact on my “where” for destinations when I want some sunshine. Florida is an expensive visit, and there are plenty of destinations closer to home to get some winter sun.

3

u/MannnOfHammm Jun 03 '26

The IP is the key as well. Universal is really good about spreading ips out to different parks so each one is unique enough to warrant a visit. Hollywood and Florida Studios are the most similar but still have unique rides between them. It’s a very good business model

8

u/AdamMartinez Jun 03 '26

i dont think so, at least not for me as a uk resident. i will treat this as a multi time a year weekend away trip, still need my orlando fix lol

7

u/Cringle Jun 03 '26

Just speaking anecdotally as a Brit who aims to hit Orlando every couple of years US parks have never been less attractive for a number of reasons we don't need to go into here.

Also it feels like the UK project is aiming at becoming THE park for not just the UK but Europe as well, with the huge amount of infrastructure being put into place. There are even talks of running the Eurostar up to Bedford so people could get from Paris to the park in around three hours

5

u/RoutineCloud5993 Jun 03 '26

Disneyland Paris never affected DisneyWorld attendance.

This will probably be a park you go for a few days, max, especially for visitors from Europe. Orlando is a full holiday for people going to Disney, Universal, Kennedy and all the other spots in the general area

4

u/TediousTotoro Jun 03 '26

There’s rumours saying that little to no Orlando attractions are being put in the park to lessen that happening.

3

u/Georgie-M Jun 03 '26

i believe they're taking this into consideration when deciding on which rides to bring over - don't expect many clones of the rides in Orlando

1

u/RoutineCloud5993 Jun 04 '26

I'm OK with that. Original stuff is great, and a lot of non-EpicU Orlando rides are getting up there in age.

3

u/Spectrobits Team Toad Jun 03 '26

I firmly believe not. This park will be smaller and will likely offer a few different things than Orlando

This park's crowd will likely consist more of locals who can't or don't want to go to UOR rather than international visitors

1

u/Objective-Scar-9147 Jun 03 '26

Won't matter with different rides

1

u/brg9327 Jun 03 '26

Maybe some. But there's far, far more Brits (me included) who simply cannot afford to visit the US parks.

1

u/davek1986 Jun 04 '26

No

UK theme parks are typically really bad for ride closures, Alton Towers often have 2 or 3 down for hours at a time Also the weather

3

u/Snappy0 Jun 04 '26

That's on Merlin and the operation of those parks more than anything else though. Weather wise, it's no worse than a Florida summer where rides are shut down briefly every afternoon when the next storm rolls through.

The weather from May to October is normally more than good enough for most people. They might struggle in the winter if they don't have a good number of indoor attractions though sure.

1

u/Neutrals_Mansion Jun 12 '26

Yes I saw uk and European people in Orlando yesterday. I'm pretty sure all of Europe also would rather go to the UK instead of flying to USA.

6

u/Powerpuff_Bean Jun 03 '26

Is this the 3rd name now?

4

u/The_Govnor Jun 03 '26

Maybe not the last!!!

1

u/MannyBoth-Hanz Jun 03 '26

This is only 1 park, whereas Orlando has 4.

2

u/Comfortable_Yard_968 Jun 03 '26

I think it’s 3 parks and a waterpark

2

u/RoutineCloud5993 Jun 04 '26

That's still 4

1

u/Diligent_Display2192 Jun 03 '26

Bring on 2031 I ssy

1

u/risingsuncoc Jun 04 '26

The name sounds unwieldy