Theme park construction.
Universal Orlando has asked many of its big contractors to plan to stay on-site for at least a year following the completion of their current projects for the resort. Universal's clearly planning to continue major construction work on its properties after the completion of the current Cabana Bay and Harry Potter Diagon Alley projects.
But what for? Here's what we know will happen: Universal will be taking on major construction work in Jurassic Park and at the Wet n' Wild water park property. I've not yet seen blueprints for either of those projects, so I'm not willing to report specifics of what will be happening on those sites. But I do know from sources on the ground in Orlando that Universal's focus will shift in those directions once Cabana Bay and Harry Potter are completed.
Honestly? Any area or attraction that was built before The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened in June 2010, and that hasn't been substantially refurbished since, is a potential target for redevelopment over the next five to 10 years, either for a major Spider-Man or Springfield-like refurbishment, if not complete replacement. Banking so much cash from Harry Potter has convinced the NBCUniversal overlords to turn on the money hose for Universal's theme parks, and anything not up to "A"-grade quality (i.e. Disney-level finish standards) will be upgraded.
That's not just in Orlando. Remember, Universal Studios Hollywood has started its billion-dollar-plus "Evolution Plan" makeover of that property, with a new Central Plaza under construction, and Curious George and the Gibson Amphitheater closing over Labor Day to make room for Harry Potter. Throw in Despicable Me, a new hotel, at least two new attractions and a refurbished Studio Tour, and construction crews will remain busy on the mountain in Universal City for years to come.
Don't think the construction binge is simply a Universal development, either. Remember that Walt Disney World has Cars Land, Avatar and a Star Wars land all in various stages of development. Disney's Imagineers are slammed with work on Shanghai Disneyland, too.
I'm hearing that people at Disney would love to get going on expansion projects in Disneyland and California Adventure, building on the resort's momentum after the hit debut of Cars Land, but that the reawakening of Walt Disney World (following the reassignment of former Disneyland President George Kalogridis to oversee WDW) and the Shanghai work means that Disneyland doesn't have the parks division's development focus all to itself this time.
Another industry insider recently told me that theme park design firms simply can't staff fast enough for all the work in the business now, and with Imagineering and Universal Creative hiring so many top candidates, independent firms are having to get far more aggressive in recruiting than they have been in the past.
In short, if you're experienced in stagecraft, film production, architecture design, or construction management and want to get into the theme park business, now is the best time in a generation to do that. Join TEA. Get down to Orlando for the IAAPA Attractions Expo in November. And when you get your gig, don't forget who encouraged you. We love leaks at Theme Park Insider! ;^)
Even fans who don't care about the business of making theme park attractions can get excited about the industry's direction. More construction means more and better attractions in the years to come, in Orlando, in Southern California, and in Asia, not to mention at all the regional parks around the world that are hiring independent design firms to help them compete with Universal's and Disney's new developments.
It's not just a great time to be a theme park designer. It's a great time to be a theme park fan.
Update: Cedar Fair announces a three-year, $50 million capital improvement project for Carowinds, which will include new attractions.
Which new project are you most looking forward to visiting?
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And working with James Cameron is a huge bonus, even though I'm sure he frustrates the Imagineers sometimes. I really want to be in the room during a blue sky meeting with Cameron and Joe Rhode. Cameron has a near obsessive need to get every detail right, no matter how long it takes. Its why Avatar took 10 years to make. Its why the sequels are coming out now many years later than anticipated (who really thought Avatar 2 would be ready by 2015 though?) He took so long to make Avatar because he didn't want to release it til it was right. And Pandora at DAK won't make its debut til Cameron and the Imagineers get it right. But it will be worth the wait.
* Universal re-do Jurassic Park completely...and add a Jeep ride like in the original movie; add that Amber Rollercoaster that was rumored forever ago; add a Mr. DNA Dark Ride like we saw in the movie too...and add a really great fine dining restaurant themed to look like the restaurant that was in the original movie (the spare no expense restaurant with the beautiful dinosaur stained glass). Really make it feel like you are in Jurassic Park...and simultaneously fix all the sight lines so that you cannot see other areas of the park from Jurassic Park and vice versa. I want Jurassic Park to be so epic and awesome that it forces Disney to completely gut and re-do its Dinoland USA (because it will look so bad in comparison).
* I'd like to see Universal get rid of the rest of the Lost Continent stuff and just make that whole area all Harry Potter stuff. That's where things like the Shrieking Shack could go...which I envision as a kind of Harry Potter Haunted Mansion. I think they could also build another ride that's like the Deathly Hallows story...where they go after the horcruxes and travel to different places. That could be a combination dark ride and coaster type ride.
* Maybe Malfoy Manor and the graveyard from Goblet of Fire could be built along with the shrieking shack...so that between Hogsmeade and London there could be this spooky area that would take up all of where Lost Continent was. And then this spooky area could become the official Orlando headquarters for Halloween every year. But I think a really epic spooky area would be fun all year round. It would be Disney's Haunted Mansion but on steroids.
* Get rid of everything that looks cheap, like the cement that's painted. And fix it so that you can't see one area's theme from another area...so it feels like you are completely immersed wherever you are.
That's the one criticism I have always had with Universal...in the past, they built everything on the cheap and just threw a lot of junk together and didn't care how it looked side by side. Disney did this too with DCA in the beginning. Paradise Pier is still one of the ugliest amusement parks I have ever seen. It's worse than DinolandUSA and I thought that place was horrible.
* Pay the money and buy the rights to DC comics characters like Superman and Batman and Wonder Woman and all of them. Pull the trigger and re-do Super Hero Island at IOA to DC characters, with the Spiderman ride becoming a Batman ride. Make the whole thing Gotham City and spare no expense with it.
I think if they did the above (and more!) they could get at least one of the Universal parks to have higher attendance than Animal Kingdom and DHS. And if they really went to town with the spare no expense motto...they could even maybe eclipse EPCOT. If they did that, then Disney would be forced to pump huge sums into its own parks...and it would be the greatest thing ever, this competition.
This is like my Christmas wish list as a kid. I'm just so excited that Universal is seriously building beautiful things and not going cheap anymore.
Also, has Carsland East actually been confirmed to be happening beyond the shadow of a doubt by any reputable inside source thus far that can be cited?
Phil B, according to several other insiders Carsland was scrapped and it originally was going to be a D Ticket dark ride instead of RSR
- Brian
Resident Evil ride similar to that of Disney's Haunted Mansion? I like that idea and can see how it would work. It would have to be absolutely terrifying. The building itself is very Resident Evil-like as it would resemble the Umbrella corp and that they would be doing some scary experiments in there. Something goes awry in there and we have to go in to obtain a specific vial containing a deadly virus strain and get the heck out of there without getting bitten. Hee.
I also like the idea of the Shrieking Shack being built as a haunted ride though. I think both ideas would work even if they both exist. One would have to exist at the Islands of Adventure and the other being at Universal Studios.
I do wonder how the Hogwarts Express would work though considering the fact that they are involving two separate parks. I don't believe this is even an option at the Disney parks, you can use the Epcot, Bus, etc but they are all only accessible from outside of the parks while the Hogwarts Express is accessible from the inside of both parks. Would just anyone be able to get on it or would you need a park-hopper ticket to get onto it? Or will they just lump both of the parks together and charge one admission?
Just a few thoughts.
For instance, Kevin Yee just put out a column today where he says that Cars Land is postponed not canceled...and he said something about there being too much water in the area for Cars Land so they can't do it. They were going to do just a dark ride but now they are going to save that for the future and spend all the money on Star Wars.
Other sites are saying that Cars Land is still happening, but it won't have Radiator Springs Racers because of EPCOT Test Track.
I think an article from Robert addressing all the Cars Land info would be golden right now. Please write it Robert!
Disney's found that they'll have to do more modifications than they'd first thought to make Cars Land fit into the DHS site. And, as I wrote above, with such a crunch to staff up to support all the projects going on now, Cars Land blueprints are getting shuffled aside as Avatar and Star Wars design heats up.
Is the project dead? Not even close to it. But a lot of projects are pushing for time, money and attention right now. Who gets that first is a *huge* question at the moment.
I hope we do see Cars Land at DHS someday though. I heard they scrapped the plan for a full Cars Land. There would just be one ride, Radiator Springs Racers, or a new E-Ticket dark ride, which would take over the LMA/Backlot Tour area. The Streets of America area would become Monstropolis, which would include the long-rumored Monster Inc. door coaster. Hopefully this still happens, maybe even sooner than Cars Land. I do think Radiator Springs Racers could work at DHS, even with Test Track at Epcot. No one seemed to have a problem with Universal building Transformers at the Studios when IOA had Spiderman, and Transformers and Spiderman are much more similar than Radiator Springs Racers and Test Track are. The Seven Dwarves Mine Train coaster doesn't seem all that different from BTM.
If you think about it, the Disney parks are at capacity quite a bit. What is the incentive to build these new lavishly themed lands? I realize that park capacity can be raised when you open more space, but will the additional visitors pay for the new additions like Potter did for USF?
As I look at the numbers, I realized USF has a lot bigger buffer than Disney when it comes to how many more people they could squeeze into that parks on a given day, so the expansion works.
It would be like having the most popular nightclub in town that is packed to capacity every night, then adding something to bring in more visitors... at least that's the way I see the Disney expansion.
My only hope is that they do the new ride with Animatronics, not screens. All of Universal's new rides the last few years have been either entirely or mostly screen based. The last really good Animatronic Universal created was Imhotep for Revenge of the Mummy, and that was 9 years ago. It was an amazing figure then, but its starting to age a bit. That is why I still prefer Disney's product to Universal's. Seeing something on a screen like in Transformers or Harry Potter, is for me too similar to the actual movie itself. I really like when the movie is brought to life. I am a sucker for great AA's. The Cars Animatronics in Radiator Springs Racers are amazing. The Ursala figure for the Little Mermaid ride is very impressive. I look forward to seeing the Dwarfs for the Mine Train. Of course, Disco Yeti really needs to be fixed, because that was the greatest AA of all time. Your promised us Joe Rhode! Anyway, I really hope Universal creates some amazing new dinosaur Animatronics for the new ride. The size of the River Adventure AAs always impresses me, and now if they can combine that with much more advanced Animatronic technology, they can create something to rival Disney on the robotics front.
film division - 0.6%
broadcast (NBC, Telemundo, etc) - 2%
Cable (SyFy, UHD, USA, etc) - 40%
Theme Parks - 44%
Looking at the above, what would you invest in?
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