Someone last night leaked what looks like confirmation of the name of the new theme park that Universal Orlando is building near the Orange County Convention Center.
The image, which now has been making the rounds on Twitter and Reddit, shows what looks like an on-screen presentation in a big conference or ballroom. The fine print on the image says, "All content is in early development. Do not distrib(ute)," which of course, the leaker ignored, allowing us the potential news that the name of the park will be...
Universal's Fantastic Worlds.
— James (@jacqueshca) December 13, 2018
(I tried to track the image back to what appears to be the original source, above. If someone finds an earlier reference, please let me know and I will change it.)
Fantastic Worlds is one of two potential park names that Universal City Studios trademarked this year, the other being "Epic Universe." Now, the trouble with that name is that Universal's Epic Universe sounds, well, a little redundant. And I cannot imagine Universal opening a theme park that doesn't have "Universal" somewhere in the name. Remember, the official name of Islands of Adventure is "Universal's Islands of Adventure." Ditto for "Universal's Volcano Bay."
Since staying on point with the branding is essential, Universal's Fantastic Worlds seems the obvious choice for the park name, which lends credibility to the leak. Like many other big businesses, Universal routinely shares plans and concepts under development with partners and clients, allowing them to prepare to support any new business initiative at launch. So it's also likely that Universal is showing some advance concept work to people outside core management and Universal Creative.
Still, Universal hasn't official released or confirmed the name yet. And because plans can change pretty much up until the moment of launch (hello, Fox World Malaysia!), we're not going to declare this name a done deal. But if you want to get used to the initialism UFW, go right ahead.
Here's our previous coverage detailing what we know — and what we suspect — about Universal Orlando's next theme park.
Tweet
Josh Young on Theme Park University called this one months ago! He sure seems to have some good contacts.
I remember the simple days when a trip to Orlando could easily accomodate Disney and Universal in a week. With Disney's 4 parks and 2 water parks, plus Universal's 2 parks, water park, and this soon-to-be-developed third park, it's clear that I either have to get another job to pay for an insane 2+ week vacation, or I might have to finally start doing Disney OR Universal Orlando trips. It's just too much for one vacation now!
This also confirms that Super Nintendo World will have a large presence in the new park. AWESOME!
That actually lines up really well with what I've been hearing about the park, and it answers the question of where Nintendo will show up in Florida. I also think that likely means any IP used in the park will be set in some fictional location, so franchises that occur primarily in the real world can probably be omitted from consideration.
Fantastic Beast anyone?
I would love to see anything from Lord of the Rings.
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Universal's Fantastic Worlds seems to be the name for their expansion theme park in Orlando- this just confirms that likelihood.