Universal's next theme park will soft-open to guests sometime next spring, officials in China said today.
The news service Xinhua reports that officials with the culture and tourism management commission of Beijing's Tongzhou District said that Universal Studios Beijing will open for trial operations in the spring of 2021. A previous report last month estimated that the soft opening would begin sometime in the first half of the year.
Universal Studios Beijing will be Universal's largest single theme park and offer seven themed lands: Kung Fu Panda Land of Awesomeness, Transformers: Metrobase, Minion Land, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade, Jurassic World Isla Nublar, WaterWorld, and Hollywood Boulevard. It will be Universal's sixth theme park, following Universal Studios in Hollywood, Florida, Japan (Osaka), and Singapore, plus Islands of Adventure in Orlando. Universal last year announced Universal's Epic Universe in Orlando as its seventh theme park worldwide, but plans for that park have been paused due to the pandemic.
Universal has not yet announced an official opening date for Universal Studios Beijing. The park revealed the line-up for its CityWalk dining and entertainment district earlier this summer.
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Although the waterworld movie was a flop, it’s my understanding that the Stunt show st Hollywood is anything but.
As long as China keeps its domestic COVID-19 rates down, I think this should be a success. Their internal tourism sector should be more than big enough for it.
You're right, Chad, the WaterWorld movie was objectively awful. But the stunt show based on the movie in Universal Hollywood is AMAZING. I don't know how they turned such terrible IP into such an outstanding show, but they did (I still miss the old Miami Vice stunt show which preceded it, and the A-Team stunt show before Miami Vice, but WaterWorld is probably better than both of those in my opinion).
I have trouble picturing a land devoted to the film, but...I wish them luck with it.
I'm pretty sure the WaterWorld land is just the stunt show stadium. Universal Studios Japan has a WaterWorld land too and thats all it is.
What attractions will be featured?
The most memorable things about visiting Beijing for me:
-Always feeling like I was going to choke on the air
-The air smelling like eggs
-The constant haze of pollution and not being able to see the sun
-Taxi driver scams
-Random other scams
-The most inasne traffic jams i've ever seen (coming from someone that used to live in LA)
...and visiting the Great Wall which was pretty cool
Can't wait for Universal Beijing looks amazing. Assuming the pandemic is over by that time it's gonna be very hard to chose between Orlando or Beijing for the first park we go back in 2021!
@the_man My husband is Chinese so can't speak for the scam part but I've been there 4 times and the air quality was better the when I visited LA. It really depends on the time of year we always go in mid to late April or beginning of May. In the summers and winter the air is indeed awful but in that time of year its not worst then any other major city around the world. That is unless there's a dust storm which thankfully I've never experienced.
When I visited in a February, I don't remember having any problems breathing. I guess it fluctuates. The scams were pretty common in tourist areas, I agree, although nothing that couldn't be dodged with a bit of research and keeping your wits about you. I only really found it a problem in Shaghai though (and around the Great Wall, of course).
I've always found it hilarious that apparently we Westerners stink like dairy to people from other cultures. Given how much cheese I eat even compared to other people, it must be like a bomb going off every time I enter a room.
I was really hoping I might be able to get back to Beijing for the opening of Universal. Shanghai left me relatively indifferent, but I loved Beijing, and a world class theme park would only sweeten that deal. That Jurassic World ride looks like it's going to be a game changer.
@Ben Mills... lol about the dairy thing my in-laws mentioned that too in a jokingly way though. The thing I find most hilarious is getting ask to be taken in picture. The best one for me was at the Shanghai zoo in the Australia section there were statues of a "white family" and I almost created a Disney style photo line when my brother in-law ask for a pic next to them as a joke.
From what I can tell the brand new attractions will be a Jurassic World dark ride with Spidey/Trans vehicles, a suspended coaster inside a volcano and an aviary, a sit down attraction based on The Great Wall and a Kung Fu Panda dark ride and land. There’s a clone of the Hulk coaster themed to Transformers plus Tranformers 3D, Minion Mayhem, Hogsmede and Waterworld.
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Wow. A Waterworld land. No doubt it will look awesome. It's just amazing that an IP that old based on a movie that was a flop can still be used in a new theme park.
Honestly, I'm surprised they haven't created a Fast and Furious land anywhere, given the international success of the movies. Despite the awful SuperCharged experience, I think there would be a lot of potential there. L.A. landscape, slot car style drag racing (or just a true slot car style ride), souped up cars to gawk at, stunt show, a chop-shop where you can dismantle your own freshly stolen vehicle and take home a part (think of it as a reverse Savi's Workshop), the possibilities are endless.