Location | Bedford, England |
---|---|
Coordinates | 52°05′23.1″N0°29′58.5″W / 52.089750°N 0.499583°W |
Status | Planned |
Opens | TBA (potentially by 2030) [1] |
Owner | Universal Destinations & Experiences (NBCUniversal) |
Operated by | Universal Destinations & Experiences |
Theme | Show business and Universal entertainment |
Area | 700 acres |
Website | universalukproject |
Universal Studios United Kingdom is a planned 700-acre theme park and resort to be located in the town of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. [1] [2]
Announced on 19 December 2023, It is the first Universal Studios Resort in the United Kingdom, and Universal's third attempt at a European resort, [lower-alpha 1] and is to be located approximately 45 minutes north of London. [2] The planned site is to be located on a plot of land mostly within the A421 road, B530 road, and Broadmead road, with Manor road cutting through it. The planned site is split into four "zones": the "Core Zone" is where the theme park and hotel(s) are to be located, the adjacent "Lake Zone" located north of the "Core Zone" is intended for mixed-use purposes (likely a Universal CityWalk), and two transportation hubs dubbed the "East Gateway Zone" and the "West Gateway Zone" [5] Universal has yet to proceed with the project, however construction could potentially start as early as January 2025, with an opening expected around 2030. [6] [1]
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France. located about 32 kilometres east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, and a shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Opened on 12 April 1992, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of The Walt Disney Company.
PortAventura World is an entertainment resort in Salou and Vila-seca, Tarragona, on the Costa Daurada in Catalonia, Spain. It was built around the PortAventura Park theme park, which attracts around 5.3 million visitors per year, making it the most visited theme park in Spain and the sixth most visited theme park in Europe.
Dubailand was an entertainment complex planned to be built in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which was owned by Tatweer. When announced in 2003 it was one of the most ambitious leisure developments ever proposed anywhere in the world costing $64.3 billion. The development was put on hold in 2008, due to the 2007–2008 financial crisis, Great Recession, and the Dubai housing crash in 2009, but resumed in mid-2013. Updates in 2013 showed that $55 billion had been raised towards the works.
Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertainments and includes rides, themed cabins, live events and Hyperia, the United Kingdom's tallest and fastest rollercoaster. In 2019, Thorpe Park was the UK's third most visited theme park, behind Alton Towers and Legoland Windsor. However, in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the park only had a 125-day operation season, along with limited capacity, leading to massively reduced visitor numbers.
Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a 541-acre (219 ha) theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. Following the opening of Universal Studios Florida in 1990, MCA moved forward with plans to expand from a single park into a large resort hoping to compete with Walt Disney World. In 1999, a second theme park called Universal Islands of Adventure opened in addition to Universal CityWalk, a shopping promenade and nightlife district that incorporates a variety of themed hotels, restaurants, and retail outlets. A third park, 30-acre (12 ha) water park Universal Volcano Bay, was added in 2017, and a fourth theme park, Universal Epic Universe, is scheduled to open in 2025.
Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of The Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of Walt Disney World.
Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), formerly Universal Parks & Resorts, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast.
Universal Studios Florida is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, that opened on June 7, 1990. Owned and operated by NBCUniversal, it features numerous rides, attractions, and live shows that are primarily themed to movies, television, and other aspects of the entertainment industry. Universal Studios Florida was the first of three theme parks to open at Universal Orlando Resort, joined later by Universal Islands of Adventure in 1999, and Universal Volcano Bay in 2017. In 2019, it ranked eleventh in the world – sixth in North America – for overall attendance among amusement parks with approximately 10.9 million visitors. A fourth park, Universal Epic Universe, is expected in 2025.
Universal Studios Singapore is a theme park located within the Resorts World Sentosa integrated resort at Sentosa in Singapore. It features 28 rides, shows, and attractions in seven themed zones. It is one of the five Universal Studios theme parks around the world.
Resorts World Sentosa is an integrated resort on the island of Sentosa, which is located off the southern coast of Singapore. The key attractions within RWS include one of Singapore's two casinos, Universal Studios Singapore theme park the Adventure Cove Waterpark, as well as the S.E.A. Aquarium, which is the world's second largest oceanarium.
Universal Creative is the division of Universal Destinations & Experiences responsible for designing, developing, engineering and producing themed attractions, rides, and resorts. Headquartered in Orlando, Florida the company operates at Universal Parks & Resorts locations around the world in the United States, Singapore, Japan and China.
Tokyo DisneySea is a theme park at the Tokyo Disney Resort located in Urayasu, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, just next to Tokyo. It opened on 4 September 2001, at a cost of 335 billion yen. The Oriental Land Company owns the park, and licenses intellectual property from The Walt Disney Company. In 2022, Tokyo DisneySea hosted 10.1 million visitors, making it the eighth-most visited theme park in the world and the third-most visited in Japan.
Universal's Halloween Horror Nights is an annual Halloween-themed event at Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Hollywood, Japan and Singapore. The longest-running and most successful iteration of the event, in Orlando, Florida, began as Universal Studios Fright Nights in 1991 as a 3-night event at Universal Studios Florida. The following year, it was re-branded as Halloween Horror Nights, advertised as the "second annual event". Since then, it has evolved into a scare-a-thon event filled with themed haunted houses, scare zones and shows that runs over the course of select nights from early September until late October/early November, inspiring offshoots at other Universal Studios locations across the globe.
Wixams railway station is a planned railway station that is due to be built on the Midland Main Line for the Wixams new town development in Bedfordshire, England. It is proposed that the station be between Bedford and Flitwick.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is a chain of themed areas at Universal Destinations & Experiences based on the Harry Potter media franchise, adapting elements from the Warner Bros.' film series and original novels by J. K. Rowling. The areas were designed by Universal Creative from an exclusive license with Warner Bros. Entertainment.
Universal Studios Beijing is a Universal theme park in Beijing that opened on September 20, 2021 as part of Universal Beijing Resort. Invited-only test operation started on September 1, 2021. The park would become the fifth Universal Studios-branded theme park in the world, the seventh Universal-built park overall, and the third in Asia, after Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Singapore.
PortAventura Park is a theme park located in the PortAventura World Resort, 85 km southwest of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in the municipalities of Salou and Vila-seca, on the Costa Daurada. The park opened on 1 May 1995 under the management of the Tussauds Group which had a 40.01% share in the park, La Caixa (33.19%), Anheuser-Busch (19.9%) and FECSA (6.7%). It opened to the general public on 2 May 1995.
The Universal Beijing Resort, commonly known as Universal Beijing, is a theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Beijing, China. Invite-only test operation started on September 1, 2021, and the full operation started from September 20, 2021.
Universal Epic Universe is an upcoming theme park under construction in Orlando, Florida. Scheduled to open in 2025, Epic Universe will be the third theme park and fourth park overall to open at Universal Orlando. The 750-acre (300 ha) park will become the resort's largest and will feature five themed areas named Celestial Park, Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)