Universal considering UK theme park in Bedford

[roomraider]

I wanted to get an idea if the scale of this land compared to Florida. So I did some 'google earthing.'

This is the UK parcel of land, at around 469 Acres

View attachment 29121

This is pretty much all of the main Orlando site, including Volcano Bay but excluding Epic Universe and Endless Summer. It is a total of 697 Acres.

View attachment 29124

Out of interest I wondered how big one park was, so this is Islands of Adventure at just 84.4 Acres!

View attachment 29123

This is the interesting one... This is:

• Islands of Adventure
• City Walk
• 3 Hotels
• Water Park
• Parking Garages (that's what they call multi story car parks in the states right?)

All coming in at just 357 acres!!!

View attachment 29122

Given an outdoor waterpark is out of the question in the UK, and there's still 112 acres to spare, they could easily fit 2 parks, a City Walk and 3 or 4 hotels on this land!!!!

When I started measuring this, I genuinely did not expect to discover that the land was big enough for all of that... I was thinking maybe a park, 2 hotels and a city walk! But it's huge. In the back of my mind I'd also been wondering if maybe they hadn't gone public already, before that video, as they'd hoped to acquire more of the empty land around the site. Now I doubt that's even necessary!

First off its 2AM. Goto bed

Secondly Its a much bigger parcel of land than i thought too. Although its an awkward shape.
You´d have to imagine that any City Walk and Hotel sites would be situated in the north segment and the park(s) would be in the southern area to keep them away from the majority of housing.

That leads to a slightly awkward pinch point where the existing Marston Vale line station is. (which I assume would be where they´d want an entrance even if the MV line is somewhat underused compared to the East Midland Mainline on the east side.)

The long thing nature of that block of land makes it slightly awkward to wedge a second park in.

They could put one at either end of the entire site with city walk spanning the area between the two but then you might have an issue with the traditional British national past time of companing about the noise.

 

[Fleetwood_Mack]

I love how if this park does go ahead - despite being 60 miles further north it'll be easier to get to from Brighton (or anywhere on the Thameslink Bedford > Brighton line) than Thorpe Park. Just one train all the way up. Whereas Thorpe for me as an epileptic who has been asked not to drive, is something like 8 trains, a transatlantic ocean voyage and a 8 day trek through a jungle to get to (I am of course exaggerating slightly but it is an absolute faff of a journey for someone that also has CIDP)

In terms of public transport - they couldn't have chosen a better location. Not even an hour on the train from London St. Pancras, which is one of if not the best "served" of all the major London stations. And what service also runs from there? Eurostar! Traffic wise - it might be a different story. As I said before I have a friend that lives in Marston Moretaine and the roads can be a nightmare now.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

First off its 2AM. Goto bed

Secondly Its a much bigger parcel of land than i thought too. Although its an awkward shape.
You´d have to imagine that any City Walk and Hotel sites would be situated in the north segment and the park(s) would be in the southern area to keep them away from the majority of housing.

That leads to a slightly awkward pinch point where the existing Marston Vale line station is. (which I assume would be where they´d want an entrance even if the MV line is somewhat underused compared to the East Midland Mainline on the east side.)

The long thing nature of that block of land makes it slightly awkward to wedge a second park in.

They could put one at either end of the entire site with city walk spanning the area between the two but then you might have an issue with the traditional British national past time of companing about the noise.

Hadn't long finished work haha.

This is one way it could work very well, with both parks being in the 100 acre region, a city walk leading from transportation, and a shared entrance plaza for both parks.





Obviously this is just one quick layout knocked up in 2 minutes, I'm sure there are other, better ways of laying it out... Admin in particular probably wants to be on the most southeastern edge of the site, between both parks... But you get the idea, it's a fairly decent land layout to be fair, with the natural location of the transport hub being defined as central by the current station location.

Edited to add: BTW this makes city walk 30 acres plus a few more acres for the park entrance plaza... For scale, Orlando City Walk is only 11 acres!!! So there's plenty of scope for a smaller city walk and more park or admin space on that side of the site too...

 

[Tonkso]

Don't forget Wixams station being built to the east of the property on the Thameslink route (Midland Main Line). I would reckon any City Walk would span the site connecting both stations, with the massive upgrades coming to the Marton Vale line for East West Rail, the crowd dispersal at closing time would be much better with two stations serving different routes. Though I imagine Wixams would get the lions share, with the direct London train.

Edit: The location for Wixams was actually moved to basically mirror Kempston Hardwick. Who knows, it could be because of this project as BCC will want to maximise any benefits.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Don't forget Wixams station being built to the east of the property on the Thameslink route (Midland Main Line). I would reckon any City Walk would span the site connecting both stations, with the massive upgrades coming to the Marton Vale line for East West Rail, the crowd dispersal at closing time would be much better with two stations serving different routes. Though I imagine Wixams would get the lions share, with the direct London train.

Edit: The location for Wixams was actually moved to basically mirror Kempston Hardwick. Who knows, it could be because of this project as BCC will want to maximise any benefits.

That would be perfect... Only thing is they don't own the land that connects the two.... Not yet anyway.

 

[Matt N]

I love how if this park does go ahead - despite being 60 miles further north it'll be easier to get to from Brighton (or anywhere on the Thameslink Bedford > Brighton line) than Thorpe Park. Just one train all the way up. Whereas Thorpe for me as an epileptic who has been asked not to drive, is something like 8 trains, a transatlantic ocean voyage and a 8 day trek through a jungle to get to (I am of course exaggerating slightly but it is an absolute faff of a journey for someone that also has CIDP)

In terms of public transport - they couldn't have chosen a better location. Not even an hour on the train from London St. Pancras, which is one of if not the best "served" of all the major London stations. And what service also runs from there? Eurostar! Traffic wise - it might be a different story. As I said before I have a friend that lives in Marston Moretaine and the roads can be a nightmare now.

I imagine that this could be something to do with Brighton being directly South of London, placing you on the South-North rail lines. Bedford is also pretty much directly North of London, which would place you in pretty much perfect stead to get there easily on the train.

Thorpe Park, conversely, is West of London, placing it on the East-West rail lines. So for people living in places like Bristol or Cardiff, it’s easier to get to Thorpe Park on the train than it is to get to Bedford. I know for a fact that Thorpe Park is a quicker, less complex train ride from me (Gloucestershire) than Kempston Hardwick.

We in the South West are the main people who lose out with the location of this proposed Universal park. The chosen location North of London is an excellent choice, and wholly understandable given that Bristol and Cardiff have a much lower cumulative population than the big population centres up North, but that doesn’t make it any more convenient for those of us who live in the South West, unfortunately!

 

[Matt N]

Sorry to double post, but interestingly, Screamscape are suggesting that a Universal Studios park in Bedford may not be the only thing that Universal are planning in the UK. Lance is suggesting that Universal may be planning a second version of the upcoming Universal Horror Unleashed attraction in Las Vegas for London: https://www.screamscape.com/html/universal_great_britain.htm

This is due to Universal filing a trademark for “Universal Horror Unleashed” in the UK in January 2023.

It is thought that a Horror Unleashed attraction somewhere in London, similar to the upcoming attraction in Las Vegas, may serve as a softer introduction of the Universal brand to the UK market before the opening of the full-size theme park in Bedford, as well as serving as a method to test what types of scare attractions and haunts would work for the UK market before the opening of the full-size theme park in Bedford and the premiere of any potential Halloween Horror Nights event at the park. Furthermore, it is thought that a Horror Unleashed attraction in Central London could serve as a way to promote the park in Bedford to UK residents and tourists alike.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I imagine that this could be something to do with Brighton being directly South of London, placing you on the South-North rail lines. Bedford is also pretty much directly North of London, which would place you in pretty much perfect stead to get there easily on the train.

Thorpe Park, conversely, is West of London, placing it on the East-West rail lines. So for people living in places like Bristol or Cardiff, it’s easier to get to Thorpe Park on the train than it is to get to Bedford. I know for a fact that Thorpe Park is a quicker, less complex train ride from me (Gloucestershire) than Kempston Hardwick.

We in the South West are the main people who lose out with the location of this proposed Universal park. The chosen location North of London is an excellent choice, and wholly understandable given that Bristol and Cardiff have a much lower cumulative population than the big population centres up North, but that doesn’t make it any more convenient for those of us who live in the South West, unfortunately!

Even Bristol and Cardiff are only just outside the 2 hour drive zone Matt... So it's hardly an inconvenience, roads aren't too bad from those areas either, we're not talking Alton Towers levels of difficulty to access this site from the SW.



You're inside the 2 hour drive zone aren't you Matt? Doesn't help with public transport though...

 

[Matt N]

Even Bristol and Cardiff are only just outside the 2 hour drive zone Matt... So it's hardly an inconvenience, roads aren't too bad from those areas either, we're not talking Alton Towers levels of difficulty to access this site from the SW.

View attachment 29127

You're inside the 2 hour drive zone aren't you Matt? Doesn't help with public transport though...

According to Maps, I’m not; the site (denoted by Kempston Hardwick train station in my instance) sits a solid 2.5 hour drive from me on a good run. It’s currently showing as 2h 39m, with all bar 5 miles of the journey on non-motorway roads, from my location in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. I don’t know about specific routes from Bristol and Cardiff, but for me, the quickest route entails going along the main road I live along to Gloucester and then joining an A road at Gloucester that goes to Oxford before briefly joining the M40 for 5 miles and then coming off the M40 and going along more A roads. By comparison, Lego and Thorpe are both a simple nip along the M4 (and M25 in the case of Thorpe), and even Alton Towers, as much as it’s a nuisance for the last 30 minutes once you leave the motorway, has a fair amount of time on the M5 and M6.

I do debate the accuracy of that map, as if you’re using the site I think you’re using, it shows me as being well outside the 2 hour driving radius of Thorpe Park and Legoland Windsor, when I’m actually slightly under 2 hours from Legoland and pretty much bang on 2 hours from Thorpe Park. Both Lego and Thorpe are at least 30 minutes closer to me than the proposed site of this park.

Interestingly, the amount of miles to the site of this park from my location is showing as 119 miles, which is roughly the same as both Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, but the drive time is showing as 2h 39m, which is a good half an hour longer than that to Thorpe Park (2h 5m/122 miles) and Legoland Windsor (1h 55m/111 miles) and even slightly longer than that to Alton Towers (2h 25m/120 miles)
EDIT: To put this into context with cities, Bristol is currently showing as 2h 26m/124 miles from the site and Cardiff is 3h 5m/157 miles from the site.

Also, I’ve just checked again, and bizarrely, the drive time from my area has stayed at roughly 2h 39m, but the quickest route is now to go up to Birmingham, go around the M42 and cut down the M1, which is 150 miles rather than the previous 119… the previous 119-mile, almost entirely non-motorway, route is now 2h 41m.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

According to Maps, I’m not; the site (denoted by Kempston Hardwick train station in my instance) sits a solid 2.5 hour drive from me on a good run. It’s currently showing as 2h 39m, with all bar 5 miles of the journey on non-motorway roads, from my location in the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire. I don’t know about specific routes from Bristol and Cardiff, but for me, the quickest route entails going along the main road I live along to Gloucester and then joining an A road at Gloucester that goes to Oxford before briefly joining the M40 for 5 miles and then coming off the M40 and going along more A roads. By comparison, Lego and Thorpe are both a simple nip along the M4 (and M25 in the case of Thorpe), and even Alton Towers, as much as it’s a nuisance for the last 30 minutes once you leave the motorway, has a fair amount of time on the M5 and M6.

I do debate the accuracy of that map, as if you’re using the site I think you’re using, it shows me as being well outside the 2 hour driving radius of Thorpe Park and Legoland Windsor, when I’m actually slightly under 2 hours from Legoland and pretty much bang on 2 hours from Thorpe Park. Both Lego and Thorpe are at least 30 minutes closer to me than the proposed site of this park.

Interestingly, the amount of miles to the site of this park from my location is showing as 119 miles, which is roughly the same as both Alton Towers and Thorpe Park, but the drive time is showing as 2h 39m, which is a good half an hour longer than that to Thorpe Park (2h 5m/122 miles) and Legoland Windsor (1h 55m/111 miles) and even slightly longer than that to Alton Towers (2h 25m/120 miles)
EDIT: To put this into context with cities, Bristol is currently showing as 2h 26m/124 miles from the site and Cardiff is 3h 5m/157 miles from the site.

Also, I’ve just checked again, and bizarrely, the drive time from my area has stayed at roughly 2h 39m, but the quickest route is now to go up to Birmingham, go around the M42 and cut down the M1, which is 150 miles rather than the previous 119… the previous 119-mile, almost entirely non-motorway, route is now 2h 41m.

So you're looking at live traffic drive times rather than average times... Clearly something has happened on the roads today, because I cross checked the data from that website the night I first took that screen shot...

If you go onto google maps and change the 'Leave Now' time to a random Saturday or Sunday morning in the future, you'll see the average drive time from Bristol starts at 2:10



Having said that, You're definitely not in the 2 hour zone either way, Forest of Dean is the wrong side of the river I'm afraid, and also in a very rural area to start with, that alone will add time on... When you said Gloucester I'd hoped (assumed) you were the right side of the Severn. :/

 

[lemonylucas]

What do we think the plan is with Manor Road which is slap bang in the middle of the two sites? There are houses there and they’d be pretty much engulfed by Universal. Kind of reminds me of Energylandia how you have to go under the road to access the back of the park.

 

[Matt N]

What do we think the plan is with Manor Road which is slap bang in the middle of the two sites? There are houses there and they’d be pretty much engulfed by Universal. Kind of reminds me of Energylandia how you have to go under the road to access the back of the park.

I seem to remember reading on another forum that someone who lived locally and knew someone who lived in one of the houses along Manor Road said that an undisclosed buyer had been offering to buy their house for “a considerably inflated price” to make way for “a development”… if this is true, I’d assume that Universal may be trying to buy the houses along Manor Road.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I seem to remember reading on another forum that someone who lived locally and knew someone who lived in one of the houses along Manor Road said that an undisclosed buyer had been offering to buy their house for “a considerably inflated price” to make way for “a development”… if this is true, I’d assume that Universal may be trying to buy the houses along Manor Road.

I think they'll be trying to buy them. Hopefully they give the current owners a very very healthy payoff for the inconvenience of having to move, it's the least they deserve... Imagine how you'd feel... (Not 'you' specifically Matt, just all of us should put ourselves in their shoes.)

I imagine Universal are already all over this, otherwise there's a great opportunity for anybody with a spare £400k to quickly make a LOT of money with no effort whatsoever...

Check out this Land for sale on Rightmove

Land for sale in Lake View, Manor Road, Kempston Hardwick, Bedfordshire, MK43 for £400,000. Marketed by Urban and Rural Property Services, Ampthill

www.rightmove.co.uk

 

[Niles]

Some small news, the MP for Bedfordshire has made some comments on the resort and how the locals apparently feel.

He said he had been in "lots of discussions with Universal". "There are some exciting aspects of the project, but they also need it to work for the local area,"

He attended a "positive and constructive" meeting with leading executives from Universal and the local parish council, Stewartby and Kempston Hardwick.
He said parish councillors were able to put forward questions and concerns on behalf of their community. "There is a lot of real excitement among local residents, after some initial disbelief." "People are excited about the scale of the project and job opportunities, and see this as a chance to address longstanding concerns about our infrastructure."

He said residents felt the local area "has not had enough investment" in its road and rail connections. But he also acknowledged that people wanted to know what impact a huge theme park would have, and were keen to know specific details of any proposal. "There would be millions of people travelling to the park. There is lots of work still be done to make the idea work," he said.

Overall he said he was very positive about the potential development. "Fundamentally, this is one of the biggest opportunities to come to Mid Bedfordshire for a long time," he said.

Universal has ‘big vision’ for theme park area, says MP

Mid Beds MP Alistair Strathern says he is in 'lots of discussions' with the entertainment giant.

www.bbc.co.uk

Hopefully it at least seems while they have concerns the locals seem to be ok with the park, there are many great things the park being built would bring to the area and if better infrastructure comes with it, hopefully the locals and councils are happy to have it go ahead

 

[spicy]

I may be bias towards Universal as I really want to see this park happen but the locals should actually be all for for this park going ahead surely? It completely puts Bedford on the map of places to go in Europe. Somewhere most people would never even consider visiting previously. Plus all the infrastructure and job opportunitues it brings to the area.

What I worry about is in these situations it is usually the minority that outweigh the majority. It only takes a few locals to be completely against it and kick up a fuss to stop it from going ahead.

Look at all the problems Alton Towers faced just from a certain couple in Farley village. Regardless of all the locals that were completely for Alton Towers expanding they still caused AT huge problems and in 2004 even won the noise complaint court battle (they did lose all the succeeding court battles that took place upto 2011)

However all sounds very positive so far and the MP that is completely for the park going ahead is Labour so shouldn't be losing his seat in any upcoming elections which should help too as the project progresses.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I'm glad to see that the locals are generally in favour of the park, they'd have to be completely daft not to see all of the benefits it could bring.

But equally, I am not surprised they're asking questions of their infrastructure, the (temp) population is set to increase massively and suddenly, I'd be concerned too. Thankfully, Universal are exactly the right operators to address this. They'd never just plonk a park down on the current infrastructure without improving roads, rail, water, waste, electricity and networking first.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I found this link from the other one... Residents sharing their actual views... Not sure if it's been shared already, sorry if it has.

Universal Studios: Residents share views on Stewartby theme park plan

People react to the surprise news that Universal has bought land for a theme park.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Peet]

I found this link from the other one... Residents sharing their actual views... Not sure if it's been shared already, sorry if it has.

Universal Studios: Residents share views on Stewartby theme park plan

People react to the surprise news that Universal has bought land for a theme park.

www.bbc.co.uk

It's taken a while but here come the Disneyland references.

The news of the potential development - which could be the UK's answer to Disneyland - has been welcomed by Bedford Borough Council.

 

[Niles]

Another update, the MP for Bedford and Kempston Mohammed Yasin has asked locals to send in their thoughts so they can be brought up in his monthly meetings with Universal.


Source

The responses to his post seem mainly positive with people wanting the benefits of having a massive attraction on their doorstep

 

[Jamesss]

I expect a lot of locals will be in favour. For all the families in with kids, it'll be like having a bit of Orlando on their doorstep. A dream come true for many.

Let's hope there're no rare insects or ancient archeological artefacts on site.