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Universal UK theme park in Bedford

Interesting "inside source" report from the BBC this morning;

www.bbc.co.uk

James Bond, Paddington and Lord of the Rings set for Universal UK

Lord of the Rings and 007 – but not Harry Potter – are expected at the Bedfordshire theme park.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

James Bond, Paddington and Lord of the Rings are among the brands set to appear at the park, the BBC has learned.

Rides and attractions related to Harry Potter are not expected to be included.
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The BBC has been told that other themed zones and rides at the park will be inspired by Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Minions.
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I heard a few people say that the proposed 'Shrek' land looks undeveloped when you compare it to the rest of the concept art, so perhaps this is just a placeholder until the final IP get confirmed? It seems odd that we've got this yellow/golden path elsewhere except this 'Shrek' land, who knows?

So maybe we will see a LOTR there or in future expansion.
 
When I read that article it honestly just read as though an enthusiast wanted attention and wrote in to the BBC with some guesses they'd made after looking at the concept art.

As for LotR, is it definitely going to be the big draw that we think it will be? I honestly think I know of one person that would be excited by it, and everyone else would be ok with it but certainly wouldn't flock to Bedford for it. Maybe I'm just in the wrong crowd for it!
 
As much as LOTR deserves a fully immersive Galaxys Edge style land, you could easily do a similar style of land to Hogsmeade with restaurant, shops etc with a force perspective mountains and Minas tirith castle in the distance with a major dark ride.

Ethan said:
As for LotR, is it definitely going to be the big draw that we think it will be? I honestly think I know of one person that would be excited by it, and everyone else would be ok with it but certainly wouldn't flock to Bedford for it. Maybe I'm just in the wrong crowd for it!
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It's definately more niche than Potter, but also a completely unique IP and may actually tempt more people from all over the world to visit than Potter would have as that can already be found in the other parks.

Personally being a huge LOTR fan this would be my number one IP to choose, the fact LOTR has no theme park representation anywhere in the world is criminal and I definately didn't think in a million years the first LOTR land may be going to the UK.
 
Lord of the Rings is one of those enduring things. Facebook thinks I really like it, which is strange, as I'm completely indifferent to it, really! There's definitely a big following, though - it could end up being a bit of good luck if Universal can't use Harry Potter and has to use LotR instead. If the area includes that mysteriously vague building as well, it could be better than it seems.

I'm struggling to imagine how they could do Jaws though, as there doesn't seem to be enough room for the boat ride. An indoor version, perhaps.
 
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First of all, this is amazing news. I've been dreaming and hoping for Universal's entry into Europe for years. Kind of surreal it's finally happening.

While everything is of course speculation at the moment, I did find the concept art and the apparent IP's a little bit of a letdown.

I thought Paddington, Jurassic World, Back to the Future, Minions and the tiny JAWS area made a lot of sense, but while Shrek is iconic in my book and I would love to have an entire area dedicated to it, I thought the park was missing that huge impressive IP - call it their Potter replacement if you will. In addition, the balance seemed sort of "off", with 3 entire lands aimed at families. And then the WaterWorld stuntshow, while seemingly popular, also seemed a bit out of place. So the rumours reported by the BBC about Lord of the Rings and James Bond makes a lot of sense to me. Shrek is a decoy and so is Water World. Lord of the Rings will take up that entire plot between Minions and Jurassic World, and James Bond will be an indoor show within the entrance area. If Paddington is then also included in the 'Hollywood/Studios/Entrance' area, then the 4 lands claim from Mike Cavanagh also fits.

That would give us James Bond, Paddington and Jaws as part of the main street/hub, and the following 4 lands:
Back to the Future
Jurassic World
Lord of the Rings
Minions

That would be an absolute dream line-up for me personally and something that would really make Universal's entry into Europe spectacular. But while I do think it makes sense, there's also quite a bit of wishful thinking involved from my part, and it would almost be too good to be true, but damn it would be something special.
 
Railfan uk said:
View attachment 36942
This potential back to the future coaster looks to have a swing launch and switch tracks! It’s a very interesting layout looks like it may be the new tallest coaster in the uk! Thorpe park will be fuming if that happens!
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Good ! serves merlin right for doing the bare minimum to get the height record off the big one if they had gone all out maybe the height record would of been with them for much longer.
 
Niles said:
View attachment 36949

Yea so as of now i dont think we are getting either going off the concept, i know its cold and wet here but like an ice cream on the beach even if is snowing i kinda still want one.

Hopefully we at least get a boat dark ride but i was looking forward to a modern flume or rapids.
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If the speculated Jaws dark ride towards the entrance proves to be true, I would love to see the new Mack rocking boat hardware used! Equal parts terrifying and awesome haha 🦈
 
As for the green coaster adjacent to Jurassic World, a Vekoma tilt perhaps…? Add that to the BTTF multi launch with a potential record new height/speed combo and they’d have some strong heavy hitters; questionable thorough put concerns though
 
J_Taylor said:
As for the green coaster adjacent to Jurassic World, a Vekoma tilt perhaps…? Add that to the BTTF multi launch with a potential record new height/speed combo and they’d have some strong heavy hitters; questionable thorough put concerns though
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The green one looks like B&M box track to me in the slightly higher resolution image. It seems to be a hyper/speed coaster although it has an usual twisting first drop followed by two really tall inversions. So a bit of a combination of The Hulk/the clone in Beijing (especially the water interaction) and Hollywood Dream.

I don't think B&M has ever done inversions without OTSRs or vest restraints so might be completely wrong with that guess.

The blue coaster does definitely look like the next evolution of Intamin blitz coaster with multiple switch tracks and a backwards and forwards spike (would fit the BTtF theme). Gold Rush on steroids basically. I can't see the throughput being any worse than Velocicoaster, there will be multiple block sections between the switch tracks and launches.
 
Niles said:
Yea so as of now i dont think we are getting either going off the concept, i know its cold and wet here but like an ice cream on the beach even if is snowing i kinda still want one.

Hopefully we at least get a boat dark ride but i was looking forward to a modern flume or rapids.
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Would be silly to build a ride that cannot operate for months of the year in a 365 park. They've also become a maintenance nightmare and logistically difficult with health and safety regulations in the UK.
 
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