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Kent, England | The London Resort | Entertainment Complex

Not about the London Resort per se but for those who are perhaps wondering why so many people are negative about the chances of London Resort?

I re-came across this pre London Resort plan for a Theme Park on almost the exact same location just over the river in Rainham Marshes.

For those with long memories you may remember this was the plan to build a Universal Studios in East London. The problem was the company wasn't set on London and were looking at Paris too and it seemed Paris had the edge.

This article from June 1990 explains some of the details
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-12-fi-236-story.html

Now as you can tell by the lack of a great Universal Studios park outside London Or Paris the plans eventually fell apart although I cant imagine the details as to what happened. But it shows that its now been at least 31 years since the mention of a big brand East London Theme Park. No wonder people are sceptical
 
roomraider said:
Now as you can tell by the lack of a great Universal Studios park outside London Or Paris the plans eventually fell apart although I cant imagine the details as to what happened. But it shows that its now been at least 31 years since the mention of a big brand East London Theme Park. No wonder people are sceptical
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Hm. Whaddaya know, that's another argument to put on the pile next to all the others. The historical bungled promises are nice to know about, but as far as reasons to be skeptical about the London Resort goes, I'd say the argument pales a little compared to the recent-ish history of this project, the scope of the undelivered promises, the extreme vagueness of its details, and the laughable timeframe. I don't think I've seen a project presentation with more hot air than this one, possibly except Dubailand which lies in the middle of a desert.
 
If only Universal had the initial proposal rather than Paramount we may have been onto something here.

You could literally cut and paste the Singapore park layout onto this piece of land, throw in some Potter and it would be a licence to print money for Universal and the best park in the UK by an absolute mile.
 
roomraider said:
Not about the London Resort per se but for those who are perhaps wondering why so many people are negative about the chances of London Resort?

I re-came across this pre London Resort plan for a Theme Park on almost the exact same location just over the river in Rainham Marshes.

For those with long memories you may remember this was the plan to build a Universal Studios in East London. The problem was the company wasn't set on London and were looking at Paris too and it seemed Paris had the edge.

This article from June 1990 explains some of the details
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-06-12-fi-236-story.html

Now as you can tell by the lack of a great Universal Studios park outside London Or Paris the plans eventually fell apart although I cant imagine the details as to what happened. But it shows that its now been at least 31 years since the mention of a big brand East London Theme Park. No wonder people are sceptical
Click to expand...
The Universal Studios Paris stuff fascinates me as to what could've been. Would it have faced the same levels of public resistance and financial struggles as Disneyland, or would it have sparked an even larger theme park arms race in France/Europe and forced Disney to be more aggressive with their Paris resort? Would Parc Astérix have fallen to the wayside with two major resorts within an hour's drive from it, or would it have filled the SeaWorld/Busch Gardens slot as Paris became the Orlando of Europe? So many possibilities to consider.
 
Blooloop writes that the resort is now officially looking for suppliers. I cannot stop myself from thinking about this project actually becoming reality some day. On the other hand so many other projects have already failed and never opened.
 
I’ve had my first Summer Newsletter from them in my email inbox (I signed up for updates), and it basically said about how they’re looking for suppliers, how they’re seeking a few additional months to revise the proposals, and it also talked a bit about Base Camp.

All sounds fairly promising!
 
Matt N said:
I’ve had my first Summer Newsletter from them in my email inbox (I signed up for updates), and it basically said about how they’re looking for suppliers, how they’re seeking a few additional months to revise the proposals, and it also talked a bit about Base Camp.

All sounds fairly promising!
Click to expand...
Suppliers as in Intamin Giga yeah ;)
 
The formal examination of the plans has now once again been delayed by over 6 months, with the review now anticipated to start in April 2022: https://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartfo...DIJ5MxUjyTVi7jIInTaARY8w_866e2Q0l6vMtxyQU_lLM

I take it that means that it will almost definitely be targeting a 2025/2026 planned opening now as opposed to 2024… I guess that’s not the most surprising outcome given the SSSI designation and the kerfuffle that’s supposedly caused within the project, but it’s a rather sad one nonetheless.

Shame; with how much momentum the project was gaining in 2020 and early 2021, I really thought 2024 might be the year! Let’s hope they can work past their obstacles and get things moving for a 2025/2026 opening!
 
Hands up who's surprised by this development.

tumbleweed-highway.gif
 
Matt N said:
Let’s hope they can work past their obstacles and get things moving for a 2025/2026 opening!
Click to expand...
No flipping chance whatsoever. Universal Studios Beijing, which opened this week, had been under construction since 2016, after a 2014 announcement, with the design process probably stretching back another few years. These things take time. Disney approached James Cameron about an Avatar land in 2011, and it took six years until it was opened, after three years of construction.

If they want the park to open in 2025, they should have had shovels in the ground last year. 2026 is only doable if they manage to get all the paperwork about the planning permission, the negotiations about rights to use IPs, and the entire detail design process done in a single year. These things typically takes months or years on their own, and this project has so far not been atypically quick about anything. They've been bumbling along for a decade while still having major parts of the paperwork left to submit, yet still they've spent tens of millions of pounds in the process.

In short, it should be quite clear by now: This is not a theme park project. It is a scheme to part investors from their money.
 
In October next year, it’ll be a decade since I started this thread. 10 years….of nothing. Unless you count multiple concept art images and reading mainstream media articles calling it “Britain’s Disneyland” as something, that is.
 
Ian said:
In October next year, it’ll be a decade since I started this thread. 10 years….of nothing. Unless you count multiple concept art images and reading mainstream media articles calling it “Britain’s Disneyland” as something, that is.
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You say they've done nothing, but that's just half the story. Don't forget the millions of pounds they've spent in the process!
 
Pokemaniac said:
You say they've done nothing, but that's just half the story. Don't forget the millions of pounds they've spent in the process!
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I feel bad enough when I realise I've spent a couple of hundred pounds and seem to have bought nothing, so it's actually good going!...
 
The London Resort today revealed some of the first suppliers that they've signed onto the project. I do apologise, as I don't have all of them (the Facebook downtime means that I can't access the relevant Facebook post), but among them is Garmendale, manufacturer of Gangsta Granny at Alton Towers, amongst other rides!

I'll find the full post once Facebook comes back online... sorry about that.
 
Matt N said:
I'll find the full post once Facebook comes back online... sorry about that.
Click to expand...
No need, here’s a link; https://blooloop.com/theme-park/news/london-resort-businesses-electrosonic-garmendale-katapult/

So it looks like 60-something businesses have been accepted, more than half of them British, and the other two (British) industry heavyweights that we know of in addition to Garmendale are Electrosonic and Katapult. Electrosonic is an audiovisual and tech services company who have gotten involved in various high-tech park projects (eg Warner Bros World UAE), while Katapult is a creative design firm that has worked on some concept development and design for Tayto Park’s log flume queue, Thomas Land at Drayton Manor, and various Legoland Discovery Centres.

Some context regarding the announcement; This was announced earlier to kick off Blooloop’s V Expo, which I had the pleasure to attend during its debut year last October. This year the price of admission went from 0 to very high, so unfortunately I couldn’t make this one. Last year’s event was fun, talked lots with reps from various manufacturers and actually got a tour invite from Whitewater.
 
If I'm reading the article correctly, nothing has been signed yet. Not even a memorandum of understanding, which, until now, I had considered to be the lowest rung of the contract ladder. Companies have merely registered their interest to participate in the project, and the project has contacted some of them back. As the registration process is open to literally everyone for free, there's no wonder they've got some signatories. There are still no indications this will actually lead to anything, though.
 
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