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Universal's Epic Universe | Orlando USA | Theme Park

UP87 said:
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So basically on Thursday evening Comcast put their foot down and asked Universal Parks And Resorts to start cutting costs. Multiple rides at UOR have been temporarily closed and more importantly the entire Epic Universe team has been let go. The project had now been "indefinitely postponed" by Universal. The rumour now is that Super Nintendo World will be moved to KidZone at USF and they'll try and open it simultaneously with Super Nintendo World in Hollywood.
 
I can see it being postponed, that makes sense, but I do hope that they don’t rush to fit Nintendo land into one of the existing parks instead.
 
Crazycoaster said:
I can see it being postponed, that makes sense, but I do hope that they don’t rush to fit Nintendo land into one of the existing parks instead.
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Due to contractual obligations with Nintendo saying that SNW has to be open by a certain year it seems like Universal will have to move it to one of the existing parks. SNW was originally going to replace KidZone at Universal Studios Florida and plans were drawn up for this. Then Universal bought the land for Epic Universe so SNW was moved there. With Universal having to make cuts I believe the current plan is to just reuse the old plans for SNW on the KidZone plot as this is the cheapest option.
 
Crazycoaster said:
I can see it being postponed, that makes sense, but I do hope that they don’t rush to fit Nintendo land into one of the existing parks instead.
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It's actually kinda funny that you said that, because Super Nintendo World was originally planned for Kidzone. Then Universal got the new park land and decided to delay and move the project by a few years (it was originally set to open in 2021 to combat Disney's 50th), but the project never actually changed. The Epic Universe version is the exact same version that was supposed to go into Kidzone. So it's not really rushing it.
 
Lofty said:
Hearing from a friend that works out there, the project is merely paused and a lot of staff on the project have been invited to undertake roles at the other UOR parks for the time being.
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That’s great news; I could see this being really successful once the world eventually rights itself, so I can definitely see the rationale behind them delaying it during this uncertain period. If I were Universal, I’d much rather wait another year or two for greater returns than open as planned in 2023 and potentially have a massive flop on my hands.
 
Matt N said:
If I were Universal, I’d much rather wait another year or two for greater returns than open as planned in 2023 and potentially have a massive flop on my hands.
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I don't think it would flop if it opened in 2023; the situation would probably be normalized again by then. Instead, I think it's the prospect of paying all the contractors and managers in the years before. After all, the park would be nothing but an expense until opening day, and they really need to cut down on expenses for a year or two now. They're putting it on ice so they can use the money to keep things running until this blows over.
 
Pokey is spot on with this one. As I posted in the homepage news article last week, Comcast's theme parks division, which obviously includes the Universal Orlando parks, made the Epic Universe delay announcement during their quarterly report conference call. Their parks division plunged 94% in the quarter, generating $87 million, which was down significantly from $1.46 billion it made during the same period last year. They simply can't afford to continue construction on a new park with the current income numbers and the expenses needed to continue construction of the current Jurassic Coaster at IoA and the Super Nintendo World for Kidzone (if the contractual obligations with Nintendo have a specific deadline that can't also be delayed for a few years).
 
Super Nintendo World for KZ definitely seems like a better idea at the moment (SNW is 300 million or so, Epic Universe is billions of dollars) and it would still attract a lot of people to the parks. So it's understandable why they'd go with that until things get back to normal.
 
Not a surprising news piece but certainly a sign of a long delay - its been recently in the news in Germany that Mack Rides lost the contract to build a large 2023 coaster for Universal. While never officially confirmed it was for Epic Universe, this large coaster has been previously mentioned by the Macks as they were proud to get the order (presumed to be the centre large duelling coasters). Although I feel the largest rollercoaster in the world description is perhaps a media exaggeration.


Germany's largest roller coaster builder Mack Rides is threatened with the loss of an order worth millions. The US company Universal Theme Parks cancelled the contract to build the largest roller coaster in the world, said Roland Mack in the Wirtschaftswoche podcast. Mack is the founder and head of Europa Park in Rust, Baden, and his company Mack Rides builds rides for amusement parks.

“This order will come, but it is not currently foreseeable when. At least not in 2023, when it was planned. ”The order would have had a volume of“ well over 20 million ”, said Mack. "So it hurts a bit. But on the same day that the cancellation came in, we received two large orders from China that made up at least 60 percent of the volume. "

The Universal theme parks belong to the New York media conglomerate NBC-Universal, which mainly has numerous television stations as well as film and television studios in its portfolio. The Group's best-known amusement parks are located in Hollywood and Orlando.

The corona virus hit his industry hard, says Mack. When the Disney amusement parks in Shanghai and Hong Kong had to close in January, "we were shocked," says Mack: "But that was still a long way off." Then the virus came to Rust - and with it the regulation Park close. In May, Mack received permission to reopen the park subject to certain conditions, with a limited number of visitors. "We only drive a single shift to get the costs under control."

The group travel business is still suffering, but Mack is positive: “Given the situation, we are satisfied with the result. There is no reason to complain. "The park will make losses this year, says Mack. "But in the operational business we will keep our heads above water."
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Source
 
Yay! Hopefully, they'll be back on track before too long and we may see some construction soon. Based on the construction speed at Universal Studios Beijing, however, I doubt we'll see the park open before the middle of the decade.

Also, it will be interesting to see how the Mouse will respond. Competition tends not to go unanswered. It's a slow contest, though, so I doubt we'll see it for another few years.
 
Pokemaniac said:
Yay! Hopefully, they'll be back on track before too long and we may see some construction soon. Based on the construction speed at Universal Studios Beijing, however, I doubt we'll see the park open before the middle of the decade.

Also, it will be interesting to see how the Mouse will respond. Competition tends not to go unanswered. It's a slow contest, though, so I doubt we'll see it for another few years.
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They were originally aiming for 2023, then construction was paused for a year, so it *could* be 2024
 
Shame that they've already planned in Nintendo World, looking at how they've executed it in Japan I'd rather they plonk something else there, in my opinion anyway. Excited to see how this progresses though!
 
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