|
|
|
|
 |
Welcome To Screamscape!
|
|
|
|
|
If you’re a theme park lover or enjoy the best thrill rides the world has to offer, you’ve found the right place.
From new ride announcements, construction reports and the latest rumors: Screamscape always has something new to report.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
News & Rumors
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNIVERSAL GREAT BRITAIN RESORT
Bedford, England
Universal Studios Theme Parks
 New Theme Park Resort - (4/13/2025) If you’re curious to see the current state of the site in the UK that will be transformed into the new Universal Studios theme park resort, the BBC has posted some video footage of the site shot by a drone, which you can watch here.
(4/11/2025) With all the forces seeming to now be fully aligned to bring a Universal Studios branded park to the UK, everyone is suddenly focused on finding out just what kind of attractions will be in store for this mega new theme park. A very vague bit of concept art has been making the rounds online along with what might be a leaked list of the IPs that may be present in the park’s design.
Of course, the park isn’t looking to open until 2031, so a lot can change between now and then but let’s take a look at the rumors as well as zoom into the concept art a little bit to see what we can see.
As a whole the park seems to be built as a giant circle layout that revolves around a central lagoon, not unlike Islands of Adventure. We’ve got our standard Universal Studios globe sitting in a plaza out in front of the typical arch style park entrance that will leave into a pathway that has shops on both side. The interesting thing is that the building along the entire left side of the pathway will also serve as a hotel for the park on the upper floors.
Turning left at the lagoon, the first little land we see appears to feature some colorful flat rides and buildings, with a lot of greenery all around, which is sort of giving me a “Trolls” vibe right now, though in theory this very well could be a general “Dreamworks Animation” themed land with Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Trolls and anything else they want to toss into the mix.
The next land over is an interesting one, as we see a small performance venue right on the shoreline of the lagoon, but the major feature here is what appears to be a very large launched roller coaster with some kind of double spike element at the backside. In short, think of something like Mr. Freeze on steroids, as this looks to be a full circuit coaster and not a shuttle, that would use a pair of switch tracks to allow more than one train on at a time, so you can go up the spike forward, roll backwards and switch through a wild section of track that would lead back to a second track up the spike backwards, but when dropping face-first forwards, you hit another switch track to complete the layout back inside the building and into the station again. Oh… and what could the theme here be? It doesn’t show one at all, but blue and silver looking track, and as silver looking train on the track… but if you look closely at the complex of buildings that make up the station and entry plaza into the ride entrance, we have a strong clue. We’re only seeing the plain backside of the attraction buildings, but there is a nice green park square in the plaza in front of it all that would perfectly fit with a Hill Valley Courthouse / Back To The Future theme for this launch coaster. 88mph anyone? Forwards? Backwards and Double Back Again? Yeah… this has got to be a Back To The Future coaster for sure.
The next land over features a few colorful buildings with circular roofs and a few outdoor attractions and possibly a pair of space shot towers, that is just screaming Jurassic World to me. In fact, the front of the main building next door looks a lot like the entrance building to the popular Jurassic World Adventure dak ride that was built at Universal Studios Beijing (minus the circular cone shaped roof), which is similar in concept to the ride systems used for Spider-Man and Transformers at the other Universal parks.This all makes sense, as the Jurassic ride in Beijing is said to be very well done, but has only been built so far in the one park as the other parks all have their own older Jurassic attractions, most of which are water rides which wouldn’t go over as well in the UK. In fact, I’ll point this out now, I don’t see a single water ride in this entire park, but that’s to be expected.
The next land over is very green… and not just the landscaping, as there is a very long green roller coaster that runs throughout the land, all the way from a dark murky area in the background, and up to circular spin of track over the waters of the central lagoon. There are a few other non-descript buildings around that seem to have either a purple or grey tint to them, but if I was going to throw out a wild guess, I do wonder if this could end up being a Wicked themed land. Wicked wasn’t a rumored IP on that list being thrown around, but given the success of film, I don’t see why they wouldn’t try to use it in the UK. Also in the background you’ll see a large classic stunt show arena that you’ve seen built at almost every other Universal park around the globe except Orlando. Normally I would say that this would obviously be for yet another WaterWorld stunt show, except the rumored list of IPs claims that Universal is pulling strings to use good old James Bond in this park, and a stunt show would be a perfect use for 007 to show off what he can do.
The next complex of building is fairly nondescript but would be use for some kind of indoor attractions. The one small giveaway is that I can see a small tower in front of the one building that greatly resembles Big Ben, and looking over the rumored IP list, they claim that Paddington bear is destined for this park, so this could be it.
The next land over clearly looks like a copy of Minion Land from Universal Studios Beijing, complete with the Super Silly Fundland pier with the coaster on the roof. The issue is that in Beijing, the coaster on the roof is fake, and they have a small kiddie coaster inside the building. However, in the artwork for the UK park the roller coaster on the roof looks far more realistic, so maybe they will be building a functioning coaster for the UK version. Inside the pier structure should be some other Minions themed flat rides, as well as a copy of the Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem simulator ride in the building to the right of the pier, just as it was built in Beijing. However… if you look just beyond the Minion fun pier area you’ll see some larger themed city style buildings, which could mean that this land may be given an Illumination Animation theme and this could be a copy of the Secret Life of Pets dark ride from Universal Studios Hollywood as well.
So from my point of view, this does mostly match up to the rumored IPs.
We’ve got Minions, Paddington, Jurassic World, Back ot the Future and even James Bond, but the one rumored IP that I don’t see a sign of is a “The Lord of the Rings” themed land, unless that is what I thinking may actually be a Wicked themed land instead next to the James Bond stunt show.
Time will tell, but so far I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect… for now. Like I said, a lot can change between now and 2031 and with construction not expected to begun until sometime in 2026, some IPs may be swapped out for other attraction concepts instead. So all of this is just a big placeholder for the moment. I just know the one thing that you will not see here is a Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction, as the local WB Studio Tour has the rights to that all tied up. It’s also nice to see that they are trying to not really copy much of anything that they already have to offer guests in Orlando, giving guests a reason to still visit both resorts in the future.
(4/8/2025) Just as rumored, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed a a couple of hours ago that a new Universal branded theme park would be built in the UK near Bedford by 2031. The multi-billion-pound investment to build a globally recognized theme park in the UK would have the effect of ‘forming putting the country on the global stage”.
The creation of the theme park will have a profound effect on the Bedform area, where they predict that 80% of those employed to new jobs created by the park will be from Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas.
The full planning proposal will soon be submitted to the UK government with construction expected to begin in 2026. Currently Universal has already pushed 476-acres for the project, but the size may be increased through further land scapes up to a total plot size of around 700-acres.
(4/7/2025) According to Blooloop, Universal may be very close to announcing their deal to build a new theme park resort in the UK just south of Bedford. They say that it’s being discussed under the codename, “Project Nectarine” in the UK, but the deal is close enough that it could potentially be revealed as early as next week.
Personally I think the timing would be good as well, as Universal is just putting the finishing touches on their new Epic Universe park in Orlando, and while the Universal Creative division is already flush with tallent, it would be the perfect time to sign new contracts and pivot many of them towards working on a new park in the UK.
(2/20/2025) There is no telling just how true this is, but The Sun reports that their sources expect the negotiations between the British government and Universal Studios to be finalized within the next few weeks, granting full approval to move forward with the proposed Universal Studios Great Britain theme park resort.
Now this doesn’t mean Universal itself will be ready to make any kind of big announcement or present final details about the design of the project just yet. According to their estimate, the project isn’t expected to be ready to open until at least 2030. This matches up with the approximate timeline it took for Universal to build and open Epic Universe (minus the pause for COVID), with with Epic preparing to open in May, it would be a great time to re-task all the extra creative staff they on the payroll to roll-over onto projects for the proposed UK park.
(2/9/2025) Things seem to be moving in a positive direction, as the BBC reports that Universal Studios has filed to trademark their name in the UK for a variety of purposes, including for use with live show performances, entertainment services, amusements and for the purpose of “conducting guided tours of motion picture and television production facilities”.
While it isn’t uncommon for major entertainment studios to protect their trademarks in markets around the world where they do business, the timing here while being deep in negotiations to build a theme park resort in the country does seem to imply that negotiations are going well indeed.
(1/27/2025) British Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is expected to deliver some kind of presentation on Wednesday that is thought to announce some new plans to enhance tourism growth to the country. While this is expected to involve some kind of growth plan for London’s Heathrow airport, it is also hoped that perhaps the time could be right to make some kind of announcement about the proposed Universal Great Britain theme park resort.
Stay tuned!
(1/17/2025) According to a new update posted by Blooloop, the negotiations between the UK government and Universal Destinations & Experiences are said to be “going well” according to the UK’s tourism minister. Some discussions about the project were said to have taken place at the House of Commons on Thursday, where the project is seen as a huge opportunity to drive economic growth to the area. If this works out the project should be “absolutely transformational for the British tourism industry”.
Follow the link to read more about what’s being said about this huge new project proposal.
(12/22/2024) It has been reported online that Disneyland Paris Imagineer, Bjorn Heerwagen, has now left the hallowed ranks of Walt Disney Imagineering to take on a new challenge. While nothing has been confirmed, there has been some interesting speculation out there in Cyberspace wondering if he might have been hired away by Universal Creative for the new Universal theme park resort proposed for the UK. As of two weeks ago, his LinkedIn profile only mentioned that he was seeking a new role somewhere as a Project, Production or Design Manager role, and open to positions in either France or the UK.
(8/20/2024) The latest update about the potential Universal theme park coming to the UK can be read over at Blooloop this week. They report that Universal is said to be in discussions with various British politicians about what kind of tax and infrastructure incentive deals may be possible to help secure the deal to build the proposed Universal theme park resort in Bedford.
This is a fairly standard thing to come up as proposed parks look for ways to make the construction of the project, or needed area infrastructure, more budget friendly. A common example might be for Universal to ask that materials needed to build the park be purchased ‘tax free” since the project, once complete, will generate far more in terms of tax revenues for the region.
While Universal has yet to commit to officially building the project, things are through to have been moving along well in terms of public and political reception to the idea of building a world class theme park resort in the area. Moving on to this phase of discussion bodes well for the project, as it seems to imply that Universal is now working out exactly what the project will cost and where they can make deals to save on costs, with a final determination on if they wish to proceed in Bedford likely to be made before the end of the year.
(7/2/2024) A few more details about the proposed new Universal theme park resort for the UK have been posted by The Guardian. According to a new article the proposed UK theme park resort would be open 365-days a year, and is expected to boost the local economy by nearly £50 billion ($63.3 billion US). In addition to a world class theme park, the resort would feature a 500-room hotel, with the construction of the resort expected to create around 20,000 jobs over a 5 to 6 year period needed to build the theme park resort. Once open, the resort is also expected to bring around 8,000 new jobs to the region as well, a number that will only grow over time as the resort grows and expands.
At this time, Universal conducting their due diligence for the proposed new project, and has not made a final decision about if they will proceed. That decision is still expected to take place sometime around the end of this year.
(5/11/2024) In an interesting update regarding the proposed Universal Studios theme park in the UK, Universal has revealed that 92% of the people they’ve surveyed thus far about building the theme park are showing support for it. In a new update about the project, Universal Destinations & Experiences said that they are “incredibly appreciative of the very warm welcome we received and have been delighted by the enthusiasm and overwhelmingly positive responses provided throughout the public engagement period”. They also confirmed that the majority of the 6000 responses were given by those from the local communities around the Bedford area.
There were some concerns, citing that the project would need to come along with upgrades to the local infrastructure, including road and rail improvements, and Universal also confirmed that they are in complete agreement with that assessment as well.
(4/8/2024) Universal has updated their website for the potential UK theme park to include information, locations and dates as to where they will be hosting “public engagement” opportunities to get feedback from the local community about the proposed theme park project. Right now events are currently scheduled for April 13 and April 16 at different locations in Bedford.
(2/9/2024) According to an update posted to Blooloop, the local government in the UK is said to be in full support of Comcast’s plans to build a Universal Studios theme park resort in the town of Bedfordshire. Various government officials have now confirmed as having been fully briefed about the proposal and what it will mean to the area.
(1/10/2024) Theme Park Worldwide took a field trip to Bedform to take a look at the massive 480-site purchased by Comcast that could become home to Universal Studios Great Britain. The video includes some aerial drone footage of the property as it looks today, showing off a large and mostly flat piece of property that runs along the railway tracks, ripe for future development. There even is a railway stop in the middle of the property that could be expanded to better serve the resort if they move ahead with it.
(1/6/2024) While the news broke not long ago about how Universal was looking into building a new theme park resort in the UK, Screamscape is hearing that this isn’t the only project that Universal may be planning for the nation. While the potential Universal Studios Great Britain park is still a long way out, a smaller and more intimate attraction might be planned to arrive first in London.
Universal has a lot of irons in the fire right now with construction now taking place not only on the new Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, but for the smaller Universal Kids Resort in Texas and the Universal Horrors Unleashed stand-alone attraction in Las Vegas. Screamscape was the first to mention this later concept, long before Universal confirmed it at the start of 2023, but me sources had also confided in me that this was only the beginning. Comcast, the parent company behind Universal, was ready to kick off a series of expansions to grow their theme park attraction empire around the globe, and that we could expect more such projects to be revealed before too long.
While Universal quietly filed a trademark for their traditional “Halloween Horror Nights” brand in the UK way back in November 2022, this was followed by the unnoticed at the time filing for the “Universal Horror Unleashed” name in Jan. 2023. Universal had been filing for various trademarks in the UK for years, so this really didn’t seem like anything special until now. However, it is also worth noting that Universal filed for trademarks for a number of older film property names in December 2023 that likely don’t have anything to do with the new park, such as “American Pie”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Dazed and Confused”, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”, “Sixteen Candles”, “Breakfast Club” and “The Big Lebowski”, but tucked away in that list of new filings were also some popular Universal HHN classic IPs, “The Purge” and “Chucky”.
So how could this all soon descend upon London? While the city has often proven to be resistant to large-scale attraction and amusement projects, it has also been known to be a favorable environment for smaller stand-alone attractions such as the London Dungeon, the London Eye, Sea Life Aquarium, Madame Tussauds, Shrek’s Adventure, London Bridge/London Tombs, etc…
In this case, rumor has it that London is being considered as a potential second site for a second “Universal Horror Unleashed” stand-alone attraction that would open long before the proposed theme park in Bedford. The thought is that a “Universal Horror Unleashed” attraction in London would serve not only as a good stand-alone attraction, but it would also be a good way to introduce the brand’s arrival in the UK. The site would also serve as a sort of test-ground for the kind of haunts and scares that Universal could eventually bring to the theme park resort in Bedford. It also goes without saying that a London location would also serve as a great “preview center” for the Bedford theme park park resort, once they decide to green-light the project since it is just a quick train-ride away from the city.
With construction on the Las Vegas attraction already under way, a London project could be ready to move forward shortly after Vegas is ready to open.
(12/29/2023) While this is a bit of very forward thinking, ScareTOURS has posted an interesting line of thought about what might happen to the current UK Scare attraction market (or in US-speak… Haunt attractions) if Universal Studios builds a park in the UK and if they opt to bring a seasonal Halloween Horror Nights event to this park once built.
A lot of things could happen, but there isn’t a Universal park on the planet right now that hasn’t brought forth a Halloween based scare attraction, so it’s safe to say that if Universal comes to the UK, then they will bring a Halloween Horror Nights attraction of some sort. Of course, this could also be done at a smaller scale, much like what Universal is building in Las Vegas with a specific year-round venue that will be focused entirely as an ever evolving scare/haunt themed attraction.
There is some great insight here as well about how “Scare” attractions in the UK are done, compared to how Universal has been doing things in the US market parks for the past several years in terms of trying to scare people. With that in mind, I will also say that if you’ve studied the kind of haunt experiences Universal has brought to the markets in Japan, Singapore and now China, they’ve evolved and modified those experiences to fit better into the culture, fears and phobias of those local markets. I have every reason to believe that Universal would continue to do so when the time came to build a scare attraction across the Atlantic… no matter if it is in the UK or in Spain if they opt to buy PortAventura.
(12/24/2023) After having a couple more days to process the idea of a Universal Studios park in the UK, I’ve also been hearing a number of comments about what kind of themed attractions people are hoping might come to the park.
In my first report I already covered a few of these ideas for you and in terms of the idea of bringing a Harry Potter attraction to this park, the answer I’m still hearing is that we shouldn’t expect this to happen. At least not on opening day… though this is very likely something that will be explored in a future expansion. As for the rest… well, it’s always a good idea to look at what Universal has built elsewhere, as there will likely some repeated themes that are very popular.
With this in mind, it may be best to look at Universal’s newest theme park, Universal Studios Beijing. This park features lands themed to Jurassic World, Transformers, Kung Fu Panda, Harry Potter and the Minions from Despicable Me, plus a version of the Waterworld stunt show. Lets skip over Potter for now, and Waterworld is never going to happen in the UK, so I’d like to think that the areas with the best chance to come over would be Minions, Jurassic and maybe Transformers. While Kung Fu Panda maybe possible, I’m thinking a more modern choice for the UK may perhaps be to follow in the footsteps of Epic Universal with something themed to How To Train Your Dragon. The fact that Universal is said to be working on a live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon that could hit theaters as early as 2025 only helps to back up this IP as a potential future contender. Another good possibility for a UK park would be to look into something with a Nintendo theme as well. If not another Super Nintendo World, then maybe a related property they haven’t used yet like Zelda or Pokemon.
In the end, I’m told that while there is enough land to go big, this park will be built at first on a more modest budget than compared to Epic Universe or even Universal Beijing. Again… we are rumored to be looking at a park opening with just four themed lands to start with. Again, I’m still hearing a goal is to bring some unique creations to life that would resonate to the local market, other than Harry Potter.
So what would it be? There are a number of ideas people immediately throw out when it comes to UK inspired entertainment IPs. Perhaps the biggest one people may expect right away could be James Bond. While Bond would be a huge win to get, I’ve also heard that the IP is fiercely protected by some current deals in place between MGM and Paramount that are likely to block any such plan. Other popular UK based IPs that could end up being popular in a park like this could be things like Paddington, Sherlock Holmes or even Dr. Who.
In the end, the idea would be to choose a mix of some proven IPs from the existing parks, while building some new and unique attractions custom designed for the new park in the UK so to give potential guests a reason to visit the UK and American parks. Again, another thing to consider is that they’ll want to have a good number of indoor attractions and locations to allow the park to function all year round.
Since we’ve got a long time to wait until they make up their mind about building the park at all, a lot of different concepts could be pitched and put into development, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
(12/22/2023) In the aftermath of the surprise confirmation that Universal may be considering building a theme park resort in the UK, they released an official statement to the local residents of Bedford. Included were some very open statements about the state of the project and their intentions.
Included in the letter was an introduction to the residents about the company and how Universal Destinations and Experiences was part of the greater Comcast Corporation. They confirmed that Comcast had already purchased the land, but that they were “in the very early stages of exploring the possibility of a potential park and resort experience at this location.” As such it may still ‘be many months before we decide whether to proceed with the project.”
“Our destinations around the world - from the United States to Japan and China - are beautifully designed and landscaped resorts that offer world-class service and feature immersive experiences that invite people to step into the stories they have imagined in their hearts and minds. They also create thousands of jobs and generate significant positive economic impact, both locally and further afield. We are also committed to enhancing natural beauty and protecting the ecology of the areas where we operate.”
So far they have been encouraged with the positive conversations they’ve had with various national and local stakeholders, including the Bedford Borough Council and Mayor. In an effort to continue to keep communication open with the community about the project, they have also launched an official website where updates will be posted going forward at www.universalukproject.co.uk.
You can read the rest of the letter in its entirety on the website, where it has also been posted for all to see.
(12/19/2023) In January 2023 Universal surprised the world when they confirmed that not only were they really working on the rumored Halloween Horror Nights attraction in Las Vegas, but a mini theme park for families with young children in Texas. While I had heard the rumors about the Haunt attraction for months, the Texas park was a complete surprise to me. A few months later one of my sources shared with me that Universal wasn’t done yet. The message passed on was that under Comcast’s ownership, Universal was ready to keep on expanding in a variety of ways, throughout the globe. This would take the form of micro focused attractions like HHN Las Vegas, ideas for Mini theme parks in new markets, and even plans to continue to grow the theme park empire with more new full sized theme parks as well.
While my gaze over the European market has been more focused in watching for signs of a potential purchase of the PortAventura theme park resort in Spain by Universal, the company surprised most of us again today by confirming that they are working up plans to build a new Universal theme park in England!
While it is too early to tell much, it was confirmed in the news by a spokesperson for Universal Destinations & Experience that the company has indeed purchased some property in Bedford, located about 60 miles north of central London and Heathrow Airport. It is worth noting that the location of the property has also been confirmed, and it has easy access from both highways as well as by rail service. (fun note for the Harry Potter fans, the train to Bedford from London loads at St Pancras International, just across the street from Kings Cross station)
The site chosen for the potential future “Universal Great Britain Resort” is said to consist of 480-acres, giving ample space for both a full scale theme park as well as resort properties. Universal has stated that while they have purchased the property, they have not yet committed to building a theme park there. Currently they are focused on the possibilities of what they could do, and are not yet ready to share their potential plans at this time.
With that in mind, we had already heard a few rumors about what might be built, as well as some comments about what they are NOT planning on building. For example, I’m told that we should not expect to see any Harry Potter themed attractions at this park, or at least not when it first opens. One major reason is that I believe the nearby Warner Bros. Studio Tour attractions may have an exclusive use of the Harry Potter IP when it comes to themed attractions.
It is also worth mentioning that I believe Universal wants this to be a year-round attraction, and with the region known for the potential of cold and wet weather, any potential theme park built here may have a heavy focus on indoor attraction spaces and dark rides. This isn’t to say that they won’t have some fun outdoor rides and roller coasters as well, I’m just saying to expect more indoor spaces. The all indoor Kung-Fu Panda land built for Universal Studios Beijing is a perfect example of something that Universal may attempt to build in the UK, that would allow for year-round operations.
While you can definitely expect to see some of Universal’s most well known IPs represented at this park, I’m also hearing that Universal has quietly been making deals with other studios to bring some potentially new attraction themes into this park. In particular, the park may have a couple of IPs that may really resonate with the local UK market. I don’t know if they’ve signed the final contracts for anything just yet, so I’m not going to say any one thing or another is locked in just yet, but I’m sure many of you can imagine some really good possibilities that would fit right in with a Universal style theme park experience, where you can “Ride the Movies”.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
