Universal Studios Great Britain – EVERYTHING We Know!
Universal Studios Great Britain – Universal Destinations & Experiences’ next proposed major theme park resort here in the UK and the first Universal Studios theme park in Europe!
Over the past 9 to 12 months this has been the hot topic for every single theme park enthusiast and member of Joe public worth their salt, but yesterday (Thursday 03rd July) things FINALLY got real.
News broke earlier this week that Thursday 3rd July was the date to put in your calendars if you were dying to know more about what we can expect from this ambitious project, and while we may not have got huge amounts of new information (if any really) we did find out more about the plans afoot and what we can expect if (well, when at this point really) it opens.
further details surrounding what we can expect to see from both the resort and it’s construction surfaced via the submission of Universal Destinations & Experiences’ official SDO (Special Development Order) – qa document akin to a traiditonal planning application but with far more authority behind it including the direct involvement of the UK government (who have the ultimate say on whether or not the project will proceed).
In the SDO details of the park’s opening hours, facilities, construction timescale and overall size were revealed as well as other aspects including parking, accommodation size and other overnight facilities to name but a few.
It’s safe to say the new documents have got everyone very excited, but when will we hear whether or not things will proceed and ultimately when will works onsite begin?
When will construction begin?
Construction of Universal Studios Great Britain will begin when final approval is granted by the UK government, however works and preparations have already begun to take place onsite with ground testing, fencing and deliveries of plant machines all beginng to take place.
The final say so on the project is however estimated to take place later this year with the initial installation of the construction village beginning as soon as Q4 of 2025 (late 2025).
Construction of the theme park and resort itself is slated to begin in Q3 of 2027 due to juist how much ground preparations and other initial prep is needed in order to make this happen.
The build is estimated to reach it’s peak in 2029 with a lot of the heavier machinery scheduled for delivery (as well as deliveries of materials for the build) in this period.
Completion of the resort’s build and it’s official opening is slated to take place by 2031 with the full build (park, local travel infrastructure, new rail links and roads etc) all slated to reach completion by 2051 at the very latest.
What Can We Expect? The Stats!
Right, so we’ve discussed when things ‘should’ be approved and how the build of Universal Studios Great Britain will look, but what about the stats? the “finer details” if you will?
Opening hours, ride heights, facilities and other associated details, what can we expect when Universal Studios Great Britain opens in 2031?
The recently revealed documents show that the UK’s first ever Universal Studios theme park and resort will operate very differently to any other theme park or attraction currently operating here in the British Isles with european and american standards set to hit our shores.
Universal Destinations and Experiences propose opening their resort between the hours of 7AM and 11PM during in normal business hours and openings of up to 2AM at certain times of the year (which will likely include the brand’s world renown halloween offering, Halloween Horror Nights (yes, we could actually see that happen here in the UK and not just abroad – goodbye Merlin Annual Pass haha)!
On top of this it’s also been revealed that the new Universal Studios resort will include an onsite hotel featuring a minimum of 500 rooms as well as camping and caravan facilities.
Alongside this it’s also been revealed that rides could infact reach heights of up to 377 ft (115 meters) at their tallest with various different structural proposals being revealed for the different heights of structures within the park as part of the application.
If this is infact the case and the top height relates to ‘roller coaster’ structures we could end up seeing Universal Studios Great Britain take the title for hosting the UK’s (and one of Europe’s) tallest roller coasters (which we assume will likely be the Back to the Future themed coaster – the blue one on the concept image).
The size of the overall site is set to be a whopping 286 hectares too making it one of the largest operating theme park resorts here in the UK (that’s over 60 hectares bigger than Alton Towers). This also includes up to 7,000 car and coach parking spaces too.
To top things off Universal Destinations and Experiences expect an annual footfall of up to 8.5 million visitors per annum with a daily footfall of 55,000 projected too.
This just shows the sheer size and ambition at play with the UK’s most ambitious new theme park resort to open in decades (which will also be the BIGGEST new theme park to open in Europe since Disneyland Paris in 1992).
When Will We Find Out More?
At present a lot of the above information was already public knowledge and even though the documents put into perspective just how GRAND Universal Studios Great Britain will be they don’t reveal anything about the proposed rides, lands and attractions we will actually see.
With this being said the planning application itself is still in it’s very early stages and as a result it’s probably going to be quite some time before anything more definitive is revealed.
It was however revealed a while back that some of the IP’s we could more likely see include Jurassic World/Park, James Bond, Back to the Future, Lord of the Rings and Paddington to name but a few.
Given these are mostly quintessentially British IP’s (including some you don’t already see rides and attractions fully dedicated to at other Universal theme parks) it would make sense if these did infact come to fruition.
Not only would it make Universal Studios Great Britain far more unique in comparison to other operating Universal theme parks, but it would also provide a far bigger global pull for the resort overall.
When we will find out for definite though is still yet to be seen and we’d imagine this most likely happen when construction of the resort itself begins to take place.
One thing’s for certain though, we’re insanely excited and can’t wait to see Universal Studios Great Britain begin to take shape over the years ahead (once Universal Destinations & Experiences’ SDO has been formally approved)!
Here’s a little look back to our first reactions when Universal Studios Great Britain was revealed for the first time earlier this year below…