Universal's 6th Hotel Rumors & Speculation

[GAcoaster]

Just saw this on Growth Spotter: Universal plans new 600-room hotel on American Way, next to Sapphire Falls - GrowthSpotter

"Just a few weeks away from opening its new 1,000-room Loews Sapphire Falls Resort, Universal Orlando has filed plans with the City of Orlando for another 600-room hotel on land directly southwest. "

 

[Mad Dog]

Nice find.....Universal just continues to roll along a a breakneck pace. :thumbsup:

 

[Viator]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that blue area supposed to be apart of a new tram route to get people to Volcano Bay?

Because if that's the case, I only see it as expanding Sapphire, much like how CV is doing their expansion.

 

[GAcoaster]

I thought the same thing, that this looks more like an extension to Sapphire Falls than a "new hotel", but that's the way Growth Spotter billed it.

 

[Teebin]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that blue area supposed to be apart of a new tram route to get people to Volcano Bay?

Kind of, yeah.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

The pace of hotel room expansion at Universal is extraordinary. WDW used to be so proud of their low vacancy rates. I'll bet this is not making them happy.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

Can't see the actual story behind the paywall, but do they mean ADVENTURE Way instead of American Way? Because if it's actually American Way, that's on the other side of I-4, off of International Drive, where that upside-down "U" is in the picture. That would make a little more sense to me than shoehorning a resort into that space with the retention pond, the Volcano Bay tram lanes, and the Sapphire Falls driveway. American Way would also have the virtue of being right next to Wet 'n Wild...

 

[Mad Dog]

Feeding into this hotel/theme park expansion topic....Matt Ouimet, Cedar Fair, just appeared on CNN. He was talking about why people are willing to pay more for theme park experiences and commented on in park spending continuing to grow at a fast rate. He & CNN attributed it to people are now prioritizing experiences over possessions. Interesting.

 

[UNIrd]

RPR has 1000 rooms. Sapphire seems to model itself after it pretty closely. I think the additional 600 might be a different hotel and not a Sapphire expansion.

 

[NJBrandon]

Here are the permits:

"

"

 

[Teebin]

I hate to sound stupid but I cannot comprehend how they are filling all of these hotel rooms. It makes my head spin.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Here are the permits:

"

"

Universal is not wasting any time on this.

 

[Yabbadabba Doh]

Wow, talk about ramping things up. They'll have three projects all going at the same time in that area (CB Towers, VB, New Hotel).
Thinking this one may have a direct link/entrance to VB and themed to match?

 

[UniversalCityFL]

I hate to sound stupid but I cannot comprehend how they are filling all of these hotel rooms. It makes my head spin.

Nothing excites me more than growth at Universal, but even *I'm* thinking whoah, pump the breaks guys.

 

[Disneyhead]

600 rooms is small. Sort of boutique-ish.

Probably will be expensive.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Nothing excites me more than growth at Universal, but even *I'm* thinking whoah, pump the breaks guys.

Hotel growth helps attendance growth. That helps park growth. Increasing hotel space, park capacity/quality and adding another gate are all part of a overall expansion plan. Take out or even slow down one part and it hurts the rest.

In my view this grand UO plan by Comcast is the greatest plan in theme park history behind Disney's vision of WDW.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

 

[graspthesun]

For comparison sake, this will be the smallest hotel at Universal at 600 rooms.

Hard Rock is 650. Portofino Bay is 750. Royal Pacific and Sapphire Falls are 1000 each. Cabana Bay is 1800.

How many rooms are in the Cabana Bay expansion? 600 or 1200? That would put Cabana Bay up to 2400 or 3000 rooms.

 

[NJBrandon]

For comparison sake, this will be the smallest hotel at Universal at 600 rooms.

Hard Rock is 650. Portofino Bay is 750. Royal Pacific and Sapphire Falls are 1000 each. Cabana Bay is 1800.

How many rooms are in the Cabana Bay expansion? 600 or 1200? That would put Cabana Bay up to 2400 or 3000 rooms.

Cabana Towers are 400 rooms combined, so they will be at 2200 total.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Did some quick math. If Universal gets to their goal of 15,000 rooms at an average occupancy of 3 and a 90% fill rate that would be almost 15 million guests that could stay on site a year.

If anyone has better insight on average occupancy please let me know.