Universal Expansion Plan??? Project LUPA???

[braddillman]

The business case for building a park based on video games probably isn't any better than the business case for building a park around any other toy, like Lego.

 

[TylerDurden]

The business case for building a park based on video games probably isn't any better than the business case for building a park around any other toy, like Lego.

The way Legos are handled in Legoland, however, is that Lego is simply an aesthetic style rather than a "theme". Legoland isnt limited--if they want to build a dinosaur ride or Egyptian ride, they will. Video games pretty much limit you to JUST video game content. They are a lot more specific than Legos.

And the problem with that is that while someone who doesnt play with Legos can enjoy the Dragon roller coaster and Egyptian shooter ride at Legoland, someone who has no clue how World of Warcraft works or who Zelda is, theyre going to be turned off.

But the biggest issue is how R-rated the most popular video games are. They dont lend themselves to a family-friendly theme park. And kid-friendly games would be very hard to turn into attractions. Also, arent some of the best-selling kids games based on other properties (like Disney movies)?

The video game park is becoming the new DC Land...

 

[mahnamahna]

The way Legos are handled in Legoland, however, is that Lego is simply an aesthetic style rather than a "theme". Legoland isnt limited--if they want to build a dinosaur ride or Egyptian ride, they will. Video games pretty much limit you to JUST video game content. They are a lot more specific than Legos.

And the problem with that is that while someone who doesnt play with Legos can enjoy the Dragon roller coaster and Egyptian shooter ride at Legoland, someone who has no clue how World of Warcraft works or who Zelda is, theyre going to be turned off.

But the biggest issue is how R-rated the most popular video games are. They dont lend themselves to a family-friendly theme park. And kid-friendly games would be very hard to turn into attractions. Also, arent some of the best-selling kids games based on other properties (like Disney movies)?

The video game park is becoming the new DC Land...

Pokemon and Mario are definitely the best selling kids games, just a heads up :thumbs: and I don't see how that philosophy works. Splash Mountain and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride are both based on films no one has heard of (one of them is illegal to own in the US).. yet they're both seen as classic Disney rides.

It's not how well-known a specific IP is... it's the force behind it. And most of Universal's rides are based on PG-13 films (Terminator is rated R) so I don't see how Call of Duty or Halo would be too inappropriate for a shoot 'em up dark ride. Tone down the gore and make it more about the interactivity and no one will even notice it's been toned down to PG-13.

The rides wouldn't have to BE video games specifically... World of Warcraft could be an E-ticket water ride for example. And Legend of Zelda is pretty common knowledge as far as video games go... most people over the age of 25 will know what it is.

If video games is too vague, maybe toys and board games could be added? (MLP, G.I. Joe, Tonka, Candyland, Battleship, etc) then a general theme of imagination could be the centerpiece of the whole park like movies brought to life is to USF and the adventure of books is to IOA.

 

[braddillman]

If video games is too vague, maybe toys and board games could be added? (MLP, G.I. Joe, Tonka, Candyland, Battleship, etc) then a general theme of imagination could be the centerpiece of the whole park like movies brought to life is to USF and the adventure of books is to IOA.

Love this idea. Just noticed a couple of cities here in Canada have opened board game cafes. This seems like a hip, new trend.

Could I add charades, scrabble, monopoly, clue, and rock-paper-scissors?

Probably bad ideas: blackjack, poker, craps. ;-)

 

[TylerDurden]

Pokemon and Mario are definitely the best selling kids games, just a heads up :thumbs:

Appreciate your little heads up, but I said "some"...sure, Mario and Pokemon have been around for quite a while and have sold quite a bit of volume because of it, but that doesn't discount the fact that lots of movie-based games and interactive dance/singing games etc. sell quite a bit and take up a solid portion of video game sales.

It's not how well-known a specific IP is... it's the force behind it. And most of Universal's rides are based on PG-13 films (Terminator is rated R)

I agree with this 100%. However, there is a HUGE difference between a PG-13 movie about robots or monsters and a M-rated game about actually shooting people. I think Fast & Furious is a great example of a PG-13 film that can be translated into a great all-ages ride; despite it's rating, at its core it's about cars that go really fast, and who doesn't love that? Everyone can get on board with that theme. Same with The Lone Ranger--good example of a sucky IP, and a PG-13 rating, yet its Old West aesthetic and cowboys/Indians motif isn't violent or restrictive, and it could make a great family ride.
Call of Duty, on the other hand, is ALL about killing people. It's not about made-up terminators and time-travel, it's about you gunning people down in the most violent way possible. That would be akin to making a ride out of Kill Bill...if the whole point is violence (it's not just a side-effect of the story), then it doesn't work.

I don't see how Call of Duty or Halo would be too inappropriate for a shoot 'em up dark ride. Tone down the gore and make it more about the interactivity and no one will even notice it's been toned down to PG-13.

Lol....please, please tell me you're joking. You honestly think a ride where guests strap in and gun down terrorists is a good idea for a theme park? Really? Remember that Kentucky Fried Panda was cut from Springfield due to political correctness...you cannot honestly tell me that scoring big points with bloody head shots to soldiers would be a good ride concept. C'mon man...

The rides wouldn't have to BE video games specifically... World of Warcraft could be an E-ticket water ride for example. And Legend of Zelda is pretty common knowledge as far as video games go... most people over the age of 25 will know what it is.

First off, I understand that you're not suggesting DisneyQuest, where everything is virtual reality. As to this common knowledge thing, I didn't know who Zelda was before seeing an idea for it a few pages back. Gamers are a subset. Sure, you could make a ride based on an unknown IP, but theme parks today aren't willing to take that chance.

 

[jtsalien]

I bet the producers of Super Mario Brothers (the 1993 film) thought that adapting Mario was a sure fire hit too....

 

[natespf]

I agree with this 100%. However, there is a HUGE difference between a PG-13 movie about robots or monsters and a M-rated game about actually shooting people. I think Fast & Furious is a great example of a PG-13 film that can be translated into a great all-ages ride; despite it's rating, at its core it's about cars that go really fast, and who doesn't love that? Everyone can get on board with that theme. Same with The Lone Ranger--good example of a sucky IP, and a PG-13 rating, yet its Old West aesthetic and cowboys/Indians motif isn't violent or restrictive, and it could make a great family ride.
Call of Duty, on the other hand, is ALL about killing people. It's not about made-up terminators and time-travel, it's about you gunning people down in the most violent way possible. That would be akin to making a ride out of Kill Bill...if the whole point is violence (it's not just a side-effect of the story), then it doesn't work.


Lol....please, please tell me you're joking. You honestly think a ride where guests strap in and gun down terrorists is a good idea for a theme park? Really? Remember that Kentucky Fried Panda was cut from Springfield due to political correctness...you cannot honestly tell me that scoring big points with bloody head shots to soldiers would be a good ride concept. C'mon man...

These are some good points about Call of Duty, but I must point out that Halo is different. It's about made up aliens and robots in the future, like if you mix MiB and Terminator 2.

I was also wondering if someone considers Lego land all about Legos, than do they also consider Universal Studios all about stucco? :shrug:

Sorry to be a :censored: but this thread is going nowhere right now anyways. We have seen that Uni likes playing it safe, and I see (them seeing) a whole video game park as too much of a risk right now.

 

[DK745]

Universal would bring back Jaws, Back to the Future, etc.. sooner than they would do a ride based on a video game.

 

[mahnamahna]

I bet the producers of Super Mario Brothers (the 1993 film) thought that adapting Mario was a sure fire hit too....

They did a TERRIBLE job on the film... if they made an animated movie about the Mushroom Kingdom with quality on par with Wreck it Ralph, it'd be a behemoth opening weekend (frontloaded though )

 

[DufflesMcGee]

How about a third park based on water.... we could call it an... aquapark...

 

[tielo]

What about a deluxe, small(ish) park with 1 theme, Middle Earth. You enter in Hobbiton, get huge feet and can go on quests/rides?

On the toppic of a gaming ip park, as a gamer for most of my life, I wouldn't like that at all. The interactivity Will be sub par to an actual gaming session. Even high quality story driven games like The Last Of Us won't translate well. Its the same reason that a movie of a game never works.

Add me on PSN if you like:OttoT.

 

[DufflesMcGee]

What about a deluxe, small(ish) park with 1 theme, Middle Earth. You enter in Hobbiton, get huge feet and can go on quests/rides?

On the toppic of a gaming ip park, as a gamer for most of my life, I wouldn't like that at all. The interactivity Will be sub par to an actual gaming session. Even high quality story driven games like The Last Of Us won't translate well. Its the same reason that a movie of a game never works.

Add me on PSN if you like:OttoT.

If they get the rights to that IP. dont expect a small one, so much story begin it that and places to visit that they can do somehting amazing... Maybe instead of having just a lake in the middle (like USO and IOA) they can put lake town right in the middle

And yeah I understand what everyone means about games, I just dont believe they will continue with movies, they would want to do something unique. Also we dont see this coming into fruition for another 10 years. maybe things change

 

[blue180]

If they get the rights to that IP. dont expect a small one, so much story begin it that and places to visit that they can do somehting amazing... Maybe instead of having just a lake in the middle (like USO and IOA) they can put lake town right in the middle

And yeah I understand what everyone means about games, I just dont believe they will continue with movies, they would want to do something unique. Also we dont see this coming into fruition for another 10 years. maybe things change

this would be so cool!!

 

[gator]

As of right now there is no indication that NBCUniversal/Comcast has any dealings with this property.

^ Talk about putting an entire thread to rest! Very informative!

I'm not convinced ccfmioa. While everyone else has been talking about video games, I've been thinking hard about this and have come up with a list of reasons why I believe Universal may still be tied to this property. Please consider the following:

1. Searching sunbiz.org (Florida corporation records) I found that on April 23, 2004 UCPM III LLC filed a report listing Stanley E. Thomas as a manager at Vivendi Universal in Universal City, CA. Then on June 29, 2004 another report is filed changing the managing member from Stanley E. Thomas at Vivendi to Fourth Quarter Properties in Newnan, GA which also happens to have Stanley E. Thomas listed as their managing member.
2. June 21, 2004: "a massive multimillion-dollar project that won't be complete for another 10-15 years." (i.e. cleanup complete somewhere between 2014 and 2019)
   "Last November, Atlanta-based Thomas Enterprises Inc. bought the property for an undisclosed sum when General Electric/NBC bought Universal Orlando. Although Universal City Property Management continues to head up the project, Thomas will reap the benefits, eventually getting to use the land for tourism-related development." (Why would Universal continue to pay millions for cleaning up land they didn't intend on using? And why trust the biz journal when they print any corporate press releases?)
   http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2004/06/21/story4.html?page=all
3. Only a portion of land was transferred in 2006 from UCPM III to Fourth Quarter Properties. An interesting note from that deed reads: "This deed represents a transfer of property by and between a grantor and its wholly owned grantee, without any exchange of value..." (O.R.B. 08891, PG. 17)
4. One more interesting piece. I looked up UCPM III on Delaware's corporation records and found that its current registered agent is "THE CORPORATION TRUST COMPANY" a.k.a. "C T Corporation System" which happens to be the same registered agent UCPM III has had since before Universal supposedly dumped this land. I'm not going to give money to the State of Delaware to further dive into their records but you can see C T Corporation System listed as the agent for Universal in these: 2002 report and 2003 report

Please don't crucify me over this. I'm not sure about anything except the fact that everyone stopped talking about this after one person made a definitive statement without any cited sources to back it up. Doesn't anyone else find it odd that a supposedly failed developer is quietly making land use changes on UNIVERSAL Blvd to make way for a new theme park while the county has continually improved the road network surrounding the property? Thanks for reading and I will go back to my lurking and thinking now. :smiley:

 

[Andy]

I'm not convinced ccfmioa. While everyone else has been talking about video games, I've been thinking hard about this and have come up with a list of reasons why I believe Universal may still be tied to this property. Please consider the following:

1. Searching sunbiz.org (Florida corporation records) I found that on April 23, 2004 UCPM III LLC filed a report listing Stanley E. Thomas as a manager at Vivendi Universal in Universal City, CA. Then on June 29, 2004 another report is filed changing the managing member from Stanley E. Thomas at Vivendi to Fourth Quarter Properties in Newnan, GA which also happens to have Thomas E. Stanley listed as their managing member.
2. June 21, 2004: "a massive multimillion-dollar project that won't be complete for another 10-15 years." (i.e. cleanup complete somewhere between 2014 and 2019)
   "Last November, Atlanta-based Thomas Enterprises Inc. bought the property for an undisclosed sum when General Electric/NBC bought Universal Orlando. Although Universal City Property Management continues to head up the project, Thomas will reap the benefits, eventually getting to use the land for tourism-related development." (Why would Universal continue to pay millions for cleaning up land they didn't intend on using? And why trust the biz journal when they print any corporate press releases?)
   http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2004/06/21/story4.html?page=all
3. Only a portion of land was transferred in 2006 from UCPM III to Fourth Quarter Properties. An interesting note from that deed reads: "This deed represents a transfer of property by and between a grantor and its wholly owned grantee, without any exchange of value..." (O.R.B. 08891, PG. 17)
4. One more interesting piece. I looked up UCPM III on Delaware's corporation records and found that its current registered agent is "THE CORPORATION TRUST COMPANY" a.k.a. "C T Corporation System" which happens to be the same registered agent UCPM III has had since before Universal supposedly dumped this land. I'm not going to give money to the State of Delaware to further dive into their records but you can see C T Corporation System listed as the agent for Universal in these: 2002 report and 2003 report

Please don't crucify me over this. I'm not sure about anything except the fact that everyone stopped talking about this after one person made a definitive statement without any cited sources to back it up. Doesn't anyone else find it odd that a supposedly failed developer is quietly making land use changes on UNIVERSAL Blvd to make way for a new theme park while the county has continually improved the road network surrounding the property? Thanks for reading and I will go back to my lurking and thinking now. :smiley:

:rep: Great Info regardless!

 

[Teebin]

So, can any of you see them building a separate resort/park(s) so far away from UOR? Would it still be Universal or would it be Comcast World? I cannot see them maintaining the continuity.

 

[gator]

Interesting thought. I never even considered the possibility of a new brand. That is genius actually... allows them to further compete with Disney, still provide package deals, and not use a strictly media based theme.

 

[maxairmike]

I'm not convinced ccfmioa. While everyone else has been talking about video games, I've been thinking hard about this and have come up with a list of reasons why I believe Universal may still be tied to this property. Please consider the following:

1. Searching sunbiz.org (Florida corporation records) I found that on April 23, 2004 UCPM III LLC filed a report listing Stanley E. Thomas as a manager at Vivendi Universal in Universal City, CA. Then on June 29, 2004 another report is filed changing the managing member from Stanley E. Thomas at Vivendi to Fourth Quarter Properties in Newnan, GA which also happens to have Stanley E. Thomas listed as their managing member.
2. June 21, 2004: "a massive multimillion-dollar project that won't be complete for another 10-15 years." (i.e. cleanup complete somewhere between 2014 and 2019)
   "Last November, Atlanta-based Thomas Enterprises Inc. bought the property for an undisclosed sum when General Electric/NBC bought Universal Orlando. Although Universal City Property Management continues to head up the project, Thomas will reap the benefits, eventually getting to use the land for tourism-related development." (Why would Universal continue to pay millions for cleaning up land they didn't intend on using? And why trust the biz journal when they print any corporate press releases?)
   http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2004/06/21/story4.html?page=all
3. Only a portion of land was transferred in 2006 from UCPM III to Fourth Quarter Properties. An interesting note from that deed reads: "This deed represents a transfer of property by and between a grantor and its wholly owned grantee, without any exchange of value..." (O.R.B. 08891, PG. 17)
4. One more interesting piece. I looked up UCPM III on Delaware's corporation records and found that its current registered agent is "THE CORPORATION TRUST COMPANY" a.k.a. "C T Corporation System" which happens to be the same registered agent UCPM III has had since before Universal supposedly dumped this land. I'm not going to give money to the State of Delaware to further dive into their records but you can see C T Corporation System listed as the agent for Universal in these: 2002 report and 2003 report

Please don't crucify me over this. I'm not sure about anything except the fact that everyone stopped talking about this after one person made a definitive statement without any cited sources to back it up. Doesn't anyone else find it odd that a supposedly failed developer is quietly making land use changes on UNIVERSAL Blvd to make way for a new theme park while the county has continually improved the road network surrounding the property? Thanks for reading and I will go back to my lurking and thinking now. :smiley:

Great info! Those are some interesting connections I hadn't thought to even consider, so major props to you for making them, though I'm not sure how relevant they are at this point. I'd have to see if I could dive in and find a few things to complete the story, if they're there to be found at all. HTF, do you have the connections to find out if Stan is still tied to the company in any way, through FQP indirectly, or personally? Nothing I've found in prior research has turned up, though I did miss the connections that were just posted, so I obviously wasn't looking in all the right places.

 

[Andy]

Universal is involved 100%, what happens from here on out is anyones guess.

 

[Skubersky]

I've tried reaching out to Thomas and FQP through all their published press contacts and have heard nothing but static...