[arby]

For those of you who follow the amusement park industry, you know there have been rumors for years about Universal Studios opening a third park. I came across some interesting information today.

In March, we told you that Japanese video game company Nintendo announced plans to team with Universal Studios to bring their video game properties to life at Universal Parks & Resorts. At the time we joked about the possibility of a real life Nintendo-Land with a side scrolling Mario experience, a Mario Kart racing ride, and more. Well it looks like a Nintendo-Land might not be out of the question as a new rumor suggests that Universal is developing a third park for their Universal Studios Orlando Resort which would have a heavy video game focus, including rides based on Nintendo and Blizzard properties. Find out the details on the Universal video game theme park rumor, after the jump.

Source

While it is just a rumor, I did find it interesting that a document was filed in Orange County, FL for the purchase of about 3,300 acres at the end of 2013 that encompasses the former Lockheed Martin property in Orlando. The end of the document states that the intended use is:

Hotel - 663 Rooms
Commercial/Retail - 483,513 Square Feet
Resort Rental Time Share - 315 Units
Theme Parks - 1 Park

Source

While it all is entirely speculation at this point, it certainly is interesting.

[coasterbruh]

Where is this land in proximity of the current park?

[cwgator]

^

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[Axel]

interesting story...
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/03/business/media/comcast-invests-by-the-billion-in-theme-parks-hogwarts-and-all.html?_r=1

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Universal theme park chain was the last thing Comcast was interested in when it bought NBCUniversal four years ago. Endless upkeep? Endless spending on new rides? Endless anxiety about public safety?

Thanks, but no thanks. Some analysts predicted a speedy sale.

Instead, Comcast did a public about-face, identifying Universal Orlando in particular as a growth engine and spending $100 million to build a “Transformers” ride here in 2013. Still, there was skepticism. Was Comcast becoming a new theme park force? Competitors insisted the jury was still out.

Well, the verdict just came in: Comcast is pouring billions into Universal Orlando and a sister property in California, opening major attractions and resort hotels at breakneck speed — and visitors are flooding the gates as a result...

[coasterbruh]

^

LockMart.jpg

That's kinda far...

[Chris]

It's over 2 miles. That's one long monorail.

[cwgator]

^At WDW there's 14.7 miles of monorail track. It's over 4 miles between the Transporation & Ticket Center and Epcot. It's doable and I could see it going straight down Universal Blvd. I'm sure there would be plenty of Disney fanboys up in arms saying Universal is copying....lol

[arby]

Looking at it again, Universal Orlando Resort is the area in red. They bought the land under Wet 'n Wild a year or two ago, which is the area in green. The former Lockheed Martin is the area in blue plus more.

Universal2015.png (643.18KiB)Viewed 6825 times

Looking at it like this, it is interesting to note that the former Wet 'n Wild location is centrally located between the entrance to Universal Orlando and the area in blue. That location in green would make a good spot for a parking deck and transportation hub...

[Edwardo]

It's my understanding that the Wet & wild land is earmarked for a hotel already. And the strongest info I've heard is that Nintendo is coming to parts of the studio. There's going to be a nice refresh of the rest of IoA that hasn't been touched to get it up to the standards of the rest of the park, and HULK is going down soon for an overhaul and a rumored change to the launch system. Not sure what kind of change.

As for the Lockheed Martin land, I'm not hearing much, but I have heard it may just be there as is for a while.

[coasterdave]

Third Park you say? Lets call it Pipe Dreams.

[MarkD]

Third Park you say? Lets call it Pipe Dreams.

are you referring to Mario?

If the Wet and Wild land is for a Motel / Resort and they do in fact use Lockheed Martin for another park then I can see a monorail of sorts going through the Motel connecting both parks. Just because Disney did this doesn't mean others can't.

[Edwardo]

Disney built a monorail on their own land entirely. I don't see universal building one across major interstate and on other peoples land, besides the fact that monorails are expensive.

[Tosu97]

It is a little inconvenient that you wouldn't have the luxury of getting on a monorail like Disney but it shouldn't be a big deal. I hate that Nintendo theme but if anyone could pull it off, it's Universal. I didn't like the 2nd Harry Potter area either because it took my beloved JAWS away. But it sounds like it's a hit to everyone else!

[Cameron]

Disaster closes Sept 8th so get your rides in now lol.