Surprised at this use of government funding when we're supposedly so in debt.

Of course, London. Where you ship out all of the poor to other counties, taking up our land and housing because they outbid our own councils. The rest of the country has huge infrastructure issues and our councils are verging, if not already, on bankruptcy. We don't have the protections of the EU any more in the poorer areas and it shows.

Plenty of rides at Universal in Florida are indoors .. they use a lot of 3D (which I very much enjoyed). They will 100% be ready for the weather.
I imagine they will be looking to attract European Tourists - so fingers crossed EU Reset sorts out any border / visa issues, to make this easier.

When it comes to jobs thete will be a whole range, both within the parks, but also locally and regionally. Yes you will need people to work in kiosks, but you will also need people working in HR, Management, Finance, Logistics etc.

Everyone saying “it’ll create jobs”.

The construction jobs will not all be at the same time and will, by their nature, be temporary. I also think 20k is a lot - I’m wondering where that figure has come from. Could it be based on e.g. 500 painters only brought in for two months at the end?

Of the longer term jobs when the park opens, the vast majority will be minimum wage with little in the way of development opportunities. Probably zero hours contracts dependent on season and footfall. I also think the 8000 number is grotesquely inflated considering the actual number of staff they have across the half dozen universal parks and dozen hotels in Florida.

I’m assuming a sizeable tax break has been offered.

Exactly - you have to speculate to accumulate. This project will create jobs and income and spending power.

This government needs to get on and spend more on public and infrastructure projects to regenerate jobs and spending power.

The short termism is utterly ridiculous - Starmer has been in power for the blink of an eye and the media are piling in on him for not doing enough and are setting up ridiculous expectations in the public who want it all NOW! - and so the seesaw of leaders/governments continues and nobody gets anything done. It is pitiful.

I do agree with this to an extent. People comparing it to Florida - it’s going to be nowhere near as good, let’s be honest. Tourists go to Florida as there are multiple parks there (something for everyone) plus the weather! I very much doubt you will have people coming to the uk just to visit universal studios. It will be like the Harry Potter studio tour - something tourists might add to their list while they’re here on an excursion from London, but not necessarily a draw in itself.

I think the profits it’s going to bring (after the first 5-10 years especially) have been vastly overestimated. And agree with pp about the upkeep and travel infrastructure - I would be very surprised if the roads won’t be severely affected in the area.

If they'd built the piece up to Crewe where they planned to put it, the land is that unstable, it would have been one!

As others have pointed out, the investment will produce taxes from sales, corporation tax, business rates, income tax and reduce benefit payments.

Tony Blair once had a similar idea but thankfully his plan for a Las Vegas style Supercasino in Manchester never went ahead, because we have enough gambling problems already!

It's been five days.

I don't think OP is coming back. I do question motives when this happens, I don't think OP wanted to engage in discussion.

Why would not having a priority system for disability make it crap?

What issues have you had with your water supply? We’ve lived in London for decades and have never had a problem.

There was a local issue with a damaged supply in (I think) Sussex, but that could happen anywhere, so presumably that’s not what you are talking about.

Maybe read up on basic economics OP.

What a brilliant idea!

It’ll be crap like anything else here, they won’t have a functioning priority system for disability it’ll be the whole Merlin/nimbus card fiasco. Rather than modelling a system on somewhere like Disneyland Paris for example . Plus they won’t be proactive with updates and renovations when needed it’ll get run down (again see Merlin attractions , butlins, centre parks etc) it’s all about profit and no upkeep in the UK. Probably miserable underpaid workers too. Will be a disaster.

I don't believe that you haven't had issues with either sewage on a beach near you, flooding in the winter, issues with drinking water (either not having any or having bacteria in) or huge delays in repairing of leaks. If it hasn't happened in your town or village it will have happened locally. Why would you want your risk to increase?

I live in the south, we haven't had any issues. There are some areas where there are problems for sure, but it's not universal (pun intended!)

Think it will be a great success. The U.K. needs something like this

I think it is a great idea. It is a huge investment. It will create jobs and bring in tourists from far and wide.

Universal are going to feel really silly when they find out about the UK weather

or, they’ve spent years researching and have decided they are going to make a lovely profit.

What a stupid idea. The climate will make this a money drain unless Labour envision welfare recipients working there for free. Disneyland Paris has been in the red every year and has cost billions more than it ever generated. Paris is well south of the UK with a better climate.

Given the COL crisis, it’s not like the locals can afford to go there. This is purely aimed at attracting tourists but why would a tourist go to Universal in the UK? When they can go there and to Disney in Florida?

If you live in the south you will know the repeated issues with water supply does not a theme park or AI data centre make...
I wonder what homework they did if they missed the water trucks giving bottled water to thousands over the last year or two?

Depends on whether I needed a job, then it would be great. If not then I'd probably move out and air bnb my house for the tourists.

And even if I stayed, there would be better infrastructure locally.

Absolutely. I’m a theme park enthusiast and have been following this for years. The boost for the economy will be huge. We’re annual pass holders for universal in Orlando and live in the UK so people shouldn’t underestimate the pull this park will have. It won’t just be a theme park, there’ll be a hotel and an area like Citywalk in Orlando which will be restaurants, shops and bars. In Orlando you don’t need park tickets to access citywalk so hopefully UUKR will be the same. I’m excited to follow the construction! Watching Epic universe being built was brilliant but this will be another level.

Crafta

literally not the point of the thread 🤷‍♀️

It's literally the best investment they could make for the country. Jobs, tax, VAT, people off the dole, sale of goods, tourism.

Where would you spend the money thst wouldn't be a sunken cost?

And it's more useful than HS2.

Universal are prepared for this. Universal in Florida experiences high levels of rain, even hurricanes. There will be indoor rides and attractions, it will be a 365 days a year park.