Universal Studios Bedford

[HorrorFan81]

Anyone else excited about this?? https://www.bedfordindependent.co.uk/breaking-news-universal-studios-uk-gets-green-light-for-50bn-bedford-theme-park-opening-2031/

I'm local and as long as they sort out the traffic issues etc I think it will be great.

No. The last brickworks went many years ago. I grew up in the area and miss the smell in a funny sort of way

BBC News - James Bond, Paddington and Lord of the Rings set for Universal UK - BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9344k7k95vo

This is claiming no HP 😢

Obviously a lot could change tho

Yeah I’ve already had to promise to take my 10 year old DD as a post gcse treat 😂

Haven’t they already said that there won’t be a Harry Potter theme there due to licencing? There’s already Harry Potter world in Watford.

Daft question , but who will be responsible for building it? Is it entirely don’t to Universal? And what made them pick the UK to build another park ?

Universal are a business so they must clearly think there’s money to make ?..

Really silly not to have a Harry Potter section imo when it’s from the uk could be such a huge draw card!

I think it will be really popular as so many people can’t afford/don’t want to go all the way to America so I think it will be very successful!

Yeah , Harry Potter world doesn’t have rides as such. So I don’t see why Universal can’t put Harry Potter rides there too like they do in Florida.
All the same company, if Universal own the rights to it. They got a few years yet anyway

Universal don’t own the rights to Harry Potter. They have a licence to use it in certain locations for certain purposes. They can’t just use it in a theme park in the UK because they have the rights for the US. Marvel is actually a good example of how complicated licensing can be. Disney now own Marvel but Universal already had a licence to use it to the east of the Mississippi in the US which pre-dates Disney owning Marvel. That’s why Marvel is in Universal in Florida but Disney have been able to introduce it to other parks not covered by Universal’s licence such as California and Paris.

It's in Bedfordshire. Try consulting a map.

hth

I agree it is good to have the jobs and investment that the construction and theme park will bring however it isn’t everyone’s dream come true .Living for several decades in one of the three villages that actually border this site (it’s not in Bedford )I sold up as soon as as the announcement was made .Areas change but for me this was too much,too close and no I didn’t make any money because of the theme park .

I am fairly local too (under an hour drive) and really looking forward to it! Have done Florida twice. My children should be a suitable age to start going there too!

how exciting!!! maybe we will even get other theme parks too…!!

I’m not looking forward to it. Terrible for the environment. Yes, it will provide jobs, but mainly minimum wage jobs - hospitality, hotels, ride operators.

And the traffic!! that area is really busy already.

And the land is being built on is currently a wildlife corridor. It has been reclaimed after the brickworks closed. There will be huge knock-on effects to wildlife while they are building it too.

So I take it Universal are fully paying for everything? It won’t be down to the taxpayers to pay for anything?

I'm so excited for this! I've been to Orlando and Singapore Universal so to have this on our doorstep will be amazing https://universal-studios.uk/

I live 10 mins away and I’m dreading it. There’s already an impact on traffic with local roads being closed - the villages between the M1 and the park are just going to be over-run. I can’t see how it’s going to have a positive impact on the area - as a pp said most of the jobs will be low skilled/paid and despite everyone saying it’ll be good for house prices who’s going to pay to live near it in reality?

Not really. People visit Orlando from the UK & Europe in huge numbers. HP fans won’t need to go to Orlando if they can get the experience at home. I suspect they know exactly what they are doing.

Could also be a rights / licensing issue re the Leavesden studio tour although enough money can usually deal with most of those issues!

A lot of people need to do fairly low paid work and jobs are in short supply. There will still be some supervisory and managerial roles. I can imagine it will be a hugely popular employer compared to supermarkets and Amazon/H&M warehouses or care homes!

@hallenbad yes you’ve got a point but would you want it on your doorstep? As with most development locals get very little say.

https://universalukproject.co.uk/

This is the official site for those wanting facts rather than gossip and rumour

The sheer volume of natural habitats they’ve destroyed and bulldozed over, for this nonsense is simply heartbreaking. I know Bedford is not exactly a nice place but the destruction of natural habitats is unforgivable

The road network can't cope around that area at the moment so if there's not major restructure it'll be chaos.

They are basically trying to concrete over from here to almost Cambridge (not all for Universal but I think Universal will be used as the carrot to push through east-west rail, rerouting the A1 and sorting out other roads and then the new town at Tempsford). Huge swathes of countryside might well be destroyed. I am local and find it very very depressing as people I know are already planning on sticking around long enough to either move or turn their houses into AirBnB.