Universal Releases Plans for Its UK Theme Park

Universal is expanding its theme park footprint outside of the US and Asia with an upcoming park in the UK. Originally announced in late 2023, what’s currently referred to as the Universal UK Project (it’s right there in the URL and everything) is slated to start construction in Bedfordshire (less than an hour from London) in 2026, with a targeted opening date in 2031. And with construction comes all kinds of government documents, like zoning requests and other plans, giving the public an early sense of what Universal might be cooking up for Great Britain. A host of such documents were posted online last week by the UK’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; they don’t reveal anything specific about the upcoming park or possible attractions, but they do hint at some pretty grand plans.

The most eye-popping figure in the documents, at least for theme park fans, has to be the maximum attraction height. The proposal calls for attractions that can rise up to 117 meters, or 384 feet, for us Americans. That would be far from a record for a coaster—Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point stands 420 feet (130 meters) tall, the recently-closed Kingda Ka at New Jersey’s Six Flags Great Adventure was a gargantuan 456 feet high (that’s 139 meters), and the upcoming Falcons Flight will rank as not just the world’s tallest coaster at a frankly unbelievable 639 feet (195 meters) when it opens at Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia this year, but also the world’s fastest and longest. A coaster that hit 384 feet would set a record for a Universal park, though, and by a pretty big degree; Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, which closes soon at Universal Studios Florida, hits 167 feet, whereas the Velocicoaster at Islands of Adventure next door is 155 feet. Just because Universal is requesting the ability to build something that’s almost 400 feet tall doesn’t mean they have any plans to, of course. Other, non-coaster types of rides often reach that high, like Ferris wheels and drop towers, so there’s a number of possibilities if Universal is serious about going that big.