2. Universal Studios Beijing

Location: Tongzhou, China
Opening date: TBA 2019
Announcement date: October 13, 2014
Current status: Prepping for construction

This is where the real excitement is at.  When Universal made the official announcement just last month, it dropped several bombshells – gone was the paltry 51-acre park, with a massive 1,000-acre resort that instantly overshadows the size of Universal Orlando (and, incidentally, a number of Disney’s properties across the globe) taking its place.

Universal Studios Beijing itself will occupy some 296 acres, making it nearly three times the size of either Universal Studios Florida or Magic Kingdom, and almost exactly the same dimensions as the colossal Epcot.  Needless to say, this will be the company’s biggest park yet.  Going into the remaining 700 acres will be the largest CityWalk shopping/dining/entertainment complex in the world, at least one hotel, and ample parking.

The grand total for such a large-scale development?  $3.3 billion (the land alone cost $300 million when it was sold off last March), which Universal will not only pony up itself, but whose spending will be directly overseen by the company, as well; although NBCUniversal will be working with four Chinese state-owned partners, it won’t be franchising out the project to a local owner, as happened with its parks in Japan and Singapore (and as Disney did in Japan, as well [Disney doesn’t technically own its theme park in Hong Kong, but it does have a 49% stake in the venture]).  This makes it the first major foreign-owned theme park in Beijing – a major step forward for both Universal and China.

But the real star at USB will be, of course, the attractions.  While Universal has yet to formally announce any of them, it has promised that they will consist of rides from its other parks and that they will “reflect China’s cultural heritage.”

Just what the ported-over rides will be has been a hot topic of discussion and speculation all across the enthusiast press; using the only piece of concept art as a guide, such sites as Theme Park Insider and Disney and More have spotted Jurassic Park, Far Far Away (themed, but of course, to Shrek), Madagascar, Sesame Street, and Revenge of the Mummy – in other words, lands that house nearly every single E-ticket the company has from around the world.

Best of the best, however, is the inclusion of not one Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but two – both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are situated very close to one another, with the Hogwarts Express running between them, just as in Orlando.  One single park containing so many revolutionary attractions is almost more than one can handle.

Unfortunately, it really might be too good to be true – precisely given the huge number of properties all lined up one after the other (along with some attractions that we know can’t legally be instituted in Beijing, such as the Incredible Hulk Coaster), many have surmised that the concept art is just full of placeholder rides, and nothing more.

Then again, when Universal Studios Dubailand was still on the drawing board, the company was kicking around taking its older attractions and retheming them to new(er) IPs – such as, for example, taking the Incredible Hulk and reskinning it as Men in Black. Could that be what’s going on here?

Fortunately for us all, Universal Studios Beijing will be opened by the end of the decade, and we’ll have plenty of time to see for ourselves.

1. Universal Orlando's third gate

Location: Universal Orlando Resort
Opening date: TBA 2020s
Leak date: N/A
Current status: Blue-sky planning

What’s the latest word on Universal’s still-deep-in-the-design-stage third park for its Orlando resort?  Just last week, height balloons were dispatched in and around the International Drive area.  While such a sight is a common occurrence in Orlando – they herald the imminent arrival of a new attraction – having three sets of balloons in three different locations measuring three different heights is certainly out of the ordinary.

Given that they were near Universal Orlando, Wet ‘n Wild (which Universal owns), and an empty parcel of land near Fun Spot, it has led many – chief among them our friends at Behind the Thrills – to believe that Comcast is secretly purchasing up the land in the area for the new round of theme park(s), hotels, and, possibly, shopping/dinning complexes that are increasingly rumored to be on the way.

As for what these new additions might hold for theme park-goers, the only word we have to go on for the moment is the assertion that the park – at least, in its current, blue-sky design state – is nothing short of “incredible.”