Harry Potter cast shooting for theme park attraction

When asked about construction at the Complex the other day, a Universal *cast member* (or whatever UO calls them...minions perhaps?) simply said "Oh, that's Transformers".

The Gringott's building is so clearly visible, there's no doubt that 2 attactions are coming....but apparently they're downplaying USF-Potter until after they get the appropriate buzz from Transformers East...

Obviously they need to milk Transformers in Florida in the short term, and presumably the new Potter North stuff is quite a way from being finished anyway. It will be interesting to see what they actually deliver beyond all of the rumors.

It seems weird they're constructing three attractions all at the same time....you know, after not really changing anything for a while.

Part of it is Comcast's willingness to step up, where the prior ownership consortium was less interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/business/universal-armed-with-cas...wanted=all

Brian Noble said:

Part of it is Comcast's willingness to step up, where the prior ownership consortium was less interested.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/business/universal-armed-with-cas...wanted=all

Wow, in perspective, this does make sense. It seems Disney is more attractive to children while Universal is more attractive to teens....Universal is really emerging as a true competitor to Disney.

Just my guess but I wouldn't expect a HP announcement any time soon. Why tell people to come back in 2 years to pay and experience HP, when they could have those same people pay for that vacation this year, then pay again in 2 years.

I don't know that it's a willingness to spend money as much as it is that they have something in the park that prints money now.

It's a good deal of both. My friends that work at Universal are quite happy with the Comcast ownership.

Jeff said:

I don't know that it's a willingness to spend money as much as it is that they have something in the park that prints money now.

Well the money-printing aspect causes the willingness aspect, no?

It was implied that the former ownership would not have spent the money, so yeah, that's why I made the distinction.

That was implied? Not in this thread, as far as I can tell....

The NY Times article linked above does suggest that very thing. It may be paywalled, but here is the relevant bit:

G.E. and Blackstone were both more interested in wringing cash from the parks than expanding them; selling them entirely was regularly on the table.
But Comcast is different. “We’re really feeling the love,” said Mr. Williams, Universal’s chief.

Comcast has increased spending on the parks — by how much it won’t say — and is betting on strong international growth. Universal announced a deal in April to open a park in Moscow by the end of the decade. The company, which opened a park in Singapore two years ago, also has resorts in the works in South Korea and Dubai; it is pursuing a deal in China.