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Credit: UniversalDisney isn’t the only company investing billions into its parks.
When Walt Disney opened Disneyland in 1955, he vowed that the park would never be completed – and that’s something the Walt Disney Company and other theme park companies have taken to heart ever since.
In the 68 years since, Disney’s introduced countless changes, upgrades, and even new parks. Today, Disneyland has its very own sister park, California Adventure, that sits in place of its former car park. It’s also been joined by multiple Disney Resorts across the world: Walt Disney World Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland.
While seven years have passed since Disney last opened a new park (Shanghai Disneyland in 2016), rumors are constantly flying about a potential fifth gate for Walt Disney World and a third park for Disneyland Paris. For now, there don’t seem to be any new Disney Parks in the works – but that could all change very soon.
At Destination D23, Josh D’Amaro – Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products – confirmed that Walt Disney World will receive $17 billion in investment over the next decade. While some of that will inevitably go towards already announced projects like the Test Track and Country Bear Jamboree renovations – not to mention whatever they decide on to replace DinoLand U.S.A. – that still leaves plenty of funding for exciting new additions to the resort.
As if that wasn’t enough, Disney have since announced that they’re injecting a collective $60 billion into their parks worldwide.
But they’re not the only one pulling out the big bucks. Universal has announced a massive expansion coming to one of its theme parks – and that’s in addition to the third gate coming to Universal Orlando Resort.
Construction is set to kick off by 2025 to add 2.2 square km to the total park area of Universal Studios Beijing. This will more than double the park in size.
The expansion is also set to introduce up to five new resorts to the resort as the Chinese government continues to invest in Beijing’s tourism infrastructure.
First opened in 2021, Universal Studios Beijing is currently home to seven lands containing attractions inspired by beloved films. While some of these can be found at other Disney Parks – such as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, and WaterWorld Stunt Show – the majority were unique for the park, including the Transformers-themed Decepticoaster, Kung Fu Panda: Journey of the Dragon Warrior, and Jurassic World Adventure.
For now, there’s no word on what franchises will be included in Universal Studios expansion. However, considering work will kick off around the time Universal wraps up Epic Universe in Orlando, it’ll be interesting to see whether any of the park’s new additions also pop up in China.
What franchise would you like to see added in a Universal Studios expansion? Let us know in the comments!