Universal Studios is coming to the UK, and no, this isn’t a prank from Mr. Bean.
Yep, the theme park empire that brought you rides, wizardry, and the universal experience of standing in two-hour lines for five minutes of magic is packing its bags and heading across the pond to Bedford. That’s right—Bedford, England. The town is about to go from “Wait, where?” to “THE place to be” faster than you can say “mind the gap.”
According to a very serious announcement from NBCUniversal and the UK government (who we assume were high-fiving in a pub after sealing the deal), this shiny new mega-resort will be the UK’s biggest visitor attraction. And just for extra razzle-dazzle, they’re calling it “one of the largest and most advanced theme parks in Europe.” Translation: it’s gonna be big. Like, accidentally-walk-ten-miles-before-lunch big.
🗓 Opening date? 2031.
So mark your calendars, and tell your future kids they’ll have something cool to do besides TikTok 9.0 and watching AI Shakespeare perform Love Island.
📈 The stats are wild:
– 20,000 jobs during construction (a.k.a. lots of hard hats and hi-vis vests),
– 8,000 permanent jobs when it opens (think wizards, minions, and churro engineers),
– and get this—$64 billion (or £50 billion if you’re feeling British) in economic boomage by 2055. That’s enough to buy approximately two pints in central London.
🎢 Oh, and they’re expecting 8.5 million visitors in the first year, which is basically the entire population of London showing up and immediately regretting not getting fast passes.
The corporate bigwigs are excited too:
“We could not be more excited…” said Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, while probably wearing a suit and picturing rollercoasters in his mind. He’s promising an “incredible landmark destination,” which we hope means dragons, dinosaurs, and maybe a cheeky Nando’s.
Universal boss Mark Woodbury added that the move is a brilliant chance to “introduce the Universal brand to new audiences.” Translation: Brits deserve a turn on the rides too, innit?
Now, before you go planning your dream trip, here’s the catch: no details yet on themed lands. Will it be Harry Potter? Jurassic Park? Shrek’s Swamp Water Rapids™? We don’t know. Universal released one lonely rendering of the park, which looks like every theme park ever… if you squint and use your imagination. But hey, we love a mystery.
Bonus twist: this news drops just weeks before they open the Epic Universe in Orlando, proving Universal is on a world domination arc. Next stop? The moon. (Probably.)
So, prepare yourselves, UK. Bedford is about to glow up harder than a Love Island contestant post-spray tan. 2031 is the year theme parks get posh.
