Universal Studios is frequently viewed as a second fiddle in the Florida theme park game, but a new rumor indicates they might be looking to up the game. Universal already has two traditional theme parks, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, along with the water park Volcano Bay, on its property in Florida, but a new rumor claims that a project is underway to build a fourth location, which would house the already announced Nintendo themed land, as well as areas dedicated to The Lord of the Rings and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
This potential fouth park is only a rumor, and thus should be taken with a grain of salt, though the Disney and More blog claims that the rumor comes to them via a trusted source who has provided valid information in the past. According to this source, the fourth theme park is going by the internal designation of Project 314.
The centerpiece of this new land is rumored to by the Nintendo World that Universal and Nintendo announced would be coming to the park a few years ago. If there's any extra reason to believe that this rumor might be true, it's that construction on the Nintendo area was expected to have started by now. The fact that it hasn't could indicate that something that requires more planning is underway and an entirely new park would certainly fit that bill. The land is rumored to include rides dedicated to The Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart, and a Donkey King roller coaster, with a recreation of Peach's castle at the heart of it all. Universal is also hoping to bring Pokemon into the park as well, though that may need to be a later addition.
Nintendo won't be the only new area in the park of course. If the rumor is to be believed, Universal is also eyeing The Lord of the Rings to take up space in the new park as well as a second Wizarding World space, specifically dedicated to the Fantastic Beasts franchise. A fourth land would reportedly include a Jurassic Park ride. Islands of Adventure already includes a Jurassic Park area, so it's possible the plan here is for the new area to be themed for Jurassic World.
While this may be only a rumor, it certainly wouldn't be surprising if it turns out to be true. When adding on to an existing theme park there's a limit to how things can be designed due to the existing space. When starting from scratch the options are far more open. If Universal really does want to add four new theme park lands, adding all of them to one of the existing parks only becomes more complicated as you pile them on top of each other.
If there is an entirely new theme park being designed we shouldn't expect to be checking out the rides anytime soon. Such an undertaking would certainly take several years once construction starts, and it does sound like things are still very much in the planning stages.
