According to the Orlando Sentinel, Universal Orlando saw it’s attendance rise 20% in 2010, just by having the Wizarding World of Harry Potter open

(2/16/11) According to the Orlando Sentinel, Universal Orlando saw it’s attendance rise 20% in 2010, just by having the Wizarding World of Harry Potter open for the last six months. All said and done, Universal Orlando had 11.2 million visitors in 2010.
    (2/2/11) Now that Comcast has taken over NBC Universal it seems this change of ownership triggers a contract clause that would give Blackstone the rights to sell their 50% stake in Universal Orlando. Of course, according to this other article, Blackstone has raised $15 billion in funds, ripe for use as “a war chest for acquisitions”. After successfully spinning off the former Anheuser Busch owned theme parks into their own company, I do have to wonder if they are thinking about offering to take the rest of Universal Orlando off Comcast’s hands, as the theme park business is unknown territory for Comcast.
    (1/21/11) Quick update for the Mardi Gras schedule… the Thirty Seconds to Mars concert has been moved to April 23.
    (1/18/11) I forgot to mention that Universal Orlando has confirmed their concert lineup for Mardi Gras. I’ve posted the lineup here (see sidebar) or you can see it over at the official site.
    (1/13/11) According to the official Frankie Valli website, a tour date has been set at “Universal Studios Orlando” on February 12th. Could this be the opening act for Mardi Gras 2011?
    (1/6/11) Universal Orlando has raised prices and added new blackout dates to their annual passes for 2011. The changes do include a ton of summertime blackout dates for Islands of Adventure due to the popularity of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Read more here.
    (12/30/10) If your staying at the Universal Orlando Resort keep and eye open for a brand new ship sailing the waterways between the resorts and Citywalk. I’ve been told that Santa delivered a brand new water taxi to the resort this year dubbed, “Take Two”. I’m told that this is to help replace two other vessels that were retired earlier this year.
    (12/28/10) I’m not sure if there is anything to this or not, but one reader claims to have heard about a mystery new slide project that may have been in development for Wet ‘n Wild, somewhere near the lake. Anyone know more?
    (12/20/10) It’s just an estimate, but near the end of this article, an analyst with Moody’s Investors Service predicts that Universal Orlando will spend about $80 million on construction in 2011, down from the $105 million average it was pulling in from 2007 to 2010 when they built The Simpsons, Hollywood Rockit and the Wizarding World.
    Of course to someone like me who tries to follow and predict the future of the parks, the next few years are somewhat cloudy right now. After finally coming to the end of an intense period of expansion, we see Universal taking a break for 2011. This is much like what happened 10 years ago, when Universal had finished up Islands of Adventure, Men In Black and some other minor additions and tweaks in 2001, Universal just kind of shut itself down from adding anything new for a couple of years until Shrek 4-D opened in 2003 and Revenge of the Mummy in 2004.
    So if Universal Orlando is going dark for 2011, do they really have an $80 million project waiting in the wings for 2012, or was that purely blind speculation on the park of Moody’s?
    (11/30/10) Few details are given, but it seems a Universal Orlando VP (Jan Stratton) died from a self inflicted gunshot wound over the holiday weekend. The death has been ruled as a suicide from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Jan was the VP of Community and Diversity Relations, responsible for many charitable programs and community events.
    (10/21/10) Orlando Parks News has info on an interesting survey Universal was giving to passholders this week, asking how they feel about the idea of adding any number of special new benefits to the annual passes, such as Ride It Again options, free hotel suite upgrades, after-hours park access, free tickets to HHN or Rock The Universe and many other options.