Bond and Paddington rumoured to feature at new Universal Park in Bedford

It was recently announced that Universal has finally found a home for its European theme park, and it’s only in Bedfordshire, a stone's throw away from London… if you have a good arm. Now, thanks to the BBC and a mystery source, we’ve got a better idea of what may be featured in the park and it’s shaping up to be quite tasty.

The Universal website still doesn’t state what will be featured, but according to the BBC, we could be seeing everything from Paddington to James Bond and even Lord of the Rings, bringing a healthy dose of Ol’ Blighty to the new theme park that’s set to open in 2031. Due to how far out its proposed opening is, everything could change between now and then, but Bond and Paddington would help localise the park a great deal and make it feel special.

Other zones set to appear are themed around Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and everyone’s favourite giggling yellow blobs, the Minions. A noticeable omission will be Harry Potter, which apparently won’t appear because the Warner Bros Studio tour is just down the road in Watford. Again, this could change if there is any expansion on the 476-acre park.

One of the most appealing attractions will undoubtedly be the James Bond stunt show that’s currently rumoured to be included in the park. It seems likely speculation will only continue to mount between now and the opening, but fingers crossed for a British sit-com zone with a Peep Show-themed pub featuring a washing machine and organic scrumpies.

Despite having parks worldwide, Universal attempts to keep each one unique; the company doesn’t just use a cookie-cutter cut-and-paste approach. Hopefully, we will get some of the features from other parks like Super Nintendo World, as right now, it's a trek to get the Nintendo experience if you live in the UK – even if it doesn’t seem to be in the plans for now.

Although the park is still six years out, it is expected to create nearly 30,000 jobs in the area during construction and welcome 8.5 million visitors in its first year.

• We visited Super Nintendo World Hollywood and here are our thoughts.

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