Rumor: Universal Studios Might Be Planning A Star Trek Land To Compete Against Disney World's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

Set phasers to stunned.

Rumor has it that Universal Studios is developing an entire Star Trek-themed land in a new Orlando park that would directly compete with Walt Disney World's Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. Read on for more information about a potential Universal Studios Star Trek land.

Star Trek vs. Star Wars has been the source of geek debates for decades (even continuing in VR!), and now the battle between the two science fiction franchises could rage on in the form of competing theme parks.Disney and More have heard rumors that the building which housed Universal Studios' Terminator 2 3D experience is looking to be filled with either a Bourne Identity or Star Trek-themed attraction, and those whispers have been floating around the theme park fan community for a while now. But a bigger rumor has also emerged, and it claims Universal is planning an entire Star Trek Land for the company's unofficially announced fourth park – and we've heard similar rumblings from our own sources, too.

Universal bought a ton of land next to the convention center a couple of years ago, and it's only a matter of time until they announce the fourth theme park that will occupy that land. Nothing has been officially announced yet, but a Star Trek Land in that park seems like a blunt way to take on Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, the immersive new Disney park that will open next year.

While nothing has been revealed yet, the current thinking among theme park experts is that Super Nintendo Land and Fantastic Beasts will have placement in the unnamed fourth park. We've previously written about some other rumors, which included potential lands dedicated to The Lord of the Rings and Jurassic World.

Not long ago, we learned that the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios Hollywood is closing down to make way for an updated Jurassic World-themed ride, which has led many to assume that an entire Jurassic World land at Universal Studios Florida's new fourth park might now be off the table.

That would leave a Lord of the Rings land and now a Star Trek land. Those are both massive pop culture properties with huge fan bases, and the notion of having two of the biggest names in fantasy and science fiction inside the same gates must look pretty appealing to Universal execs who are probably very nervous about Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Though the movie rights are controlled by Paramount and the TV rights belong to CBS, Star Trek had a presence in Universal Studios theme parks before. A cheesy live-action interactive stage show called Star Trek Adventure was there from the late '80s to the mid-'90s, and it edited hand-picked audience members into the plot of a Trek story. (You can watch a version on YouTube here.)

Elsewhere, a full-size replica of the Starship Enterprise was nearly constructed in downtown Las Vegas, complete with rides, tours, restaurants, and live entertainment. (The concept art above shows what the scale would have been like.) That project never came to fruition, but Vegas eventually became the home to Star Trek: The Experience, a $70 million attraction in the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel that housed props, museums, and more that was open from 1998 until 2008. Here's a video walkthrough from just before it closed:

Would you pay to visit a whole Star Trek Land if Universal Studios built one?