February 12, 2026, 2:03 PM ·
I long ago stopped keeping count of the number of projects and developments that I have written about here at Theme Park Insider. But I do know that a large percentage of those projects never ended up happening.
That experience has helped teach me to spot a doomed idea pretty much from its start. (Anyone remember that billion-dollar theme park in rural Oklahoma?) Anyway, for some reason I thought it relevant to mention this context before I get into today’s news.
A special Florida district that oversees development around the Universal Orlando Resort, The Shingle Creek Transit and Utility Community Development District, has chosen to begin negotiations with The Boring Company for a new transportation solution to link CityWalk with the new Epic Universe theme park.
Universal lacked the space for a third theme park on its original Orlando campus, so it built Epic Universe on a new “south campus” a little over two miles away. But those 2.5 miles are not empty space. Interstate 4 plus multiple commercial structures, roads, and ponds stand in the way. That leaves Universal to run buses on local streets to connect its two locations, which can take 15-20 minutes, depending upon traffic.
The only way to make that connection faster is to find a way over or under all the stands in between the two sites.
The Shingle Creek board solicited Requests for Qualifications from three companies to find ways to do that. Of the three, it has selected The Boring Company as the most qualified and will begin negotiations. The Boring Company is Elon Musk’s tunneling business that built the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop. That tunnel runs for 1.7 miles underneath busy Las Vegas streets.
If Universal could get the same thing in Orlando, that would solve the resort’s transportation challenge. But while Las Vegas provides a relatively simple environment for digging a tunnel, Orlando provides what might be the most complex, with a high water table and porous rock.
The Boring Company eventually delivered the Vegas tunnel at a relatively low cost, but it did so while getting itself named to a worker advocacy group’s list of the “Dirty Dozen” worst companies in America for workplace safety.
And then there is Musk. Not even getting into the man’s deeply troubling personal views, Musk is the Harold Hill of tech. He has developed a reputation for overpromising and under-delivering, building stock value by convincing just enough investors and customers that his underperforming products are actually the next great thing.
So pardon me for viewing this project with great skepticism. That said, Universal does not need a two-plus mile tunnel connecting its parks. It just needs to tunnel under or bridge over the obstacles that prevent it from running surface-level dedicated bus lanes. Where no such obstacles exist, the bus lanes can run at surface level. (I assume that Universal would just run electric buses on this route, rather than spending way more money for some form of railway.)
The district board could decide that The Boring Company’s proposal is not feasible and reopen the project for bids. If it goes ahead, then it would pay for the project with an assessment that Universal would pay – so I cannot image that Universal is not going to be a party in this decision at some point.
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