Universal to Move Theme Park Unit to Orlando

Universal Creative, a key unit of the Universal Studios theme park division that designs rides, attractions and hotels worldwide, will move from Los Angeles to Orlando, Fla., on July 1, Universal Studios Recreation Group spokesman Jim Yeager said Thursday.

Recreation Group Chairman Tom Williams wants to align the creative team more closely with the division’s marketers in Orlando. The move of Universal Creative affects a few dozen engineers, architects, artists and writers who work at Universal City in Los Angeles, the company said. Their work encompasses everything from designing Islands of Adventure in Orlando to the newest Universal theme park in Osaka, Japan.

Like rival Walt Disney Co.’s famous Imagineering division, employment in Universal Creative ebbs and flows with project activity. Most of the affected workers, who were notified in March, are being given the choice of moving to Orlando or accepting early retirement packages.

Fewer than a dozen people are expected to lose their jobs, Yeager said. Though about half of the team opted not to move to Orlando, the key creative members are relocating, he said.

The action comes during a period of belt-tightening throughout the theme park industry. Blaming the sour economy, Disney is cutting 4,000 jobs companywide, as many as 1,400 of them in Orlando.