Amusement Park News

With a planned opening for summer of 2025, Universal Studio's new Orlando Epic Universe has now announced details about their five immersive lands and their attractions. The park will take up 750 acres, and include three hotels, shops, and food and beverage according at a new park set to be one of the most immersive and innovative Universal has created.

NBCUniversal's former CEO Jeff Shell reports that the “infrastructure is in, a lot of the steel is in,” putting the park, once on track for a 2023 launch before pandemic derailment, firmly back on track.

The park will be positioned close to the rest of the Universal theme park behemoth in Orlando and located near the Orange County Convention Center. County commissioners approved funding of $125 million in 2019 to extend the road to Epic Universe, a project that Universal itself is contributing $160 to $315 million to complete as an elevated traffic circle. Designed to improve traffic around Universal, it will be renamed Epic Boulevard.

Additionally, a new rail station will be built at the convention center on 13 acres pledged by Universal for the station.

CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences Mark Woodbury calls Epic Universe the “most technologically advanced park we've ever done.” As such, the park will offer what he terms a “frictionless experience from guest experience to drones, one that will utilize “facial recognition, photo validation technology... The full guest journey is really being taken to a whole new level.”



As to the park itself, there will be over 50 attractions and experiences for guests to enjoy at lands which include: Super Nintendo World, Dark Universe, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, and Celestial Park.

Celestial Park is the central destination, from which the other lands unfold. The theme here is astronomy based. Accessed from the park entrance, the area will include gardens, paths, and water attractions, as well as some key rides.

One of these is the Starfall Racers, an exciting dual launch racer with a 5000-foot track, a height of 133-feet, and a speed that reaches 62 miles per hour. It will allow vehicles to move into an inverted crisscrossing action – in the air. Another ride in Celestial Park is the Constellation Carousel. This ride will be a centerpiece of the area, where constellations glide back and forth and turn in rotations of 360 degrees, all set to music.

A lively water area for kids to play, dubbed Astronomica, is shaped like a large-scale compass and will of course be interactive.

There will also be plenty of dining options in this area of the park, including the Oak & Star Tavern for BBQ; the full-service Blue Dragon Pan Asian cuisine restaurant; and Atlantic, a full-serve seafood and steak house that promises grand views of the park and a setting inside a Victorian-style aquarium. Also on hand will be the savory pies of Pizza Moon. Shopping will be found at the Nintendo Super Star Store and for those with a sweet tooth, Moonship Chocolates & Celestial Sweets.  

Guests can shop and fuel up here before entering the park's four other lands, accessed through “magic portals.” Once entered, guests can enjoy a wide variety of experiences.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic will be very different from the Harry Potter lands already located at at Universal Orlando, where Diagon Alley and Islands of Adventure offer Potter-themed experiences. Here, the land is based upon the Fantastic Beasts film series' 1920s setting, along with that of the British Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter series.

There will be close-to-full-size Pari streets, a Main Street and square that serves as a fork in the road connecting the two areas in this land with a domed roof. An open-air alley area will contain one of the area's two dining locations, both of which will be indoors. Various false front houses will re-create residences of characters from Fantastic Beasts.

Along with this new iteration of a Harry Potter land, Epic Universe guests can also travel to the Isle of Berk, the land of How to Train Your Dragon. Here, park visitors can enter a vibrant world based on these films. There will be a lagoon filled with colorful but permanently docked boats as well as an interactive boat ride, and a flat spinning ride designed with a dragon at one end of winged seats. There will also be an indoor stage show, and a quick-serve dining room topped by a windmill. Featuring the franchise's friendly dragons, this land will be the most child-friendly area of the massive park.

Skewing older will be the park's Dark Universe land, one that is themed to Universal's bevy of movie monsters and mystery. Here, guests will encounter classic Universal monsters that pay tribute the film company's famous creatures such as the Wolfman, Frankenstein, and Dracula. Monsters will roam among new rides including a major attraction set in Frankenstein's Manor. A spinning roller coaster will be themed as “The Curse of the Werewolf.” The main F & B spot here will be called The Burning Blade Tavern.



Super Nintendo World will be similar to sister attractions at Universal Studios theme park locations in Japan and Hollywood. Theme park guests will enter through the franchise's well known green pipe and find themselves in a land that is nothing if not both interactive and tied to the world of games, with characters from Mario and Luigi to Princess Peach and Donkey Kong.

This is the location to experience rides such as Mario Kart: Koopa's Challenge or Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, depending on whether Florida's Mario Kart themed ride more closely resembles counterparts in either Japan or California. The family-friendly Yoshi's Adventure, where riders will search for Captain Toad, will also be located here.

As in Universal Studios Japan, Florida's Epic Universe will include a Donkey Kong-themed area. Features are expected to include a roller coaster, various interactive opportunities, and retail and dining locations themed to the popular video game Donkey Kong.

State of the art AR (augmented reality) and projection mapping will doubtlessly be a part of the rides here, with many of the experiences interactive. According to Universal Creative's former senior VP and CEO Thierry Coup, Super Nintendo World is a “life-size, living video game where you're one of the characters.” With that in mind, as is true at other locations of Super Nintendo World, guests can also buy a wearable Power Up wristband to compete with other attendees.



Beyond the attractions themselves, Epic Universe will offer three new hotels: Stella Nova Resort, Terra Luna Resort, and Helios Grand Hotel. Scheduled opening dates for these accommodations are January 2025 for the Stella Nova and February 2025 for Terra Luna. Each will feature 750 guest rooms, pool, and dining options. Adjacent to Epic Universe, they'll be both operated and co-owned by Loews Hotels. There is no opening date as yet for the Helios, which will be located inside the park.

Both Universal Orlando's other theme parks and Universal City Walk will be conveniently accessible with free shuttles provided at the new hotels. Epic indeed.