Universal Orlando Already Planning Expansion at Epic Universe & Beyond
In a new video ahead of the grand opening of Epic Universe, Karen Irwin, President & COO of Universal Orlando pitches their three theme parks, water park, entertainment district, and hotels as a destination resort. She also reveals that Universal is already looking down the road, beyond Epic Universe at what’s next in 2026 and beyond.
This is the latest in a line of recent appearances aimed at both generating excitement about Universal Orlando, and cementing it as an equal to Walt Disney World worthy of vacation time, and not just a diversion. We’ll cover that over the course of this post, but let’s start with Irwin’s quote about Universal Orlando’s future expansion plans:
“There are already so many things in the works now. We have a slate of new attractions that were already in development on for every one of our parks. We’re already planning the next thing at Epic!”
This follows a recent piece in the New York Times, “Universal’s Theme Parks, Long in Disney’s Shadow, Expand at Dizzying Pace.” The article is essentially what the headline suggests, spelling out how Universal is going after Disney with new parks in Florida and Texas. plus expansion elsewhere and new attractions at its existing gates.
The short version of the story is that when Mark Woodbury became Universal’s theme park chief in 2022, he saw an even bigger opportunity to lift Universal out of Disney’s shadow after the theme parks had become a surprise growth engine for NBCUniversal. “How do we become the destination of choice in each of the markets that we operate in and in all of the markets that we choose to expand into?” he said during an interview with NYT.
This is not hyperbole. Universal is in the midst of unprecedented expansion, even before Epic Universe. The company opened another fully-fledged theme park, Universal Studios Beijing, just a few years ago. In addition to Epic Universe, the Florida complex has debuted several hotels and new attractions in recent years.
Then there’s the upcoming Universal Kids Resort in Texas, new permanent Halloween Horror Nights-style experience in Las Vegas, and recently-opened Super Nintendo Worlds in California and Osaka, Japan. Universal also has plans for “Wicked” attractions, expansion in Hollywood, and a major park for Britain, too.
“We’re going to roll these out across the country and the world,” Woodbury told the NYT when describing the cheaper regional concepts slated for Las Vegas and Texas. With regard to Epic Universe, he hopes to reverse a longstanding business dynamic with Walt Disney World. Woodbury wants families to view the Universal Orlando Resort as a weeklong destination and not just a one- or two-day add-on to a Disney vacation. “We want people to think of us first,” he said.
The clear takeaway from recent media is that NBCUniversal has high expectations for Epic Universe, sees ample opportunities for further growth of its theme park business, and will continue to move aggressively to capture more market share from Disney (something that has already happened in the last decade).
Turning to commentary, this sentiment doesn’t surprise me in the least. Universal leadership expressing this now also doesn’t mean it’ll happen. So much hinges Epic Universe and how well it’s received upon opening. Specifically, whether its first couple of seasons exceed investor expectations or fall short. Not whether fans like it or if Universal executives do a public victory lap, both of which are givens.
In many ways, the debut of Epic Universe reminds me of the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Obviously, the scale and scope are bigger–but so too are the stakes. Regardless of statements at the time by The Bobs, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge fell short of internal expectations. There’s a reason why we never heard another word about Galaxy’s Edge coming to Paris, as it was shelved before COVID.
If you can remember that far back, you might recall rumors that other projects for Walt Disney World were already on thin ice–or nixed entirely–pre-COVID. Obviously, the closures exacerbated everything and resulted in a lot more cancellations, but it’s not really the point to relitigate the impact of COVID on Disney’s expansion. It’s that what Universal is planning today could end up being very different based on how the first year goes with Epic Universe. I’m not suggesting a preemptive cutback–I’m saying that the range of outcomes is still unknown. Ambitions could be scaled down…or ramped up. Both are possible!
Whether it actually occurs or not–and regardless of ambition levels–expansion and reimaginings need to happen at Universal Orlando.
I’ve yet to experience it, so obviously I cannot speak to the “need” for more attractions at Epic Universe. On paper, the ride roster does look on the light side to me, but that’s fairly typical of new theme parks post-Euro Disneyland. The only recent exception to this has been Shanghai Disneyland, which was an anomaly.
Otherwise, the same criticism could be levied at Hong Kong Disneyland, Animal Kingdom, Disney California Adventure, and even the beloved Tokyo DisneySea at opening. Heck, you could make the same critique about Animal Kingdom today, over two decades after it opened. Epic Universe does have plenty of expansion pads between its worlds, and I suspect at least one of those will be put to use before 2030. Honestly, I’m more curious as to whether they’ll have to address crowd flow constraints first.
Expansion at Epic Universe strikes me as a good ‘problem’ to have. If that’s fast-tracked, it’ll presumably be that the park is such a smash success that it needs more to help absorb crowds and increase capacity. It’ll be due to overwhelming demand and concerns about Universal leaving money on the table, not the other way around. Kind of like what we’re currently seeing at Magic Kingdom, but with a new park instead of a 50+ year old one.
On the other hand, redevelopment at the two existing gates, especially Universal Studios Florida, is imperative. It needs to happen, and as soon as possible.
Whenever fans hype up Epic Universe and claim that it’s going to be what puts Universal Orlando over the top to claim Walt Disney World’s throne, or whatever, I can’t help but wonder when they last visited Universal Studios Florida. To describe several of its lands as in need of refreshes would be an understatement. It makes Tomorrowland at Disneyland look like a pretty good land. Dino-Rama would be right at home in USF. (Okay okay, perhaps that’s going too far.)
Universal Studios Florida has received a couple of placemaking projects in recent years, neither of which are anything special. Incremental improvements accomplished quickly and cheaply, so at least there’s that. Islands of Adventure is generally in better shape with a better ride roster and superior placemaking, but similar (albeit much more restrained) criticisms could be levied at that park, too.
The “problem” that Universal Orlando is going to have is that, the better Epic Universe is, the worse the two existing theme parks will look by comparison. The current plan is to push pricey vacation packages to “force” people to visit Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, but that’ll only work for so long.
Eventually, organic demand is going to do its thing. And it’s safe to say that, when that does happen, attendance at Universal Studios Florida and (to a lesser extent) Islands of Adventure will drop for a couple of years. There will be some cannibalization of attendance, which is to be expected.
How bad it’ll be probably depends on the quality disparity between Epic Universe and the existing gates, word of mouth among tourists who visit Universal Orlando for the first time in the next couple of years, what Universal Orlando does in the meantime to help entice guests to USF and IoA, and what Walt Disney World does to capture those same tourists’ time and dollars.
We already know that Rip Ride Rockit is being replaced. It’s also our understanding that Universal Orlando intends upon returning to its cadence of an annual new major opening. This is consistent with recent precedent prior to Epic Universe, and with what executives have suggested on earnings calls and in interviews. It’s also what Walt Disney World will be doing once again starting in 2027. There’s every reason to believe the competitors will adopt a similar approach. Epic Universe will be the marketable draw in Central Florida for a couple of years, but Universal obviously doesn’t want their pipeline running dry as Disney starts bringing new attractions and lands online.
There are rumors that Springfield is next on the chopping block, to be replaced by a Pokémon-themed area. Without knowing anything or having any insider connections, my guess is that Universal Orlando will move as quickly as possible to build new Nintendo attractions in each of the existing parks. Nintendo is going to be the marquee draw that gets families booking trips to Orlando, so Universal might as well borrow a page from its own Harry Potter playbook and spread Nintendo out among all 3 gates. That’s a lot more effective of a way to entice tourists to visit all three parks than forcing them to buy packages. Gotta catch ’em all!
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more.
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the ambitious plans for additions at Universal Orlando? Expect it’ll be full steam ahead on expansion and redevelopment at Epic Universe, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios Florida? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment about the need for new attractions and refreshed areas at the two existing gates? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback—even when you disagree with us—is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
It looks like we may be heading into an economic downturn. If that happens, Epic may fall victim to it. The best plans and execution can’t overcome the impact of fewer guests being able to afford to visit.
They should build a child’s theme park and call it little universe. Specially for kids. Also Lowes should be allowed to build several kids hotels.
they are building a theme park specifically for little kids in Texas. I would think they will see how it does, and make plafor expansion from there.
Just because I have a feeling you were going for it, I did chuckle at “Gotta catch ‘em all!”
I am very excited for Epic but will likely wait until next winter to try out. I hope the rides are right in the sweet spot where kids and adults can both enjoy.
I’ve heard people complain in comments in other articles on this site that Disney World has gotten too expensive & so they’re switching their loyalties to Universal Orlando. But I haven’t noticed that Universal is any cheaper. All theme parks are expensive & seem to take cues from each other on how to price things. After being a passholder almost continually since the beginning, I quit my Universal annual pass last year. I was paying more per month for Universal’s 2 parks than I was paying for my WDW Sorcerer level pass for 4 parks. I checked Universal’s other pass tiers & the lower ones didn’t even offer free parking, whereas Disney’s lower grade passes still offer free parking. So the idea that Universal is more affordable for the average person is just an illusion.
For an out of stater, Universal is significantly cheaper. You can get all 3 parks for 500 dollars. I usually travel there 2 or 3 times a year and go to the parks a total of about 15 times so that works out to about 35 dollars a day.
I assume the people saying that are tourists, whereas you’re a local.
Universal’s hotels are typically much less expensive, and include Express Pass on the high end. Or you can get family suites for much less than they cost at Walt Disney World. Universal also has good prices on longer duration tickets.
We have only been to universal once, but staying at the deluxe resort was cheaper and it included early entry and fast passes for free
I can’t disregard your personal experiences, but mine actually happened, too, so I’ll amend my statement & say Universal Orlando isn’t cheaper all the time straight across the board & in every way, but sometimes it may be.
Another way Disney is cheaper is after public outcry, they made parking at their hotels free. I believe my parents still have to get their parking validated on their monthly trips to Universal Orlando’s Portofino Bay when they eat at Bice.
You addressed our problem with *almost* including a trip to Universal during our annual WDW trek. As much as we want to do UEU and wonder if there will be less crowds since we will be there right after opening, we decided to wait, fearing that some kinks might need to be worked out or if the DK coaster is not up and running yet. We looked at the other two parks and were not too impressed. We were USH passholders for years and looking at USF it was too similar. IOA looked almost good enough, but not enough for the price but more importantly, for the hassle of getting there from the Polynesian, at least for this trip. If they plussed one or both of those parks to come capacity, we would certainly consider it….especially if they keep up with adding Nintendo IP like The Legend of Zelda or they swap Springfield out for a Pokémon themed area. In all actuality, both WDW and USF took a loss from us, as we usually do 3-4 parks during our WDW trip and are only doing MK and Epcot this time around, leaving more room to enjoy the pool and more relaxation than normal and saving a few hundred bucks in the process.
Tom, looks like we were a bit off about what Brooks Barnes’s next article would be. Instead of a Disney focus following on the recent WSJ story, it was this “Universal’s Theme Parks, Long in Disney’s Shadow, Expand at Dizzying Pace.” A focus on Universal, with Disney being discussed (for now) mostly in comparison.
I do still consider Disney superior overall, with more consistent theming, especially in the area of the company hotels. I stayed at one of the “Universal” hotels that’s actually through a third-party partner. It’s just NOT the same as being in the Disney bubble. The utterly random music I heard by the Universal pool was nowhere near as fun as something like the Spanish guitar Disney themes by the Coronado Springs bus stops. It’s still the little things that can make a difference.
I assume he’s still cooking up something. I’ve had a couple of reporters reach out for comment since the WSJ piece, so it’s safe to assume that cycle isn’t finished.
Interesting thoughts on the Universal hotels. While there are definitely differences, I think Loews generally is a strong hotelier and the UOR resorts punch above their weight. It helps that Universal overbuilt its room inventory over the last decade in anticipation of Epic Universe. We’ll see if that sentiment still rings true in another ~5 years if/when they’re able to push prices higher.
Regarding the random music – I’m at Universal right now and while we’ve had a really fun stay, I’ve also been struck by the fact that original music is such a part of what makes the Disney experience “magic” and helps create that bubble. Aside from the iconic John Williams scores for Jurassic and HP, Universal simply doesn’t have a deep IP library of songs that instantly create a shortcut to emotions and memories…instead it’s all just random pop and rock at the hotels and transitional spaces. I wonder if Nintendo themes are the future for Universal “bubble building” (only half joking).
Immersive music is very important for the magic of a theme park. SeaWorld is the worst about it. They have little music exclusive to the park & play regular pop music throughout. But then that park, except for Sesame Street Land, is themed around real-life marine animals rather than fantastical fictional worlds, so it can be pretty dull. I’ve gotten bored on some outings there that were meant to be fun & quit my annual pass last year.
At Universal, at least Springfield plays a cycle of musical clips from The Simpsons. Once I lingered until I heard the whole thing play through, playing a mental game of identifying which episode a particular segment came from. I remember in the early days of Universal Studios, they used to play musical themes from the movies they featured along with dialogue clips. Like you’d keep hearing Marty McFly say, “You mean to tell me you built a TIME MACHINE?!” or the Blues Brothers saying they were on a mission from God. The dialogue clips embarrassed me for some reason. Still, those early days when Universal Studios was new & the only theme park Universal Orlando had were heady days for me. I miss the original lineup of attractions.
Regular music does not belong at Disney. I hear it at Disney Springs & I guess that’ll have to fly since that’s not full of Disney Magic, but it still seems out of place. Once I went to Fantasmic & while waiting for the show, they had replaced the covers of songs from Disney animated films with Top 40 & I was so disappointed, as was some young British man in the audience, who made his fury known quite vocally. So unmagical. I heard a few years ago there was a similar outburst from guests at the Magic Kingdom when they brought in a Top 40 DJ to play Top 40 songs as people exited the Magic Kingdom at closing time. They’d have much rather heard Disney music. Sometimes cool music isn’t cool at all. Thankfully, they quickly stopped with the Top 40 at both sites.
We are doing a Universal trip with one add-on: The Disney Halloween event, just because we’ve never gone and I want to go. Otherwise, with a 10yo – all her interests are Universal, now. Nintendo (Mario, Pokemon, etc); Harry Potter; How to train your dragon…
She’s just not that into Disney anymore. She loves the recent movies (Encanto, Moana) but they don’t have rides or even meet and greets at WDW.
Anyway, I love the entirely themed area idea that Universal had with Wizarding World and seems to be leaning into with Epic. I don’t like how WDW is a lot of walking past stores in between rides.
Universal Orlando gets about 22 million visitors a year, it will he interesting to see if the new park is as busy as universal Osaka by cannibalizing its sister parks, or if all three parks end up with 9 million attendance each over 12 months
USJ is the most miserable park I’ve ever been to when it’s busy (although TDS is starting to give it a run for its money), so here’s hoping it’s not quite that “successful.”
Seems Universal’s brand new Gate is already more complete than at least 2 of Disney World’s established parks.
Just a glance and impression— appears to have double to triple the number of attractions of Animal Kingdom. And far more attractions than Epcot.
I’m tired of Disney creating new “lands” with only about 1 1/2 – 2 attractions. Almost feels like gaslighting. When was the last time Disney built a new land that had more than 2 true attractions.
“Just a glance and impression— appears to have double to triple the number of attractions of Animal Kingdom. And far more attractions than Epcot.”
To come up with these numbers, you’d have to count things like water play areas, meet & greets, and interactive experiences at Epic Universe–but not their counterparts at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT.
I’ll agree with you that Animal Kingdom has fewer rides, though. The gap closes when we expand that to what would normally be defined as attractions–but even so, DAK has too little to do.
my dream as a kid was to visit Nickelodeon studios at universal studios. alas, it was not meant to be.
Disney is failing while universal is steaming forward! Disney is just standing there watching, thinking they are unstoppable. seems Disney better wake up and fix themselves!
“The “problem” that Universal Orlando is going to have is that, the better Epic Universe is, the worse the two existing theme parks will look by comparison.”
Excellent points. And to be fair, that’s an issue that’s been internal to each park for a while. For my money, Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade are some of the very best themed area in any theme park, and then it’s incredibly jarring that a 5 minute walk will land you in Springfield (which feels as though it was built much earlier than 2008) or Toon Lagoon (which is so incredibly tired. Does anyone read the “funny pages”? What percentage of the population knows any of that IP? I’m Gen X, and *I* struggle to identify characters there).
It’ll be that but to the nth degree when comparing the parks. I really hope Epic nails it, but since tickets are currently only being sold in packages with USF and IOA, customers are going to see all the parks. You’re absolutely right that guest satisfaction in the original parks is going to suffer in comparison. I hope that it encourages real improvements in those parks (like the Pokemon you mentioned), because VillainCon doesn’t cut it.
I know Springfield is falling out of favor and is seemingly next up to be replaced, but honestly, I think the land is fine. Not great, but good enough. The ride is dated, but the land does the job as giving you the chance to step into the world of the Simpsons. I can’t really imagine it being executed at a much higher level than it is, which says more about the Simpsons than it does Universal (IMO). It’s also why I don’t expect Walt Disney World to do anything with the Simpsons.
To each their own, but Springfield won’t be on my top 5 areas for redevelopment at UOR.
Totally agree about Toon Lagoon, though. It was a fun idea two decades ago, but it has not aged well. Maybe if it were Calvin & Hobbes Land instead! 😉
Again, excellent points. I guess I’m letting the dated ride overshadow Springfield itself, which is a parody of a “perfect TV town,” and it does an admirable job at being that parody. That being said, I’ll miss the Simpsons Ride when it is eventually yanked. While some people may enjoy narrating along with the Ghost Host in the stretching room, my family will do the whole preshow for the Simpsons (only if we are in a vestibule to ourselves…we aren’t THOSE people). So much of that preshow has entered my family’s lexicon (“the space guy that did that space thing” and “is it ice cream?”) on a near daily basis that it’s kinda embarrassing.
I haven’t spent a lot of time at Toon Lagoon, but Islands of Adventure isn’t a fave park because of all the thrill rides as compared to mild rides. But I do love its design. When I was growing up in the 70’s & 80’s, sometimes I went through phases were I would daily read every single comic strip in the Orlando Sentinel’s funny pages, even Doonesbury, though its political commentary went over my head. So seeing a place where comic strips are brought to life is fun for me, though I’ve thought it ironic that although Islands of Adventure is located in Orlando, some of the comic strip characters I have a harder time recognizing because they never graced the Orlando Sentinel’s funny pages. I have a Toon Lagoon-themed beach towel with characters from Popeye, Beetle Bailey, & Hagar the Horrible, & I somehow love that towel more than my multi-character ones for Animal Kingdom & Disney’s Hollywood Studios, even though many of those Disney characters mean more to me than those comic strip characters. I think the Popeye round raft rapids ride is the best of its kind, but I don’t ride it often because I don’t like paying the price of being drenched. It’s like indulging in a pleasant sin but having to pay the consequences afterwards (which you may know about due to sin being in your online name, heh). The Dudley Doright ride is okay, but flume rides make me a bit nervous & I’m extra nervous about that one because I heard there were some safety concerns in the past, like a fire. Still, I’d be sorry to see Toon Lagoon’s unique architecture disappear.
Even though my grandkids are college age, I really look forward to hearing megatron’s reaction to the universal park in Texas. I’m assuming we’ll get coverage we couldn’t expect without her..
Honestly, I’m not sold on that park yet and am not sure we’ll cover it. I have zero interest in it whatsoever, so it does come down to Megatron. (Epic Universe, by contrast, will be receiving a ton of attention–as you’ve probably already noticed.)
Traveling to Texas when we have similar concepts in San Diego and she knows nothing of those franchises is just a hard sell for me. All of the characters she loves at this point are either Disney (Pooh, Mickey, Frozen, Duffy) or real animals (not really characters), so I’m struggling with what the Universal Kids Resort will offer us that’s compelling enough to make the trip. Obviously, all of this is subject to change as her “tastes evolve.”