Universal Restarts Epic Universe Construction
Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe will be a new theme park in addition to Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, and Volcano Bay. This runs down the lands, rides, shops, restaurants, entertainment center, and adjacent hotel, all of which will be a short drive from Walt Disney World. (Updated March 3, 2021.)
Let’s start with the latest good news on Epic Universe. Almost a year after temporarily closing Universal Orlando, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts spoke during a Morgan Stanley Investor Conference on March 3, 2021 and announced that construction on Epic Universe will resume immediately. Comcast had paused construction until the company felt confident enough that the future became more certain, and to that point Roberts said, “we now feel that way.”
After the conference, Universal Orlando issued a press release on Epic Universe: “The restart will begin immediately, but is expected to take several months before reaching full-speed as Universal restaffs for the project and reassembles its vendor and contractor teams. Restarting Epic Universe will result in hundreds of jobs within Universal and thousands of jobs across Central Florida. These positions include highly-skilled professional positions, all levels of construction jobs and more.”
Epic Universe’s construction will infuse billions of dollars into the Central Florida economy, generating thousands of jobs during its development. It’ll also create more than 14,000 permanent jobs once completed. Roberts further stated that Epic Universe is Comcast’s “single largest investment in the state and represents our enthusiasm for the spectacular park and the economic opportunities it will generate.”
“We are excited to begin work on Epic Universe again and for what this moment means for our industry, our community, our business and our team members,” said Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO for Universal Parks & Resorts. “Our confidence in our collective future is as strong as ever.”
Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings said that the resumption of Epic Universe’s construction “couldn’t come at a better time,” and “our community has so many talented workers who will benefit from this massive project. I am confident it will deliver a huge economic boost to Orange County.”
We are surprised but elated by this news. When previously discussing the delay, we pessimistically commented that “indefinitely delayed” was the face-saving term for Epic Universe’s likely cancellation. Our view was that Central Florida’s tourism industry had been hit hard, and the region’s status as a theme park travel destination means a full recovery and the ‘future becoming more certain’ would take years. We are very happy to have been very wrong on this.
Universal Orlando resuming work on Epic Universe only a year after shelving the project is great news for theme park fans, and also the local economy in Central Florida. We’ve discussed “revenge travel” in 2021 a lot on the blog, but it’s still hard to fully comprehend the degree to which the U.S. economy has roared back in just a year. This is the clearest sign yet that one of the major Florida theme parks has reason to believe an economy recovery is on the horizon for the hospitality sector.
Even if you don’t care about Universal at all, this also bodes well for Walt Disney World. For one thing, competition is healthy and ultimately benefits consumers. We’ve already been documenting the many ways Universal has been aggressive during the reopening, trying to capture business from Walt Disney World. This is another sign of that, and at some point, Disney will have to take notice.
Beyond that, Universal is only resuming this project because there are signs of the travel industry recovering. If that’s true for them, it’s true for Disney, too. That could means that plans previously derailed or postponed indefinitely could be picked back up. This is especially good news for EPCOT, where the Spaceship Earth Reimagining and the Marry Poppins Cherry Tree Lane expansion were shelved. Walt Disney World announced other cutbacks and cancellations, including the three-level Festival Center. It wouldn’t surprise us in the least if Walt Disney World announces within the next few months that some of these plans are also back on.
What follows are original details of Universal’s Epic Universe for the sake of posterity, in case future ‘theme park historians’ want to compare what was announced last year with what’s announced in 2028 or whenever…
At a press conference, Universal announced that a third theme park would be built in Florida, that it’d be called “Universal’s Epic Universe.” The positive economic impact of Universal’s Epic Universe was also touted.
In terms of substance, the logo for Universal’s Epic Universe, along with the above concept art were the bulk of what was released. Universal declined to provide additional information, such as a timeframe for the opening of Epic Universe, the movies and other intellectual property it’d feature, or specific attractions. However, rumors about this park have swirled for over a year, so we have some pretty credible insight into what else Universal’s Epic Universe will entail…
A couple of internal Comcast presentation leaks from the last year pointed to the name of Universal Orlando’s third theme park being called “Fantastic Worlds” and also suggested what some substantive offerings at the park may include. Obviously, we now know that the name has changed since then.
One thing that has not changed is where the park will be located, as this was pretty much confirmed by permits and plans filed with Orange County. Here’s the map released today by Universal Orlando:
Another thing that’s almost certain about Universal’s Epic Universe is that it will be anchored by Super Nintendo World, which is presently being built in Japan. Universal has previously officially confirmed that Super Nintendo World is coming to its Orlando Resort. Super Nintendo World is expected to include attractions themed to Mario Kart, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. This is expected to include a dark ride and physical environments; the concept art that has leaked makes this look like something special.
Other rumors are less reliable, but there are several potential lands that could find a home in Universal’s Epic Universe. The first of these is a land from the Wizarding World Fantastic Beasts franchise, which would fit nicely with the existing Wizarding World of Harry Potter lands in the two existing parks. A third likely candidate is a DreamWorks Animation area, which would be an eclectic Fantasyland-style mix of franchises such as How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls, Kung-Fu Panda, Shrek, and Madagascar.
Another is a similar land featuring Illumination Entertainment properties. These could include a Minions mini-land and Secret Life of Pets attraction. Such a dark ride is almost certainly in these plans irrespective of anything else Illumination Entertainment-related, but the attraction is already under construction at Universal Studios Hollywood, and cloning it would save development costs.
We don’t follow Universal rumors nearly as closely as we do Disney, but other rumors/speculation (honestly, I can’t distinguish between the two on this) I’ve gleaned over the last year or so from spending way too much time on Twitter includes Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, and Universal’s Classic Monsters.
Just at first blush, I’d say that Universal’s Classic Monsters seems the most likely of this trio. Either of the other two would be huge, and Universal has demonstrated an ability with Halloween Horror Nights to attract and leverage big intellectual property, so other big IPs don’t seem outside the realm of possibility.
Universal insider Alicia Stella of OrlandoParkStop.com shared the above map (reposted here with permission) that has each area of the concept art labeled with what it’s likely to be.
Alicia has been one of the main sources of rumors, leaks, and other information concerning Universal Orlando Resort’s third gate, and we’d consider her as (or more) credible as anyone when it comes to Universal’s Epic Universe. (Of course, this is still just rumor, subject to change, and all of that.)
On a personal note, we’re really excited for Universal’s new park. While we have a Walt Disney World v. Universal Orlando post, it’s probably not what you’d expect from the title. We don’t even remotely buy into the faux-fan rivalry that has been concocted–and we’d note that the companies themselves don’t even partake. (To the contrary, many at Universal Creative are former Imagineers, and vice-a-versa!)
In addition to Universal Orlando, we’ve been USH Annual Passholders (read our Guide to Universal Studios Hollywood for more on that fun and uniquely California park) and regularly visit USJ in Osaka (read our Guide to Universal Studios Japan for more on what makes it special, including fan favorites like JAWS!). Universal is different from Disney in a lot of ways, but there are also plenty of similarities–and both know how to create some great attractions.
In fact, we recommend those with longer recommend Walt Disney World vacations allocate at least a couple of days at Universal Orlando, and use our Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure Trip Planning Guide for strategy. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is absolutely mind-blowing, and on par with the best of Walt Disney World.
Admittedly, we’ve been slacking in our coverage of Universal Orlando on the blog. That’s partly because there’s “Disney” in the title, and many readers do buy into the dumb rivalry and have complained about past coverage (ironically, no one complains about off-site hotel reviews).
In fairness, it’s more so on us. There are some significant elements we still haven’t experienced, like the new Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. More importantly, we haven’t stayed in any of the hotels yet, and it feels a bit premature to start doing itineraries and more comprehensive coverage until we experience Universal as on-site guests.
This announcement was just the kick in the pants we needed. It’s clear Universal Orlando is going to be even more of a serious competitor for your Walt Disney World vacation time and hotel nights. Accordingly, we think it’d be a disservice to those of you planning Florida trips to not offer better coverage of Universal, particularly from a tourist perspective. To that end, we’ll start booking hotels and hopefully have more frequent (but still comparatively infrequent) planning tips and updates from Universal Orlando.
If this announcement of Universal’s Epic Universe is any indication, it’s going to be a fun decade in and around the Central Florida theme parks, and we think everyone benefits–including Walt Disney World fans with zero interest in Universal–from fiercer competition among the parks.
We don’t quite buy into the notion of ‘theme park wars’ nor do we expect a direct response from Walt Disney World. Big announcements are likely to come at the D23 Expo later this month, but those have been in the pipeline for a while, and aren’t “caused” by Universal’s Epic Universe. However, we do think a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ (to a degree) and competition will improve the guest experience for all of us. And that’s what matters most to us in the end!
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Your Thoughts
What do you think of Universal’s Epic Universe? Excited for Super Nintendo World? What about Fantastic Beasts, Universal’s Classic Monsters, or the potential DreamWorks Animation or Illumination Entertainment lands and/or attractions? Think this third gate will be a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort? Expect Disney to “respond” with a big announcement of its own at the D23 Expo? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
The term “theme park” has become meaningless. When I visited Orlando, I couldn’t tell the difference between the “theme” of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, especially since Harry Potter is now at both. It’s all just a jumble of IP. This new theme park looks like more IP that couldn’t fit in the other parks. They should just link all 3 together and call it “Universal Sprawl.”
Disney hasn’t done any better by putting Star Wars in Disneyland, Avatar in Animal Kingdom, Guardians of the Galaxy in Epcot, and Marvel in California Adventure.
The only non-castle theme park with any theme left in it is Tokyo DisneySea.
100% agree
I’ve been saying for a while now that a version of FOP with riding toothless instead would be so phenomenal! So many kids would jump at that chance, even I would! Hope they do something like that for sure! We love the dragons!
I like Universal but it’s never why I am going to Orlando.Over the years we have spent a day or two there and had a great time . But not every trip, and I have never stayed there.Harry Potter is just like walking through the movies and I love it. I am a huge fan. The new land sounds great, and I would love to read posts about Universal!
To say Universal and Disney don’t compete is a bit misleading. Any investment in Orlando attractions that increase Orlando’s share of the leisure market is certainly positive-sum for both properties. But in terms of wallet share within the market, it’s definitely more zero-sum than positive-sum due to the price sensitivity for most guests. This is why the future of both properties is in premium experiences – it’s one of the only remaining positive sum moves each company has left.
I’m constantly surprised by the number of Disney enthusiasts complaining both about the price increases, the crowds and the increase in premium experiences. You can’t have it all and these are all interrelated. If you want a low gate price, expect insane crowds. If you want lower crowds, be prepared to pay more at the gate. If you want a way to keep gate prices low, increase premium event capacity (which Disney has done well, to their credit). There aren’t too many other levers Disney can pull and I’m surprised by how many enthusiasts are blind to the realities of these trade-offs.
Unless this new park adds some dark rides with physical sets, I have no interest. Last time I went to Universal was in 2011 and I stayed on site. I enjoyed it and the perks for staying on site were nice. I liked the Dudley Do Right, Mummy, and Cat in Hat attractions plus Harry Potter land was neat. I generally recommend Universal to anyone visiting Orlando for the first time in addition to a Disney trip if they have time. Unless I ever move to Orlando area or vacation longer than a week in Orlando, I doubt I will interrupt a WDW trip to go to Universal in the future. I love all the attractions, shows, characters, and lands better at WDW than Universal. I dislike that Universal attractions are mostly screen based rides, IP-driven, 3-D Shows/Rides, and simulators. I get a little nauseous with simulators , I have trouble seeing with 3D glasses, and I view screen based rides as inferior to physical scenery and audio animatronics. I disagree that Disney’s rollercoasters are inferior to Universal’s. I judge rollercoasters based on physical sets and theming rather than intensity so I prefer Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Expedition Everest over all the Universal ones.
I am also super excited for this. I do prefer Disney world to universal (especially with kids) but I really like both. We are going to Florida next month, and for the first time we are skipping Universal because of how many small kids will be on this trip. There simply is not enough for them to do with the rides they have and their height requirements.
I am looking forward to going back when they get bigger and trying out volcano bay which looks pretty great to me.
This really makes me wonder how this announcement will affect a fifth gate at Disney World. Does this make it more or less likely to happen do you think? What do you guys think?
Per your “kick in the pants” about increasing your Universal parks coverage, you can always rebrand this site to “The Fantastic Island Universe of Epic Disney Tourist Blog Adventures.”
“Check out the new post on TFIUOEDTBA!” has a nice ring to it. 😉
I dunno…that name doesn’t essentially repeat the same word twice. Without that clever gem, I’m not sure it’s all that good. 😉
I am super excited for this new land at Universal. We already stay 2 days while at a 10 day Disney trip. Now I envision staying at Universal for 4 or 5 days and possibly skipping a trip to Disney? We love the way Universal does their ride system. You can wander around and get on a ride when you choose. No chasing fp’s around. Even better if you stay onsite at a deluxe resort and get free EP’s.
I love the idea of Marioland, Fantastic Beasts, LOTR’s, Monsters, among the others. I hope Universal incorporates some “how it was made or done” type of attractions too. I miss the backstage ride at HS. I also miss watching the animators sketching away on the next big Disney movie, which we could watch via glass into their workspace! I hope this concept will be considered, and I bet it would be popular along with the other attractions. I am very happy with this. I love Disney, but also love Universal too, and I see myself spending more time at Universal in the future. SWGE is not for me, especially with no Han Solo, R2D2, 3CPO, Luke and Leia. The new SW does not interest me at all.
Thanks for covering this topic 🙂
DEFINITELY excited about a Nintendo land and I’m surprised it’s taken so long. Mario and Zelda were a huge part of life for many who grew up in the 80’s and beyond. I can see people flocking from all over for this. And a classic monster land sounds awesome too.
I think this addition definitely takes Universal Florida from “tack a day onto your Disney trip” to “book a separate 4-day trip” park. It’s exciting even if the the exact intellectual properties do not immediately thrill me. But fun attractions are fun attractions. I really have no interest in Spider-Man in general, but I enjoy the Spider-Man attraction. I think the same will hold true for this new park. A rising tide does indeed lift all boats.
Christine: Great analogy. I too don’t care or seek out Spiderman, but we love the Spiderman ride at Universal. There is something for everyone at any Orlando park you visit.
Totally agree with you said, particularly about the separate 4-day trip. That’s why we mentioned expanding our coverage of the Universal hotels. We anticipate a huge spike in the number of people doing split stays between Universal and WDW going forward.
Universal has been building to this for years. First with Wizarding World(s) of Harry Potter, which helped pave the way for more hotels, which justify the addition of this new park…which in turn will help fill those hotels.
Looking forward to the expanded coverage!!
I have never have been to Universal and probably never will. I have never seen HP movies or do I have any interest in video game themed areas. There is just to much to do at Disney in the time frames we go. Now that Disney will have 50 new things for the 50th Anniversary to try to add a day or two at Universal doesn’t make sense. I just can’t afford to take another day or two away from the Happiest Place on Earth. Rumors of a major announcement that will be coming from D23 this month will trump what Universal just announced.
“Rumors of a major announcement that will be coming from D23 this month will trump what Universal just announced.”
Universal isn’t for everyone, and we totally understand if Disney fans have no interest. However, Universal just announced a brand-new theme park. Disney will not be announcing a new park at the D23 Expo. Any announcements that could be coming are not on this level.
We have always enjoyed Universal / Islands of Adventure. But Disney is my favorite by far. Good for Universal to keep up with trying to compete with Disney. But if they want to be in the game they need to learn a few things Disney is top-notch at: moving people (at Universal you park – you walk forever to get in on your own), free FastPasses & dining / dining plan (will be hard to ever beat Disney on this).
All of this assumes you’re not staying on-site at Universal. If you are staying on-site, the hotels are within walking distance, you do get free Express Pass (at least at some of them), and there is a dining plan (albeit not as robust as the DDP).
Tom: No, we’ve never stayed on site at Universal. We do at Disney & are again this December for my 60th birthday. I guess we have not been to Universal in many years so was not aware of these things. Thanks for letting us know. I will for sure look into it next time we visit Orlando. I think it is exciting to get a new park. Thanks for doing these blogs full of all sorts of good info.
Competition may lead to more family friendly prices at WDW…
That would be great, but have you looked at universal’s prices? They are… not great either.
The cynic in me thinks universal will use this as an excuse to raise their prices, giving Disney more of an excuse to raise theirs as well.
A thing that leaves me a little cold about the Universal parks (and I’ve only been to one…just have read of the other,) is that the lands are themed heavily on pop-culture games and movies that hold no interest for me. I enjoyed the Jurassic Park ride with 2 of my kids back in 2010, and we would have enjoyed the Harry Potter area, had it not been so mobbed, but the remainder of the areas/rides seemed to reference specific stories that I’m not into.
Not to be a Disney v Universal mudsticker, but for me, Disney does a better job at creating appeal for anyone, whether or not you’ve seen a particular movie.
I think this is true with most of Walt Disney World’s ‘legacy’ lands and attractions, but literally everything built in the last several years and coming in the next several at WDW is also based upon movie franchises.
A lot of people lament this and while I wish Disney would do more original lands and attractions, I also think a good experience can transcend its source material. I’ve never read any of the Harry Potter books or seen most of the movies, but I love those lands. Same goes for Pandora at Animal Kingdom or Cars Land at DCA.
Totally understand that others need the source material to resonate with them, though.
This is awesome! I definitely won’t be able to stick to my usual plan of doing universal in one day during a disney trip anymore. Like you said, Universal will now require a dedicated to trip! I have been dying to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel.
My wife and I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel for our Anniversary Trip in July ’18, Amazing hotel!!!
What are “Classic Monsters”? I find this announcement interesting, but nothing super exciting for me. The super mario world aspect of it seems neat as i did grow up playing a lot of Nintendo. I LOVE Harry Potter World, but already have to pay for two park tickets to experience both and don’t relish the idea of buying a THIRD park ticket so that is a bummer. Also like someone else mentioned the 3D rides make me sick unfortunately and I already feel like Universal is too heavy on them.
Regarding Universal’s Classic Monsters, check this out: https://film.avclub.com/a-guide-to-the-universal-studios-monster-movies-1923-1-1798234514
WOW!!
I didn’t expect that news today!!
I was wondering how the 4,000 rooms they are adding this year would affect occupancy for the Universal area of Orlando.
Looks to me like like they are thinking ahead for the new park so everyone can stay at a universal hotel.
I am hoping this new land is less reliant on 3-D simulators than the other two Universal Parks. I don’t see the 3-D quite right, and they all make me some level of sick. One or two in Disney is fine, but a whole park of them in Universal makes me have to manage which ones I ride and which ones I skip.
The rumors I’ve heard make it sound as if there will be a good mix of attractions with physical environments and also more family-friendly stuff.
I think Universal Creative has finally realized that they were leaning a bit too hard on screens and 3D.
Not a fan of the name. Universal and Universe are too similar.
I’m guessing not for long
I’m beyond excited for this new park! Disney will lose our business for awhile once this opens. Super Mario World alone is going to be so fun! Hoping for a new big Harry Potter area, Classic Monsters, Lord of the Rings, Pokémon, and Dreamworks too