Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025

[Stripes]

Rise of the Resistance, Avatar, and Guardians anyone?

At a minimum, if someone doesn’t think Rise was groundbreaking, that’s the end of the discussion. Those three rides there are a big part of why we still even go to WDW. Universal has never approached Rise. Hagrid is a great coaster, but those animatronics keep it from reaching the top echelon.

Let’s hope all those new HP animatronics are better.

Imagineering makes all of their advanced animatronics in-house. Universal Creative doesn’t make any of their animatronics.

Universal found a great vendor for their large creature animatronics, specifically Creature Technology. That vendor made the Kong animatronic, the Velociraptor AAs in the Velocicoaster queue, and the dinosaurs in Jurassic World Beijing. But they still don’t have a vendor that comes close to competing with Imagineering when it comes to human scale AAs, which require more advanced engineering.


As a side note, I’m very excited about the Peter Pan attraction in Tokyo DisneySea. From what I’ve heard about it, it sounds like it’s going to be another “Mega E-ticket” along the lines of Shanghai Pirates and Rise, maybe even better.

 

[TalkToEthan]

Hagrid is a great coaster, but those animatronics keep it from reaching the top echelon.

Let’s hope all those new HP animatronics are better.

You’re on the money about Hagrid’s AA’s——most disappointing indeed!

But what about those bank goblins; I’ve seen some stellar animated figures but the Gringot bank tellers are the most impressive—-so life like of any Disney/Universal creations. And that sorting hat over in Hogmeade is first class, too.

Uni has the skill set and I believe they will drop in some high quality figures at Epic…

 

[ToTBellHop]

Ministry is their answer

A bold prediction from a ride we know little about. I’d love for it to be the case, though. Especially given that it will be in a land that, unlike SWGE, will have lost its second E-ticket.

 

[ToTBellHop]

You’re on the money about Hagrid’s AA’s——most disappointing indeed!

But what about those bank goblins; I’ve seen some stellar animated figures but the Gringot bank tellers are the most impressive—-so life like of any Disney/Universal creations. And that sorting hat over in Hogmeade is first class, too.

Uni has the skill set and I believe they will drop in some high quality figures at Epic…

The goblins are fine but they don’t move much and we don’t see the entire goblin.

I don’t think Universal has shown they are capable of making a full body Dark Wizard, as of yet. WDI certainly can. I’d prefer it to Voldemort on a screen.

We will see if Universal’s vendors can pull it off here. I’m happy they are trying. Seeing all of the wizards on a screen has gotten old (on the other hand, that Hagrid animatronic is awful, so maybe a screen would’ve been better!).

 

[Andrew25]

A bold prediction from a ride we know little about. I’d love for it to be the case, though. Especially given that it will be in a land that, unlike SWGE, will have lost its second E-ticket.

I don’t even think the broom vr was destined to be a E-ticket, more of a D. We’re also getting a stage show… so it’s not like it’ll be the only thing in the land.

Also, controversial take, but Falcon is more of a D-ticket that just had the budget of an E lol

 

[ToTBellHop]

I don’t even think the broom vr was destined to be a E-ticket, more of a D. We’re also getting a stage show… so it’s not like it’ll be the only thing in the land.

Also, controversial take, but Falcon is more of a D-ticket that just had the budget of an E lol

Really? Of course, it’s just an opinion. The scope and scale scream E-ticket to me, I just don’t love the video game they made. If they changed the video and I was flying with Han, I’m sure I’d love it.

But back to WWoHP, by stage show, do you mean a show in a theater or a performance on an outdoor stage like the Spirit Rally or Celestina Warbeck?

 

[Andrew25]

But back to WWoHP, by stage show, do you mean a show in a theater or a performance on an outdoor stage like the Spirit Rally or Celestina Warbeck?

Indoor seated show. "Circus Arcanus"

 

[tomast]

Are you saying that Spider-Man isn't a good ride?

Spiderman and Transformers are good rides, too similar to get a 3rd one.

Spiderman might need a change of projectors to have more vibrant colors, and not too pale. (The Simpson ride also needs to change the projector and it was a cool ride some time ago, but Back to the future was better.)


Edit: Also fordiben journey need an upgrade on the screens/projectors. It's already looking to pale for such a ride.

 

[tomast]

Does anybody else sees in Celestial Park a "Cosmic Victorian style" theme???

In that cool theme but I don't see how the Chinese restaurante fit this theme.

 

[SplashJacket]

Imagineering makes all of their advanced animatronics in-house. Universal Creative doesn’t make any of their animatronics.

I just don’t think that’s true…

Garner Holt does a lot of animatronic work for Disney, here’s a few photo examples on their website:

Spoiler: Garner Holt Disney Animatronics

 

[SplashJacket]

A bold prediction from a ride we know little about. I’d love for it to be the case, though. Especially given that it will be in a land that, unlike SWGE, will have lost its second E-ticket.

Was the second ride ever supposed to be an E-ticket?

 

[SpectreJordan]

DAK is my favorite park in all of Orlando... but even I can't be at the park for more than 3 hours at a time lol

Theming-wise, its the best but there's just not enough substance. Gorilla Falls/Maharajah trails are some of the best 'attractions' in Orlando... but even then there's just not enough to do at the park to be considered a full day experience.


Yeah, just pointing out that this park is running out the gate with enough attractions at the start to compete with any WDW park rather than take a few years to reach a similar level.

DAK is the chill park. Take your time walking around calmly between attractions, get some drinks, watch some shows, eat some of the food (the best across the 4 parks), etc...

I know they prefer to bury their heads in the sand but Disney HAVE to come out guns blazing at D23 this year.

Villians land beyond thunder mountain and South America expansion of AK has to be fully confirmed with detail to break ground in 2025.

Honestly, they might need more than that.

Aside from that, kind of wished they would have built an area themed to Shrek's Far Far Away instead of an area based on a spin-off of a beloved movie franchise like Fantastic Beasts where the third movie flopped like crazy, yeah, I know Shrek isn't the biggest animated franchise anymore(especially with Shrek the Third(and to some, Shrek Forever After) being a cinematic afterthought to moviegoers) and the Dragons series was the more constant of the DreamWorks bunch, but that franchise suddenly had a resurgence lately thanks to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish being a hit with pretty much everyone, as for Fantastic Beasts, that is on pause indefinitely, but that won't stop Universal(and the license holdovers to the Wizarding World franchise) from giving us Ministry of Magic

PS: I've heard that it was rumored to sit alongside Diagon Alley at Studios, so I hope the space that used to be Fear Factor Live(where the Fantastic Beasts land was rumored to be) will eventually see more love or redevelop it to finally get a Floridian clone of the Pets ride from Hollywood after Epic Universe opens(probably not)

I'd say Shrek has stayed consistently popular through nostalgia & memes. It would've made more sense than Dragons, but I guess Dragons has a unique aesthetic & they have the live action remake coming too.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I just don’t think that’s true…

Garner Holt does a lot of animatronic work for Disney, here’s a few photo examples on their website:
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Yes, they do a lot of work for Disney but not everything. I believe Ursula was the hero figure for The Little Mermaid that was done in house.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Indoor seated show. "Circus Arcanus"

Interesting. Curious to see how they portray Nagini.

 

[JT3000]

Really? Of course, it’s just an opinion. The scope and scale scream E-ticket to me, I just don’t love the video game they made. If they changed the video and I was flying with Han, I’m sure I’d love it.

"E-ticket"
"video game"

At a minimum, if someone doesn’t think Rise was groundbreaking, that’s the end of the discussion. Those three rides there are a big part of why we still even go to WDW. Universal has never approached Rise. Hagrid is a great coaster, but those animatronics keep it from reaching the top echelon.

Let’s hope all those new HP animatronics are better.

Never approached Rise how? In what way? Universal has had plenty of groundbreaking attractions. Spider-Man was literally decades ahead of its time compared to what Disney was doing or has done with simulator technology. That other SWGE "E-ticket" is downright rudimentary by comparison, and opened how long after? They still don't have anything similar to Forbidden Journey either.

We know Disney is king at animatronics, but they've been consistently falling behind in ride system innovation. They have trackless ride technology (which they've started to abuse to the point it's not even impressive anymore), but not much else up their sleeve. Sometimes I feel like the main reason people are so impressed with Rise is because it's one of the rare times they've actually tried doing something new.

Rise of the Resistance, Avatar, and Guardians anyone?

Avatar is Soarin' with a different seating arrangement. Guardians is a spinning coaster. Those have been around for a while (Universal has had one since 2014 in Orlando, or 2010 in Japan.)

 

[SplashJacket]

A bold prediction from a ride we know little about. I’d love for it to be the case, though.

Shanghai Pirates: ~2.5 Acres
Rise: ~2.5 Acres
Gringotts: ~2 Acres
FoP: ~2 Acres
MoM: ~3.5 Acres
Monsters: ~2.5

The sheer scale of the MoM building is unreal It's not even just its acreage, but its height is insane.

This photo better captures the difference in height between the MoM and Mosnters buildings. Monsters need a tall bldg since it is expected to be a Kuka system, but MoM is easily way taller.

Quick math to find out the height of the MoM showbuilding:

Spoiler: MoM Showbuilding height

The shadow cast by ICON park's ferris wheel is about 190 feet. ICON Park's Ferris wheel is about 400 feet. The shadow is being cast onto surface that's about 45 feet above ground. So really, ICON park is casting a shadow that's 355 below.
So 355/190=~1.9. In other words, for every 1.9 feet of shadow, there should be 1.9 feet of height.

Looking at the MoM building, since a 3D map isn't in GE yet, we see the shadow is about 40 feet. Applying the shadow constant from earlier, 40*1.9=76 feet tall

MoM is about 75 feet tall, Rise is about 50 feet tall. Transformers is about 65 feet tall (but also only ~0.7 acres). FJ is about 60 feet tall. This thing is colossal.

There's no real reason to be doubting this ride from what we know about it so far (which granted is very little), but Universal has never spared an expense when it came to Potter, and I don't see why that'll change now. It's very clear this ride is shooting for the stars.

 

[Mike S]

The goblins are fine but they don’t move much and we don’t see the entire goblin.

I don’t think Universal has shown they are capable of making a full body Dark Wizard, as of yet. WDI certainly can. I’d prefer it to Voldemort on a screen.

We will see if Universal’s vendors can pull it off here. I’m happy they are trying. Seeing all of the wizards on a screen has gotten old (on the other hand, that Hagrid animatronic is awful, so maybe a screen would’ve been better!).

?

I always thought Hagrid looked pretty good.

 

[Stripes]

I just don’t think that’s true…

Garner Holt does a lot of animatronic work for Disney, here’s a few photo examples on their website:

Spoiler: Garner Holt Disney Animatronics

View attachment 766489
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Imagineering makes all of their advanced animatronics in-house.

WDI will design and then outsource the fabrication of their more rudimentary figures. But Disney’s more advanced AAs are built in-house by Imagineering.

For instance, a figure like Ariel is outsourced but a figure like Ursula is built in-house by WDI. Lately, Disney has been building pretty much all of their AAs because recent attractions haven’t had any rudimentary figures.

 

[TalkToEthan]

Spider-Man was literally decades ahead of its time compared to what Disney was doing or has done with simulator technology.

Decades? That implies a minimum of 20 years.

While Spider-Man was(fully justifiably)the talk of the industry during turn of the century I think you’re too bold with that.

 

[J4546]

how big is GoTG building?