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

[Disneyhead'71]

So what exactly should a "Sun" themed 4+ Star hotel look like?

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

The Epic Universe announcement confirmed they were building a new park, which is what they're doing. Specific details were always going to come later. It also came with an opening window, which was missed due to Covid, but we were nonetheless given a reasonable idea of when to expect the project's completion. Even now, we know it's coming next year, which is still in-line with the pause in construction. We just don't know when exactly, because the projected time frame has been moved up, which is certainly more palatable than another delay. Either way, no one ever gives us an exact date this far out, not even for a single attraction, much less an entire park.

The UK park technically hasn't been "announced," as there's no actual confirmation that it's happening. They only revealed publicly that they were exploring the option because they were forced to. It could still be scrapped tomorrow for all we know.

Universal & Disney are both well aware of the expectations they're setting when they officially announce something. This is why they're usually careful to not include certain details or a time frame when these things are currently unavailable. And to their credit, Disney didn't initially give us a time frame for their Avatar project, nor did Universal with their Nintendo project. Still, do I personally think both projects were announced prematurely? Absolutely. You should never announce new attractions while still early in the design process. It serves no purpose other than to make for a more agonizing wait for guests. And yet there's still a big difference between making vague promises you'll get around to eventually and making explicit promises you can't keep, such as Tron's opening window, or the cancelled Marry Poppins attraction. Those were just bad.

Thank you. You articulated what I was trying to say earlier but much more succinctly. I was doing research before my last post and refreshed my memory on Pandora, and was shocked to read they only began exploring the idea months before they made a deal with James Cameron and announced the land to the public.

 

[Sorcerer Mickey]

FTFY

Riding the wheel shortly after it opened with a bunch of like minded people from all over the world and looking out at a future theme park. It was an amazing time for a theme park fan like me

Was there concrete conversations among the public about Epic Universe in 2015? The earliest I can remember was 2018, maybe 2017, when the name was floating around from a leaked presentation during a private event. I vaguely remember conflict regarding hazardous waste when Universal re-purchased the Lockheed land in 2016.

 

[JoeCamel]

Was there concrete conversations among the public about Epic Universe in 2015? The earliest I can remember was 2018, maybe 2017, when the name was floating around from a leaked presentation during a private event. I vaguely remember conflict regarding hazardous waste when Universal re-purchased the Lockheed land in 2016.

The land purchases were in progress at the time, public knew little to nothing as they were buzzing about Diagon Alley and HHN expansion but a few on the wheel were very wired in to the project so I was in fan heaven. It was very much to be seen if they could get all the property but they were taking a run at it.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Was there concrete conversations among the public about Epic Universe in 2015? The earliest I can remember was 2018, maybe 2017, when the name was floating around from a leaked presentation during a private event. I vaguely remember conflict regarding hazardous waste when Universal re-purchased the Lockheed land in 2016.

There were.

Universal was publicly admonished by Orange County over the nascent project. In 2014 it was announced that. Polercoaster (a 570’ observation tower with an integrated roller coaster) was going to be built on I-Drive. Universal secretly created a “concerned citizens” group to oppose the project. The group naturally drew suspicion as I-Drive is I-Drive and it was revealed that Universal was behind the group. The county outed Universal as being behind the recent land purchases and trying to protect sight lines in their future theme park development.

This resulted in Universal being sued by the previous landowner for additional compensation. When Universal sold the land they had put in place deed restrictions preventing the land from being used for a theme park or similar purpose. They were clearly intending to use the land for a new park. The land would have been more valuable if anyone else could have developed the land for such uses. Universal ended up paying more for the land and going through the legal process to formally remove the deed restrictions.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Folks can argue over when the idea about EPIC was born, when the land was purchased, etc.

From my perception, the EPIC project is going FAST and it really looks good!

 

[sonoma15]

I have to agree…If this was Disney people would be complaining about walking through a Marriott style hotel at the entrance…and that would be from the moment the first designs were available…. but it gets a pass because universal

Saying this is on the same level of a Marriott is pretty crazy. It looks absolutely beautiful in this concept art and is already very stunning in person. You can already see the hotel from some spots on i-4 and it's amazing.

 

[bwr827]

View attachment 796038
Saying this is on the same level of a Marriott is pretty crazy. It looks absolutely beautiful in this concept art and is already very stunning in person. You can already see the hotel from some spots on i-4 and it's amazing.

Is that a Holiday Inn Express?

JK - it looks awesome! Hoping I can afford a couple of nights there.

 

[Disstevefan1]

View attachment 796038
Saying this is on the same level of a Marriott is pretty crazy. It looks absolutely beautiful in this concept art and is already very stunning in person. You can already see the hotel from some spots on i-4 and it's amazing.

Comments saying this is same level as Marriot are from the "Universal Haters" this is a strong and vocal group. These folks hate anything that is not Disney.

The "Universal Haters" are only hurting themselves.

Disney and Universal battle for the tourists dollar and the winner is the tourists because we get choices like this!

 

[Andrew25]

Helios will be a beautiful resort and I think it's fine to have it inside the park. I'm a bit skeptical of having it as the focal point at the back of the park (would have preferred it to be at the front of the park).

From Universal blvd it's looking very nice.

 

[MisterPenguin]

From my perception, the EPIC project is going FAST and it really looks good!

Does your perception suppress the previous six years of land development and construction?

Seven. Seven years from groundbreaking.

 

[Andrew25]

Does your perception suppress the previous six years of land development and construction?

Seven. Seven years from groundbreaking.

While not entirely incorrect, Universal had started work on the land before this current version of Epic Universe was greenlit. Back in 2017, Super Nintendo World was still planned for the KidZone area prior to being moved to a newer version of the 4th gate - aka Epic Universe is born. This was going to be built within 4 years prior to Covid (original goal of 2023).

It sucks that it took this long, but a lot of it was out of Universal's control... but at least we got improved entertainment and arguably the best roller coaster on the planet in the interim.

Shanghai Disneyland took 5 years to build, and that had a ridiculous amount of government support once construction began.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Does your perception suppress the previous six years of land development and construction?

Seven. Seven years from groundbreaking.

@MisterPenguin I know your perception is TWDC is the greatest company on earth and they announce and build their projects with speed and perfection.

I was referring to my perception. Maybe my perception is better about Universal because Universal does not have events that post blue sky renderings 8 years in advance and then either cancels or greatly cost cuts projects if/when they are finished building them.

Maybe its because I don't pay close attention to all things Universal I did not even know about EPIC until relatively recently.

But for sake of argument, lets say they "started" EPIC 6 years ago.

EPIC will open earlier than expected next year, so lets call it 7 years.

The destruction of EPCOT's Future world took about 5 years.

The announcement for EPCOT's Future world destruction was first announced about 8 years ago.

 

[MisterPenguin]

@MisterPenguin I know your perception is TWDC is the greatest company on earth and they announce and build their projects with speed and perfection.

I was referring to my perception. Maybe my perception is better about Universal because Universal does not have events that post blue sky renderings 6 years in advance and then either cancels or greatly cost cuts projects if/when they are finished building them.

Maybe its because I don't pay close attention to all things Universal I did not even know about EPIC until relatively recently.

But for sake of argument, lets say they "started" EPIC 6 years ago.

EPIC will open earlier than expected next year, so lets call it 7 years.

The destruction of EPCOT's Future world took about 5 years.

The announcement for EPCOT's Future world destruction was first announced about 8 years ago.

Funny, I wasn't defending in this thread how long it was taking Epcot to finally 'reimagine.'

However, you bring that up. Hmmm... why is that?

Five years (three and a half, actually, with the pandemic and supply chain issues) for Epcot is still a bit too long. It certainly should have been quicker.


I do point out in other threads that people who complain about how long Epcot took don't take into account:

• the pandemic
• the subsequent supply chain issues
• construction in a park running 10 hours a day with guests.

And if someone were to actually *complain* that Uni is incompetent because it's taking them 7 years to make EU (which I haven't seen anyone do... yet), then I would point out that it wasn't a full 7 years because of the pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues.

But if people are going to hang '5 years' on Epcot, then they have to live with '7 years' on EU.

But, again, your memory of my posts don't comport to reality because you're basing it on your *perception* of me as a pixie duster and not on what I actually have said.

 

[DKampy]

View attachment 796038
Saying this is on the same level of a Marriott is pretty crazy. It looks absolutely beautiful in this concept art and is already very stunning in person. You can already see the hotel from some spots on i-4 and it's amazing.

I have stayed in some nice stunning beautiful Marriott’s… My brother use to work for the company… so I could stay at the higher end Marriotts at no charge… and some are very beautiful… so yes… it looks like a beautiful hotel… but that does not prevent it from still looking like a hotel against a theme park

 

[Disstevefan1]

Funny, I wasn't defending in this thread how long it was taking Epcot to finally 'reimagine.'

However, you bring that up. Hmmm... why is that?

Five years (three and a half, actually, with the pandemic and supply chain issues) for Epcot is still a bit too long. It certainly should have been quicker.


I do point out in other threads that people who complain about how long Epcot took don't take into account:

• the pandemic
• the subsequent supply chain issues
• construction in a park running 10 hours a day with guests.

And if someone were to actually *complain* that Uni is incompetent because it's taking them 7 years to make EU (which I haven't seen anyone do... yet), then I would point out that it wasn't a full 7 years because of the pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues.

But if people are going to hang '5 years' on Epcot, then they have to live with '7 years' on EU.

But, again, your memory of my posts don't comport to reality because you're basing it on your *perception* of me as a pixie duster and not on what I actually have said.

I agree perceptions are not reality.

I perceive you as always defending TWDC. The reality is that is not true, I just like to tease you when you correct me.

I perceive the destruction of EPCOT's Future world too way too long for the we got. Others can argue about the facts.

I perceive the EPIC project is moving FAST and its looking great. Others can argue about the facts.

I am only one person with one perception so my perception does not matter.

But in general, in many cases, perceptions are important to the general public.

 

[lazyboy97o]

@MisterPenguin I know your perception is TWDC is the greatest company on earth and they announce and build their projects with speed and perfection.

I was referring to my perception. Maybe my perception is better about Universal because Universal does not have events that post blue sky renderings 8 years in advance and then either cancels or greatly cost cuts projects if/when they are finished building them.

Maybe its because I don't pay close attention to all things Universal I did not even know about EPIC until relatively recently.

But for sake of argument, lets say they "started" EPIC 6 years ago.

EPIC will open earlier than expected next year, so lets call it 7 years.

The destruction of EPCOT's Future world took about 5 years.

The announcement for EPCOT's Future world destruction was first announced about 8 years ago.

If you ignore a bunch of stuff and then make up a bunch of stuff then it’s easy to argue anything.

 

[DKampy]

We all know the Marriott comment was a cheap shot against EPIC from the "Universal Haters" and to counter negative comments about the Poly DVC tower.

Did you miss my post where I am against the Poly tower too… another Marriott wannabe

 

[Disstevefan1]

Did you miss my post where I am against the Poly tower too… another Marriott wannabe

I think I did in fact.

We agree, the Poly DVC is awful.

Do you think this EPIC hotel is on the same level of badness as the Poly DVC?

 

[Disstevefan1]

If you ignore a bunch of stuff and then make up a bunch of stuff then it’s easy to argue anything.

I agree. I notice folks argue about anything and everything on this site.

How boring would it be if we agreed on everything.

In my opinion, the EPCOT project too way long and what we got was mostly disappointing and we are stuck with it now.

In my opinion, the EPIC project looks to be moving fast and its looking great.

In my opinion, at the moment, FOP in AK is the best ride in Central Florida.