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

[JT3000]

The #1 thing I've come to hate, loathe and despise about WDW is the paid Lightning Lanes/Genie+

You mean you don't like being treated like a 2nd-class guest who lacks permissions?

I recently went to Disney for the first time in a while. For a frame of reference, there were four new attractions between the two parks I visited that had opened since the last time I had been there.

Do you know how many of those new attractions I actually got to experience?

Zero.

Because I failed to get up at the crack of dawn so I could pay extra, enter a lottery, offer my firstborn to Mickey, or whatever else it is you're supposed to do in order to actually ride anything at Disney these days. It's become real magical.

 

[SplashJacket]

I guess that must be true for most people. To be honest, though, I am also indifferent to Harry Potter (in that I have only seen 2 of the movies) and that has also meant I don't care that much about the Harry Potter lands despite the fact they are obviously well-themed.

This may just be more a case of a certain type of theme park goer from the past being left behind and not a problem with how theme parks are being designed in the present. I feel that what at least Disney used to do exceptionally well was tap into some kind of collective subconscious which made the parks compelling whether or not you were a fan of Disney films. Perhaps now there is less of an uncontentious collective subconscious to draw upon which leaves you with recognisable IPs as a starting point. Universal, to be honest, was always a lot more 'ride the movies' and Epic Universe fits that model so presumably they should be more competitive with Disney as long as their quality is up to the same standard.

I think IP attractions of old fall below your expectations.

If you don’t like Peter Pan, Pooh, Buzz, those attractions are just objectively bad or mediocre.

The high quality rides were Haunted Mansion, Space, Pirates, etc. The non-ip rides were high quality, the IP rides were low-quality.

Rides like Pirates became an IP of their own because of their quality.

Now, big budget attractions are IP, and they’re just good irrespective of their IP.

 

[Architectural Guinea Pig]

In my view, Epic should easily top Hollywood Studios opening day.

For comparable experiences:

DHS	Epic
Rise	Potter
ToT	Monsters
MMRR	MK
Slinky	Isle of Berk Coaster
Alien Swirling Saucers	Isle of Berk Flat
Rockin Rollercoaster	Star Dust Racers

Then for Smugglers Run, TSMM, and Star Tours, Epic has the Donkey Kong coaster, Isle of Berk boats, Yoshi, Monsters Coaster, and the hub Carousel. I’d say that’s a more than fair 3-5 trade.

Then for shows, HWS has Mermaid, Muppet Vision, Disney Jr. Mickey Shorts, and Fantasmic. Epic will have a night show (probably), dragon theater show, and Potter show. The potter and dragons show should be better than everything DHS has barring Fantasmic.

This is before considering streemosphere and atmospheric upgrades Epic will have over the often ill-contrived DHS.

You’re welcome to temper your expectations on Epic, but really should be the most impressive opening day park since Epcot, and should be able to compete and beat current “world-class” Orlando parks.

Tbh, there’s nothing amazing about a park being better than DHS

 

[Jayspency]

Tbh, there’s nothing amazing about a park being better than DHS

What's crazy is that I think that DHS has a stellar ride lineup with stuff like TOT and ROTR, but I find myself never wanting to go there because I think the park is just uninteresting (aside from the golden age of Hollywood theming that I adore). DHS is a good example of why theming matters and that you cant just slap a bunch of IPs and lands into a park with no cohesiveness.

 

[SplashJacket]

Tbh, there’s nothing amazing about a park being better than DHS

Oh I agree, but I think it’ll be a lot better than DHS.

DHS main issue is extremely ugly areas and insufficient capacity due to too few rides and a top-heavy ride lineup. Epic will have more attractions and will replace the ugly with beautiful areas.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Increasingly, though, I'm finding it hard to imagine what anyone who wasn't interested in Disney films or the grab bag of IPs that Uni has would get out of visiting either resort beyond (at least in Disney's case) the stuff left over from 20+ years ago.

In the case of Disney, it is "the stuff left over from 20+ years ago" that appeals to me the most

Not the recent IP things, which are often lackluster in quality regardless of the IP tie in.

For UNI, I don't think it's a coincidence that the park that wiped out nearly everything it had in the 1990s is my least favorite.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

Interesting post from someone who worked on Epic

I’m surprised so many people on here don’t recognize this person. I’d be angry too if I was the Hoot Gibson.

 

[Jayspency]

In the case of Disney, it is "the stuff left over from 20+ years ago" that appeals to me the most

Not the recent IP things, which are often lackluster in quality regardless of the IP tie in.

For UNI, I don't think it's a coincidence that the park that wiped out nearly everything it had in the 1990s is my least favorite.

I dislike USF for the same reasons I dislike DHS, despite having good rides, I think the theming is uninteresting

 

[mkt]

Interesting post from someone who worked on Epic

He’s not the only person on the Internet who’s worked on Epic.
Or on this page.
Or even on this thread.

What I will say is that if he actually did work on Epic, his post may run afoul of contracts he almost certainly signed to work on it. So he’s either unethical, or a liar.

 

[LieutLaww]

or both !

 

[EatSalsa]

A finished Frankenstein Manor. Not sure where the picture came from, I originally saw it on see.uo

 

[Animaniac93-98]

A finished Frankenstein Manor. Not sure where the picture came from, I originally saw it on see.uo
View attachment 822676

Looks magnificent, but still worried about how some of the show building's walls will look like from inside the land

We'll find out soon

 

[EatSalsa]

Looks magnificent, but still worried about how some of the show building's walls will look like from inside the land

We'll find out soon

I thought the same thing. Oh well, Forbidden Journey’s building can be seen from all over.

 

[Stripes]

A finished Frankenstein Manor. Not sure where the picture came from, I originally saw it on see.uo
View attachment 822676

Is the story that the mansion’s grounds are manicured or not?

 

[Stripes]

Looks magnificent, but still worried about how some of the show building's walls will look like from inside the land

We'll find out soon

They don’t care about show building sight lines. UC designed Beijing from scratch and made zero attempt to conceal the Forbidden Journey show building.

They’re also doing a painted wall with trees for the HTTYD stage show building in Epic Universe.

They budget cut the side facade and queue for Monsters Unchained.

The cemetery queue in the model is gorgeous, winding, and interesting and the manor’s facade fully extends.


Now? Regular switchbacks and an unimpressive manor facade.

 

[SplashJacket]

They don’t care about show building sight lines. UC designed Beijing from scratch and made zero attempt to conceal the Forbidden Journey show building.
View attachment 822725

They’re also doing a painted wall with trees for the HTTYD stage show building in Epic Universe.

They budget cut the side facade and queue for Monsters Unchained.
View attachment 822737
The cemetery queue in the model is gorgeous, winding, and interesting and the manor’s facade fully extends.


Now? Regular switchbacks and an unimpressive manor facade.
View attachment 822738

Seems like they realized they didn’t need as much extended queue… what was built was substantially smaller than the model, if they think it’ll only be rarely used (as indicated by it being smaller than the model) it’s just overflow queue. It’s not that deep.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

They don’t care about show building sight lines. UC designed Beijing from scratch and made zero attempt to conceal the Forbidden Journey show building.
View attachment 822725

They’re also doing a painted wall with trees for the HTTYD stage show building in Epic Universe.

They budget cut the side facade and queue for Monsters Unchained.
View attachment 822737
The cemetery queue in the model is gorgeous, winding, and interesting and the manor’s facade fully extends.


Now? Regular switchbacks and an unimpressive manor facade.
View attachment 822738

Beijing is such a funny park because it is genuinely such a beautiful park but the sightlines are routinely awful. They didn’t even try with the Kung Fu Panda building lol.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Beijing is such a funny park because it is genuinely such a beautiful park but the sightlines are routinely awful. They didn’t even try with the Kung Fu Panda building lol.

The show building for Minion Mayhem at Universal Singapore had zero effort as well

 

[Stripes]

Seems like they realized they didn’t need as much extended queue… what was built was substantially smaller than the model, if they think it’ll only be rarely used (as indicated by it being smaller than the model) it’s just overflow queue. It’s not that deep.

No, it’s a budget cut. It’s part of the actual queue. Not overflow. The switchbacks hold a higher amount of people per square foot.

 

[999th Happy Haunt]

No, it’s a budget cut. It’s part of the actual queue. Not overflow. The switchbacks hold a higher amount of people per square foot.

It’s overflow. Not saying it won’t be used, but it’s overflow.