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

MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Quinnmac000 said:
Not exactly true...there are two pathways in front of the hotel....one is blue though and next to a waterfall making it hard to notice in the concept art.

The blue one is how people will get from Monster to FB.
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That's still going through the hub. It's a pathway the hotel guests will also be using. What's being discussed is a dedicated path between two lands that doesn't go back through the hub.
 
JusticeDisney

JusticeDisney

Well-Known Member
Overall, I think this new park looks like it might really be something great. I realize that concept art means just that - concept. But unless the art is just totally off, I’m excited for what looks to be coming. My one major complaint at this point is that hotel being the icon of the park. That’s just not something that I’m into.
 
SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
How much space is the new park and parking taking up of the land Uni purchased, as in the press event they implied they could put multiple parks in that area?
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Quinnmac000 said:
Alicia Stella of OrlandoParkStop mentioned on IU. Also the concept art shows 8 rides in HTTYD...a boat ride, a coaster, a log flume, two flats, and three large buildings which can also house rides.

And yes she is credible...she teased most of the lands and information far before this concept came out.
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Where is a log flume in the art? Only boat ride I can see is the Mack Splash Battle flat ride.
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
PSX_20190803_141635.jpg


Could this be a Star Trek attraction?
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
SirLink said:
How much space is the new park and parking taking up of the land Uni purchased, as in the press event they implied they could put multiple parks in that area?
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It could be reconfigured like the current area was with the parking lot converted to a second park. Universal Orlando Resort has the space to match Walt Disney World in the number of gates.
 
Tank Man

Tank Man

Active Member
Bob Harlem said:
Topic for Universal's Epic Universe
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Original post
Universal Orlando acquired more land today and settled a lawsuit that blocked them from developing new theme parks on the 500 acres they have down there. With this agreement they also required roughly another 500 acres in an area adjacent to the Orange County Convention Center and International Drive, and a relatively quick hop away from the airport.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...al-acquires-more-property-20180412-story.html

This is enough room for 2 new "dry" theme parks, a water park, shopping district and resort hotels. There are rumors of a custom transportation route between this and the existing Universal Resort, but no firm details. (Busses will still be there as an option with or without it) Although talk of this has been rumored for years, the settlement really sends a green light to the project. Grading and site prep will likely start immediately.

View attachment 277334
In the image above, blue was what Universal owned before the settlement, red is what it acquired, and the green outline represents the immediate site prep/grading plans. (Which will likely expand soon) The blue section along Sand Lake Road is slated for back of house style support buildings. The southern red area wraps around Rosen Shingle Creek Resort and Golf Course, which will likely become part of the overall resort either as a partner, or directly.
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It looks cool
But I am worried a little for it as IoA and USF has trouble at launch and I don’t want a Uni park like that having trouble at start
2D024291-114D-476F-996E-CD926D55DADB.jpeg
 
DDLand

DDLand

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
I'd like to dub this an immersion park.

Not to say immersion can't contain some theme and theme parks don't contain amusement, but its primary purpose is to immerse oneself in various unconnected worlds. It purposely does not really connect them.

So while current day Epcot does hew closer to an overarching theme park, that isn't some be all end all statement of quality... because current day Epcot kind of sucks.

The sooner the divide of this forum down company lines learns to accept that, we can all live in harmony.
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I think this is exactly right.

In a sense, the park’s identity itself is being devalued for ever increasing value of its lands. You don’t visit Epic Worlds for Epic Worlds’ sake. You visit the park for its immersive lands. Some might say I’m being silly trying to make the distinction, but I think there is a difference.

Do you visit a food court to have the “food court’s” food? No, you go there to have food from one of the venders. Alternatively, if you go to 5 star restaurant, you are seeking the restaurant’s experience.




I personally prefer what a cohesive and meaningful park can communicate. But they’re really hard to do. This focus on ever increasing levels of immersion is creating a new category. Is there a “message” to Epic Worlds? Not really. It’s just there to put you in your favorite story.

Immersion park is right.
 
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B

BD-Anaheim

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
In a weird way, this park still suffers the same issue. You cannot make it from DK to Paris' Minstry without quite a long journey. The weird part being you can't actually make it from DK to its neighbouring land (Monsters) either without coming back to the hub. Akin to not being able to get from Jurassic Park to Kong without returning to the centre of the park first.

This *might* be something they fix with expansion pads actually filled in, but the major coaster seems pretty set on cutting off Berk and the Ampitheatre's back is turn on Super Nintendo World.

I think it might be slightly less irritating than IOA overall, but there is a certain irony that IOA is the wheel and EU is the hub and spoke. Together they'd make a sensible layout!
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In fact, IOAs only major expansion pad will eventually be the lake. I could see Uni building a central island and connecting all the lands via bridges to the center (aka DisneySea style).
 
MerlinTheGoat

MerlinTheGoat

Well-Known Member
Quinnmac000 said:
if you look at the widescreen version go back to the lift hill in HTTYD and look for the blue trail on the ground.
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I think I see the blue trail you're referring to, but i'm not sure i'd jump to the assumption of it being a log flume track, i'm not even sure it's water at all. It's a very nondescript blue-ish line, and it's even less detailed than the other rides seen in the art.

Even in spite of the artist clearly trying to leave out details to hide the IPs these lands are based on, there's still a lot of detail to get an idea of the exterior rides and the basic terrain of the park. Coasters are highlighted by their textured tracks and even have train vehicles on their tracks. The other HTTYD water ride has boats and seems to follow a patter than point towards it probably being a Mack Splash Battle ride (which is what Universal insiders are saying it is).

All other bodies and streams of water in the park (even small incidental ones) are painted with clear reflections and/or brush strokes to show there's a current. The blue trail you're referring to lacks these details, making me think it might just be a walkway or backstage access path, not water. There's actually a gray pathway that looks like it might be connected to it headed past the bottom edge of this art (with only a tree separating it from the blue).
 

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