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

[JusticeDisney]

Unlike some others in this thread, I’m going to reserve final judgement until the park actually opens and I get to experience it first hand. That said, there are a few things that kind of stand out to me, even at this very early juncture.

1. Universal, at least in my opinion, almost always does a great job with its parks and for that reason I think this one will be a ton of fun.
2. Having that monstrous hotel as the park icon (or at least the de facto park icon) is not a good look at all.
3. The fact that you are going to have to travel off property and through the city to get to this park from the other parks is a major negative for me.

Anyway, as I said, just my $.02.

 

[imarc]

3. The fact that you are going to have to travel off property and through the city to get to this park from the other parks is a major negative for me.

It's not really "through the city" though - it's just a few miles down Universal boulevard.

It likely won't have the cohesiveness since you leave property and reenter, but it's roughly the same distance as Epcot to Magic Kingdom and a lot closer than Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom.

 

[JusticeDisney]

It's not really "through the city" though - it's just a few miles down Universal boulevard.

It likely won't have the cohesiveness since you leave property and reenter, but it's roughly the same distance as Epcot to Magic Kingdom and a lot closer than Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom.

I hear what you’re saying. It’s not the distance that will be the problem, at least from my perspective. It’s the fact that you are leaving the property. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day it’s not the biggest deal in the world. It’s just less than perfect IMO.

 

[cheezbat]

I like how everyone is assuming that there's no rides when there is seven rides in How to Train Your Dragon, three in Nintendo, two in Potter, one or two in Monsters, and three or four in the hub area.

I never said there aren’t rides. I’ve heard the numbers 15-20 rides thrown around for this park. That’s not what I’m concerned about. I’m concerned about the TYPE of rides they are. A bunch of flat rides/kiddie rides do not make a full day park. They should be there ALONG with a good 7-10 E-ticket attractions, and another 5-7 D tickets.
I also think 4 lands just seems like a small number to open a park with. Maybe the hub area will become a 5th land, but still...Islands opened with 6 lands...Port of Entry, Marvel, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic, Lost Continent, And Seuss. In the long run none of this is important, and if it’s a highly immersive park with fantastic rides, we’re going to love it anyway.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I never said there aren’t rides. I’ve heard the numbers 15-20 rides thrown around for this park. That’s not what I’m concerned about. I’m concerned about the TYPE of rides they are. A bunch of flat rides/kiddie rides do not make a full day park. They should be there ALONG with a good 7-10 E-ticket attractions, and another 5-7 D tickets.
I also think 4 lands just seems like a small number to open a park with. Maybe the hub area will become a 5th land, but still...Islands opened with 6 lands...Port of Entry, Marvel, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic, Lost Continent, And Seuss. In the long run none of this is important, and if it’s a highly immersive park with fantastic rides, we’re going to love it anyway.

The Hub, it seems, will indeed be its own land. It seems it will represent the celestial realms (the 'universe' in Epic Universe) that one traverses to get to the four other lands. The big dual rollercoaster has its entrance facing the hub.

So if there are five 'lands' and they each have an E, D, and C, that's 15 rides right there. DAK only has 5 E's plus another 4. So, 15 rides is enough to start with to make it a full day park. One shouldn't expect a brand new gate to be a 2-day park.

 

[Quinnmac000]

I never said there aren’t rides. I’ve heard the numbers 15-20 rides thrown around for this park. That’s not what I’m concerned about. I’m concerned about the TYPE of rides they are. A bunch of flat rides/kiddie rides do not make a full day park. They should be there ALONG with a good 7-10 E-ticket attractions, and another 5-7 D tickets.
I also think 4 lands just seems like a small number to open a park with. Maybe the hub area will become a 5th land, but still...Islands opened with 6 lands...Port of Entry, Marvel, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic, Lost Continent, And Seuss. In the long run none of this is important, and if it’s a highly immersive park with fantastic rides, we’re going to love it anyway.

And its still more rides that DHS....

 

[OG Runner]

And its still more rides that DHS....

And of course that makes all the difference.

 

[Lintemuthstudios]

I never said there aren’t rides. I’ve heard the numbers 15-20 rides thrown around for this park. That’s not what I’m concerned about. I’m concerned about the TYPE of rides they are. A bunch of flat rides/kiddie rides do not make a full day park. They should be there ALONG with a good 7-10 E-ticket attractions, and another 5-7 D tickets.
I also think 4 lands just seems like a small number to open a park with. Maybe the hub area will become a 5th land, but still...Islands opened with 6 lands...Port of Entry, Marvel, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic, Lost Continent, And Seuss. In the long run none of this is important, and if it’s a highly immersive park with fantastic rides, we’re going to love it anyway.

7-10 E-ticket attractions was never going to happen in a brand-new park. Hell, most parks that were built 20-30 years ago still don't have 7 E-tickets! And the hub is the 5th land. So there's five lands (which really was the same amount that IOA opened with because Port of Entry isn't really a land) and that's not small at all.

 

[Mouse Trap]

It's not really "through the city" though - it's just a few miles down Universal boulevard.

It likely won't have the cohesiveness since you leave property and reenter, but it's roughly the same distance as Epcot to Magic Kingdom and a lot closer than Magic Kingdom to Animal Kingdom.

Drive down Universal Blvd during convention season + rush hour and it turns into an easy 30 to 45 minute trip from USF/IOA to Epic Universe. Not as easy as it sounds.

 

[starri42]

Drive down Universal Blvd during convention season + rush hour and it turns into an easy 30 to 45 minute trip from USF/IOA to Epic Universe. Not as easy as it sounds.

It seems like they're going to pay the city to build designated bus lanes.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Drive down Universal Blvd during convention season + rush hour and it turns into an easy 30 to 45 minute trip from USF/IOA to Epic Universe. Not as easy as it sounds.

It can back up pretty bad around 5:00 when everyone is leaving Lockheed.

 

[imarc]

Drive down Universal Blvd during convention season + rush hour and it turns into an easy 30 to 45 minute trip from USF/IOA to Epic Universe. Not as easy as it sounds.

It took us 45 minutes one time to get from the Boardwalk to Disney Springs by bus.

Universal just needs to pay for infrastructure improvements like Disney is doing.

The fact of the matter is that it's not a great distance so it's something that can be fixed.

 

[seascape]

It took us 45 minutes one time to get from the Boardwalk to Disney Springs by bus.

Universal just needs to pay for infrastructure improvements like Disney is doing.

The fact of the matter is that it's not a great distance so it's something that can be fixed.

Universal is paying for infrastructure. 160 million in fact which is not unusual today for developers to pay for infrastructure. Disney by the way does not pay for all the infrastructure because they do get state funding too.

 

[RustySpork]

I hear what you’re saying. It’s not the distance that will be the problem, at least from my perspective. It’s the fact that you are leaving the property. Don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day it’s not the biggest deal in the world. It’s just less than perfect IMO.

Just to point out the difference between going through the city and going down the street.

Spoiler

 

[phillip9698]

I never said there aren’t rides. I’ve heard the numbers 15-20 rides thrown around for this park. That’s not what I’m concerned about. I’m concerned about the TYPE of rides they are. A bunch of flat rides/kiddie rides do not make a full day park. They should be there ALONG with a good 7-10 E-ticket attractions, and another 5-7 D tickets.
I also think 4 lands just seems like a small number to open a park with. Maybe the hub area will become a 5th land, but still...Islands opened with 6 lands...Port of Entry, Marvel, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic, Lost Continent, And Seuss. In the long run none of this is important, and if it’s a highly immersive park with fantastic rides, we’re going to love it anyway.

That's a pretty big ask seeing as how only one Disney park in Orlando currently meets that goal.

 

[Rich Brownn]

That's a pretty big ask seeing as how only one Disney park in Orlando currently meets that goal.

And that's the park they're using as a goal.

 

[phillip9698]

And that's the park they're using as a goal.

That park got to that point over 50 years. At its current point a good portion of the rides that are called E tickets would not qualify as such if they were built today. So to say Universal should build 10 E and 7 D tickets by 2024 standards on day one and if they don't its "concerning" is just ridicilous by any measure.

 

[Rich Brownn]

That park got to that point over 50 years. At its current point a good portion of the rides that are called E tickets would not qualify as such if they were built today. So to say Universal should build 10 E and 7 D tickets by 2024 standards on day one and if they don't its "concerning" is just ridicilous by any measure.

By 1976 they had Pirates, Mansion, Small World, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Presidents, and 20k - that's 7 E's that were there within 5 years of opening (and only Pirates was unplanned). And 12 other attractions were in place (from A too D). DisneySea opening with 7. Tokyo Disneyland had 5 or 6 depending on what you want to count. So its not impossible for the park to open with 7 or more. From what I'm hearing this is an all-out we-want-to-blow-the socks-off I-don't-care-what-it-costs effort, part out of building market share, and part out of "we'll show em" pride.

 

[opshannon]

By 1976 they had Pirates, Mansion, Small World, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Presidents, and 20k - that's 7 E's that were there within 5 years of opening (and only Pirates was unplanned). And 12 other attractions were in place (from A too D). DisneySea opening with 7. Tokyo Disneyland had 5 or 6 depending on what you want to count. So its not impossible for the park to open with 7 or more. From what I'm hearing this is an all-out we-want-to-blow-the socks-off I-don't-care-what-it-costs effort, part out of building market share, and part out of "we'll show em" pride.

I'm not enough of a historian to know differently, so I'll accept that Presidents was an E in 1976. Would any of us consider an attraction like that an E today?

 

[Rich Brownn]

I'm not enough of a historian to know differently, so I'll accept that Presidents was an E in 1976. Would any of us consider an attraction like that an E today?

Just goes to show that a definition of "E" is subjective. And yes, its a pretty elaborate attraction still. (Especially the newer version with the seamless screen, the smart move of putting Lincoln in the half-way point).