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

[wannabeBelle]

Ok, so I watched the 3D flythrough a few times and I’ve got to say…
Wow. The KINETIC ENERGY of this land is going to be OFF THE CHARTS. A central lagoon, a coaster winding throughout, two flat rides (I know there’s a good amount of people in this community who hate flat rides, period, but they’re necessary to beef up capacity, and done well they add a lot to an area), and a boat ride, not to mention animatronics, water features, torches, and potentially drones. I have to say, even without a dark ride, I feel like this is going to be one of the best lands of the last twenty years, and that’s really saying something. For those who might complain about the exposed roller coaster supports, well, Universal has always done things differently than Disney. Personally, I love that for this park, instead of doing exactly what Disney does, they are incorporating a lot of their own style throughout. Overall, I didn’t think I could get any more excited, but I guess I can.
Not to rub this in, but you can eat your heart out, Galaxy’s Edge.
Kinetics is where it’s at

This. Marie

 

[JohnD]

Not to rub this in, but you can eat your heart out, Galaxy’s Edge.

Or Pandora. Sure, each land has one great ride. And then what? A boat ride with screens and a single AA or an attraction with a better queue than the ride itself?

 

[etc98]

The thing that really drives me crazy about this land is that Berk in the movies is on a mountainous island, but the land is so flat. I realize Universal doesn’t really do rock work the way that Disney does, but imagine if this had a Disney style mountain range in the background, with forced perspective huts and buildings to make the village seem larger and more real

 

[TalkToEthan]

Being a clone only saves on a small amount of design time.

Small amount????

Then why does Disney and others replicate so often?

 

[TalkToEthan]

Berk does the smack down on Toy Story Land…….
“get back in your hole”

 

[Earlie the Pearlie]

The thing that really drives me crazy about this land is that Berk in the movies is on a mountainous island, but the land is so flat. I realize Universal doesn’t really do rock work the way that Disney does, but imagine if this had a Disney style mountain range in the background, with forced perspective huts and buildings to make the village seem larger and more real

I am slightly worried that Starfall is going to be literally right next to this and will loom over it. A mountain range could definitely block it. As well as one around the show building for the theater, instead of just painting it with clouds.

 

[Andrew25]

I am slightly worried that Starfall is going to be literally right next to this and will loom over it. A mountain range could definitely block it. As well as one around the show building for the theater, instead of just painting it with clouds.

Starfall will be very "obvious" within the land. Video/art just exclude it. With that said, Starfall's color choices are "in-theme" with HTTYD... so it'll blend in to the rest of HTTYD's color palette.

Universal still struggles with hiding showbuildings a bit (then again new Disney does as well), the HTTYD theater is rather obvious with its flat forest mural.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I would actually identify myself almost as a bigger fan of Harry Potter and Nintendo than 'insert Disney IP' - Disney just is so vast and contains many things I love.

Gringotts and Mario Kart both fail to properly capture the source material. I don't think failing to capture the source material makes the attraction empirically bad (that wasn't actually my criticism to begin with, it was the poster I was responding to).

I think Radiator Springs Racers captures Mario Kart and Mummy captures Gringotts expected experiences far more successfully. Those a half step away from the source material don't tend to be so harsh on these experiences. Fast and Furious is just a straight bad attraction, no matter if you align with the source material or do not (and I don't).

If they had done a SR version of Mario people would have complained it didn't have any game elements and was just a dark ride version of Racers. Plus Nintendo wanted it to be more family friendly.

 

[DKampy]

It seems I am in the minority here…I like the Kinetic energy, but as someone who is childless and has a bit of fear of heights…HTTYD does not move the needle much for me… as even the boat ride is not that exciting to me…doesn’t Lego land have a similar attraction….as someone said there should be some mountainous rock work

People are comparing this to Pandora…but in my mind there will be no comparison… obviously the land is beautiful… but I also think the rides are great… as some who is not crazy about heights Flight of Passage is thrilling to me… plus I disagree with those that complain about Navi River Journey… it was never meant to be an E ticket… but it is a solid D… nice relaxing boat ride with a great final animatronic… I also think the screens work well in the ride as oppose to rides that park you in front of a screen for the simulation… I even feel I will like Galaxy’s Edge over this

The one aspect of this land I am excited for is the show… if it is truly broadway level and the possibility of life size dragons

The 2 lands I am excited for most is Monsters Universe(about time Universal) and Harry Potter… even though I am not a potter head… I feel the other lands are top notch… excited to hear what those entail

 

[WDWFREAK53]

It seems I am in the minority here…I like the Kinetic energy, but as someone who is childless and has a bit of fear of heights…HTTYD does not move the needle much for me… as even the boat ride is not that exciting to me…doesn’t Lego land have a similar attraction….as someone said there should be some mountainous rock work

People are comparing this to Pandora…but in my mind there will be no comparison… obviously the land is beautiful… but I also think the rides are great… as some who is not crazy about heights Flight of Passage is thrilling to me… plus I disagree with those that complain about Navi River Journey… it was never meant to be an E ticket… but it is a solid D… nice relaxing boat ride with a great final animatronic… I also think the screens work well in the ride as oppose to rides that park you in front of a screen for the simulation… I even feel I will like Galaxy’s Edge over this

The one aspect of this land I am excited for is the show… if it is truly broadway level and the possibility of life size dragons

The 2 lands I am excited for most is Monsters Universe(about time Universal) and Harry Potter… even though I am not a potter head… I feel the other lands are top notch… excited to hear what those entail

The rollercoaster doesn't look like it goes high at all. Seems to be a really low terrain coaster.

Also, that Toothless meet and greet is hopefully like the Raptor encounter. Not to mention the walkaround dragons and the possibility of the flying dragon drones...should be incredible.

 

[wannabeBelle]

The rollercoaster doesn't look like it goes high at all. Seems to be a really low terrain coaster.

Also, that Toothless meet and greet is hopefully like the Raptor encounter. Not to mention the walkaround dragons and the possibility of the flying dragon drones...should be incredible.

Hopefully a less intense version of the Raptor encounter. The coaster looks great and as you said doesnt look terribly high off the ground, a good introduction type of coaster. A little thrilling but not too intense, great for family fun!! Marie

 

[MisterPenguin]

Small amount????

Then why does Disney and others replicate so often?

Because they only clone successful attractions (not counting clones built at the same time as the original). Sometimes an attraction isn't well-liked by the public. So, cloning a well-liked attraction takes away that uncertainty.

 

[MisterPenguin]

This will be a stand-out success.

The only downside is that there are no rides if it is raining.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I love the theme of this land, looks like it’s going to be very fun to walk through and just experience.

The coaster, show, and stores all look amazing, the “off the shelf” spinning ride and water ride look a bit less fun to me but that’s true for most spinners and “generic” rides. The Toothless meet and greet was the only big surprise (for me), that should be a cool experience.

The one thing that stood out above everything else for me was the video felt like a Disney video, did Universal poach Disneys PR person? because that felt just like a Disney hype video.

 

[johnparkhopper]

Looks awesome so what is Disney doing oh that's right " we're gone" translates do nothing

 

[TalkToEthan]

Because they only clone successful attractions

That doesn’t tell the whole reasoning. Yes, when an original attraction is met with enthusiasm cloning becomes an easy choice

But what about the original ones which didn’t get huge appreciation but later cloned up anyway.
Soarin at DCA opened without a great following but became a monster hit in Epcot; same with Rat in Disney Studios Paris but yet replicated for Epcot.

Ariel didn’t exactly make a splash in DCA but got cloned for Magic Kingdom only to get overwhelming mixed reviews..
And there must have been overlap in construction since the two openings came fairly close together

 

[Andrew25]

The one thing that stood out above everything else for me was the video felt like a Disney video, did Universal poach Disneys PR person? because that felt just like a Disney hype video.

This isn't talked about much, but Universal has shifted from a "look at how thrilling this is" mentality to a similar message to what Disney does (nostalgia, friends & family, etc.).

The first Epic Universe announcement was very much about nostalgia and feelings... didn't focus on specific details on thrill rides.

 

[britain]

This looks like a great collection of rides, but it doesn’t feel like Burk. C’mon, the painted sky on the “Untrainable Dragon Theater”?

Unfortunately, Universal always seems to come up a little short in some places (though modern Disney does too).

BUT, it looks like a whole lot of fun, like a more water-centric Toy Story Land.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

 

[UNCgolf]

It seems I am in the minority here…I like the Kinetic energy, but as someone who is childless and has a bit of fear of heights…HTTYD does not move the needle much for me… as even the boat ride is not that exciting to me…doesn’t Lego land have a similar attraction….as someone said there should be some mountainous rock work

People are comparing this to Pandora…but in my mind there will be no comparison… obviously the land is beautiful… but I also think the rides are great… as some who is not crazy about heights Flight of Passage is thrilling to me… plus I disagree with those that complain about Navi River Journey… it was never meant to be an E ticket… but it is a solid D… nice relaxing boat ride with a great final animatronic… I also think the screens work well in the ride as oppose to rides that park you in front of a screen for the simulation… I even feel I will like Galaxy’s Edge over this

The one aspect of this land I am excited for is the show… if it is truly broadway level and the possibility of life size dragons

The 2 lands I am excited for most is Monsters Universe(about time Universal) and Harry Potter… even though I am not a potter head… I feel the other lands are top notch… excited to hear what those entail

The land looks decent to me, but not remotely comparable to Pandora from a beauty standpoint (although that's more a factor of the IP itself than any kind of design flaw). The additional kinetic energy will be nice, though.

My issue with it is that the rides don't look interesting at all, but we already knew about them.