danlb_2000
Premium Member
But it will require you to take transporation to get there, you won't be able to walk out of the hotel directly into the park.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
But it will require you to take transporation to get there, you won't be able to walk out of the hotel directly into the park.
imarc
Well-Known Member
Yes, you could have Mario Kart and DK Country in that one building that connects to both parts of Nintendo Land.
Last edited:
HoldenC
Well-Known Member
Well technically you can get one at The Edison. After a few, you'll certainly feel like you've turned time
ParkPeeker
Well-Known Member
Doesn't look like it to me, if it is it's too generic looking.
I'm excited for the nintendo areas omg, those look exactly like the models that leaked
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
I'm happy for the competition to be heating up, but from the few details we have this seems like it would be at the bottom of my list of Universal parks to visit. I am surely very strange in this regard, but I was never hugely into Nintendo, haven't seen the Fantastic Beasts films, and also haven't seen How to Train Your Dragon or many of the Dreamworks films. So, honestly, all of the themes mentioned so far kind of leave me cold. With these parks that have no overarching theme, it really comes down to how interested you are in experiencing the individual IPs and I think IOA and US have more that interests me in that regard.
I know you can have great attractions based on mediocre IPs. On that note, though, I think Pandora's success owes a lot to the fact it is attached to DAK. Stick that land on this park, and I wouldn't be any more interested in visiting.
I know you can have great attractions based on mediocre IPs. On that note, though, I think Pandora's success owes a lot to the fact it is attached to DAK. Stick that land on this park, and I wouldn't be any more interested in visiting.
Last edited:
KikoKea
Well-Known Member
We've never been to Uni. DH and I have said we would, but always ended up spending all our time in the bubble. In a way, I want to keep Uni for when/if we tire of WDW. And if UEU is anything like the concept art, that looks like an amazing place to visit. I'm loving all the water features in particular, and that big coaster!
starri42
Well-Known Member
I may wait until after D23 before I make the final decision about this, but I'm more excited by the possibilities of this than anything Disney is working on at the moment, save for Galaxy's Edge.
The possibility of a Dark Universe world is particularly appealing. A horror-themed land (especially if it's more Horror Nights, less Not-So-Scary) is the perfect use of those characters, far better than a half-baked attempt to start a film franchise.
The possibility of a Dark Universe world is particularly appealing. A horror-themed land (especially if it's more Horror Nights, less Not-So-Scary) is the perfect use of those characters, far better than a half-baked attempt to start a film franchise.
BalooChicago
Well-Known Member
I’ve never been to Universal, and I can’t imagine I ever will.
I do hope this puts some pressure on the mouse though.
I do hope this puts some pressure on the mouse though.
I was watching the DIS Universal addition and they said the art indicated fireworks will be part of their nightly show. I kind of doubt it because of where the fireworks appeared in the art. You are right though, they never said their would be nightly fireworks.
DDLand
Well-Known Member
First reaction... Sorry for the ramble. I’m writing this on a train.
Kudos to Universal Orlando and Comcast. A little over a decade ago this proposal would have been laughed out of the room. Universal Orlando was more likely to have gone bankrupt than create such an ambitious expansion. The fact we have true competitor to Walt Disney World, is impressive. This park is likely aiming to propel the yearly gate clicks to over 30 million. For perspective, that’s right around Tokyo Disney Resort and Disneyland Resort. While those two will likely have grown even further by the time Universal Orlando reaches those numbers, Universal Orlando is in a state of becoming a true world class destination with volumes as big as any successful Disney resort.
They deserve some serious respect. They’ve done what 60 years of gated Disney attractions have attempted to do with little success- created an alternative to Disney. An alternative that WILL require a response. In the short term Disney will point to Star Wars and Epcot, but internally something will happen.
What that is I have no clue, but that’s just mentioned to put an underline under Universal’s success. While I would be the first to say much of their art direction and taste sucks, I can’t even begin to argue with their success.
With my praise aside, I want to look at this park...
While we don’t know much about the finalized content, we can actually learn a lot about this park.
Now onto this park. It’s interesting. It should be immediately off putting for a Walt Disney World fan. As opposed to either of the models I’ve discussed above, it is a strange hybrid of the two.
A quick glance at the concept art reveals a center spine traveling from front to back. Once you travel past the gates it looks like you’ll see a globe in the distance, a fountain show providing in the foreground, and landscaping close of all. It should actually be a neat view that comes into perspective when looking at it head on. Move a little to the right or left, and the view falls apart. Kind of a neat way to draw people in. It also emphasizes the fact the park is large.
This is the point where I’ll blast the hotel concept. It provides the background for the central icon, and is an icon in its own right. Yet it looks like Universal got jealous of Grand Destino or something...
I’ve talked about good hotel integration and bad hotel integration. A well integrated theme park integration can reinforce story and enhance the experience for every guest. The Contemporary played with this technique, but the Disneyland Hotel at Paris, Grand Californian, and Miracosta further perfected it. Instead of being obtrusive overlooks that distracted from story, they would tell story. It’s the exact opposite of the motels on Harbor Boulevard at Disneyland. A hotel became something to show off instead of be hid.
Universal has shown a bizarre lack of attention to integrating hotels into story. Most glaringly Volcano Bay has two towers above a supposed tropical paradise. What gives? It sacrifices the guest experience of the many for those wealthy few who can pay for the hotel. It’s frustrating, but not alone in this offense. We need look at Universal Beijing and Tokyo Disney Sea to see a disregard for the needs of many guests, for the few.
But back to the core issue. This spine represents the primary means of travel in the park. What’s funny about this spine is not its ambition or design, but instead how (to steal a word from Bob) nondescript it is. It looks like a nice park, but honestly there’s practically nothing trying to tell a story. It could easily be Google’s new campus. It looks like it has fantasy vibes, but the design is understated. But why?
Because the spine isn’t supposed to tell much of a story. It’s only meant to be an efficient means of conveyance to the many “Epic Universes.” Jutting off this nondescript office park, are extremely immersive worlds and attractions. This is when Universal starts telling story.
It might be truthfully said that this park is a mechanism to get you to your favorite franchises. This has negative connotations that I don’t necessarily want to give, but it’s essentially a theme park strip mall. A nice and orderly store front leads to different chain stores. The same is true of this park and its various franchises. You’re on the nice orderly nondescript spine, and then pick your franchise.
It’s a little disappointing to see theme parks deconstructed into a franchise buffet, but hopefully we’ll see push back after this park.
Obviously everything is subject to change. But this gives us our first clear view into what they’re planning. It’s the opposite of surprising...
One last thing. Epic Worlds is a terrible name. Horrible! But does anyone care? I know their management doesn’t...
Kudos to Universal Orlando and Comcast. A little over a decade ago this proposal would have been laughed out of the room. Universal Orlando was more likely to have gone bankrupt than create such an ambitious expansion. The fact we have true competitor to Walt Disney World, is impressive. This park is likely aiming to propel the yearly gate clicks to over 30 million. For perspective, that’s right around Tokyo Disney Resort and Disneyland Resort. While those two will likely have grown even further by the time Universal Orlando reaches those numbers, Universal Orlando is in a state of becoming a true world class destination with volumes as big as any successful Disney resort.
They deserve some serious respect. They’ve done what 60 years of gated Disney attractions have attempted to do with little success- created an alternative to Disney. An alternative that WILL require a response. In the short term Disney will point to Star Wars and Epcot, but internally something will happen.
What that is I have no clue, but that’s just mentioned to put an underline under Universal’s success. While I would be the first to say much of their art direction and taste sucks, I can’t even begin to argue with their success.
With my praise aside, I want to look at this park...
While we don’t know much about the finalized content, we can actually learn a lot about this park.
Now onto this park. It’s interesting. It should be immediately off putting for a Walt Disney World fan. As opposed to either of the models I’ve discussed above, it is a strange hybrid of the two.
A quick glance at the concept art reveals a center spine traveling from front to back. Once you travel past the gates it looks like you’ll see a globe in the distance, a fountain show providing in the foreground, and landscaping close of all. It should actually be a neat view that comes into perspective when looking at it head on. Move a little to the right or left, and the view falls apart. Kind of a neat way to draw people in. It also emphasizes the fact the park is large.
This is the point where I’ll blast the hotel concept. It provides the background for the central icon, and is an icon in its own right. Yet it looks like Universal got jealous of Grand Destino or something...
I’ve talked about good hotel integration and bad hotel integration. A well integrated theme park integration can reinforce story and enhance the experience for every guest. The Contemporary played with this technique, but the Disneyland Hotel at Paris, Grand Californian, and Miracosta further perfected it. Instead of being obtrusive overlooks that distracted from story, they would tell story. It’s the exact opposite of the motels on Harbor Boulevard at Disneyland. A hotel became something to show off instead of be hid.
Universal has shown a bizarre lack of attention to integrating hotels into story. Most glaringly Volcano Bay has two towers above a supposed tropical paradise. What gives? It sacrifices the guest experience of the many for those wealthy few who can pay for the hotel. It’s frustrating, but not alone in this offense. We need look at Universal Beijing and Tokyo Disney Sea to see a disregard for the needs of many guests, for the few.
But back to the core issue. This spine represents the primary means of travel in the park. What’s funny about this spine is not its ambition or design, but instead how (to steal a word from Bob) nondescript it is. It looks like a nice park, but honestly there’s practically nothing trying to tell a story. It could easily be Google’s new campus. It looks like it has fantasy vibes, but the design is understated. But why?
Because the spine isn’t supposed to tell much of a story. It’s only meant to be an efficient means of conveyance to the many “Epic Universes.” Jutting off this nondescript office park, are extremely immersive worlds and attractions. This is when Universal starts telling story.
It might be truthfully said that this park is a mechanism to get you to your favorite franchises. This has negative connotations that I don’t necessarily want to give, but it’s essentially a theme park strip mall. A nice and orderly store front leads to different chain stores. The same is true of this park and its various franchises. You’re on the nice orderly nondescript spine, and then pick your franchise.
It’s a little disappointing to see theme parks deconstructed into a franchise buffet, but hopefully we’ll see push back after this park.
Obviously everything is subject to change. But this gives us our first clear view into what they’re planning. It’s the opposite of surprising...
One last thing. Epic Worlds is a terrible name. Horrible! But does anyone care? I know their management doesn’t...
Last edited by a moderator:
WowFactor
Well-Known Member
I share the same opinion here. Although they can make differents combos of tickets. Only hub, hub+Nintendo, hub+DarkUniverse...
DDLand
Well-Known Member
Agreed on the hub. It will be behind the gate. The design does open a tantalizing possibility.
We’re entering into a post queue world (or at least Disney and Universal would like to). By having very controlled access into and out of each land, they could effectively control crowd flows. Imagine booking each epic universe throughout the day. Your Nintendo is at 10 and your Fantastic Beasts is at 2. This would allow the park to control crowds into and out of each land and potentially eliminate queues... Theoretically.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
The virtual queue thing has not worked as Universal hoped and is not really being pursued any more.
Well Space Fantasy Coaster (which is totally not Universal's version of Space Mountain) could easily be rethemed to Super Mario Galaxy. And the entrance to the dueling coasters is right opposite that attraction, facing each other. The dueling coasters doesn't live in any land, it is off of the hub. And the dueling coaster has a sugarloaf mini-mountain sticking up just like in SMG. And the buildings across the way look like the buildings in SMG.
the hub may have a "celestial theme" due to an insider's information. It looks pretty trippy. And the idea is that to get to the major "lands" one has to travel through the universe, making SMG an ideal offshoot of the celestial hub.
Or.. I'm 100% wrong.
Last edited by a moderator:
CanadianGordon
Well-Known Member
I'm excited and amazed at the same time by this announcement. They have given little to no information, no dates, no details. Doesn't really drum up interest.
ParkPeeker
Well-Known Member
If it was super mario galaxy, I would like more distinct looking buildings, even though that kinda looks spacey. Could you point out the mini mountain in the pic? At the very best I would want to see rosalina's observatory or the mario head airship parked. If not, have the mushroom spaceships that are scattered throughout the game's different worlds, or something very distinct. It just doesn't seem very distinctly SMG.
But then again it's not the most detailed concept art, just an overall view.