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

trr1

trr1

Well-Known Member


bioreconstruct
@bioreconstruct
Jul 24

Aerial look at center of the Universal's Epic Universe property.
1595879774537.png
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Jon81uk said:
Universal hasn't announced anything other than they are building a park. Rides and lands are all speculation anyway.
Click to expand...

Some of the attractions are still a black box, but the majority of rides and lands are already out there thanks to insiders and site plans...

orlandoparkstop.com

New Permits Reveal Full Layout for Epic Universe [UPDATED]

New permits show entire site plan for all of Epic Universe, Universal Orlando's upcoming theme park
orlandoparkstop.com
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
Some of the attractions are still a black box, but the majority of rides and lands are already out there thanks to insiders and site plans...

orlandoparkstop.com

New Permits Reveal Full Layout for Epic Universe [UPDATED]

New permits show entire site plan for all of Epic Universe, Universal Orlando's upcoming theme park
orlandoparkstop.com
Click to expand...

Yes but my point was that it is all speculation really based on interpretations of site plans and insider knowledge. None of it is officially announced so if there are budget cuts, the public won't know anything as nothing was formally announced.

Unlike Disney who put out blog posts about Main St Theatre and new Epcot attractions which then just disappeared.

As @Sorcerer Mickey said, it is smart of Universal not to announce specifics as then you don't have to roll-back when budgets are cut.
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Jon81uk said:
Yes but my point was that it is all speculation really based on interpretations of site plans and insider knowledge. None of it is officially announced so if there are budget cuts, the public won't know anything as nothing was formally announced.

Unlike Disney who put out blog posts about Main St Theatre and new Epcot attractions which then just disappeared.

As @Sorcerer Mickey said, it is smart of Universal not to announce specifics as then you don't have to roll-back when budgets are cut.
Click to expand...

I suppose that they can alter or cut whatever was going to go into a big box, but, if they cut the big box itself, their permits would have to be updated.

And there's plenty of time to do so, but, until they do, whatever they build will have to match the permit blueprints.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
I suppose that they can alter or cut whatever was going to go into a big box, but, if they cut the big box itself, their permits would have to be updated.

And there's plenty of time to do so, but, until they do, whatever they build will have to match the permit blueprints.
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Revising permit drawings isn’t exactly a challenging process, most definitely will happen and would have happened regardless of the delays.
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
I suppose that they can alter or cut whatever was going to go into a big box, but, if they cut the big box itself, their permits would have to be updated.

And there's plenty of time to do so, but, until they do, whatever they build will have to match the permit blueprints.
Click to expand...

Yep, but a majority of people don't know the permits even exist, they only see the official announcements. Therefore again, it is smart of Universal not to announce specifics as then people don't have expectations and can't be disappointed when things don't happen.

Currently at Islands of Adventure we can see rollercoaster track being installed, but no-one knows what for. So if they decided to change it to Harry Potter and the flying banshee (or whatever) instead of being Jurassic Park themed as we all expect then it doesn't matter. I know its a stupid example but my point is more just the difference that Universal don't announce what a ride actually is, even when there is visible construction, let alone permits.
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
Jon81uk said:
Yep, but a majority of people don't know the permits even exist, they only see the official announcements. Therefore again, it is smart of Universal not to announce specifics as then people don't have expectations and can't be disappointed when things don't happen.

Currently at Islands of Adventure we can see rollercoaster track being installed, but no-one knows what for. So if they decided to change it to Harry Potter and the flying banshee (or whatever) instead of being Jurassic Park themed as we all expect then it doesn't matter. I know its a stupid example but my point is more just the difference that Universal don't announce what a ride actually is, even when there is visible construction, let alone permits.
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Hope it's a Minions Coaster! <crosses fingers>


;)
 
J

JT3000

Well-Known Member
As far as speculated attractions go, I could see the Creature from the Black Lagoon ride get the axe, as that was supposedly already pushed back to a later date even before the virus hit.
 
MisterPenguin

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member
This is not to pick on Universal per se, but to address the exuberant optimism that some had that UO, being a lean, mean, scrappy underdog, could use the pandemic to leap ahead of bloated Disney. Signs of their expectant dominance was Epic Universe itself, as well as continuing to have construction continue during the pandemic and opening up early 'forcing Disney's hand.'

Well, since then UO:
  • had Epic Universe construction halted (even while site preparation continues) leading to a maybe-one-year-delay
  • had a round of lay-offs
  • reduced park hours
  • cancelled HHN (which was clearly never going to happen, even though they were prepping for it)
  • and now, this indefinite pause on Epic Universe

And that pause is the right thing to do for the business. It's just unfortunate that UO/Comcast wasn't responding realistically to the current situation until pretty much forced to reckon with reality. Like some of its fans... maybe.

I, in no way, want Universal or Disney parks to fail. But it turns out Disney was better at reading the signs of the times and reacting accordingly despite some of its fans incredulous that Disney didn't use the lockdown as an opportunity to finish all its construction projects.
 
Jon81uk

Jon81uk

Well-Known Member
MisterPenguin said:
I, in no way, want Universal or Disney parks to fail. But it turns out Disney was better at reading the signs of the times and reacting accordingly despite some of its fans incredulous that Disney didn't use the lockdown as an opportunity to finish all its construction projects.
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It depends on the construction project. I think Universal took advantage of the time and moved the coaster construction for Jurassic Park on a little easier without guests around. But pausing Epic Universe is definitely the right decision.

But there is no point speeding up with construction right now on most projects as they don't need to market and get more guests right now.

Basically I don't think Disney were wrong to pause all construction and I don't think Universal were wrong either to be optimistic.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
What's Universal's best play now? With the US economy so badly contacted I can't see the 3rd park plan being viable for at least a decade, but they wouldn't want to sell off that land after all the money and legal battles they went through to get it. Maybe they could throw up some inexpensive apartments or office space there and only offer limited leases so that they preserve the option of resuming park development at some distant date.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
1HAPPYGHOSTHOST said:
It was never going to happen. I told everyone this months ago. You can't do Halloween style haunts safely in a pandemic. And as usual, I was right. Doesn't matter what park opps was building or did build, the event got cancelled like I said it would
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It's sort of weird how literally nobody else in the entire world thought this except you and then you turned out to be right
 

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