What You Need to Know About Disney’s Biggest Competitor, Universal’s Epic Universe
We mainly focus on Disney news over here at MickeyBlog, but sometimes things happen in the theme park world that are just too big not to report on! And that, my friends, is exactly why we’re here to talk about Universal’s Epic Universe.
If you haven’t heard, Universal Orlando is building a 4th park right now that will be called Epic Universe. It’s supposed to open up sometime next year and has been under construction for a while, but Universal has been very hush hush on the details of the park…until now!
Epic Universe News
Universal Orlando has finally confirmed a ton of details about Epic Universe! In a press release today, they revealed all of the different lands that will be in the park, several of the attractions, and more.
Let’s talk about the lands first! There will be five distinct areas of the park:
- Celestial Park: The world you will first enter into at Epic Universe will have rolling gardens, waterfalls, astronomical architecture, and more. Using distinct portals, this will also serve as the gateway to the next four areas of the park.
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic: This Wizarding World will blend 1920s wizarding Paris (from the Fantastic Beasts films) with the British Ministry of Magic from the original Harry Potter series.
- SUPER NINTENDO WORLD: Guests will go through the iconic green pipe and discover a new way to play in this iconic world with characters like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Donkey Kong.
- How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk: Here you can soar with dragons in a vibrant world filled with Viking adventures based on the How to Train Your Dragon film franchise.
- Dark Universe: This world is based on Universal’s classic monsters like Dracula and the Wolf Man. You will see everything from the experiments of Dr. Victoria Frankenstein to the shadowy landscape where monsters roam.
There will also be some very exciting attractions in the park! Here’s a short glimpse into what’s coming just to Celestial Park:
- Starfall Racers: A dual-launch racing coaster that sends guests rocketing through the skies aboard comets in a race to see who’s the fastest of them all.
- Constellation Carousel: Explorers of all ages will take a fantastical whirl aboard constellations that glide through the milky way in a dance of music and starlight.
- Astronomica: An interactive wet-play area that also doubles as a giant compass rose to the many wonders of Epic Universe.
- Unique Dining Experiences: These will range from full-service restaurants to quick-service locations that offer something for every palate.
- Detailed Retail Locations: These will include the Nintendo Super Star Store, Moonship Chocolates & Celestial Sweets, and more.
- Exciting Entertainment: Various fountain shows throughout Celestial Park’s seven acres of water.
Also note that the Universal Helios Grand Hotel will be located inside the park and will feature 500 rooms with one-of-a-kind views and its own dedicated entrance into Epic Universe.
Universal has said multiple times that this new park will transform the resort into a weeklong vacation destination. Disney and Universal have almost always been competitors, but this park sounds like it will take things up to another level entirely.
It’s hard not to compare the two resorts, especially when it comes to completing new projects. Both Epic Universe and Disney’s big EPCOT Transformation were announced in 2019, yet the EPCOT Transformation has been cut down significantly and is still not completed, while Epic Universe, an entirely new theme park, is on track to open next year.
Disney has also been a lot more vague about potential future plans to expand or change their already existing theme parks. The main thing we’ve gotten is Disney’s Blue Sky plans, which is the company saying things like maybe someday will add on a Villains land to Magic Kingdom.
These plans haven’t been concrete up until now, but maybe that will change with the opening of Epic Universe. We could possibly see Disney speed up some projects in order to stay competitive with Universal.
If you’re thinking that Disney’s already on the level on Universal and doesn’t need to worry about Epic Universe, I’d say that’s a bit inaccurate. Universal is bound to draw a lot of people into the parks once Epic Universe opens, and Disney will have to keep things interesting and exciting if they want to compete for guests’ time and money.
We have even more details on what’s coming to Universal’s Epic Universe, including the teaser video for the park, over on our sister site Universal Parks Blog — check it out right here!
Stay tuned for more news and updates.