First look at mega theme park opening 2025 with Harry Potter and Nintendo lands
A huge new theme park with 50 attractions across five lands is opening next year.
Universal is gearing up to swing open the gates of Epic Universe, a park which was first announced in 2019. The Orlando destination, which is due to open next year, is the firm's fourth theme park.
The central and starting point for Epic Universe is Celestial Park land, which has four 'portals' to other parts of the attraction. The four different worlds include the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is based on 1920s Paris from the Fantastic Beasts series and the Ministry of Magic, Inside the Magic reports.
Meanwhile Super Nintendo fans can expect a land with characters Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Donkey Kong, as well as a chance to race on Mario Karts. There have been some unsubstantiated rumours that there will be a Zelda portion of this part of the park.
The theme park will be spread across five lands (UNIVERSAL DESTINATIONS & EXPERIENCES)Meanwhile How To Train Your Dragon fans will be transported to the Viking themed Isle of Berk to wrestle with the fire breathing lizard, on a ride which lets thrill-seekers feel as if they're riding a flying magical reptile by spinning them around at the end of a rotating arm.
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Finally, the Dark Universe section is based around Dr Victoria Frankenstein's experiments and will take visitors to a "shadowy landscape where monsters roam in a world of myth and mystery.”
Large water features run up the centre of the park (UNIVERSAL DESTINATIONS & EXPERIENCES)Simulated images of what the park will look like include one giving a plan view of the destination. At the north eastern tip is a large building labelled Helios - a huge hotel which will house hundreds of visitors looking to spend multiple days at Epic Universe.
Moving clockwise round the image takes you to the Ministry of Magic, which is part of the Harry Potter themed segment. Universal has not released images of this portion of the park and it's hard to glean anything from the map, as most of the area is understood to be inside.
Epic Universe will have Nintendo and Harry Potter themed worlds (UNIVERSAL DESTINATIONS & EXPERIENCES)How to Train your Dragon is the next area and contains several long rollercoasters which stretch around what appears to be a large lake. This looks like it will be the most classically 'theme park' part of Epic Universe.
Celestial park sits at the south west corner and seems to be housed mostly in a number of large buildings that let thrillseekers move from the park entrance to a string of big water features that run all the way up to the hotel Helios.
Visitors enter through Celestial Park (UNIVERSAL DESTINATIONS & EXPERIENCES)Little is known about Super Nintendo World and Dark Universe on the west side of the park at this point. They seem to be a little bit smaller than the other zones and be without any large rides, or at least obvious and visible ones.
Up until this point much of the park's development has been kept under wraps. Recently, drone footage of Epic Universe shows that some of the rides are being tested. One of them is Curse of the Wolfman Mack, a long, black and white spinning coaster.
One ride - situated in the Celestial Park zone of the theme park - will be the dual-launch roller coaster Starfall Racers, which will hit speeds of up to 62mph and see two vehicles crisscrossing in the air.
In the sunny Florida weather a huge wet-play area called Astronomica will be a perfect place for kids to get soaked in dancing fountains. Many other rides are expected to be unveiled before the park opens.
The park is due to open next year (UNIVERSAL DESTINATIONS & EXPERIENCES)Restaurants at the park include the Blue Dragon Pan-Asian which will serve Chinese, Japanese and Thai food; Victorian themed seafood and meat restaurant Atlantic; the Oak & Star Tavern, serving pizza; and the Blue Dragon which specialises in Thai, Chinese and Japanese food.
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"Universal Epic Universe marks a huge transformational moment for Universal Orlando Resort and it will change everything about our destination," Universal Orlando’s President & Chief Operating Officer Karen Irwin said in a statement to USA TODAY. "This will be the exciting culmination of our amazing growth over the past 30-plus years and will transform Universal Orlando into a weeklong vacation destination filled with the most thrilling experiences imaginable!"
With so much to see and do, it may well be necessary to spread out a visit to the park over two days. Universal Helios Grand Hotel in Celestial Park will be open and have space for 500 guests.
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