Photographer bioreconstruct has shared more aerial photos of Epic Universe construction. Epic Universe will be a new Universal Orlando Resort theme park, scheduled to open in the summer of 2025. So far, the only land officially announced for the park is Super Nintendo World. The other rumored lands are “How to Train Your Dragon,” Universal Classic Monsters, and a third Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Epic Universe Overall Construction
This aerial photo shows the construction of Epic Universe with the rest of Universal Orlando Resort in the distance. Epic Universe will have its own parking lot instead of guests having to park at the CityWalk garages. The numbers provided by bioreconstruct label the following:
- Islands of Adventure
- Aventura Hotel
- Dockside Inn
- Kirkman Rd
- Epic Blvd, at intersection to a new UOR hotel
- Transportation plaza
- Epic Universe park entrance
- In-park hotel
Kirkman Road is being extended to connect to the resort. The photo above shows construction of the extension between Sand Lake Road and Universal Blvd. Here are the number labels:
- Overpass of private Lockheed Martin road
- In-park hotel overpass of park service road
- New Universal Orlando hotel
- Epic Universe guest parking
- Team Member parking and office building
The hotels at #2 and #3 are separate, with #2 connecting directly to the park. Guests staying at the in-park hotel will have their own parking lot and entrance.
This photo shows an overview of the entire park. The in-park hotel will be on the edge of the lake at the top of the photo. The themed lands will be to either side of a central corridor featuring multiple bodies of water.
Compare to the concept art, which also has the in-park hotel at the top. Assuming that the rumors are true, Super Nintendo World is at the bottom left, Classic Monsters land is at the top left, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is at the top right, and How to Train Your Dragon is at the bottom right. The dual-racing coaster is between The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and How to Train Your Dragon but not part of either land.
Dual-Racing Coaster
Significantly more track has been installed for the dual-racing coaster since our January construction update. There are now tall yellow loops.
In this straight-above photo, the dual-racing coaster is at the bottom, while the How to Train Your Dragon coaster, covered in protective tubing, is above.
The roller-coaster trains will enter these loops from the right side of this photo.
More track is yet to be installed on the tall supports to the right of the loops. The tracks at either end of the building in the center of the photo will eventually be connected.
In the photo above is where guests will return to the unloading station. The track is covered in black protective tubing right now where it enters the unfinished building.
The tall hill at the center here is referred to as a “top hat hill,” meaning the cars go up at approximately a 90-degree angle and then descend the other side at the same angle. The dual-racing tracks cross over each other several times immediately after the top hat hill.
This higher-up view shows the How to Train Your Dragon land to the left and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to the right, with the dual-racing coaster in the center. Guests will reach the coaster from the central corridor at the top of this photo.
In the above photo:
- Roller coaster in How To Train Your Dragon land
- Dual racing roller coaster so far
- City blocks of a Harry Potter related land
- In-park hotel
- Large fountain in center of the park
How to Train Your Dragon
Here’s an overhead look at the entire How to Train Your Dragon land, with it’s coaster and the dual-racing coaster at the bottom right.
- Epic Universe entrance (for day guests, not hotel guests)
- Land entrance
- Walkway over roller coaster here
- Coaster station area
- The Great Hall
- Theater attraction
- Dual-racing coaster, not in the land
The land entrances will all be portal-like, matching Super Nintendo World’s warp pipe entrance.
Some of the How to Train Your Dragon coaster is covered for protection, but not all of it. This coaster will cross over a guest walkway and skim bodies of water.
The land is of course based on the Isle of Berk from the “How to Train Your Dragon” films. A live-action “How to Train Your Dragon” adaptation is currently in development.
There will be a theater in the land, which is quickly taking shape. For now, there are just two concrete walls around the theater and no roof.
The building on the right in the photo above is rumored to be a quick-service restaurant.
Large statues are being constructed near the entrance to the How to Train Your Dragon land, next to the roller-coaster track. These mirror statues in the films, with horned Viking helmets, swords, and shields.
Bioreconstruct also points out structures in this area that seem to be the beginnings of ships.
A tiered hillside, taking shape to the right in this photo, will lead up to the land’s Great Hall, which may be a restaurant. The hall is the circle with six columns near the center of this photo. The building in the background is the service building for the roller-coaster.
Classic Monsters
The rumored Classic Monsters land will have a slightly smaller coaster than the others and the track has been installed. As bioreconstruct writes, “It’s believed to have a launch in area of the curved track to send riders back through where they came from, before full momentum back to the station.”
The station resembles a barn. The land will reportedly also have a village and mansion.
White tubes cover some of the track to protect it from future construction.
The coaster is also thought to be a spinner.
Central Corridor
This gray building is a restaurant in the central corridor. It has two rounded awnings at the front.
The concept art shows domed structures down the center of the park. Circular foundations have already been established for these. One is thought to be a spinning attraction.
In-Park Hotel
Short concrete walls create the curve of the future in-park hotel, which will face a fountain — just a concrete circle right now.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
The new Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be inspired by the Parisian version of Diagon Alley, Place Cachée, seen in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” An alley surrounded by tall buildings is already clear. The arrow in the photo above points to a new steel frame for more building façades.
This arrow points to a recreation of Porte Saint-Denis, an arched gateway built in the late 1300s in Paris. Read more spoilery details about the new Wizarding World.
Super Nintendo World
Like Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood, this land will be mostly enclosed. It will open with the Mario Kart and Yoshi’s Adventure rides.
The photo above shows the main courtyard of Super Nintendo World at the center. The building in the top right is a gift shop in the central corridor of Super Nintendo World.
This is the beginning of the warp pipe tunnel entrance to Super Nintendo World.
The yellow track in this photo is for Yoshi’s Adventure, a slow-moving attraction that will take guests on a scenic look at Super Nintendo World. Colorful weather-proof sheathing has been installed on some of the walls around it.
Super Nintendo World will also have a Donkey Kong roller-coaster, which is coming soon to the Japan version of the land and is rumored to be called Mine Cart Madness.
A curved section of track sticks out from the land, with some concrete walls around one side of it. Some of the track is actually fake and will be used to simulate cars jumping from one track to another.
What are you most excited to see at Epic Universe when it opens in 2025? Let us know in the comments.
For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.