Phoenixes, dragons, and wolves, oh my! Aerial photographer bioreconstruct flew over Epic Universe on Christmas Day, providing more photos of the park’s construction. The new Universal Orlando Resort theme park will open in May 2025.
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Epic Universe Overview
Epic Universe features the lands Celestial Park, Dark Universe (Universal Classic Monsters), Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. In bioreconstruct’s photo above, the road in the lower left recently opened to the public.
The above photo shows part of Celestial Park, including Constellation Carousel. At the top center is Super Nintendo World. There is space on either side of the land for potential future expansions. At the top right is the raised traffic circle outside the park. How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk is in the bottom left.
This photo shows the Celestial Park roller-coaster Stardust Racers across the center. Beyond it is How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk. In the foreground is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. The green tower in the top right of the image is the park’s main entrance.
Celestial Park
Stardust Racers is a dual-racing coaster with orange and yellow tracks. New green canopies have been installed over the ride’s extended queue on the right. The concrete sidewalks winding around the tracks aren’t for guests but for inspections.
The space to the right of the coaster is currently used for construction staging but could be used to expand the park in the future.
The canopies are circular and swirling. Through their center is a service road with green gates, which will be closed when the queue is in use.
Beneath the canopies, crews are installing railings throughout the queue. More railings are staged to the left.
The front of Stardust Racers has a large comet decoration that appears to be shooting out of the load building. A so far unthemed steel frame is at the base of the element. The rocks around it have been partially covered in fake moss. A green wall between tracks is for safety when cars pass each other. Another wall is under construction in front of the yellow track.
Stardust Racers was originally dubbed Starfall Racers but was renamed due to trademark infringement. Its concept remains the same, with guests racing on two comets. They will reach up to 62 miles per hour and a maximum height of 133 feet.
A green framework is the beginning of a tunnel where guests will enter the ride. The coaster trains will be covered in lights so they will look like shooting stars at night.
Outside Dark Universe is a structure with a round green roof. This will be CelesTiki bar.
Near the bar, a couple of diggers are in a large patch of dirt that has yet to be filled in with concrete or plants. The large building on the left, next to the Dark Universe portal, is Oak & Star Tavern.
On the other side of the Dark Universe portal is The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant. The restaurant’s giant dragon archway seen in concept art has yet to be installed. The façade will feature neon lights.
Turf has been placed on some of the tiers of seating around the park’s show fountain. Water was bubbling in the basin but it has yet to be completely filled. Beyond the fountain are bridges and a statue of Helios.
Epic Universe will be the first Universal Orlando Resort park with an in-park hotel: Universal Helios Grand Hotel. Located at the opposite end of the park from the main entrance, the hotel is topped with bronze-colored domes. It’s curved to match the park’s architecture.
Through the tall windows of the hotel lobby, a starburst-style chandelier is visible. In front of the hotel, the Helios statue is surrounded by scaffolding as construction continues. The statue will sit in water, which cascades down into the park.
This straight-down look offers a good view of Helios, who is the personification of the sun in Greek mythology. Helios is depicted shooting an arrow towards the park entrance. A bird is behind him, on a circular element.
Behind the hotel is a lagoon. The peninsula in the center is where fireworks will be launched. It’s currently occupied by white birds.
Work on the bronze domes is almost complete. They are topped by gray spires. A sunny gold element is on the front of the building.
The pool area seems mostly complete. Palm trees provide shade around the deck. The domed structure next to the pool will hold Lotus Lagoon, a quick-service eatery and bar. No furniture has been placed around the pool yet.
In the lower right are bus stations for the hotel. Guests will have their own private entrance to Epic Universe.
Part of the sign for Meteor Astropub is sitting in front of the restaurant, ready to be raised. The colorful circular iconography above the letters of “Meteor” are actually the ingredients of a hamburger.
Meteor Astropub is located outside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, near Stardust Racers. It has a green rooftop.
Constellation Carousel is in the center of the park. While the blue and gold roof over the actual attraction is nearly complete, roofing is still to be installed over the entrance. The carousel sits in
The animal vehicles under the canopy are wrapped in plastic to keep them safe during continued construction. There are also nets around the deck of the carousel.
A scaffold staircase indicates the final touches are still being added to the carousel roof. A golden pegasus is on the top of the carousel.
Near the park entrance are a pair of restaurants. Scaffolding is still in front of the building. Crews are also working on landscaping the area around the restaurants.
Sheathing and paneling is being installed on the facade. There are some circular planters outside and low stone walls.
Near the front of the park is Luna Overlook, with a Luna statue to match Helios. The moon goddess is at the top of her own cascading water feature with golden circles around her.
This octagonal building is Atlantic, another restaurant. Guests will enter via the second floor and then sit downstairs, overlooking a lake. Blue-tinted windows line the restaurant. There is scaffolding on both sides of the building.
A group of giant brown seashells are on the sidewalk to the left. They will be installed on the striped columns around Atlantic.
The back of the restaurant is completely covered in scaffolding. An inflated boom cuts through the empty lake, ensuring water stays away from the scaffolding during testing of the fountains.
Guests will enter the park beneath the mysterious Chronos device, which allows entry into other worlds. The celestial machine is housed in a green tower above a gold and green archway. Medallions matching those above each land’s portal are visible in the tower.
Green walls are under construction to the sides of the tower. Paneling is still being added to the entrance portal, but the Universal Epic Universe sign is in place on top.
Dark Universe
This aerial photo is a straight-down look at Dark Universe, a land based on the Universal Classic Monsters. The buildings in the top left are backstage. The large building in the top right is the show building for the main attraction, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. The colorful tents near the bottom of the photo are at the land’s roller-coaster, The Curse of the Werewolf.
The entrance portal features a rocky tower and steampunk-like spire. Theming on and around the portal is nearly complete. There are celestial markings in the pavement in front of the portal.
A smoky purple medallion is at the top of the archway. Some paneling is still missing near the bottom of the portal.
Pictured above is the Burning Blade Tavern, inspired by a scene in “Frankenstein” (1931). The restaurant’s front doors below the windmill feature iron detailing. Outdoor seating will be available under a shade on the right.
The blades of the windmill will actually turn and light on fire, as seen in bioreconstruct’s video below. The video also shows glowing effects on Frankenstein Manor.
Frankenstein Manor is the entrance to Monsters Unchained. The central tower is topped with various lights. Several wires connect to two elements. Compare the photos above: the one on the left sees the wires illuminated blue, while they are dark on the right.
Trees fill almost all the empty space in Dark Universe. Behind Frankenstein Manor is the ride’s extended queue.
The outdoor queue takes guests around a crypt. There are fixed railings and stanchions connected by chains. Black posts with gold lamps are throughout. There are also mounted fans, ready for the Florida heat.
Guests will enter Frankenstein Manor via this walkway, passing through a stone plaza. There are vines creeping up the walls of the manor and plaza.
Dying plants line the roof of the manor. The walls around the walkway have jagged stone tops. A portcullis is in front of the doors, which are closed in the picture above. A blue light is visible in the window on the left.
Curse of the Werewolf is a family coaster. Guests will enter through The Guild of Mystics encampment. In the above photo are two wagons, one featuring a wolf sculpture on the side. An A-frame sign next to the wagon advertises Maleva, the leader of the guild, who warns visitors they bear the mark of the werewolf.
The sign at the top of the stairs in this photo reads “Carpathian Carriage Company.” There are also some banners among the trees.
Guests will board the coaster and speed through the forest as werewolves chase them. They’ll come to face-to-face with the beasts in the Darkmoor armory.
Darkmoor is the name of the fictional village in the land. When guests enter through the portal, they’ll find themselves among dark houses.
The photo above shows the back of the land’s entrance, with a large pointed roof behind the portal. A broken archway is at the village entrance.
The above photo of the village square includes a well in the center. An empty sign is outside the entrance to Das Stakehaus — the latter word is visible in the doorway. This restaurant is located “deep under Darkmoor” in the ancient catacombs that vampires call home.
To the right, sheets of plastic are around a gate as crews finish work.
Next to a service building behind Dark Universe is a patch of land ready for concrete.
More potential expansion pads are between Super Nintendo World and Dark Universe, and behind the latter. At the bottom of this photo is the Pizza Moon restaurant, part of Celestial Park.
Super Nintendo World
Super Nintendo World is made up of both Super Mario Land (the Mushroom Kingdom) and Donkey Kong Country. Guests will enter through a warp pipe into Princess Peach’s Castle in Super Mario Land. Donkey Kong Country is behind the Mushroom Kingdom, through another warp pipe.
The land is enclosed by green walls. Scaffolding is up around the front wall and the warp pipe entrance. Crews are painting hill shapes on the walls, adding some depth to the land when viewed from Celestial Park.
A Mario medallion was added atop the land’s entrance portal. Above the archway are small pipes with colorful designs popping out of them. There’s a pole in the center of the pipes without any theming. Unlike the other versions of Super Nintendo World, guests will travel up via escalator or elevator inside the pipe. Illuminated panels are visible on the inside.
Outside of Super Nintendo World will be a Nintendo gift shop. A fountain is under construction between the shop and the portal. A Mario statue is visible atop the fountain.
The land has come to life since our early construction updates. Only a few details remain to be finished. There are colorful cartoon-ish touches everywhere you look.
Princess Peach’s Castle is light gray stone. The turrets are mostly painted pink. The pavement in front of the castle remains under construction and the stained glass Peach window hasn’t been installed above the doorway. The gazebo to the left is where guests will meet the Princess. Landscaping remains to be completed around the gazebo.
A grand staircase leads down to a balcony. The lower level of the land has yellow and green flooring. The track of the Yoshi’s Adventure omnimover runs across a bridge cutting through the land. There are pyramids atop the rooftops on the left and Mount Beanpole on the right.
The fake foliage transitions from bright greens to more teal colors where Donkey Kong Country meets the Mushroom Kingdom. A Toad figure is next to the Yoshi’s Adventure track at the bottom center of the above photo.
Some of the land’s larger-than-life mushrooms don’t have complete tops yet. The large piranha plant in the center of this photo is part of the land’s Key Challenges, games guests can play with the Power-Up Bands. Open doorways throughout the land lead to other games and interactive areas.
Bowser’s Castle is now completely covered in fake stone, with Bowser’s face jutting out from the facade. This is where guests will enter Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge.
It looks like this is where most construction is currently focused. There’s orange netting around the castle and several construction materials stacked in front.
The glowing lights of some “POW” and “?” blocks show up in these photos. The land is full of dynamic objects like blocks, piranha plants, and spinning coins.
A few piranha plant vines are staged for installation near the Key Challenge. A lift vehicle is parked next to the vines.
There are two entrances to the land’s main gift shop, 1-Up Factory. They’re on either side of the Yoshi’s Adventure bridge.
The Yoshi-shaped ride vehicles are completely painted. The egg-shaped vehicle in the top left is a wheelchair-accessible car. The objects inside the cars are water dummies used for testing.
The Yoshi’s Adventure entrance is a yellow warp pipe on the lowest level of the land. The pipe on the brown stone wall in the top right is the entrance to Donkey Kong Country. There are supports in the wall above the archway for future signage.
Donkey Kong Country has a slightly darker color scheme than the Mushroom Kingdom and more real plants. The other side of the entrance is a stony archway. There are construction vehicles parked around the stone figures in front of the entrance.
Nearby is a plane. This will be Funky’s Fly ‘n’ Buy, a small gift shop. The land behind the plane will later be filled with plants.
A wall next to Funky’s Fly ‘n’ Buy has yet to be completely painted with the jungle landscape. There are backstage gates open in the wall. The thatched roof on the left is the top of Donkey Kong’s house. Guests will be able to meet Donkey Kong in front of his home.
A “Kong” sign is above the entrance to Donkey Kong’s house — which guests won’t be able to access. There are white lampposts along the road. The other smaller hut resembling a giant barrel will be a snack stand. The Mine-Cart Madness coaster curves behind the buildings, past a Screaming Pillar.
There are palm trees and props in patches of dirt outside Donkey Kong’s house. These will be filled in with more plants.
Mine-Cart Madness is uniquely designed with a fake broken track and a hidden real track, so guests will appear to be jumping over the broken sections. They are launched from a giant barrel at the top of the lift hill.
Donkey Kong Country just opened as an expansion to Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios Japan. Watch clips of Mine-Cart Madness.
The coaster goes in and out of a run-down temple. In the photo above, the archway entrance to Mine-Cart Madness is visible. If you look closely, you can see signs in the queue. Behind the temple, crews have started painting palm trees on the outer wall.
It seems theming is mostly complete across the temple walls. There are giant fake palms, flowers, and vines. A couple of unthemed shades are stretched across a space on the left.
The arrow in the above photo points at Professor Chops, a pig character. He’s in a barrel holding two checkered flags. There are fake bamboo poles next to him, possibly to hold up a tent.
In the photo above are two hills of the attraction. Some theming is visible inside the temple. Look closely at the track on the right and you’ll see the real sideways track running from the barrel to the “broken” mine cart track.
How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
Crews are still finishing the themed tower above the How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk portal. There’s scaffolding and some scrim around the tower. The walkway up to the portal curves around a flowerbed that currently has only a few small trees.
Past the portal, guests will face a lagoon with a dragon statue and a Viking statue. Wood-style flooring has been placed on the decks leading around the lagoon.
Bright water now fills the lagoon, which also features fake mossy rocks and Viking ships. The land’s roller-coaster dips into a trench in the lagoon and goes under the deck on the left.
The coaster is Hiccup’s Wing Gliders. In the upper left corner, it curves around a rocky outcropping with some sheep figures. In the top right of this photo is the Viking Training Camp, a playground.
The Viking Training Camp has raised platforms and brightly-colored canopies. A yellow corkscrew slide is visible on the right side of the camp. A group of dragon statues are at the entrance.
There are more dragon figures atop poles throughout the camp. The coaster will move through the walls of rock behind the camp.
Another attraction is Dragon Racer’s Rally. It’s made of two side-by-side spinning rides. It’s next to the Viking Training Camp, in front of a tall grandstand that the roller-coaster goes through.
The spinners have seats on one end and dragons ostensibly steering the rides on the other end. Banners have been added to the grandstand behind the ride. A gold throne is in the top center of the stands. The small birdhouse-like elements are dragon houses.
Frames around the spinners will presumably be covered by canopies for the ride’s queue. Most of the steel frames are painted to look like logs.
One banner on the grandstands features a red dragon. The other features the face of Toothless. The head of a green dragon is poking through one house and a small red dragon is flying out of another.
Scaffolding is around much of the queue framework as crew members continue theming the steel supports. The flooring is done around the ride but there are empty dirt areas nearby.
On the other side of a themed fence are posts throughout the queue for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders. Throughout the queue are fake rocks and landscaped areas. Parts of the coaster track have winged elements.
Canopies with colorful patterns cover part of the Hiccup’s Wing Gliders queue. The blue roof is the loading building for the coaster. The smaller structure near the bottom of the photo is the coaster’s launch.
The queue is dotted with stanchions. They aren’t yet connected by any ropes or chains. Short lantern lights are in patches of grass.
Detail work has come a long way. The buildings of Berk are now colorful, with various dragon sculptures.
This statue is at the edge of the lagoon, It features a dargon with a large mouth and a tail curving around a stone column. A Viking figure is atop the column.
Colorful dragon houses cover a grassy hill overlooking the lagoon. Guests will see dragons all throughout the land.
A temporary red fence surrounds a fountain under construction in the town square. It has a large basin and small buckets.
A tall spire of rock juts out above Mead Hall, the land’s main dining venue. Parts of the building that will be visible to guests have been covered in fake rock, grass, and moss. Steps with log-style railings lead up to the entrance. There’s a ramp to the side.
Gothi’s hut is atop the tower of rock. Thanks to forced perspective, it will look life-size to guests on the ground.
A pair of Viking statues frame the entrance to Mead Hall. It has a large wood door and painted columns. The building in the background of the above photo is a service building for the coaster trains.
The archway around Mead Hall’s doors is decorated with Nordic designs. In the grass to the sides of the stairs, bushes have yet to grow into their dirt patches.
A boat ride in the land is Fyre Drill. Guests will practice putting out fires in this training course created by Ruffnut and Tuffnut. The two sides of each boat will compete in hitting 130 moving targets with their waterguns.
In the foreground, scaffolding surrounds the seating area of Spit Fyre Grill, another eatery. Crews are working on theming the canopy frame.
The dragon figures throughout Fyre Drill aren’t supposed to look real as they’re supposedly crafted by the twins for training. The vehicles are inspired by Viking boats with different colored dragon figureheads.
On the right in the above photo is the queue and loading dock for Fyre Drill. Some scaffolding is around a kiosk on land in the lower left corner.
Half of the Spit Fyre Grill canopy frame is white — not yet themed. An American flag is at the top of the framework, part of a topping off ceremony, potentially the last for Epic Universe. A pair of gray dragon-inspired elements create an archway at the front of the venue. Several construction vehicles are under the white frame.
The Isle of Berk also has a windmill, but hopefully this one won’t be aflame. The arrow in the above photo points at a freshly installed “stone” wall. It has yet to be painted like the walls around it.
The arrow in this photo points at a themed element that hides the Fyre Drill service area. A steel frame is under construction behind the theming. The canopy on the left is over the ride’s extended queue. A tall square archway is topped with two carved dragon heads. Some dragon houses on the right are surrounded by scaffolding.
A large building at the back of the land is the theater for “The Untrainable Dragon.” This show is based on “Untrainable,” which premiered at Universal Studios Beijing.
While landscaping around the entrance remains to be completed, it looks like the actual theater entrance is done. There are blue and green canopies in front of the doors.
The exterior walls of the building are painted blue with layers of realistic pine trees, blending in with the real trees. A smaller building is attached to the theater. Unthemed steel frames jut out from the marquee and plastic hangs over the doors.
This magenta-colored canopy hangs over the Haddock Paddock, where guests will be able to meet Toothless and Hiccup. A carved figure of Toothless’ head is at the front of the canopy.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
The last of the IP-inspired lands is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. The land is mostly based on Place Cachee, the French equivalent of Diagon Alley as seen in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” but the land’s ride is based on the British Ministry of Magic following the “Harry Potter” stories.
A Time Turner medallion is on the portal archway. Above that is a marble-style column topped with a gold hand holding a wand.
Beyond the portal, guests will continue into the land through the Phoenix Arch. While the front looks like an archway in the Muggle world, the back has a large golden phoenix and carvings of magical creatures.
Five Parisian streets meet at the center of the land. The large show building in the lower right is the ride, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. The tallest square section of the building holds the British Ministry of Magic atrium.
Bioreconstruct captured crew members walking down the first street. To the right are frames for warnings. Look closely at the windows in the lower right and you’ll see a few props, including floating candles and a bust that gave us a jumpscare.
In the center of the land is the entrance to Le Cirque Arcanus, a stage show inspired by the circus also from “Fantastic Beasts.” New string lights trim the red tents.
More details have been added to the surrounding buildings, including a “Coupe de Quidditch” (Quidditch Cup) sign. There are various murals and posters on the buildings behind the tent.
The arrow in this photo points at dots in the ground that might be for queue stanchions.
A green kiosk at the end of one street might be for merchandise. The façade behind it is a “hotel” with snail iconography. A lantern above the hotel’s entrance is illuminated.
A thin street is full of stairs, inspired by Montmartre in Paris. Behind façades are turrets of Sacré-Cœur. They stand on bare supports that won’t be visible to guests. The rooftops feature tiny chimneys.
A cubic frame is in the center of a courtyard at the end of another street, likely for installation of some kind of statue. This spot seems to be inspired by the location pictured on the right in “Fantasitc Beasts,” which features a small tower element where the frame is.
One façade has illuminated theater signs advertising music and cancan. A globe is atop the building. There are flowers in some of the fake balconies.
A courtyard features darker façades, one painted with celestial images. Construction vehicles are inside the courtyard.
There are more awning frames along the first floor in the above picture. Some of the windows on the upper floors have closed shutters, while others are open.
The pink façade is a patisserie. The various shop windows will have interactive wand stations.
The white façade with green vine designs and a curved overhang on the right at the end of this street is the Métro-Floo entrance. Guests will seem to travel via the Floo Network to the British Ministry of Magic for the ride.
A toilets sign is across from the ride entrance. More signs stick out from the façades along the street. There’s water on the street in front of a statue.
The red façade is for Café L’air De La Sirène. Like many of the buildings, it has an awning frame, which covers two outdoor seating areas. The striped fabric awning is rolled up against the building. The café will serve French-inspired cuisine all day.
A Butterbeer cart is parked in the street near the circus tents. Signs advertise French businesses like Lunette de Lune, De Textes Anciens, Oculus Regulus, Expert en Bestiaux, and Librarie Magillard. The orange façade features large orbs in its windows.
These trees surround an extended area of the Battle at the Ministry queue. The foliage blocks views of backstage and the Helios Grand Hotel.
Under an overhang, queue stanchions are visible.
Terra Luna & Stella Nova Resorts
Opening in the months before Epic Universe are the new Terra Luna and Stella Nova Resorts. These matching resorts are curved and covered in colorful tiles. The opening of Terra Luna (left) was delayed from February to March. Stella Nova opens next month.
The road sign for Stella Nova was recently installed. Each hotel features an almost 10,000-square-foot pool, visible in these pictures. Stella Nova’s restaurants and bars are Cosmos Cafe and Market, Galaxy Bar and Galaxy Grill, and Nova Bar.
Terra Luna’s dining options are Omega Cafe and Market, Moonrise Bar and Moonrise Grill, and Luna Bar. It’s unknown why the resort was delayed by a month.
Traffic Circle
Between Epic Universe and the two new resorts is a raised traffic circle, meant to control traffic around the theme park. It’s part of various improvements to the roads around Epic Universe that will connect it to the rest of Universal Orlando Resort.
Other work includes the extension of Kirkman Rd/435 and the simplification of its Sand Lake Rd intersection. There will be bus-only lanes on 435 and the traffic circle.
Aerial Video
Watch bioreconstruct’s aerial video of Epic Universe taken on Christmas Day below.
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