Universal Destinations & Experiences continues to tease expansions to its newest park, Epic Universe.
Epic Universe Expansion Space
Epic Universe had its grand opening on May 22, 2025. Mark Woodbury, Chairman and CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences, said in an interview from inside Celestial Park, “What you can’t see sitting here are all the expansion areas that are outside the spaces that you can see. There’s a lot of room for expansion. We’re already thinking about how that plays out, and it’s the same on the north end of the campus, new attractions coming, new intellectual property coming.” (via USA Today)
Woodbury is referencing some existing expansion pads between the worlds of Epic Universe. In the aerial photo above by bioreconstruct, room for expansion is visible in the dark areas between Super Nintendo World and Dark Universe, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, and Stardust Racers, plus behind Ministry of Magic. Even areas where there are currently backstage buildings could become park spaces in the future.
Our photo, taken from the Universal Grand Helios Hotel, also shows a wide swath of empty land between the hotel and the Wizarding World. Green spaces are nice to look at but would be more valuable as new attractions, which we already know Universal is developing.
Karen Irwin, President and COO of Universal Orlando Resort, said earlier this year, “We’re already planning for the next thing at Epic.”
Universal could add to Epic’s existing worlds — like the rumored Legend of Zelda expansion to Super Nintendo World — or create brand new worlds.
One rumored area would be inspired by Wicked. Woodbury said he plans to add Wicked to the parks in a bigger way. Currently, there is only a themed Wicked shop in Universal Studios Florida and a meet and greet with Elphaba and Glinda. The pair also appeared at Universal Studios Hollywood for Universal Fan Fest Nights. Universal Studios Singapore had a larger pop-up Emerald City experience.
More Universal Orlando Resort Attractions
As for the “north end of the campus,” that means the rest of Universal Orlando Resort, including Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure, and Universal Volcano Bay. Universal is developing new attractions for all the Orlando parks.
Work is already underway on a new attraction replacing Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios Florida. The coaster closes permanently next month. Details of its replacement have not been announced, though construction walls include references to Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, and Fast and Furious.
Epic Universe’s Effect on Universal Orlando Resort
Universal executives see Epic Universe as adding to the Universal Orlando Resort experience rather than taking away from their other parks.
“This fourth gate changes everything for Universal Orlando,” Irwin said. “It not only cements us as more than a full weeklong destination vacation, but it also adds three hotels to the resort.”
Woodbury added, “It started with the idea ‘how do we continue to grow our Orlando business?’ and the realization that in order to do that, we needed another park to garner a full week vacation and make this the destination of choice for people for their full Orlando vacation trip.”
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