October 29, 2024 • 51 mins
In episode 3 of The Universal Report, we dive into the lands of Epic Universe, set to open on May 22, 2025. Host Conor Brown breaks down each incredible land, from the larger-than-life Super Nintendo World and the enchanting Isle of Berk to the spine-chilling Dark Universe and its classic monsters. Discover key attractions like Mario Kart Bowser's Challenge, the interactive Fyre Drill ride, and the Ministry of Magic's immersive adventures. Plus, Conor shares his own experiences at Super Nintendo World Hollywood and offers trip-planning tips for the best vacation ever. Get the scoop on all the must-see attractions, dining, and experiences coming soon.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What up? Welcome to episode three of the Universal
Report. Presented by vacationkingdoms.com
this show is your guide to making the most out of your next
Universal Orlando visit. I'm Connor Brown, an
Orlando local Universal annual pass holder and a
seasoned travel agent, and I help make complicated
(00:21):
trips uncomplicated. Whether it's your first time
stepping through the Universal Gates or you're back for more excitement,
this podcast is your go to resource for all things
Universal. Planning, park strategies, reviews,
park announcements we got you covered in the
second episode, our previous episode of the Universal Report,
(00:44):
I gave an overview of the entirety of the Universal
Orlando resorts, theme parks, CityWalk, hotels,
all that jazz. Well, by this time next
year, in 2025, the resort will look very
different and a bit larger. That's because
Universal is opening a brand new theme park in
(01:06):
2025 called Epic Universe.
This is the first theme park to open on this scale
in a quarter of a century in Central Florida.
No offense to Legoland or Peppa the Pig park, they are great in
their own right, but this will be a bit bigger than those
two. A few weeks ago, Universal announced when
(01:28):
Epic Universe would be opening. May 25, 2025.
That's the opening date. And this past week tickets went on sale to
purchase admission into that park for the opening
week and the days beyond it. I was lucky
enough to get a ticket to opening day, plus a few extra in the first
few weeks the park is opened. I'm so excited to experience this new park
(01:51):
and in light of all those announcements, I wanted to take a time
to share everything we about Epic
Universe so far. The lands, the
rides, the restaurants, all the entertainment offerings. We
are sure to get more info in the months to come, but I thought this
would be a great time and a great place to start on our Epic
(02:13):
Universe journey. So, first things
first, where exactly is Epic
Universe located? Throughout this podcast, I just assume I'm going
to constantly be comparing Disney to
Universal, and where Epic is located is no different.
You see, Universal doesn't own as much contiguous
(02:34):
land as Disney does in Central Florida. So what
they've had to do with Epic Universe is kind of buy pieces of land
a la carte, I guess you could say. Which is funny because that's how
Disney did it back in the day. But Epic Universe is actually going to
be kind of like its own little campus. So if you remember
episode two, we talked about what there
(02:56):
is there right now on the Universal Orlando Resort.
So the plot of land Universal has purchased
for Epic Universe is about five miles away.
From the current Universal Orlando Resort property, or
the property where guests frequent every single
day. If you remember from our last episode, from episode two of the
(03:18):
Universal Report, we talked about the current structure of the property. When
Epic opens, it's almost going to be like there's two
campuses now for the Universal Orlando Resort.
There's the north campus, which is kind of the existing campus. That's where
you've got Universal Studios Florida theme park, Islands of Adventure
theme park, Volcano Bay Water theme Park. You have
(03:40):
CityWalk, and then you have the first six hotels that
Universal built. Those six hotels are Portofino Bay,
the Hard Rock, Royal Pacific, Sapphire Falls.
I'm missing a couple. Cabana Bay Beach Resort and
Aventura Hotel. Then the south
campus is what's going to be home to Epic Universe, the
(04:02):
Helios Grand Hotel, which is actually going to be attached to the Epic
Universe theme park. And then also the Terra
Luna and the Stella Nova hotels, which are in the
prime value category for Universal.
In between those two campuses, the north and the south campus, like I
said, they're five miles apart. Thereabouts. In the middle, not
(04:25):
the true middle. A little bit closer to the north campus, there is another
plot of land. And on that plot of land, it's only the
Universal Endless Summer Resort with the Dockside and
Surfside Inn and Suites hotels in there. So that's kind of its
own little thing, kind of in the middle. Not really middle,
but not necessarily connected to either the north or the
(04:46):
south campus. If five miles seems like
a lot, it isn't that much in the grand scheme of
things, going back to Disney, Disney's Animal Kingdom
Lodge, the hotel is actually six miles away from
Disney Springs. And if we go over to the Magic Kingdom
area, the Grand Floridian Resort, that's actually about
(05:09):
six miles away from Disney, Animal Kingdom theme
park as well. So the only real
difference, Disney obviously has a whole lot of space,
so they own all this land and they're miles apart,
even though it's all the land that they own. The only real difference is
that from getting from the north campus of Universal to the
(05:31):
new south campus of Universal, it's five miles. But you might
not be passing through just Universal property. You're going
to pass through some public areas, some other areas. Right. Some
public roads, those sorts of things. But the cool part is that Universal has
actually started to invest and rebuild this road connecting
where the South Campus and Epic Universe is to the North Campus,
(05:54):
where all the existing infrastructure already
exists. The other cool thing, if you're staying at one of those
original six hotels. Or if you're staying at the
Endless Summer Resort, you will have dedicated
complimentary transportation provided by Universal to get you
from that area to Epic Universe and
(06:16):
back. Additionally, Terra Luna and Stellanova, the two prime
value, the two new prime value hotels will also have
complimentary transportation to get you to the existing
North Campus and to get you to Epic Universe, the
theme park proper as well. The cool thing is these
are electric buses and the roads that Universal
(06:38):
is rebuilding will actually have dedicated bus
lanes. So I believe that's going to really help with
infrastructure, with traffic, with ways and means. Is that the
right thing? Ways and means. Ways and means, all those things.
So while five miles might seem like it's far away,
I don't really think it's going to be that big of a deal.
(07:01):
Again, the only real difference is you're going to be on complimentary Universal
transportation if you're staying at one of those hotels and you're going to be
going through non universal areas. But I think it'll be
relatively easy to get to and fro. God knows, on Disney
property there can be log jams and huge traffic jams
regardless of where you're on property. So
(07:24):
Disney can't even fix that as well. So I don't think the distance
will be too bad. But how big will Universal be? Everyone
keeps talking about this grand scale, so how big
is it actually? So Universal has said
that this land that they've acquired is about
750 acres that they've set
(07:44):
aside for the Epic Universe area. Again, that's what
they've said. They might have more than that in other pockets,
but 750 is what they're rolling out with.
Compare that to the existing north campus. And remember that north campus
is the two existing theme parks, Volcano Bay, CityWalk,
six hotels. That is 735 acres.
(08:07):
So this new plot of land,
750 acres of contiguous land, is actually bigger than
the existing parks resorts that Universal already
has. Now, the theme park isn't going to be the entirety of
750 acres. No. Remember, they still have the
Helios Grand Hotel, which is attached to the theme park, and then
(08:29):
Stella Nova, Terra Luna. I'm going to get those two wrong. I
just know it. That's all in there. But there's still plenty
of room to grow in this new south
campus that Universal is building.
One other cool thing to keep in mind is that this is going to be
Universal's first attempt at the hub and spoke
(08:51):
theme park method. So the hub and spoke Theme park method, you
probably know from either Disneyland park or the Magic Kingdom
park, you enter through a central point. There's a circle kind of in
the middle, or a thoroughfare in the middle, and the lands
jut out from the sides of that thing. Compare that
to something like Animal Kingdom, which is pretty much a big
(09:14):
circle around a lagoon. Hollywood Studios, which is
down and out and back and back. Right. There's no connecting
point to those theme parks. The existing Universal theme parks in
Florida are like that as well.
Universal Studios Florida is a lot of out and backs and
those sorts of things. Islands Adventure is essentially a
(09:36):
large circle, but there's no central point. The central point
is the lagoon in the center of Islands
of Adventure. So this is gonna be the first hub and spoke. So again,
a central sort of backbone. And then jutting out from the
sides will be those lands
that will make up Epic Universe. Now, will the lands connect
(09:58):
from point to point like one land connects to the other? Kind of like in
World Showcase or in Islands of Adventure, you go from Toon
Lagoon to Marvel Superhero island, they connect right there. I don't
know. Remains to be seen. You might have to go back
to the central point, but again, we'll
see. So Universal is calling all of the
(10:20):
lands that make up Epic Universe portals. And
you're going to enter each portal into each
new land. The central backbone, the
hub of this hub and spoke infrastructure, is going to be called
Celestial Park. And then the other portals within Epic
Universe are going to be Super Nintendo World, Dark
(10:42):
Universe, how to Drain youn Dragon, Isle of Burke, and
the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of
Magic. So there are five distinct portals,
lands, call it what you will, that are going to make up Epic Universe when
it opens on May 22,
2025. So let's start with Celestial
(11:04):
Park. Celestial park, like I said, is kind of that backbone.
So there will be two entrances to Epic
Universe. A main entrance, where if you're coming from
transportation from other hotels, you'll go through there. If you're parking there, you'll
go through there. If you're taking an Uber, a taxi, what have you getting dropped
off, you'll go through what I'm calling the front of the park.
(11:24):
The back of the park ends at
Universal Grand Helios Grand Hotel. I keep wanting to say
Grand Helios. That sounds much more easy. But
the Helios Grand Hotel is at the back of the theme
park. And those guests staying at the Helios Grand
Hotel will have a dedicated entrance to
(11:46):
Epic Universe. They will still Enter into Celestial
park just at the end of Celestial park
versus the front of Celestial Park. So when you
enter Epic Universe, this is where you're going to start
to see and understand the idea behind it.
Celestial park is that spine again. But as you enter
(12:09):
into the park, you're going to enter underneath the
Kronos, which from Universal is a mysterious
mechanism with origins unknown to even
the Celestials. I hope I'm saying that right. The
Celestians are the residents of the park, so
they inhabit Epic Universe. This device, the
(12:31):
Kronos, when fully aligned, opens a gateway
to the universe, inviting guests to step
inside and explore. The
Celestrians use its power to open portals to other
worlds. So there you go. The Kronos is what
powers the portals and opens the portals to these other
(12:52):
worlds that we're going to visit during Epic Universe. So you can kind of
understand the importance of Celestial Park. It's really how the park
powers and operates all the portals that you're going to go into
a cool little backstory with that. The sun, the
stars, the constellations really fit into this
whole motif. And that's why they're calling it Epic Universe.
(13:15):
Universe. Sun, stars, constellations, those sorts of things.
That's really the tried and true center of the park. One
cool thing about Celestial park, per Universal, they're saying Celestial park
puts the park back in theme parks. From the artist renderings
from the artist flyover, the little 3D video that they've done, it
really looks very lush, right? There's gardens,
(13:37):
there's landscaping, there's water features galore
in Celestial Park. But there's also a few
attractions and dining places in Celestial Park. It's not
simply the backbone in and of itself. It's not a means to an end
or just a place you're going to walk to and from to get to the
portals. No, there's plenty to do in
(14:00):
Celestial park as well, starting with
Stardust racers, which is an attraction I'm very,
very, very much looking forward to. So this is
a dueling launch roller coaster. So what does that mean? There's going to be
two roller coasters launching at
the same time, so like an A track and a B track, and you're going
(14:22):
to kind of be racing each other. They're going to do an inversion over each
other twice. I believe. That's going to be unbelievable.
And it launches you at up to 62
miles per hour, going
133ft in the air. This is going to be a thrill ride, no
doubt about it. It looks like you're being launched
(14:43):
into the stars, which is very cool. One fun
detail which I think is going to be absolutely awesome at night.
Traditionally roller coasters like this, the
track will be lit up, right? This is not the case
with Stardust Racers. No, the track will not be lit up.
The only thing lit up will be the cars on the
(15:06):
track and they're going to glisten and glow like stars
so that the backdrop is going to be completely dark against this
structure of the roller coaster. So at night it's going to look
like the cars, the roller coaster cars themselves are
shooting stars. That's going to be unbelievable.
(15:26):
Shooting stars through the night sky. In reality,
it's a whole bunch of people screaming, getting launched at 62 miles an
hour, going up 133ft in the air. Stardust Racers
I think is going to be awesome. Not just a ride, but to also
experience and look at and set the tone in Celestial
Park. Also in Celestial Park, Constellation
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Carousel. So this is not a traditional carousel. You're going to
hop aboard a celestial creature
and the vehicles are going to weave in and out of each other while also
going around in a carousel circle. So very
untraditional. Additionally, it's going to lift you gently
six feet in the air. So think about that as a carousel
(16:12):
to very different non traditional carousel
vibes. There that's going to be in the center of Celestial park
and it's going to be very pretty as well from the concept art.
Astronomica is going to be an interactive play area. So
interactive fountains, kids can play in there, adults can play in there, I guess, even
though it's a little creepy. But there you go. Those are the three attractions within
(16:34):
Celestial Park. Celestial park is also home to some restaurants
including Atlantic, which is going to be a sit down
restaurant inside of a Victorian era
style aquarium. It looks like it's going to have fully
glass windows out
looking into Celestial Park. So a great backdrop and a
(16:55):
great view for your dining experience. Additionally
in Atlantic there's also going to be Aquaria Bar
which is just going to be a, you know, traditional bar. Great
place to grab a drink quickly, those sorts of things. Also
in Celestial park, sit down restaurant, the Blue Dragon Pan
Asian Restaurant. We don't have the full menu for this or
(17:18):
any menu at all for any of the dining locations in Epic Universe
so far. But this is going to be set in an
almost always occurring night market. So the
ambiance is going to be like you're in a Asian night market and around
the clock it's going to feel as such. That's pretty cool.
The Oak and Star Tavern and Pizza
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Moon, two other dining locations that we don't know too
much about. But they'll also be in Celestial Park.
One fun thing or interesting thing is in Celestial park you're
going to find the Nintendo Superstar store
seems kind of out of place since there is a Super Nintendo World.
But I think this is important because you'll be able to purchase power
(18:04):
up bands, which I'll talk about, or I have to assume you'll be able to
purchase power up bands, which we'll talk about in a little in
this store before you go into Super
Nintendo World, which is going to be important. They haven't
announced this, but I have to assume that there's going to be some sort of
just all encompassing store in Celestial
(18:26):
park as well. If you think about the other theme parks, you have
the, you know, Port of Entry,
Gifts Islands Adventure. You have the studio store
at Universal Studios Florida. Those are just kind of. They
have all of the, the goods or
traditional goods that you would want to buy just from a theme park
(18:48):
exclusive kind of thing. It's kind of like a hodgepodge of all the lands coming
together. I have to assume, since this is kind of acting as that central point,
there's going to be a store like that in Celestial
Park. All right, let's get into
our first portal, shall we? So again, Celestial park is going to be
that backbone and then you'll be able to see all the portals of the different
(19:10):
lands around Celestial Park.
You'll walk into the portal to get to each one of
these lands. And let's start with one I'm very, very,
very excited about. I think this is the one almost everyone
has at the top of their list for excitement levels.
That's Dark Universe. Dark Universe will be based
(19:33):
on the Universal classic Monsters, a franchise which is
over 100 years old. Franchise in quotes. They've been making
monster movies at universal for over 100 years, which is
unbelievable. As you approach the portal, it's going to be
crackling with energy, kind of like the energy Dr.
Frankenstein used to create his monster.
(19:55):
And as you're going through the land, the energy is going to pulse
with you throughout the land. Eventually it
does connect to the top of this foreboding
castle, which we'll talk about that castle in a little bit
in Dark Universe. Important to point, all of the
Universal monster movies have already taken place.
(20:17):
So Darkmore, which is this
village, if you will, is the consequence of all of these
films. It's the result of all of these films, it's where you'll be able
to see all of these Universal classic
monsters. We're talking Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster,
Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf man, the
(20:39):
Invisible man, maybe Creature from the Black Lagoon. Right.
The Mummy, all sorts of people like that.
Monsters like that, I should say.
Universal has said, you know, this is going to toe the line
of being family friendly, but also PG13.
I'm a Halloween Horror Nights junkie. I love it. So I think
(21:02):
bringing that scary element is something Universal does incredibly
well. And I hope to see that in Dark Universe as
well. So let's get to the attractions making up Dark
Universe. First thing, Monsters Unchained, the
Frankenstein Experiment. So remember I said that energy is going to
be pulsing through, the electricity is going to be pulsing through
(21:24):
the entirety of the land of Darkmoor. And eventually it's going to
reach the top of a tower of a foreboding castle. That's
the Frankenstein Manor. And you're going to go inside.
So the whole notion here is inside Frankenstein Manor.
The great granddaughter of the OG Dr. Frankenstein now
lives there. Her name is Dr. Victoria
(21:46):
Frankenstein. And nightly she's trying to harness
the power of all of the Universal classic
monsters through various experiments. One
monster that doesn't take too kindly to that is Dracula.
During this ride,
chaos ensues because of him. He's trying to escape. All the other
(22:08):
monsters are going after him. Dr. Victoria Frankenstein is going after him.
You in all good theme park tropes are caught in
the middle of this cataclysmic event. Universal has
said it's possibly the most technologically advanced
ride they have ever built. Rumors
are saying it's going to be akin to Forbidden Journey
(22:31):
over in Hogsmeade in the Wizarding World
and Islands of Adventure. So kind of that style of
ride system taking you through. Hopefully it doesn't make you as dizzy
as that one does for me personally, but very, very, very
cool. The other ride coming to Dark Universe is
Curse of the Werewolf. Guess what? I've got some bad news for you.
(22:54):
You've got the mark of the werewolf. Nothing you can do
about it. Or maybe there is something you can do about it. You can try
to escape the wolf man that is hunting you. This is
a thrilling, family friendly roller coaster that spins
as well as you go through Darkmoor on this
ride. Very cool. Very cool indeed. You can also
(23:15):
get done up in your monster vest with the Darkmoor
monster makeup experience. Think of it like Bibbidi
Bobby Boutique or the Pirates League that they used to have at Disney.
They'll cover your face in whatever monster you want to be, I guess, and then
you get to walk around. Sounds great. I don't know if I'll do it, but
there's that option for you. Character experiences throughout the land.
(23:37):
You'll get to meet these Universal classic
monsters. There's also a couple dining locations that we know
about in Dark Universe. First is Das
Steakhouse, which is a sit down steak
style restaurant. And you're being served by the
vampire familiars. Familiars are the people
(23:58):
that are not vampires, but they are kind
of in a way like the vampire
servant, right? Like they're locked, embedded
into the vampire and they help them exist in the
world. So the vampire familiars will be serving you and
Universal has said at Dos Steakhouse. Yes, you'll get steak
(24:21):
on a steak. Place I'm very, very, very excited
about is the Burning Blade Tavern. This
is inspired by the 1931 Frankenstein film
where the windmill catches
on fire. That iconic movie scene. Well, this is going to
happen here. You're going to enter a windmill, but before you get there, every once
(24:43):
in a while the windmill will catch on fire.
Inside. It's like a tavern, but the monster
hunters hang out there. You get to hang out with them. You'll get
to see the prizes that they've won, the monsters that they've captured
or collected. But then also think of a traditional tavern
style. Beer drinks, burgers,
(25:06):
those sorts of sandwiches and vibes. Very, very, very cool.
You're gonna catch me there the first day of Epic Universe
being open. Absolutely. That's our first one.
That's. That's Dark Universe. That's Darkmoor. That's all of
that. Pretty scary. Very ambitious.
Right, let's go to a little bit more family friendly one for
(25:27):
our next portal that we're going to enter. And that is how to
train your dragon. Isle of Berk. I will say
when this one was announced, I think most people are like, oh, that's interesting.
Compared to the other properties, it might not be as popular. I think
for kids, it's very, very, very popular. I've seen the movies,
they're fun. I'll have to rewatch them again. But I will say, once we
(25:50):
started to learn more about this, I think this portal, this land,
serves a distinct purpose. One and two, I think it might be the
most underrated of the portals debuting at
Epic Universe. It looks
expansive as you enter. Looks like you're entering an
island right then and there. Water all throughout. Two tall
(26:12):
Viking statues in the middle of the Water. It's
like you're on an actual isle, the Isle of Burke. Of
course there's a lot of rides here. But that other thing
that I think is very important, I said one, this was going to be the
most underrated portal in Epic Universe. But two,
the purpose it serves. I think it's a very family friendly
(26:34):
portal compared to some of the other ones that might be a little bit more
PG13, preteen, those sorts of things.
So the first attraction you'll probably see going all throughout the land
is Hiccups. Wing Gliders. So this is a
family thrill roller coaster that's going to go up to
45 miles per hour. The notion here, Hiccup, the
(26:57):
protagonist of the how to Train youn Dragon films, is
creating this vehicle
that will mimic you actually flying on
a dragon, Toothless, which is his dragon.
Hiccups. Dragon doesn't like this. Pushes the guests off on
the ride before Hiccup has been able to attach
(27:19):
the wings to the ride. So it's a kind of chaotic ride
like every other thing. It's always a chaotic ride. Right. But it
looks great. Family friendly. Probably a very smooth roller
coaster. Another attraction coming to this area is
Fire Drill. If you're surrounded by
dragons, Dragons breathe fire. You're probably going to have to learn how to
(27:41):
put out a few fires from time to time. This is what you do
for this one. I'm actually very excited about this one. I think it'll be really,
really cool. It is going to be an interactive boat ride. So from the
artist renderings and concept, you're going to get on a boat. You're going to be
standing, the boat's going to move very slow. And then each side of
the boat will be competing against each other.
(28:03):
What will they be competing against? You're going to have a water gun. There's going
to be kind of targets all throughout. You're going to have to hit
the targets with your water gun and you'll rack
up points as you do that. Really cool.
We've had rides like this, right? Men in Black, Alien
Attack, Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger Spin, Toy Story, Midway
(28:24):
Mania, those sorts of things. But those are all tech based. You're shooting a
laser, you're shooting onto a screen. This is seems like the
first ever true. You're
firing something off the boat, in this case water. And that
is how you accumulate your score. That's going to be awesome.
Really cool. There's also the Dragon
(28:46):
Racers Rally. Dragon Racers
Rally. It's this concept. It's
hard to explain Basically, you're going to get strapped in. You'll go up
and down almost 65ft in the air and then you can control. If you want
to spin back and forth or even upside down, you can spin as
much or as little as you want.
(29:09):
Will I do that? Maybe once. Right? Just to
say check it off, check it off. Write the list
of things to do. But not a big
constantly going upside down kind of guy, right? I love my flips, I
love my barrel rolls on my roller coasters. I don't need to do it constantly.
I don't need to be inundated by that. There's also the
(29:31):
Viking training camp, which again, when I said this is going to be a great
family friendly land, this is one thing I was talking about. It's an
interactive play area for junior Vikings,
so some place for the little kids to run around, have fun.
It seems like there's all throughout the Isle of Burke, the entirety of the land.
There's gonna be a lot of interactive elements as well,
(29:54):
including the haddock paddock, which was where you'll get to meet
Hiccup and Toothless from the films.
There'll be other dragons, other meet and greets throughout the land. One very
cool thing at night, Monstrous Nightmare
or Gronkle, I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. Which are dragons
from the film. You might be able to see them soaring
(30:16):
in the sky during the nighttime.
That'll be pretty epic. There's also Mead hall, which is a
restaurant with a fist feast fit for a
Viking. But one thing that I'm very, very, very excited
about is the untrainable dragon stage
show. They have this out in Universal Beijing, I believe.
(30:38):
I hope that's the correct park that they have this at. But the stage show
looks incredible. Special effects, puppets,
well developed story. I'm very, very, very excited
for this to come to Epic Universe. There you
go. How to train your dragon. Isle of Burke again,
chalk this up as my most underrated
(31:01):
portal land, what have you. Coming to Epic
Universe, one land that we probably
know the most about is Super
Nintendo World. Why do we know the most about this portal? Well,
it already exists in two places around the
world. This one will be different from those two
(31:22):
to start, but it's bringing some new
things, though it still has some things that have already been
opened. So there's a Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios
Japan. That was the first one that opened. And
there's one in Universal Studios
Hollywood out in California. I actually got to
(31:45):
experience the Universal Hollywood Super Nintendo World
this Past February. It was awesome. It was so, so, so cool.
Hey, be sure you're following me on Instagram at Vacation
Kingdoms, because the week that this episode drops,
I will actually be posting kind of a recap from my time
there. Just a refresher to saying, hey, I've already seen some
(32:08):
Super Nintendo stuff. Here's what it looks like. So if you want to see photos
of that, follow me on Instagram at Vacation
Kingdoms. One difference between that land
out in California and this one is size. The Epic
Universe one is going to be much larger than the Hollywood
one, and it's going to probably be larger than
(32:29):
the one in Japan as well. Japan is
expanding its already existing Super Nintendo World, so
it'll be pretty comparable to the Epic Universe one. But
that being said, I'm very, very, very excited for
the one coming to Epic Universe because of how much fun I had at the
one out in Hollywood. Would two, three
(32:50):
attractions that are coming to Super Nintendo World. 1. Mario
Kart Bowser's Challenge. So this is the attractions they
have out in Hollywood. I got to ride it out in Hollywood. A
very cool, albeit sometimes confusing,
attraction. This is interactive. It's like you're actually in
Mario Kart. There's augmented reality, so you put kind
(33:13):
of like headgear on almost. It's a little Mario cap
that you put on, and then when you sit down, you clip on.
They're not goggles. It's more like. Like a plastic screen
that comes in front of you so you can still see through everything. It's not
actually touching any part of your face other than where the hat
comes on your head. Right there. It clicks right into place on your
(33:35):
hat. And that way you can see all of the
screens around you, all of the traditional,
I guess you could say, hardscape sort of stuff around you, like the
props, the animatronics, those. Those sorts of things. But then
through that plastic is where the augmented reality comes into place,
(33:56):
and that's where you can actually control your
cart. You look left, you'll glide left. You look right, you'll glide right.
You have a steering wheel that you'll also operate your car, press the
button to fire the shells, the banana peels, the power ups,
all those sorts of things that you know from the traditional Mario Kart
ride. So it's very cool. It's very slow moving. If
(34:18):
you traditionally get, you know, I was going to say seasick. If you
get motion sick on these styles of rides, I don't think you will
on this one because it is slower. Kind of eases you in. So it's still
very, very, very cool. Also coming to this land
is Yoshi's Adventure. They have this out in
Universal Studios Japan at their Super Nintendo World.
(34:41):
This is going to be a very slow moving ride, Great family
friendly ride. You're going to climb aboard a Yoshi
Yoshi and you're going to go around his land
there collecting eggs that he's laid.
Seems crazy, but I promise it's not that crazy.
Probably the attraction I'm most looking forward to, maybe in
(35:03):
all of Epic Universe is Minecart
Madness. So to enter Super Nintendo World, you'll
enter its portal through the lead pipe, the
green pipe, sewer pipe that you enter
into different lands, different worlds. In the actual
Mario video games, you'll enter through that and
(35:25):
you'll enter into Mario Land first.
In the back of Mario Land, there's going to be another portal which when
you walk through that, you'll go into Donkey Kong
Country. So it both of those things exist within Super
Nintendo Land. But Donkey Kong country is going to look very much like
the Donkey Kong video games. So think of a more
(35:48):
tropical kind of setting. And the big attraction here is
Mine Cart Madness. So like the Donkey Kong
video Games where you're in a mine cart, this roller coaster
will actually simulate. Not simulate, you'll actually do it. Like
you're jumping over
broken tracks. Like you're jumping the tracks. Right.
(36:10):
It's a very cool technology that they're using for
this. No screens in this. All actual
hard, you know, animatronics,
real elements. Nothing screen based on this.
The Minecarts are going to go all throughout the land. It looks very, very,
very cool. Heading back into
(36:32):
the Mario Land part of Super Nintendo World,
there's Toadstool Cafe. Cafe. I ate at Toadstool
Cafe out in Hollywood. It's fun, fun inside. Plenty of
toads. They're hilarious. Some cool interactive elements go on around
you as you eat. And then it's burgers, chicken
sandwiches, and kind of like Italian American fare. Because
(36:54):
it's a me Mario, right? Those sorts of things. Meet and greets
with Mario Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad.
I'm not proud, but when I was out in Universal Studios Hollywood,
I might have jumped over a couple ropes, might have cut some people.
Again, I apologize to meet Toad. It was an
incredible, incredible experience. One of the greatest experiences of my
(37:17):
life. Meeting Toad out in Super Nintendo World. A
day I'll never forget. And I look forward to meeting them again
at Epic Universe. Power up band. So I talked about
this a little bit Power band, kind of like, you know what, I'm gonna get
it. So this is a power up band. If you're watching on
YouTube, if you're listening, I will describe it. It's kind of like a slap
(37:39):
bracelet with a big circle in the middle that kind
of rises up out of the band. Mine is Mario themed, so you got
Mario's red and blue colors in the big M. You put
it on your wrist and then you go throughout the
land playing games. It's
connected to your Universal app. So you want to have the Universal Orlando
(38:01):
app downloaded when you go to Epic Universe. And it's going
to, via the app, track all of the points you're
getting. So there's a whole bunch of different games throughout Super
Nintendo World that you can play. There's a whole bunch of coins you can
collect. There's a whole bunch of secret items that you can do. Part of
the fun part of the thing, probably the reason I love Super Nintendo World so
(38:23):
much was how many interactive elements there are.
It's really, really cool. There's a leaderboard. So throughout the day you
can see how you rank against everyone else in the park
that day. And there are
several key challenges. So these are more
robust than the just collecting coins or finding things
(38:45):
throughout the land. The these you actually have to do something and you have
to win the challenge to get a key. Once you get a certain
amount of keys, then you'll be able to unlock and
play the Bowser Jr. Shadow
Showdown, which is in its own kind of area in Super
Nintendo World. That is really, really, really cool.
(39:07):
It's high energy. You're jumping up and down, you're moving your arms
rapidly. I got to do that out in Hollywood. It was
a lot of, lot of fun. So when I said, you know, there was going
to be the out in
Celestial park, there was going to be the Nintendo
Superstar store. I would assume that in that
(39:28):
area you'll be able to buy Power up bands there.
I would also assume out in City Walk on the North Campus,
you'll be able to purchase Power up band there. That way you
can connect it to your app. There's a little QR code right on the back
there to connect it to your app. You'll be able to start tracking stuff so
that when you go into the land, you'll be able to start playing games
(39:50):
immediately. There are. They will have a
store in Super Nintendo World. I actually bought this through a vending
machine in Super Nintendo World. That was really, really cool.
Really easy to use. From what I remember I think it's like 35
bucks, maybe 40 bucks, depending upon the one you get. And they have a
Yoshi one, a Luigi one, Princess Peach one. Sometimes they come out
(40:13):
with special ones throughout the year. There was a one year anniversary
for the Hollywood version when I was there. So yeah, you'll, you'll
want to purchase that and, and you have a lot of fun
with it. So that Super Nintendo World, very excited
about it. But the one that people
are really jonesing for like always is the Wizarding
(40:35):
World of Harry Potter. Ministry of Magic.
So in Orlando, we have two wizarding worlds. Currently. The
original one at Islands Adventure was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
Hogsmeade. So that's the little town outside Hogwarts Castle.
Hogwarts Castle is there. You get to experience those
things. Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure, a new
(40:57):
addition there. Then there's the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
Diagon Alley over at Universal Studios Florida,
which is Diagon Alley from the movies. And now
this Wizarding World of Harry Potter is called Ministry of
Magic. It has a little bit from the Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them franchise and a little bit from
(41:20):
the original series, the original Harry Potter series as
well. So when you enter this portal, you actually enter right
into Wizarding Paris in the 1920s that you
see in the Fantastic Beasts films.
You will also experience the British Ministry
of Magic from the OG Harry
(41:42):
Potter series. More on that in a bit. But when you walk into
this portal, you're going to pass through the Phoenix Arch.
You're going to enter into the Plasha
Cachet. I believe my French is no bueno.
This is like the French equivalent of Diagon Alley. The Phoenix
Arch is kind of like when you're in Diagon Alley and the bricks are
(42:05):
moving and you go into Diagon Alley. That's that concept.
But for Paris wizarding
area, this is where you're going to walk into the
land. Universal has said this is the biggest kind of land
they've ever created. Meaning in size and scale. They've
built Paris streets to scale. The
(42:27):
shortest building in Plaza Cache
will be taller than the tallest building
in Diagon Alley. If you've ever walked in Diagon Alley, you
already think, I'm in a real city. These buildings are massive.
They're so tall. Well, the tallest building
in Diagon Alley would be the shortest building in
(42:49):
Plasha Cache. Very cool, very
cool. The marquee attraction here is going to be Harry
Potter and the battle at the Ministry.
So using the flu Network and also going forward
in time, via the flu network, you're going to be transported
from that 1920s Paris to the British
(43:12):
Ministry of Magic. From the Harry Potter
films, you're transported to a very important moment in
time. It's right when Dolores Umbridge is being put on
trial for her crimes. As you're in an elevator
going to see her on trial. Of course, like
every theme park ride, something goes wrong and Dolores
(43:34):
escapes. All of a sudden you find yourself paired with Harry,
Ron and Hermione and you're fighting and
dodging Death Eaters throughout this. Universal
has said this is their most ambitious attraction they've ever
created. I love this because it brings a new wizarding world
in the Paris version, but it also gives us
(43:56):
that OG Harry Potter stuff that we know and love. I
think the Ministry of Magic is going to be on such a grand
scale. Then when we walk into it, if you've seen the movies or read the
books, you're going to be awestruck by it.
Back out in pal cache, there's Le
Cirque Arcanos, which is going to be a
(44:17):
circus style show. It's inspired by the Parisian
circus from Fantastic, the Crimes of
Grindelwald film. And this is the
first interior stage show
Universal has ever created for the wizarding
worlds. There's gonna be special effects, there's going to
(44:38):
be storytelling, acrobats, all sorts of
stuff. Very excited for this one. There's
also going to be interactive wands and spells. So in the two existing
wizarding worlds you can purchase a wand from Ollivanders.
They're going to have a Parisian Ollivanders, whatever
that maker is. I can't remember their name. But you'll be able to purchase a
(45:00):
new style of wand compared to the older ones.
I think the older ones will work in this new area. Don't quote me
on that. But the new ones will definitely be retroactive.
You'll be able to use them at the older wizarding worlds
and at the newer wizarding world they'll be able to do more
things. A couple of places to get some food and
(45:23):
bevy. Cafe L'Or de la
Serene. I am not good at French. Okay. But
that's like a Parisian cafe. Then there's Le
Goblet Noir, which I mean think means the Dark
Goblet. It's a hangout, like a bar, you
know, that sort of thing for dark wizards and witches. So
(45:44):
think of Nocturn Alley over in Diagon Alley. I think that this
is going to have the same sort of Vibes place. I'm
looking forward to Bar Moonshine. It's in Paris, but it's
themed to the US Quidditch team. Let's go America. Am I
right? It's going to have penance from the US Quidditch team and then
also other items from the Wizarding World of
(46:07):
America. Outside there will also be
Barabbure. Boy, I am so sorry to
everyone from France or who speaks French, but it's a
Butterbeer cart. Butterbeer will still exist
in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of
Magic. I think this land is going to be massive. I think there's going to
(46:28):
be plenty of little shops here and there just like we know from
Diagon Alley. I'm
really, really, really excited for this one.
Let me know what what are you most excited about? What portal, what land
are you most excited about coming to Epic
Universe? As we learn more from each land, we'll do a deep
(46:50):
dive into each land on the show. I'm thinking of doing
a dedicated episode to each land again as we
learn more information. I'll continue to update you
via the podcast here.
One other thing I wanted to let you know. I'm doing a weekly
newsletter now called Connor in the park where I'm visiting the
(47:12):
Orlando theme parks. As an Orlando local, I can do that. I can do it
weekly. I'm doing the Disney parks. I'm doing the Universal parks. Good to
know every time I go on a Cruise. Go to
vacationkingdoms.comemail to
sign up for that newsletter. Connor and the
Parks. It drops weekly on Wednesdays. I'll also be able to keep you
(47:33):
up to date on news via that. So please join
that as we learn more. I'll share more info with you.
Epic really truly is going to change the theme park
landscape here in Orlando. I
guarantee that. Right now you can buy tickets.
The way that it works is you can buy a three day, four day or
(47:55):
five day Universal Orlando Resort ticket. Of
those three four or five day tickets, only one
day will be good for Epic Universe.
The other days you will have to use at
Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios Florida. You can also add on
a Volcano Bay option if you want. You can also add on park to park
(48:16):
option. But for your Epic Universe day you can only go
to Epic Universe. You pick the dates. One of those
days you get to go to Epic Universe
there will be single day tickets. We don't have that just yet, so if you
really want to go as it's opening up in those first few months you want
to guarantee a spot of such
(48:38):
3, 4, 5 day tickets with the Epic universe. One
day add on and again of those three days, one day
would be at Epic, the other two days would be at the two other parks.
Same applies to the four and five day tickets. If you want to book that
or you want to book a vacation package with that stay on property at
Universal Orlando Resort, reach out to me. I'd love to help you
(49:01):
book a trip.
Connor@vacationkingdoms.com
There you go. Epic Universe. What an epic show.
Am I right? Five portals, gonna be unbelievable.
So much more to come. I'm so excited that I'll be there on
opening day. Opening day is gonna be chaotic, right? It's not gonna go according to
(49:21):
plan, but I'm excited to be there then and I'm excited to be there on
subsequent days in those first few weeks so that I can experience the land,
share my knowledge and experience with you. I look forward
to that. If you enjoyed today's episode and you are watching on YouTube,
be sure to hit the like button. Leave a comment, let me know you enjoyed
it and subscribe to the channel. Hit that bell icon so you
(49:43):
get notified every time we post a new video. Be sure to follow
our handle at Vacation Kingdoms across all the social
medias. For those peeps listening on Apple, please be
sure to subscribe and rate and review the show on
there. I'll be sure to read future reviews on
the podcast. If you listen on Spotify, give us a five star
(50:06):
review and please click the Follow button on our show page
as that will help us out on Spotify as well. If you like the
show, please do me a huge favor and share it with someone who you
know who's planning their next Universal
Orlando vacation. And if you are ready to
book a vacation to Universal Orlando to Epic Universe, I would
(50:27):
love to help you with that. As the Director of Agent Development
and a travel advisor with Keys to the Castle Travel,
I'll help you find the best deals, answer any questions
you have and I'll be an advocate for you, someone
you can turn to for advice. And the best part is me helping you
with the booking of your trip is
(50:50):
absolutely free. It doesn't cost you a
dime. Reach out to me at Connor C O N o
r@vacationkingdoms.com and I can help
you book a trip. And of course if there is ever anything
I could ever do to help you out, I am more than happy to
try and do so send me an email. I'd love to
(51:13):
hear from you. And that will do it. For this episode of the Universal
Report, I've been Connor Brown. And until next time, keep
limited living the dream, and I'll see you
real soon.
What up? Welcome to episode three of the Universal
Report. Presented by vacationkingdoms.com
this show is your guide to making the most out of your next
Universal Orlando visit. I'm Connor Brown, an
Orlando local Universal annual pass holder and a
seasoned travel agent, and I help make complicated
(00:21):
trips uncomplicated. Whether it's your first time
stepping through the Universal Gates or you're back for more excitement,
this podcast is your go to resource for all things
Universal. Planning, park strategies, reviews,
park announcements we got you covered in the
second episode, our previous episode of the Universal Report,
(00:44):
I gave an overview of the entirety of the Universal
Orlando resorts, theme parks, CityWalk, hotels,
all that jazz. Well, by this time next
year, in 2025, the resort will look very
different and a bit larger. That's because
Universal is opening a brand new theme park in
(01:06):
2025 called Epic Universe.
This is the first theme park to open on this scale
in a quarter of a century in Central Florida.
No offense to Legoland or Peppa the Pig park, they are great in
their own right, but this will be a bit bigger than those
two. A few weeks ago, Universal announced when
(01:28):
Epic Universe would be opening. May 25, 2025.
That's the opening date. And this past week tickets went on sale to
purchase admission into that park for the opening
week and the days beyond it. I was lucky
enough to get a ticket to opening day, plus a few extra in the first
few weeks the park is opened. I'm so excited to experience this new park
(01:51):
and in light of all those announcements, I wanted to take a time
to share everything we about Epic
Universe so far. The lands, the
rides, the restaurants, all the entertainment offerings. We
are sure to get more info in the months to come, but I thought this
would be a great time and a great place to start on our Epic
(02:13):
Universe journey. So, first things
first, where exactly is Epic
Universe located? Throughout this podcast, I just assume I'm going
to constantly be comparing Disney to
Universal, and where Epic is located is no different.
You see, Universal doesn't own as much contiguous
(02:34):
land as Disney does in Central Florida. So what
they've had to do with Epic Universe is kind of buy pieces of land
a la carte, I guess you could say. Which is funny because that's how
Disney did it back in the day. But Epic Universe is actually going to
be kind of like its own little campus. So if you remember
episode two, we talked about what there
(02:56):
is there right now on the Universal Orlando Resort.
So the plot of land Universal has purchased
for Epic Universe is about five miles away.
From the current Universal Orlando Resort property, or
the property where guests frequent every single
day. If you remember from our last episode, from episode two of the
(03:18):
Universal Report, we talked about the current structure of the property. When
Epic opens, it's almost going to be like there's two
campuses now for the Universal Orlando Resort.
There's the north campus, which is kind of the existing campus. That's where
you've got Universal Studios Florida theme park, Islands of Adventure
theme park, Volcano Bay Water theme Park. You have
(03:40):
CityWalk, and then you have the first six hotels that
Universal built. Those six hotels are Portofino Bay,
the Hard Rock, Royal Pacific, Sapphire Falls.
I'm missing a couple. Cabana Bay Beach Resort and
Aventura Hotel. Then the south
campus is what's going to be home to Epic Universe, the
(04:02):
Helios Grand Hotel, which is actually going to be attached to the Epic
Universe theme park. And then also the Terra
Luna and the Stella Nova hotels, which are in the
prime value category for Universal.
In between those two campuses, the north and the south campus, like I
said, they're five miles apart. Thereabouts. In the middle, not
(04:25):
the true middle. A little bit closer to the north campus, there is another
plot of land. And on that plot of land, it's only the
Universal Endless Summer Resort with the Dockside and
Surfside Inn and Suites hotels in there. So that's kind of its
own little thing, kind of in the middle. Not really middle,
but not necessarily connected to either the north or the
(04:46):
south campus. If five miles seems like
a lot, it isn't that much in the grand scheme of
things, going back to Disney, Disney's Animal Kingdom
Lodge, the hotel is actually six miles away from
Disney Springs. And if we go over to the Magic Kingdom
area, the Grand Floridian Resort, that's actually about
(05:09):
six miles away from Disney, Animal Kingdom theme
park as well. So the only real
difference, Disney obviously has a whole lot of space,
so they own all this land and they're miles apart,
even though it's all the land that they own. The only real difference is
that from getting from the north campus of Universal to the
(05:31):
new south campus of Universal, it's five miles. But you might
not be passing through just Universal property. You're going
to pass through some public areas, some other areas. Right. Some
public roads, those sorts of things. But the cool part is that Universal has
actually started to invest and rebuild this road connecting
where the South Campus and Epic Universe is to the North Campus,
(05:54):
where all the existing infrastructure already
exists. The other cool thing, if you're staying at one of those
original six hotels. Or if you're staying at the
Endless Summer Resort, you will have dedicated
complimentary transportation provided by Universal to get you
from that area to Epic Universe and
(06:16):
back. Additionally, Terra Luna and Stellanova, the two prime
value, the two new prime value hotels will also have
complimentary transportation to get you to the existing
North Campus and to get you to Epic Universe, the
theme park proper as well. The cool thing is these
are electric buses and the roads that Universal
(06:38):
is rebuilding will actually have dedicated bus
lanes. So I believe that's going to really help with
infrastructure, with traffic, with ways and means. Is that the
right thing? Ways and means. Ways and means, all those things.
So while five miles might seem like it's far away,
I don't really think it's going to be that big of a deal.
(07:01):
Again, the only real difference is you're going to be on complimentary Universal
transportation if you're staying at one of those hotels and you're going to be
going through non universal areas. But I think it'll be
relatively easy to get to and fro. God knows, on Disney
property there can be log jams and huge traffic jams
regardless of where you're on property. So
(07:24):
Disney can't even fix that as well. So I don't think the distance
will be too bad. But how big will Universal be? Everyone
keeps talking about this grand scale, so how big
is it actually? So Universal has said
that this land that they've acquired is about
750 acres that they've set
(07:44):
aside for the Epic Universe area. Again, that's what
they've said. They might have more than that in other pockets,
but 750 is what they're rolling out with.
Compare that to the existing north campus. And remember that north campus
is the two existing theme parks, Volcano Bay, CityWalk,
six hotels. That is 735 acres.
(08:07):
So this new plot of land,
750 acres of contiguous land, is actually bigger than
the existing parks resorts that Universal already
has. Now, the theme park isn't going to be the entirety of
750 acres. No. Remember, they still have the
Helios Grand Hotel, which is attached to the theme park, and then
(08:29):
Stella Nova, Terra Luna. I'm going to get those two wrong. I
just know it. That's all in there. But there's still plenty
of room to grow in this new south
campus that Universal is building.
One other cool thing to keep in mind is that this is going to be
Universal's first attempt at the hub and spoke
(08:51):
theme park method. So the hub and spoke Theme park method, you
probably know from either Disneyland park or the Magic Kingdom
park, you enter through a central point. There's a circle kind of in
the middle, or a thoroughfare in the middle, and the lands
jut out from the sides of that thing. Compare that
to something like Animal Kingdom, which is pretty much a big
(09:14):
circle around a lagoon. Hollywood Studios, which is
down and out and back and back. Right. There's no connecting
point to those theme parks. The existing Universal theme parks in
Florida are like that as well.
Universal Studios Florida is a lot of out and backs and
those sorts of things. Islands Adventure is essentially a
(09:36):
large circle, but there's no central point. The central point
is the lagoon in the center of Islands
of Adventure. So this is gonna be the first hub and spoke. So again,
a central sort of backbone. And then jutting out from the
sides will be those lands
that will make up Epic Universe. Now, will the lands connect
(09:58):
from point to point like one land connects to the other? Kind of like in
World Showcase or in Islands of Adventure, you go from Toon
Lagoon to Marvel Superhero island, they connect right there. I don't
know. Remains to be seen. You might have to go back
to the central point, but again, we'll
see. So Universal is calling all of the
(10:20):
lands that make up Epic Universe portals. And
you're going to enter each portal into each
new land. The central backbone, the
hub of this hub and spoke infrastructure, is going to be called
Celestial Park. And then the other portals within Epic
Universe are going to be Super Nintendo World, Dark
(10:42):
Universe, how to Drain youn Dragon, Isle of Burke, and
the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of
Magic. So there are five distinct portals,
lands, call it what you will, that are going to make up Epic Universe when
it opens on May 22,
2025. So let's start with Celestial
(11:04):
Park. Celestial park, like I said, is kind of that backbone.
So there will be two entrances to Epic
Universe. A main entrance, where if you're coming from
transportation from other hotels, you'll go through there. If you're parking there, you'll
go through there. If you're taking an Uber, a taxi, what have you getting dropped
off, you'll go through what I'm calling the front of the park.
(11:24):
The back of the park ends at
Universal Grand Helios Grand Hotel. I keep wanting to say
Grand Helios. That sounds much more easy. But
the Helios Grand Hotel is at the back of the theme
park. And those guests staying at the Helios Grand
Hotel will have a dedicated entrance to
(11:46):
Epic Universe. They will still Enter into Celestial
park just at the end of Celestial park
versus the front of Celestial Park. So when you
enter Epic Universe, this is where you're going to start
to see and understand the idea behind it.
Celestial park is that spine again. But as you enter
(12:09):
into the park, you're going to enter underneath the
Kronos, which from Universal is a mysterious
mechanism with origins unknown to even
the Celestials. I hope I'm saying that right. The
Celestians are the residents of the park, so
they inhabit Epic Universe. This device, the
(12:31):
Kronos, when fully aligned, opens a gateway
to the universe, inviting guests to step
inside and explore. The
Celestrians use its power to open portals to other
worlds. So there you go. The Kronos is what
powers the portals and opens the portals to these other
(12:52):
worlds that we're going to visit during Epic Universe. So you can kind of
understand the importance of Celestial Park. It's really how the park
powers and operates all the portals that you're going to go into
a cool little backstory with that. The sun, the
stars, the constellations really fit into this
whole motif. And that's why they're calling it Epic Universe.
(13:15):
Universe. Sun, stars, constellations, those sorts of things.
That's really the tried and true center of the park. One
cool thing about Celestial park, per Universal, they're saying Celestial park
puts the park back in theme parks. From the artist renderings
from the artist flyover, the little 3D video that they've done, it
really looks very lush, right? There's gardens,
(13:37):
there's landscaping, there's water features galore
in Celestial Park. But there's also a few
attractions and dining places in Celestial Park. It's not
simply the backbone in and of itself. It's not a means to an end
or just a place you're going to walk to and from to get to the
portals. No, there's plenty to do in
(14:00):
Celestial park as well, starting with
Stardust racers, which is an attraction I'm very,
very, very much looking forward to. So this is
a dueling launch roller coaster. So what does that mean? There's going to be
two roller coasters launching at
the same time, so like an A track and a B track, and you're going
(14:22):
to kind of be racing each other. They're going to do an inversion over each
other twice. I believe. That's going to be unbelievable.
And it launches you at up to 62
miles per hour, going
133ft in the air. This is going to be a thrill ride, no
doubt about it. It looks like you're being launched
(14:43):
into the stars, which is very cool. One fun
detail which I think is going to be absolutely awesome at night.
Traditionally roller coasters like this, the
track will be lit up, right? This is not the case
with Stardust Racers. No, the track will not be lit up.
The only thing lit up will be the cars on the
(15:06):
track and they're going to glisten and glow like stars
so that the backdrop is going to be completely dark against this
structure of the roller coaster. So at night it's going to look
like the cars, the roller coaster cars themselves are
shooting stars. That's going to be unbelievable.
(15:26):
Shooting stars through the night sky. In reality,
it's a whole bunch of people screaming, getting launched at 62 miles an
hour, going up 133ft in the air. Stardust Racers
I think is going to be awesome. Not just a ride, but to also
experience and look at and set the tone in Celestial
Park. Also in Celestial Park, Constellation
(15:49):
Carousel. So this is not a traditional carousel. You're going to
hop aboard a celestial creature
and the vehicles are going to weave in and out of each other while also
going around in a carousel circle. So very
untraditional. Additionally, it's going to lift you gently
six feet in the air. So think about that as a carousel
(16:12):
to very different non traditional carousel
vibes. There that's going to be in the center of Celestial park
and it's going to be very pretty as well from the concept art.
Astronomica is going to be an interactive play area. So
interactive fountains, kids can play in there, adults can play in there, I guess, even
though it's a little creepy. But there you go. Those are the three attractions within
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Celestial Park. Celestial park is also home to some restaurants
including Atlantic, which is going to be a sit down
restaurant inside of a Victorian era
style aquarium. It looks like it's going to have fully
glass windows out
looking into Celestial Park. So a great backdrop and a
(16:55):
great view for your dining experience. Additionally
in Atlantic there's also going to be Aquaria Bar
which is just going to be a, you know, traditional bar. Great
place to grab a drink quickly, those sorts of things. Also
in Celestial park, sit down restaurant, the Blue Dragon Pan
Asian Restaurant. We don't have the full menu for this or
(17:18):
any menu at all for any of the dining locations in Epic Universe
so far. But this is going to be set in an
almost always occurring night market. So the
ambiance is going to be like you're in a Asian night market and around
the clock it's going to feel as such. That's pretty cool.
The Oak and Star Tavern and Pizza
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Moon, two other dining locations that we don't know too
much about. But they'll also be in Celestial Park.
One fun thing or interesting thing is in Celestial park you're
going to find the Nintendo Superstar store
seems kind of out of place since there is a Super Nintendo World.
But I think this is important because you'll be able to purchase power
(18:04):
up bands, which I'll talk about, or I have to assume you'll be able to
purchase power up bands, which we'll talk about in a little in
this store before you go into Super
Nintendo World, which is going to be important. They haven't
announced this, but I have to assume that there's going to be some sort of
just all encompassing store in Celestial
(18:26):
park as well. If you think about the other theme parks, you have
the, you know, Port of Entry,
Gifts Islands Adventure. You have the studio store
at Universal Studios Florida. Those are just kind of. They
have all of the, the goods or
traditional goods that you would want to buy just from a theme park
(18:48):
exclusive kind of thing. It's kind of like a hodgepodge of all the lands coming
together. I have to assume, since this is kind of acting as that central point,
there's going to be a store like that in Celestial
Park. All right, let's get into
our first portal, shall we? So again, Celestial park is going to be
that backbone and then you'll be able to see all the portals of the different
(19:10):
lands around Celestial Park.
You'll walk into the portal to get to each one of
these lands. And let's start with one I'm very, very,
very excited about. I think this is the one almost everyone
has at the top of their list for excitement levels.
That's Dark Universe. Dark Universe will be based
(19:33):
on the Universal classic Monsters, a franchise which is
over 100 years old. Franchise in quotes. They've been making
monster movies at universal for over 100 years, which is
unbelievable. As you approach the portal, it's going to be
crackling with energy, kind of like the energy Dr.
Frankenstein used to create his monster.
(19:55):
And as you're going through the land, the energy is going to pulse
with you throughout the land. Eventually it
does connect to the top of this foreboding
castle, which we'll talk about that castle in a little bit
in Dark Universe. Important to point, all of the
Universal monster movies have already taken place.
(20:17):
So Darkmore, which is this
village, if you will, is the consequence of all of these
films. It's the result of all of these films, it's where you'll be able
to see all of these Universal classic
monsters. We're talking Frankenstein, Frankenstein's monster,
Bride of Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolf man, the
(20:39):
Invisible man, maybe Creature from the Black Lagoon. Right.
The Mummy, all sorts of people like that.
Monsters like that, I should say.
Universal has said, you know, this is going to toe the line
of being family friendly, but also PG13.
I'm a Halloween Horror Nights junkie. I love it. So I think
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bringing that scary element is something Universal does incredibly
well. And I hope to see that in Dark Universe as
well. So let's get to the attractions making up Dark
Universe. First thing, Monsters Unchained, the
Frankenstein Experiment. So remember I said that energy is going to
be pulsing through, the electricity is going to be pulsing through
(21:24):
the entirety of the land of Darkmoor. And eventually it's going to
reach the top of a tower of a foreboding castle. That's
the Frankenstein Manor. And you're going to go inside.
So the whole notion here is inside Frankenstein Manor.
The great granddaughter of the OG Dr. Frankenstein now
lives there. Her name is Dr. Victoria
(21:46):
Frankenstein. And nightly she's trying to harness
the power of all of the Universal classic
monsters through various experiments. One
monster that doesn't take too kindly to that is Dracula.
During this ride,
chaos ensues because of him. He's trying to escape. All the other
(22:08):
monsters are going after him. Dr. Victoria Frankenstein is going after him.
You in all good theme park tropes are caught in
the middle of this cataclysmic event. Universal has
said it's possibly the most technologically advanced
ride they have ever built. Rumors
are saying it's going to be akin to Forbidden Journey
(22:31):
over in Hogsmeade in the Wizarding World
and Islands of Adventure. So kind of that style of
ride system taking you through. Hopefully it doesn't make you as dizzy
as that one does for me personally, but very, very, very
cool. The other ride coming to Dark Universe is
Curse of the Werewolf. Guess what? I've got some bad news for you.
(22:54):
You've got the mark of the werewolf. Nothing you can do
about it. Or maybe there is something you can do about it. You can try
to escape the wolf man that is hunting you. This is
a thrilling, family friendly roller coaster that spins
as well as you go through Darkmoor on this
ride. Very cool. Very cool indeed. You can also
(23:15):
get done up in your monster vest with the Darkmoor
monster makeup experience. Think of it like Bibbidi
Bobby Boutique or the Pirates League that they used to have at Disney.
They'll cover your face in whatever monster you want to be, I guess, and then
you get to walk around. Sounds great. I don't know if I'll do it, but
there's that option for you. Character experiences throughout the land.
(23:37):
You'll get to meet these Universal classic
monsters. There's also a couple dining locations that we know
about in Dark Universe. First is Das
Steakhouse, which is a sit down steak
style restaurant. And you're being served by the
vampire familiars. Familiars are the people
(23:58):
that are not vampires, but they are kind
of in a way like the vampire
servant, right? Like they're locked, embedded
into the vampire and they help them exist in the
world. So the vampire familiars will be serving you and
Universal has said at Dos Steakhouse. Yes, you'll get steak
(24:21):
on a steak. Place I'm very, very, very excited
about is the Burning Blade Tavern. This
is inspired by the 1931 Frankenstein film
where the windmill catches
on fire. That iconic movie scene. Well, this is going to
happen here. You're going to enter a windmill, but before you get there, every once
(24:43):
in a while the windmill will catch on fire.
Inside. It's like a tavern, but the monster
hunters hang out there. You get to hang out with them. You'll get
to see the prizes that they've won, the monsters that they've captured
or collected. But then also think of a traditional tavern
style. Beer drinks, burgers,
(25:06):
those sorts of sandwiches and vibes. Very, very, very cool.
You're gonna catch me there the first day of Epic Universe
being open. Absolutely. That's our first one.
That's. That's Dark Universe. That's Darkmoor. That's all of
that. Pretty scary. Very ambitious.
Right, let's go to a little bit more family friendly one for
(25:27):
our next portal that we're going to enter. And that is how to
train your dragon. Isle of Berk. I will say
when this one was announced, I think most people are like, oh, that's interesting.
Compared to the other properties, it might not be as popular. I think
for kids, it's very, very, very popular. I've seen the movies,
they're fun. I'll have to rewatch them again. But I will say, once we
(25:50):
started to learn more about this, I think this portal, this land,
serves a distinct purpose. One and two, I think it might be the
most underrated of the portals debuting at
Epic Universe. It looks
expansive as you enter. Looks like you're entering an
island right then and there. Water all throughout. Two tall
(26:12):
Viking statues in the middle of the Water. It's
like you're on an actual isle, the Isle of Burke. Of
course there's a lot of rides here. But that other thing
that I think is very important, I said one, this was going to be the
most underrated portal in Epic Universe. But two,
the purpose it serves. I think it's a very family friendly
(26:34):
portal compared to some of the other ones that might be a little bit more
PG13, preteen, those sorts of things.
So the first attraction you'll probably see going all throughout the land
is Hiccups. Wing Gliders. So this is a
family thrill roller coaster that's going to go up to
45 miles per hour. The notion here, Hiccup, the
(26:57):
protagonist of the how to Train youn Dragon films, is
creating this vehicle
that will mimic you actually flying on
a dragon, Toothless, which is his dragon.
Hiccups. Dragon doesn't like this. Pushes the guests off on
the ride before Hiccup has been able to attach
(27:19):
the wings to the ride. So it's a kind of chaotic ride
like every other thing. It's always a chaotic ride. Right. But it
looks great. Family friendly. Probably a very smooth roller
coaster. Another attraction coming to this area is
Fire Drill. If you're surrounded by
dragons, Dragons breathe fire. You're probably going to have to learn how to
(27:41):
put out a few fires from time to time. This is what you do
for this one. I'm actually very excited about this one. I think it'll be really,
really cool. It is going to be an interactive boat ride. So from the
artist renderings and concept, you're going to get on a boat. You're going to be
standing, the boat's going to move very slow. And then each side of
the boat will be competing against each other.
(28:03):
What will they be competing against? You're going to have a water gun. There's going
to be kind of targets all throughout. You're going to have to hit
the targets with your water gun and you'll rack
up points as you do that. Really cool.
We've had rides like this, right? Men in Black, Alien
Attack, Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger Spin, Toy Story, Midway
(28:24):
Mania, those sorts of things. But those are all tech based. You're shooting a
laser, you're shooting onto a screen. This is seems like the
first ever true. You're
firing something off the boat, in this case water. And that
is how you accumulate your score. That's going to be awesome.
Really cool. There's also the Dragon
(28:46):
Racers Rally. Dragon Racers
Rally. It's this concept. It's
hard to explain Basically, you're going to get strapped in. You'll go up
and down almost 65ft in the air and then you can control. If you want
to spin back and forth or even upside down, you can spin as
much or as little as you want.
(29:09):
Will I do that? Maybe once. Right? Just to
say check it off, check it off. Write the list
of things to do. But not a big
constantly going upside down kind of guy, right? I love my flips, I
love my barrel rolls on my roller coasters. I don't need to do it constantly.
I don't need to be inundated by that. There's also the
(29:31):
Viking training camp, which again, when I said this is going to be a great
family friendly land, this is one thing I was talking about. It's an
interactive play area for junior Vikings,
so some place for the little kids to run around, have fun.
It seems like there's all throughout the Isle of Burke, the entirety of the land.
There's gonna be a lot of interactive elements as well,
(29:54):
including the haddock paddock, which was where you'll get to meet
Hiccup and Toothless from the films.
There'll be other dragons, other meet and greets throughout the land. One very
cool thing at night, Monstrous Nightmare
or Gronkle, I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly. Which are dragons
from the film. You might be able to see them soaring
(30:16):
in the sky during the nighttime.
That'll be pretty epic. There's also Mead hall, which is a
restaurant with a fist feast fit for a
Viking. But one thing that I'm very, very, very excited
about is the untrainable dragon stage
show. They have this out in Universal Beijing, I believe.
(30:38):
I hope that's the correct park that they have this at. But the stage show
looks incredible. Special effects, puppets,
well developed story. I'm very, very, very excited
for this to come to Epic Universe. There you
go. How to train your dragon. Isle of Burke again,
chalk this up as my most underrated
(31:01):
portal land, what have you. Coming to Epic
Universe, one land that we probably
know the most about is Super
Nintendo World. Why do we know the most about this portal? Well,
it already exists in two places around the
world. This one will be different from those two
(31:22):
to start, but it's bringing some new
things, though it still has some things that have already been
opened. So there's a Super Nintendo World in Universal Studios
Japan. That was the first one that opened. And
there's one in Universal Studios
Hollywood out in California. I actually got to
(31:45):
experience the Universal Hollywood Super Nintendo World
this Past February. It was awesome. It was so, so, so cool.
Hey, be sure you're following me on Instagram at Vacation
Kingdoms, because the week that this episode drops,
I will actually be posting kind of a recap from my time
there. Just a refresher to saying, hey, I've already seen some
(32:08):
Super Nintendo stuff. Here's what it looks like. So if you want to see photos
of that, follow me on Instagram at Vacation
Kingdoms. One difference between that land
out in California and this one is size. The Epic
Universe one is going to be much larger than the Hollywood
one, and it's going to probably be larger than
(32:29):
the one in Japan as well. Japan is
expanding its already existing Super Nintendo World, so
it'll be pretty comparable to the Epic Universe one. But
that being said, I'm very, very, very excited for
the one coming to Epic Universe because of how much fun I had at the
one out in Hollywood. Would two, three
(32:50):
attractions that are coming to Super Nintendo World. 1. Mario
Kart Bowser's Challenge. So this is the attractions they
have out in Hollywood. I got to ride it out in Hollywood. A
very cool, albeit sometimes confusing,
attraction. This is interactive. It's like you're actually in
Mario Kart. There's augmented reality, so you put kind
(33:13):
of like headgear on almost. It's a little Mario cap
that you put on, and then when you sit down, you clip on.
They're not goggles. It's more like. Like a plastic screen
that comes in front of you so you can still see through everything. It's not
actually touching any part of your face other than where the hat
comes on your head. Right there. It clicks right into place on your
(33:35):
hat. And that way you can see all of the
screens around you, all of the traditional,
I guess you could say, hardscape sort of stuff around you, like the
props, the animatronics, those. Those sorts of things. But then
through that plastic is where the augmented reality comes into place,
(33:56):
and that's where you can actually control your
cart. You look left, you'll glide left. You look right, you'll glide right.
You have a steering wheel that you'll also operate your car, press the
button to fire the shells, the banana peels, the power ups,
all those sorts of things that you know from the traditional Mario Kart
ride. So it's very cool. It's very slow moving. If
(34:18):
you traditionally get, you know, I was going to say seasick. If you
get motion sick on these styles of rides, I don't think you will
on this one because it is slower. Kind of eases you in. So it's still
very, very, very cool. Also coming to this land
is Yoshi's Adventure. They have this out in
Universal Studios Japan at their Super Nintendo World.
(34:41):
This is going to be a very slow moving ride, Great family
friendly ride. You're going to climb aboard a Yoshi
Yoshi and you're going to go around his land
there collecting eggs that he's laid.
Seems crazy, but I promise it's not that crazy.
Probably the attraction I'm most looking forward to, maybe in
(35:03):
all of Epic Universe is Minecart
Madness. So to enter Super Nintendo World, you'll
enter its portal through the lead pipe, the
green pipe, sewer pipe that you enter
into different lands, different worlds. In the actual
Mario video games, you'll enter through that and
(35:25):
you'll enter into Mario Land first.
In the back of Mario Land, there's going to be another portal which when
you walk through that, you'll go into Donkey Kong
Country. So it both of those things exist within Super
Nintendo Land. But Donkey Kong country is going to look very much like
the Donkey Kong video games. So think of a more
(35:48):
tropical kind of setting. And the big attraction here is
Mine Cart Madness. So like the Donkey Kong
video Games where you're in a mine cart, this roller coaster
will actually simulate. Not simulate, you'll actually do it. Like
you're jumping over
broken tracks. Like you're jumping the tracks. Right.
(36:10):
It's a very cool technology that they're using for
this. No screens in this. All actual
hard, you know, animatronics,
real elements. Nothing screen based on this.
The Minecarts are going to go all throughout the land. It looks very, very,
very cool. Heading back into
(36:32):
the Mario Land part of Super Nintendo World,
there's Toadstool Cafe. Cafe. I ate at Toadstool
Cafe out in Hollywood. It's fun, fun inside. Plenty of
toads. They're hilarious. Some cool interactive elements go on around
you as you eat. And then it's burgers, chicken
sandwiches, and kind of like Italian American fare. Because
(36:54):
it's a me Mario, right? Those sorts of things. Meet and greets
with Mario Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad.
I'm not proud, but when I was out in Universal Studios Hollywood,
I might have jumped over a couple ropes, might have cut some people.
Again, I apologize to meet Toad. It was an
incredible, incredible experience. One of the greatest experiences of my
(37:17):
life. Meeting Toad out in Super Nintendo World. A
day I'll never forget. And I look forward to meeting them again
at Epic Universe. Power up band. So I talked about
this a little bit Power band, kind of like, you know what, I'm gonna get
it. So this is a power up band. If you're watching on
YouTube, if you're listening, I will describe it. It's kind of like a slap
(37:39):
bracelet with a big circle in the middle that kind
of rises up out of the band. Mine is Mario themed, so you got
Mario's red and blue colors in the big M. You put
it on your wrist and then you go throughout the
land playing games. It's
connected to your Universal app. So you want to have the Universal Orlando
(38:01):
app downloaded when you go to Epic Universe. And it's going
to, via the app, track all of the points you're
getting. So there's a whole bunch of different games throughout Super
Nintendo World that you can play. There's a whole bunch of coins you can
collect. There's a whole bunch of secret items that you can do. Part of
the fun part of the thing, probably the reason I love Super Nintendo World so
(38:23):
much was how many interactive elements there are.
It's really, really cool. There's a leaderboard. So throughout the day you
can see how you rank against everyone else in the park
that day. And there are
several key challenges. So these are more
robust than the just collecting coins or finding things
(38:45):
throughout the land. The these you actually have to do something and you have
to win the challenge to get a key. Once you get a certain
amount of keys, then you'll be able to unlock and
play the Bowser Jr. Shadow
Showdown, which is in its own kind of area in Super
Nintendo World. That is really, really, really cool.
(39:07):
It's high energy. You're jumping up and down, you're moving your arms
rapidly. I got to do that out in Hollywood. It was
a lot of, lot of fun. So when I said, you know, there was going
to be the out in
Celestial park, there was going to be the Nintendo
Superstar store. I would assume that in that
(39:28):
area you'll be able to buy Power up bands there.
I would also assume out in City Walk on the North Campus,
you'll be able to purchase Power up band there. That way you
can connect it to your app. There's a little QR code right on the back
there to connect it to your app. You'll be able to start tracking stuff so
that when you go into the land, you'll be able to start playing games
(39:50):
immediately. There are. They will have a
store in Super Nintendo World. I actually bought this through a vending
machine in Super Nintendo World. That was really, really cool.
Really easy to use. From what I remember I think it's like 35
bucks, maybe 40 bucks, depending upon the one you get. And they have a
Yoshi one, a Luigi one, Princess Peach one. Sometimes they come out
(40:13):
with special ones throughout the year. There was a one year anniversary
for the Hollywood version when I was there. So yeah, you'll, you'll
want to purchase that and, and you have a lot of fun
with it. So that Super Nintendo World, very excited
about it. But the one that people
are really jonesing for like always is the Wizarding
(40:35):
World of Harry Potter. Ministry of Magic.
So in Orlando, we have two wizarding worlds. Currently. The
original one at Islands Adventure was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
Hogsmeade. So that's the little town outside Hogwarts Castle.
Hogwarts Castle is there. You get to experience those
things. Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure, a new
(40:57):
addition there. Then there's the Wizarding World of Harry Potter,
Diagon Alley over at Universal Studios Florida,
which is Diagon Alley from the movies. And now
this Wizarding World of Harry Potter is called Ministry of
Magic. It has a little bit from the Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them franchise and a little bit from
(41:20):
the original series, the original Harry Potter series as
well. So when you enter this portal, you actually enter right
into Wizarding Paris in the 1920s that you
see in the Fantastic Beasts films.
You will also experience the British Ministry
of Magic from the OG Harry
(41:42):
Potter series. More on that in a bit. But when you walk into
this portal, you're going to pass through the Phoenix Arch.
You're going to enter into the Plasha
Cachet. I believe my French is no bueno.
This is like the French equivalent of Diagon Alley. The Phoenix
Arch is kind of like when you're in Diagon Alley and the bricks are
(42:05):
moving and you go into Diagon Alley. That's that concept.
But for Paris wizarding
area, this is where you're going to walk into the
land. Universal has said this is the biggest kind of land
they've ever created. Meaning in size and scale. They've
built Paris streets to scale. The
(42:27):
shortest building in Plaza Cache
will be taller than the tallest building
in Diagon Alley. If you've ever walked in Diagon Alley, you
already think, I'm in a real city. These buildings are massive.
They're so tall. Well, the tallest building
in Diagon Alley would be the shortest building in
(42:49):
Plasha Cache. Very cool, very
cool. The marquee attraction here is going to be Harry
Potter and the battle at the Ministry.
So using the flu Network and also going forward
in time, via the flu network, you're going to be transported
from that 1920s Paris to the British
(43:12):
Ministry of Magic. From the Harry Potter
films, you're transported to a very important moment in
time. It's right when Dolores Umbridge is being put on
trial for her crimes. As you're in an elevator
going to see her on trial. Of course, like
every theme park ride, something goes wrong and Dolores
(43:34):
escapes. All of a sudden you find yourself paired with Harry,
Ron and Hermione and you're fighting and
dodging Death Eaters throughout this. Universal
has said this is their most ambitious attraction they've ever
created. I love this because it brings a new wizarding world
in the Paris version, but it also gives us
(43:56):
that OG Harry Potter stuff that we know and love. I
think the Ministry of Magic is going to be on such a grand
scale. Then when we walk into it, if you've seen the movies or read the
books, you're going to be awestruck by it.
Back out in pal cache, there's Le
Cirque Arcanos, which is going to be a
(44:17):
circus style show. It's inspired by the Parisian
circus from Fantastic, the Crimes of
Grindelwald film. And this is the
first interior stage show
Universal has ever created for the wizarding
worlds. There's gonna be special effects, there's going to
(44:38):
be storytelling, acrobats, all sorts of
stuff. Very excited for this one. There's
also going to be interactive wands and spells. So in the two existing
wizarding worlds you can purchase a wand from Ollivanders.
They're going to have a Parisian Ollivanders, whatever
that maker is. I can't remember their name. But you'll be able to purchase a
(45:00):
new style of wand compared to the older ones.
I think the older ones will work in this new area. Don't quote me
on that. But the new ones will definitely be retroactive.
You'll be able to use them at the older wizarding worlds
and at the newer wizarding world they'll be able to do more
things. A couple of places to get some food and
(45:23):
bevy. Cafe L'Or de la
Serene. I am not good at French. Okay. But
that's like a Parisian cafe. Then there's Le
Goblet Noir, which I mean think means the Dark
Goblet. It's a hangout, like a bar, you
know, that sort of thing for dark wizards and witches. So
(45:44):
think of Nocturn Alley over in Diagon Alley. I think that this
is going to have the same sort of Vibes place. I'm
looking forward to Bar Moonshine. It's in Paris, but it's
themed to the US Quidditch team. Let's go America. Am I
right? It's going to have penance from the US Quidditch team and then
also other items from the Wizarding World of
(46:07):
America. Outside there will also be
Barabbure. Boy, I am so sorry to
everyone from France or who speaks French, but it's a
Butterbeer cart. Butterbeer will still exist
in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Ministry of
Magic. I think this land is going to be massive. I think there's going to
(46:28):
be plenty of little shops here and there just like we know from
Diagon Alley. I'm
really, really, really excited for this one.
Let me know what what are you most excited about? What portal, what land
are you most excited about coming to Epic
Universe? As we learn more from each land, we'll do a deep
(46:50):
dive into each land on the show. I'm thinking of doing
a dedicated episode to each land again as we
learn more information. I'll continue to update you
via the podcast here.
One other thing I wanted to let you know. I'm doing a weekly
newsletter now called Connor in the park where I'm visiting the
(47:12):
Orlando theme parks. As an Orlando local, I can do that. I can do it
weekly. I'm doing the Disney parks. I'm doing the Universal parks. Good to
know every time I go on a Cruise. Go to
vacationkingdoms.comemail to
sign up for that newsletter. Connor and the
Parks. It drops weekly on Wednesdays. I'll also be able to keep you
(47:33):
up to date on news via that. So please join
that as we learn more. I'll share more info with you.
Epic really truly is going to change the theme park
landscape here in Orlando. I
guarantee that. Right now you can buy tickets.
The way that it works is you can buy a three day, four day or
(47:55):
five day Universal Orlando Resort ticket. Of
those three four or five day tickets, only one
day will be good for Epic Universe.
The other days you will have to use at
Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios Florida. You can also add on
a Volcano Bay option if you want. You can also add on park to park
(48:16):
option. But for your Epic Universe day you can only go
to Epic Universe. You pick the dates. One of those
days you get to go to Epic Universe
there will be single day tickets. We don't have that just yet, so if you
really want to go as it's opening up in those first few months you want
to guarantee a spot of such
(48:38):
3, 4, 5 day tickets with the Epic universe. One
day add on and again of those three days, one day
would be at Epic, the other two days would be at the two other parks.
Same applies to the four and five day tickets. If you want to book that
or you want to book a vacation package with that stay on property at
Universal Orlando Resort, reach out to me. I'd love to help you
(49:01):
book a trip.
Connor@vacationkingdoms.com
There you go. Epic Universe. What an epic show.
Am I right? Five portals, gonna be unbelievable.
So much more to come. I'm so excited that I'll be there on
opening day. Opening day is gonna be chaotic, right? It's not gonna go according to
(49:21):
plan, but I'm excited to be there then and I'm excited to be there on
subsequent days in those first few weeks so that I can experience the land,
share my knowledge and experience with you. I look forward
to that. If you enjoyed today's episode and you are watching on YouTube,
be sure to hit the like button. Leave a comment, let me know you enjoyed
it and subscribe to the channel. Hit that bell icon so you
(49:43):
get notified every time we post a new video. Be sure to follow
our handle at Vacation Kingdoms across all the social
medias. For those peeps listening on Apple, please be
sure to subscribe and rate and review the show on
there. I'll be sure to read future reviews on
the podcast. If you listen on Spotify, give us a five star
(50:06):
review and please click the Follow button on our show page
as that will help us out on Spotify as well. If you like the
show, please do me a huge favor and share it with someone who you
know who's planning their next Universal
Orlando vacation. And if you are ready to
book a vacation to Universal Orlando to Epic Universe, I would
(50:27):
love to help you with that. As the Director of Agent Development
and a travel advisor with Keys to the Castle Travel,
I'll help you find the best deals, answer any questions
you have and I'll be an advocate for you, someone
you can turn to for advice. And the best part is me helping you
with the booking of your trip is
(50:50):
absolutely free. It doesn't cost you a
dime. Reach out to me at Connor C O N o
r@vacationkingdoms.com and I can help
you book a trip. And of course if there is ever anything
I could ever do to help you out, I am more than happy to
try and do so send me an email. I'd love to
(51:13):
hear from you. And that will do it. For this episode of the Universal
Report, I've been Connor Brown. And until next time, keep
limited living the dream, and I'll see you
real soon.
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