Universal Orlando’s newest theme park, Epic Universe, opens in just 70 days! As the opening draws near, we will be covering the news released each week as we continue to find out more and more about this brand new park.
Epic Universe is the first major theme park opening in the Orlando area since Islands of Adventure opened in 1999 which was preceded by Animal Kingdom in 1998. Suffice to say, this is a big deal for theme park goers to see a park of such scale join the market of Orlando theme parks!
Epic Universe officially opens to the public on May 22, 2025 and I will be there on opening day to cover this big moment and share my review with our readers. Let’s get into all the details of the Epic Universe news for this week of March 13, 2025.
Epic Universe Details We’re Still Waiting For
These are some of the biggest details we are still waiting for as we get closer to the Epic Universe opening date.
Express Pass- There have been rumors swirling that Epic Universe won’t offer Express Pass when it opens. This does not appear to be true as the official website states, “Express Passes for Universal Epic Universe will be launched at a later date before the park opens. More details will be announced closer to the launch of these products.” The language here has led many of us to wonder if Express Pass will work differently at Epic Universe but so far, we don’t know anything yet.
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Universal Hotel Express Pass- We do know that Epic Universe will have Early Park Admission for hotel guests but we do not know if the hotels that offer free Express Pass will be able to use it at Epic Universe. Again, how Express Pass will work is our biggest piece of missing information right now!
VIP Tours at Epic Universe- VIP Tour experiences will include Epic Universe but information on these will also, again, be “launched at a later date before the park opens.”
As of now, we do not know an official timeline for when we will get these details beyond that it will be before Epic Universe opens on May 22, 2025.
Epic Universe News This Week
Universal 1-day and 2-day tickets are on sale now on the official Universal Orlando website. Tickets are only available starting June 1, 2025 through the end of 2025. This is likely in an effort to continue to control crowds for opening week which has us wondering if Universal is worried about crowds? Or perhaps this is just another effort to create a seamless opening week? We will be there opening day so we will find out!
Now that one day tickets are on sale, it’s only a matter of time before we find out more information on Universal Express Pass and VIP Tours for Epic Universe as both these products have been said to be “launched at a later date before the park opens.”
Epic Universe Merch revealed for all the lands including the highly anticipated Dark Universe and How to Train Your Dragon- Isle of Berk. The Dark Universe merch is likely to be popular, I love the visuals they created for the merchandise that includes all the monsters featured in the land.
The How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk merchandise looks great, I especially love the backpack and crossbody. It will be curious to see what ends up being the most popular.
And of course, we have a look at the new merchandise coming to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter- Ministry of Magic which introduces a whole new theme of Harry Potter apparel.
We also learned from the Epic Universe merchandise announcement that cosplay stores will be available in How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk and Dark Universe so guests can create their own viking and monster experiences including monster themed horror face paint.
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In the above Reel shared on Instagram by Universal Creative, you can see a sneak peak of Dark Universe with Brooke, Senior Show Coordinator working on Epic Universe. The video shows a good look at the ride vehicle used for Monsters Unleashed, one of the most anticipated attractions at Epic Universe.
To celebrate International Woman’s Day on March 8th, this exclusive from the Hollywood Reporter shares interviews with ten women from the Universal Creative Team revealing details about Epic Universe. Details revealed in the interviews including confirmation that How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk is the largest land in Epic Universe, that some monster animatronics will be as tall as nine-feet with others on par with their regular height from the films, and details about the musical score at Celestial Park which includes original music composed for the land.
Universal Team Member family previews have been announced from March 17-25 and 29-31. This phase of previews allows Team Members to bring along family and friends. The no-photo/video policy will continue during this set of previews for all visitors including family members.
Epic Universe Construction Updates
Okay here’s this week’s roundup of updates courtesy of bioreconstruct on X which include a beautiful look at the nighttime lighting through Epic Universe!
Here’s an aerial shot of the entire park at night. The led lights in Celestial Park running through the middle of Epic Universe change color from blue, red, and green.
Celestial Park is stunning at night.
Here you can see the colors cycle to green.
Look at how vibrant Super Nintendo World is.
Here’s a look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter- Ministry of Magic at night.
And a look at How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk lit up at night.
The lighting effects at night are simply beautiful, I cannot wait to see this in person!
First image via Universal Orlando and bioreconstruct on X.
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