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Epic Universe Team Teases Park As Immersive Sequels to Beloved Universal Movies
The team behind Epic Universe wanted immersive, interactive sequels to How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter, and Universal Monster movies.
Universal Orlando Resort is making an ambitious expansion in 2025 with the opening of the first new American theme park in 25 years, Epic Universe. While theme park fans are certainly excited for a fourth park opening under the Universal banner in Florida, movie fans should be just as excited — some of the new worlds will provide immersive sequels to the stories they know and love.
Speaking at New York Comic-Con 2024, key members of the Universal Destinations and Experiences team discussed all things Epic Universe and revealed their intention to shake up how all theme parks are designed.
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“Sometimes they’re grouped in loosely-themed lands, but what we’ve done since 2010 when we opened up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter really has changed the model,” explained Steve Tatum, executive creative director of Universal’s Epic Universe. “So, all of a sudden, instead of going on a two, three, four-minute experience, you are immersed in a single story. We’ve really gone from a short storytelling business into the feature-length storytelling business, and in Epic Universe, this is the first theme park in the entire world that is going to be comprised of exclusively these feature-length stories.”
Epic Universe will be made up of five worlds: Celestial Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe, Super Nintendo World, and How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk. Obviously, three of these five worlds are based on one or a series of Universal Pictures movies, and in the spirit of creating “feature-length stories,” the team explained that these parks will act as direct sequels to them in many unique, immersive ways.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic
Unlike the other Harry Potter-themed parks in Orlando, the new one at Epic Universe will be set in 1920s Wizarding Paris and lean heavily on the Fantastic Beasts films. However, its new Battle of the Ministry ride takes parkgoers to a different spot on the Harry Potter timeline — after the events of the final movie. It sees Harry, Ron, and Hermione at the Ministry of Magic for Dolores Umbridge's trial when things go predictably awry.
It marks one of the few continuations of the Harry Potter universe set after the conclusion of the story fans know and love, making Battle of the Ministry a can’t-miss for true fans of the franchise.
"I mean, that ride, I truly believe will be a game changer for the entire industry," said Anisha Vyas Burgos, assistant director, projects at Universal Creative. "It will redefine, in my mind, what immersion really is. It’s so fun, and I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions because I think everyone is going to not even really know what they just experienced and I can’t wait to see what that look is on everyone!"
Dark Universe
Dark Universe will take parkgoers to the fictional village of Darkmoor, where certain events have led Dracula to free some classic Universal Horror characters — including Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, the Brides of Dracula, the Wolfman, the Phantom of the Opera, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon — and run amuck. However, these are not just cameos from these legendary monsters that laid the foundation of modern horror; they’re direct continuations of their respective movies.
“You are watching where the movies went. The land itself could be considered a sequel to the original films. We took everything from the original films and used that as the basis for all of the continued storytelling,” Patrick Braillard, senior show writer at Universal Creative, told the standing-room-only crowd at New York Comic-Con.
He added: “We have some cameos that we’re not going to reveal now but you’ll be able to see them in the attraction, so it’s a lot. In Dark Universe, it’s awesome because it’s a brand-new land and it’s our opportunity to expand the Universal legacy. We have all these amazing movies that people watched throughout the years, and people experienced these monsters in different ways. We’re listening to the guests and we’re giving them exactly what they’ve been asking for and we’re doing it in a way that we could only do in Universal Parks.”
He revealed that parkgoers will perpetually arrive in Darkmoor at a time when Victoria Frankenstein, the great, great-granddaughter of the infamous Dr. Frankenstein, has captured some of these legendary monsters with the intent of succeeding where others have failed in controlling them. However, Dracula gets the best of her and lets these monsters loose on all of Dark Universe.
“They’re unchained and we’re seeing how they interact with each other, how they interact with us and there’s just something that’s never been done even in the movie,” added Gregory Hall, assistant director, creative design at Universal Creative. “We can’t wait to show you guys how that’s done and all the new technology and innovations that we brought to make it come to life.”
How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk
Last but not least is one of the most anticipated new IP lands within Epic Universe, How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, which was described as movie "2.5." There have been three How to Train Your Dragon movies, but the team seems to be implying that parkgoers will step into a time between the second and third movies when they enter this exciting new themed world.
“I mean, these [movies] are masterpieces, these are gorgeous works of art and so the challenge for us is not just to bring those stories and the story of Hiccup and Astrid and that whole cast of characters to life, but also convey that emotion and do it through the artistry,” Tatham explained. “So, we really looked at the art direction of it. Without getting too deep into our design process, what’s important for you to keep in mind is that we decided to enter that story at a certain point and it was really important for us and we call it How to Train Your Dragon 2.5 because over the course of that saga, dragons and Vikings come to coexist peacefully and so at that peak moment of harmony is when we enter the story.”
He went on to promise an immersive world that will put guests in this world of coexistence between Vikings and dragons while also offering stunning attractions like a family-friendly coaster, Hiccup’s Flying Gliders, where you soar through the air on dragons. There will also be a “Broadway-style show” called Untrainable, as well as a Viking training camp where kids can play. Finally, there will be what Tatham referred to as "Dragon Racer Rallies," where guests can test their acrobatic skills.
So, as you plan your trip to Universal Orlando Resort’s new Epic Universe, you may want to dive into the How to Train Your Dragon movies, scare yourself with Universal Epic Monster movies, or re-live the magic of the Harry Potter franchise, since you’ll literally be stepping into all these worlds for immersive sequels when you arrive.
You can catch all of these franchises streaming right now on Peacock.
