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Universal Epic Universe - New Florida Theme Park

Tim said:
Case in point, I was watching that video with my fiancée and her first reaction was 'hold on, where's that going, are they building a whole new Theme Park?'
And that's from someone who constantly has to listen to me talking about this park.

Epic Universe isn't mainstream yet. Everything that is being officially announced now is being aimed at people planning ahead for their 2025 holiday. We only know so much because it takes a long time to build a park from scratch, and it's not something you can hide from those who want to know.

Also, most people in the UK seem to think the Paramount park is still happening... sigh.
News travels like treacle. Slow to make an impact but so hard to remove once it has set in.
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Have any of the usual uk outlets picked up on it yet? (ladbible etc)
 
Bones said:
Have any of the usual uk outlets picked up on it yet? (ladbible etc)
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It's been covered across most of the major media/news outlets (BBC, Telegraph, Sky, Mirror, Independent, etc etc), but I'd imagine the influx of coverage won't begin until it's announced, confirmed, and a done deal.
 
When this project was first announced I didn't think Disney would see much of an impact. Fundamentally Epic Universe is just another Universal Park. There's nothing this park does that takes away from the broader appeal that Disney as a brand offers.
As an example of this, I've spoken to a lot of people regarding Disneyland Paris and tried to convince them that Europa Park is a superior alternative. But what Europa doesn't offer (and never can) is the chance for them to meet their favorite characters, some of which they've grown up with since birth.
The same is true for Universal. They have a lot of strong brands, most of which they've acquired rather than being identified with the brand. And the strong IPs they have tend to appeal to specific audiences, not the broad audience that Disney encompasses.

However, that was several years ago. I think Disney have done a lot to weaken their brand in the last few years, both at the parks, but more importantly outside of them. I still think they are in an incredibly strong position, but there are gaps now in Disney's broad appeal. The key market will be families. If Mario and Dragons are strong enough IPs to actually outweigh Princesses and the Classic Disney films for some families then they could actually put quite a dent in the mouse.
 
Without going off topic I do think Disney are worried as from January next year they bringing back the free dinning plan to the resorts. Rumours of D23 this year is whole new areas at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios with Epcot getting an overhaul in there with Figment getting a new ride and better area( fingers crossed the dream finder returns) There’s also supposed to announce plans for a 5th park which they hope to end for the resorts 60th anniversary.

Anyway back on topic I really like how good this park looks and when my son hits 1.4m we will just do a Universal and sea world holiday but as his only currently 1.07m we just gonna do Disney World in 2026.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but how will the park link with the other resorts and parks if you not hiring a car?
 
Themeparksandy1981 said:
Without going off topic I do think Disney are worried as from January next year they bringing back the free dinning plan to the resorts. Rumours of D23 this year is whole new areas at Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood studios with Epcot getting an overhaul in there with Figment getting a new ride and better area( fingers crossed the dream finder returns) There’s also supposed to announce plans for a 5th park which they hope to end for the resorts 60th anniversary.

Anyway back on topic I really like how good this park looks and when my son hits 1.4m we will just do a Universal and sea world holiday but as his only currently 1.07m we just gonna do Disney World in 2026.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but how will the park link with the other resorts and parks if you not hiring a car?
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Buses, they are currently extending one of the main roads (kirkman road) which will have dedicated bus lanes. The buses from the existing resorts are very good to the parks.
 
jon81uk said:
I think it’s only worry if they offer free dining to Americans. For the UK offer it’s more that they know the prices are high and they need to make it look better to get us to book.
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They already offered free dinning to US guests for this year back in jan time - they were doing that though pre-Covid. It’s more now the Covid bounce has come to an end and moved back to more offers as pre-Covid. It was for the quieter times though, not that any time is quiet these days but less busier times.
 
Maelstrom said:
They already offered free dinning to US guests for this year back in jan time - they were doing that though pre-Covid. It’s more now the Covid bounce has come to an end and moved back to more offers as pre-Covid. It was for the quieter times though, not that any time is quiet these days but less busier times.
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yes if they offer free dining in the US it tends to be more targeted for certain quieter times. But as the free dining UK is back I’ve booked to go next year, cost is astronomical now for staying on site, but we’re fortunate to now been able to afford it, was considering staying offsite. We are doing a split stay for the first time and doing a week at Disney and a week at Universal (will visit Seaworld too) instead of just staying at Disney.
 
jon81uk said:
yes if they offer free dining in the US it tends to be more targeted for certain quieter times. But as the free dining UK is back I’ve booked to go next year, cost is astronomical now for staying on site, but we’re fortunate to now been able to afford it, was considering staying offsite. We are doing a split stay for the first time and doing a week at Disney and a week at Universal (will visit Seaworld too) instead of just staying at Disney.
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I always stay on site now and don’t have a car. Due to the cost of a car now and many off site options have resort fees and parking charges at the hotel plus then parking at the parks, for the 3 week trip doing this summer it was £1800 to have car plus parking and resort fees. With the dinning credit and gift card got for Disney this summer it was cheaper to stay onsite than mid priced hotels (yes could do it cheaper with some value/basic hotels if you choose to) I find staying onsite feels more like your in a holiday resort rather than just stopping at a hotel which I prefer. In 2022 did same 3 week length trip and spent £160 on Uber- that inc airport to universal (used mears connect from Disney back to airport, two trips to Seaworld, couple of trips to Walmart, couple of trips to the outlets, and universal to Disney resort). Both Disney and universal transport is excellent. This year stopping at Aventura for 9 nights and then pop century for 11. Looking forward to it being a skyliner resort. Have done moderates at Disney previously but can’t justify cost now as hardly at the resort.

I would like to go next summer for epic but will have to see as wouldn’t normally do Orlando two years in a row, I am luckily to be able to afford to go but not having to pay for a family makes a big difference.
 
Josh555 said:
It’s the Dark Universe land if anyone didn’t know.
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Imagine the Potter land announcement will be 31st July seeing as that's the date of the characters birthday.

Anyhow really interested to see how in depth they go in talking about the Monsters Unchained ride in the area breakdown.
 
Looks amazing. This was the one area I was most excited about when the rumours started.

I have a feeling the Nintendo and Potter attractions will still be the first places the crowds head for in the morning though.
 
looks fantastic and will be interesting to see how what advancements they have made to the Kuka arm ride system for this.

From what been hearing the Potter ride is meant to be real highlight and another leap forward in terms of spectacular dark rides. What’s great is the new monsters dark ride and the potter ride are said to use lots of physical sets rather than screen heavy (with screens more as background/extending scenes etc).

I agree and would expect Nintendo to be where the biggest rush goes when the gates open in the morning, followed by the Potter area.
 
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