Universal Orlando Resort has been on an absolute roll in recent years with the opening to top tier E-ticket attractions with the excellent Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the even better new Velocicoaster. But the theme park resort is going to up the ante even more with a whole new theme park. Epic Universe will be Universal Orlando’s third gate and it promises to be something special, and now we know when we’ll be able to go as Universal’s parent company Comcast has now confirmed a planned opening in the summer of 2025. And that’s not the only good news, as it appears a popular existing attraction is on the verge of reopening as well.
Speaking on Comcast’s quarterly earnings call, CEO Jeff Shell spoke about how incredibly successful the theme park division has been. It actually had its most profitable 4th quarter ever in 2021. In addition, construction on Epic Universe continues to move forward. Shell then confirmed a window for when the new park will open, saying…
Epic is full steam ahead. I was down there a few weeks ago and the construction is going really well… We expect that park to open ’25, and certainly in time for the summer of ’25
While we’re looking at a time three years from now, and so anything can happen, we at least now have an idea of when Universal Orlando Resort is expecting to have the new theme park open to the public. And while the possibility of delays certainly exist, if things run ahead of schedule we’ll likely see Epic Universe open even sooner. One assumes they won’t open a day later than absolutely necessary.
Still, considering there was a time when there was a real question if Epic Universe would even be built, this is great news. Very little has been officially confirmed about what will be included in Epic Universe, but there’s a lot we think we know about what will be part of it. Universal Orlando’s Twitter account also celebrated the news.
For those people who can’t quite wait until 2025, there is potentially good news coming even sooner at Universal Orlando Resort. While no official announcement has been made, it’s being reported by ITM that team members inside Universal’s Islands of Adventure are telling guests (in character) that long in refurbishment attraction Poseidon’s Fury is expecting to resume operation as early as February. Until we see official confirmation this should be treated as rumor, but for fans who have gone two years without this attraction, it’s a good sign.
Universal Orlando Resort has invested a lot to compete in the global theme park game and it’s really begun to pay off. Once Epic Universe opens, with three gates Universal Orlando Resort will be a truly epic destination, but with the return of Poseidon’s Fury even the existing resort becomes that much better a place to go on vacation.