Epic Universe Opens Next May

Epic Universe, the new theme park coming to Universal Orlando Resort, finally has an opening date: May 22, 2025—just in time for Memorial Day weekend. 

The new park will be home to five themed worlds, four of them based on popular intellectual property. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter expands with The Ministry of Magic, which is split between the 1920s Paris of the Fantastic Beasts movies and the 1990s-era trial of Dolores Umbridge. How to Train  Your Dragon—Isle of Berk will be the first theme park land based on the popular animated series, whereas Dark Universe will bring Universal’s famed monsters to life in exciting fashion. Super Nintendo World will finally bring the Mushroom Kingdom to the East Coast, but with two more rides than the version at Universal Studios Hollywood, including a new mini-land and roller coaster themed to Donkey Kong. And finally, there’ll be one original themed land in Epic Universe, Celestial Park—the theme park’s astronomy-based central hub, which will also be home to a roller coaster and a carousel. Expect all manner of rides, attractions, and restaurants throughout Epic Universe, as well as the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a hotel inside the park with its own individual entrance into Epic Universe.

The entire theme park industry has been anxiously awaiting the opening of this place for a long time. It’s been over five years since Universal officially announced Epic Universe, and it’s safe to assume they initially expected the park to open a good bit earlier than it will be. Unfortunately the little matter of a global pandemic disrupted construction for like half a year, pushing Epic Universe back to 2025, a number that my brain literally can’t process as an actual, honest-to-God year. (We’re like a quarter decade past sci-fi years at this point, and somehow everything feels the same as it did in the ’90s, but way, way worse.)

Some of what Universal has revealed so far about the park seems potentially groundbreaking. From the new ride tech of Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, to an always-on-fire windmill-themed restaurant at Dark Universe, to the clever construction of the Donkey Kong coaster that will make it feel like the car is jumping rails, Epic Universe promises to do some things we’ve never seen in a theme park before. It’s also the first entirely new Universal or Disney theme park in Orlando in over 25 years, which is sort of mind-boggling, as all six current Disney and Universal theme parks in Orlando opened within a 28 year stretch from 1971 to 1999. A new park from one of the two theme park titans is long overdo.

Universal is heavily touting how the opening of Epic Universe will turn Universal Orlando into a full week’s vacation spot. In addition to Epic Universe, the resort is also home to Universal’s Islands of Adventure and the original Universal Studios Florida, as well as the water park Volcano Bay. Epic Universe’s two new hotels—in addition to the Helios Grand, another new hotel, Stella Nova Resort, will open a few months earlier, in January 2025—will bring the resort’s total portfolio of hotels up to 11. 

And with a full slate of three theme parks, a water park, and multiple hotels at every price point comes the most vexing part of any modern theme park visit: the logistics of planning a trip. Fortunately Universal has made it fairly easy. Various multi-day ticket packages including a day at Epic Universe will go on sale on October 22, and at first that’ll be the only way to guarantee entry for the new park. Single-day tickets will be on sale before the park opens in May, but Universal hasn’t announced that date yet.

Here’s what will be on sale next week. Starting on October 22, you’ll be able to book three, four or five day stays at Universal Orlando, with one day reserved for Epic Universe. The other days can be used for any combination of Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, and there’ll be an option to purchase entry to the Volcano Bay water park, as well. You can also save some money if you bundle your tickets with a Universal hotel, potentially saving up to $200 for a full week’s stay. Any multi-day ticket of three days or more booked alongside a hotel will also get you one day at Epic Universe.

As always with theme parks, membership has its privileges; Annual Passholders will be the first who can book single-day tickets for Epic Universe, starting on October 24. Again, that option will become available for the general public at some point before the park opens, but it’s a good bet the only way you’ll make it in during its earliest days of operation are to be a passholder or to book an extended stay. You can learn more about all these options at the Epic Universe website.

We’re only seven months out from the biggest new theme park opening in over two decades, and I won’t lie: it’s pretty damn exciting. Look for more on Epic Universe here at Paste over the next few months.