The launch of Epic Universe was big news for the US theme park world / Universal
Earlier this summer, Universal Epic Universe opened to a fanfare of lighting, fountains and fireworks set to music. The first major US theme park to open in almost a quarter of a century, the opening was big news, with the park described by Universal as “the most ambitious theme park Universal Destinations and Experiences has ever created.”
The park features five themed lands: Celestial Park; The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic; Super Nintendo World; How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk; and Dark Universe. Anchoring the park is Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel – a 500-room hotel with its own dedicated entrance into Epic Universe for hotel guests. The resort also features the new cosmos-themed Universal Stella Nova Resort and space themed Universal Terra Luna Resort.
“Epic Universe is the culmination of what we’ve been working on for nearly a decade. Our teams have poured so much passion, vision and dedication into this new park and there is truly nothing like it in our universe,” said Karen Irwin, president and chief operating officer of Universal Orlando Resort.
Epic Universe is part of a strategy that Universal hopes will transform Universal Orlando Resort into a week-long holiday destination. With the opening of Epic Universe, the resort will offer four theme parks, 11 destination hotels and a huge range of themed lands and dining options.
The hotels The resort features three hotels – the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel; Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort.
“With Universal Helios Grand Hotel, we always knew it would be linked to the park in design given its placement as the backdrop to Epic Universe,” says Meghan Hudak, assistant director of projects for resort development. “Universal Helios Grand Hotel is the palace of Helios, with motifs referencing Greek mythology and the transition from day to night just like Celestial Park. The guestroom design is a calming atmosphere, giving you a respite before another epic day in the park.
“For Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort, we got to extend the Universal Epic Universe theme a little further, leaving the constellations and mythology at Universal Helios Grand Hotel and focusing on the cosmos and terrain.
“For the three Epic Universe hotels, we pushed the boundaries of what we have done before in other Universal hotels. We incorporated new technologies with the projection mapping at Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel and a floating planet Pepper’s Ghost illusion at Terra Luna Resort, adding show elements never done in our hotels before. We used materials in new and creative ways, like the stainless steel shingles on the exteriors of Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort used to create galaxy image façades.”
Celestial Park Celestial Park sits at the centre of the park, and features landscaped gardens, water features, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel and a range of retail and dining experiences. It also features three rides: the Constellation Carousel, the Stardust Racers dual-launch rollercoaster and the Astronomica water play attraction. From Celestial Park, visitors can enter the four other themed lands through ‘magic portals’.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic This land combines the Fantastic Beasts and original Harry Potter IPs, and is themed around 1920s Paris, as featured in the Fantastic Beasts movies, and the 1990s British Ministry of Magic.
Guests pass through a Muggle park in Paris to the hidden wizarding shopping district Place Cachée. This impressive area features Parisien style architecture with Grand Haussmannian buildings, historic Parisian domes and detailed artwork, and features themed shops and cafes. From here, guests are transported to the start of the Potter-land’s major ride Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry via Metro-Floo, which takes them from the Paris Wizarding World to the British Ministry of Magic Atrium. This cavernous space features green-tiled walls and ceiling and projections featuring news about Dolores Umbrage’s trial. The ride blends storytelling, immersive environments and unique ride technology to tell the story of Umbrage’s trial, and features a lift ride system that travels up and down, forwards and backwards at speed and uses special effects, projection mapping, animatronics and high resolution screens.
“Across the wizarding world books and films, there are so many incredible environments and locations that we’ve drawn from for the existing wizarding world experiences across our parks worldwide, but more than ever, we’re leaning into populating the environments with living magical creatures and characters,” says Scott Verble, assistant director and executive producer of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ - Ministry of Magic.
“Place Cachée and the British Ministry of Magic are such wondrous environments to visit, but filling these environments with life takes the guest experience to a new level of immersion. From Aurors and international wizarding students to Mooncalves, Bowtruckles, and even a house-elf, the world is full and populated with witches, wizards, and magical creatures to directly interact with. Guests getting the opportunity to have individual interactions with magical creatures and characters that they know and love will bring them yet another step deeper into the wizarding world.”
Super Nintendo World Guests enter Super Nintendo World via the iconic green pipe, where they are immersed in a vibrant themed space. Rides include Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, a kart racing attraction which uses augmented reality to immerse guests in the world of Mario Kart, and family friendly ride Yoshi’s Adventure.
Super Nintendo World also includes Donkey Kong Country, a themed area inspired by the Donkey Kong video games featuring the Mine-Cart Madness family coaster, which uses an “unprecedented ride system and innovative technology.”
How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk This 15.5 acre land features with a central lake with two 40 foot statues, a training camp and a theatre. The attractions include the family thrill coaster Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, the Fyre Drill boat ride, the Dragon Racer’s Rally ride, and the Viking Training Camp play area.
The theatre plays host to a 20-minute-long live show called The Untrainable Dragon, featuring Hiccup, Toothless and other Vikings from the How to Train Your Dragon IP. The show incorporates music, full scale puppetry, animatronics and special effects including theatrical fire and Toothless flying over the audience.
Dark Universe This land is aimed at horror fans, and focuses on Universal Classic Monsters, including Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man.
The area is themed around a gothic village setting, with a graveyard, catacombs and a well that turns red at night. It features the dark ride Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, as well as the Curse of the Werewolf spinning family coaster. Visitors can also meet their favourite monsters, including The Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s Monster and his bride.
“One of the most exciting parts of developing Dark Universe was the amount of reference material from over a century of Monsters storytelling,” says Frances Franceschi, production designer, Dark Universe.
“A key design language we continually referred to was the lab equipment and set design from the early 1930s Frankenstein films. The designs served as the foundation for much of our set design across the land, but particularly within Monsters Unchained. We used this classic aesthetic as a starting point, then modernized the equipment to reflect the evolved experiments of Dr Victoria Frankenstein. With my background in architecture, I also focused on ensuring that the built environments within the attraction felt grounded in reality. Even as we explored fictional catacombs beneath the Frankenstein Manor, we worked to ensure the rockwork, arches, and structures felt authentic and scale-appropriate — so the world we invented still felt real, tangible, and dense.
“Our design team had a common goal: to honour the legacy of the Universal Monsters while pushing their stories into new territory with a fully immersive, visceral guest experience. Developing an original character, Dr Victoria Frankenstein, played a major role in shaping Dark Universe. Every set design decision for Monsters Unchained was made through her eyes — guided by her ego, her pride, and her ambition to evolve her great-great-grandfather’s life’s work. Thinking about the world through her perspective helped keep the entire show design deeply cohesive and emotionally connected.”
All the rides at Epic Universe:
Celestial Park
Constellation Carousel: Classic family carousel ride featuring a unique figure-eight path by Universal Creative
Stardust Racers: Duel-track coaster by Mack Rides
Dark Universe
Curse of the Werewolf: Family spinning rollercoaster by Mack Rides
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment: Dark ride featuring technology from varied manufacturers including a ride system using KUKA arm technology and animatronic figures by Roush Industries
Isle of Berk
Dragon Racer’s Rally: Dueling Sky Fly ride by Intamin AC
Fyre Drill: Interactive boat ride by Mack Rides
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders: Family multi-launch rollercoaster by Intamin AC</p>
Ministry of Magic
Battle of the Ministry of Magic: Technically advanced dark ride manufactured by Simtec Systems
Super Nintendo World
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge: Dark ride by Dynamic Attractions
Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness: Family coaster
Yoshi’s Adventure: Slow moving omnimover attraction by Sansei Technologies
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2025 issue 2
Editor's letter: Betting on horror
Year-round horror experiences are a fast-growing trend, but will the companies betting big see their investments pay off?
People: Thelma Golden
As the Studio Museum in Harlem prepares to reopen, its CEO explains why the institution is more important than ever
People: Linda Conlon
A driving force behind the creation of the International Centre for Life, CEO Linda Conlon has seen massive change over the past 25 years. So what’s next for the science centre?
People: Fiona Eastwood
With a passion for the industry, the new CEO of Merlin Entertainments says she is ready to lead the company to a new era of expansion and growth
Design & fabrication: Making a scene
As Adirondack Studios celebrates its 50th birthday, we speak to co-founders Michael Blau and Tom Lloyd, and production art director Lara Brunelle
Theme parks: Out of this world
The first major US theme park to open in almost 25 years, Universal Epic Universe is big news for the industry. We hear from the creative team that made it happen
Immersive experiences: One love
The creators of new Vegas immersive experience Hope Road have partnered with Bob Marley’s children to tell the story of his life and music
Zoos: Into the wild
Billed as Asia’s first adventure-based zoo park, Rainforest Wild Asia lets visitors experience animals in a whole new way. We find out more
Theme parks: Sleeping beauty
Fairytale magic meets traditional grand hotel at Efteling’s newest accommodation offering. Its designer shares the vision
Immersive attractions: Lost in music
As immersive music and hospitality company the Lost Estate announces its latest production, co-founder Eddy Hackett shares its global expansion plans
Immersive: Virginie Valastro
A dramatic ancient canyon made for an amazing starting place for the creation of a spectacular new scare attraction, says its creator
Museums: Roman Vinoly
The recently-opened National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, was one of architect’s Rafael Vinoly’s final projects. His son tells us what the project meant to his father, and how he intends to continue his legacy
The launch of Epic Universe was big news for the US theme park world / Universal
Earlier this summer, Universal Epic Universe opened to a fanfare of lighting, fountains and fireworks set to music. The first major US theme park to open in almost a quarter of a century, the opening was big news, with the park described by Universal as “the most ambitious theme park Universal Destinations and Experiences has ever created.”
The park features five themed lands: Celestial Park; The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic; Super Nintendo World; How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk; and Dark Universe. Anchoring the park is Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel – a 500-room hotel with its own dedicated entrance into Epic Universe for hotel guests. The resort also features the new cosmos-themed Universal Stella Nova Resort and space themed Universal Terra Luna Resort.
“Epic Universe is the culmination of what we’ve been working on for nearly a decade. Our teams have poured so much passion, vision and dedication into this new park and there is truly nothing like it in our universe,” said Karen Irwin, president and chief operating officer of Universal Orlando Resort.
Epic Universe is part of a strategy that Universal hopes will transform Universal Orlando Resort into a week-long holiday destination. With the opening of Epic Universe, the resort will offer four theme parks, 11 destination hotels and a huge range of themed lands and dining options.
The hotels The resort features three hotels – the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel; Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort.
“With Universal Helios Grand Hotel, we always knew it would be linked to the park in design given its placement as the backdrop to Epic Universe,” says Meghan Hudak, assistant director of projects for resort development. “Universal Helios Grand Hotel is the palace of Helios, with motifs referencing Greek mythology and the transition from day to night just like Celestial Park. The guestroom design is a calming atmosphere, giving you a respite before another epic day in the park.
“For Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort, we got to extend the Universal Epic Universe theme a little further, leaving the constellations and mythology at Universal Helios Grand Hotel and focusing on the cosmos and terrain.
“For the three Epic Universe hotels, we pushed the boundaries of what we have done before in other Universal hotels. We incorporated new technologies with the projection mapping at Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel and a floating planet Pepper’s Ghost illusion at Terra Luna Resort, adding show elements never done in our hotels before. We used materials in new and creative ways, like the stainless steel shingles on the exteriors of Stella Nova Resort and Terra Luna Resort used to create galaxy image façades.”
Celestial Park Celestial Park sits at the centre of the park, and features landscaped gardens, water features, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel and a range of retail and dining experiences. It also features three rides: the Constellation Carousel, the Stardust Racers dual-launch rollercoaster and the Astronomica water play attraction. From Celestial Park, visitors can enter the four other themed lands through ‘magic portals’.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic This land combines the Fantastic Beasts and original Harry Potter IPs, and is themed around 1920s Paris, as featured in the Fantastic Beasts movies, and the 1990s British Ministry of Magic.
Guests pass through a Muggle park in Paris to the hidden wizarding shopping district Place Cachée. This impressive area features Parisien style architecture with Grand Haussmannian buildings, historic Parisian domes and detailed artwork, and features themed shops and cafes. From here, guests are transported to the start of the Potter-land’s major ride Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry via Metro-Floo, which takes them from the Paris Wizarding World to the British Ministry of Magic Atrium. This cavernous space features green-tiled walls and ceiling and projections featuring news about Dolores Umbrage’s trial. The ride blends storytelling, immersive environments and unique ride technology to tell the story of Umbrage’s trial, and features a lift ride system that travels up and down, forwards and backwards at speed and uses special effects, projection mapping, animatronics and high resolution screens.
“Across the wizarding world books and films, there are so many incredible environments and locations that we’ve drawn from for the existing wizarding world experiences across our parks worldwide, but more than ever, we’re leaning into populating the environments with living magical creatures and characters,” says Scott Verble, assistant director and executive producer of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ - Ministry of Magic.
“Place Cachée and the British Ministry of Magic are such wondrous environments to visit, but filling these environments with life takes the guest experience to a new level of immersion. From Aurors and international wizarding students to Mooncalves, Bowtruckles, and even a house-elf, the world is full and populated with witches, wizards, and magical creatures to directly interact with. Guests getting the opportunity to have individual interactions with magical creatures and characters that they know and love will bring them yet another step deeper into the wizarding world.”
Super Nintendo World Guests enter Super Nintendo World via the iconic green pipe, where they are immersed in a vibrant themed space. Rides include Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, a kart racing attraction which uses augmented reality to immerse guests in the world of Mario Kart, and family friendly ride Yoshi’s Adventure.
Super Nintendo World also includes Donkey Kong Country, a themed area inspired by the Donkey Kong video games featuring the Mine-Cart Madness family coaster, which uses an “unprecedented ride system and innovative technology.”
How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk This 15.5 acre land features with a central lake with two 40 foot statues, a training camp and a theatre. The attractions include the family thrill coaster Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, the Fyre Drill boat ride, the Dragon Racer’s Rally ride, and the Viking Training Camp play area.
The theatre plays host to a 20-minute-long live show called The Untrainable Dragon, featuring Hiccup, Toothless and other Vikings from the How to Train Your Dragon IP. The show incorporates music, full scale puppetry, animatronics and special effects including theatrical fire and Toothless flying over the audience.
Dark Universe This land is aimed at horror fans, and focuses on Universal Classic Monsters, including Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolf Man.
The area is themed around a gothic village setting, with a graveyard, catacombs and a well that turns red at night. It features the dark ride Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, as well as the Curse of the Werewolf spinning family coaster. Visitors can also meet their favourite monsters, including The Invisible Man and Frankenstein’s Monster and his bride.
“One of the most exciting parts of developing Dark Universe was the amount of reference material from over a century of Monsters storytelling,” says Frances Franceschi, production designer, Dark Universe.
“A key design language we continually referred to was the lab equipment and set design from the early 1930s Frankenstein films. The designs served as the foundation for much of our set design across the land, but particularly within Monsters Unchained. We used this classic aesthetic as a starting point, then modernized the equipment to reflect the evolved experiments of Dr Victoria Frankenstein. With my background in architecture, I also focused on ensuring that the built environments within the attraction felt grounded in reality. Even as we explored fictional catacombs beneath the Frankenstein Manor, we worked to ensure the rockwork, arches, and structures felt authentic and scale-appropriate — so the world we invented still felt real, tangible, and dense.
“Our design team had a common goal: to honour the legacy of the Universal Monsters while pushing their stories into new territory with a fully immersive, visceral guest experience. Developing an original character, Dr Victoria Frankenstein, played a major role in shaping Dark Universe. Every set design decision for Monsters Unchained was made through her eyes — guided by her ego, her pride, and her ambition to evolve her great-great-grandfather’s life’s work. Thinking about the world through her perspective helped keep the entire show design deeply cohesive and emotionally connected.”
All the rides at Epic Universe:
Celestial Park
Constellation Carousel: Classic family carousel ride featuring a unique figure-eight path by Universal Creative
Stardust Racers: Duel-track coaster by Mack Rides
Dark Universe
Curse of the Werewolf: Family spinning rollercoaster by Mack Rides
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment: Dark ride featuring technology from varied manufacturers including a ride system using KUKA arm technology and animatronic figures by Roush Industries
Isle of Berk
Dragon Racer’s Rally: Dueling Sky Fly ride by Intamin AC
Fyre Drill: Interactive boat ride by Mack Rides
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders: Family multi-launch rollercoaster by Intamin AC</p>
Ministry of Magic
Battle of the Ministry of Magic: Technically advanced dark ride manufactured by Simtec Systems
Super Nintendo World
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge: Dark ride by Dynamic Attractions
Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness: Family coaster
Yoshi’s Adventure: Slow moving omnimover attraction by Sansei Technologies
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2025 issue 2
Editor's letter: Betting on horror
Year-round horror experiences are a fast-growing trend, but will the companies betting big see their investments pay off?
People: Thelma Golden
As the Studio Museum in Harlem prepares to reopen, its CEO explains why the institution is more important than ever
People: Linda Conlon
A driving force behind the creation of the International Centre for Life, CEO Linda Conlon has seen massive change over the past 25 years. So what’s next for the science centre?
People: Fiona Eastwood
With a passion for the industry, the new CEO of Merlin Entertainments says she is ready to lead the company to a new era of expansion and growth
Design & fabrication: Making a scene
As Adirondack Studios celebrates its 50th birthday, we speak to co-founders Michael Blau and Tom Lloyd, and production art director Lara Brunelle
Theme parks: Out of this world
The first major US theme park to open in almost 25 years, Universal Epic Universe is big news for the industry. We hear from the creative team that made it happen
Immersive experiences: One love
The creators of new Vegas immersive experience Hope Road have partnered with Bob Marley’s children to tell the story of his life and music
Zoos: Into the wild
Billed as Asia’s first adventure-based zoo park, Rainforest Wild Asia lets visitors experience animals in a whole new way. We find out more
Theme parks: Sleeping beauty
Fairytale magic meets traditional grand hotel at Efteling’s newest accommodation offering. Its designer shares the vision
Immersive attractions: Lost in music
As immersive music and hospitality company the Lost Estate announces its latest production, co-founder Eddy Hackett shares its global expansion plans
Immersive: Virginie Valastro
A dramatic ancient canyon made for an amazing starting place for the creation of a spectacular new scare attraction, says its creator
Museums: Roman Vinoly
The recently-opened National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, was one of architect’s Rafael Vinoly’s final projects. His son tells us what the project meant to his father, and how he intends to continue his legacy
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
+ More news
COMPANY PROFILES
Polin Waterparks Polin was founded in Istanbul in 1976. Polin
has since grown into a leading company in
the waterpa [more...]
