A view of the entrance to Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
NBCUniversal’s Mark Woodbury, CEO of Universal Destinations & Experiences, announced new details Thursday about the planned Universal Epic Universe theme park, set to open in Florida in 2025.
Woodbury said at the Bank of America Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference that the new park is the “most technologically advanced park” for Universal to date. This park will also introduce the use of “facial recognition and photo validation technology” that will provide guests with a “smooth experience” at this park as well as the company’s other parks in Orlando.
“It’s the most technologically advanced park we’ve ever built,” Woodbury said. “And that applies to both the attractions themselves, the next generation of robotic drone technology and the guest experience. It really takes the entire guest journey to a whole new level.”
The park itself will feature “four themed areas” based on “strong, travel-driven intellectual property.” One that has already been announced will be Nintendo Land, which will have a larger presence in Florida than in Japan and Hollywood.
The four “lands” will surround a central hub that will be a “lush landscape” with attractions and dining options that Woodbury says will be different from others and “transform the park back into theme parks.”
In designing the park, Universal drew on its existing immersive experiences such as Harry Potter World and also looked for a way to extend the overall amount of time visitors spend in Orlando’s parks. In addition to Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, the water theme park Volcano Bay and its CityWalk, Epic Universe’s goal is to allow visitors to stay for an entire week.
“This was an opportunity for us to think about how we could expand the visits to the Orlando market that would give us a week-long vacation. “Right now we have a good three days,” Woodbury said.
Universal is also adding 2,000 more hotel rooms to Epic, and the park will feature “unprecedented” hotel integration into the park experience, Woodbury said. A fleet of electric buses will transport guests to the location, located approximately 3 miles from Universal’s North Campus in Florida.
As for how Universal will handle expected demand, Woodbury said after noting high interest in existing attractions such as “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” and “Super Nintendo World,” the company has a “good handle” on it thanks to new technology ” have.
“We are benefiting from the new technology that we are deploying in terms of managing ticket sales, revenue and revenue management on each of these platforms,” he said.
The park was originally announced in 2019 and is scheduled to open in 2023. However, construction was delayed by the pandemic.
In addition to Epic Park, Universal will open a children’s theme park in Texas in 2026 and a Halloween horror experience in Las Vegas in 2025. The children’s theme park is intended to be aimed at visitors under 8 years old – while the cute main attractions are families with children aged 8 and over – and the horror experience follows existing franchises and partnerships with creators such as Jordan Peele.