How Universal’s new and spectacular universe theme park can shape Central Florida

ORLANDO – Seven years after Universal Orlando caused the most ambitious expansion ever, the new epic Universe theme park is officially open to the public.

The creepy visitor creek will test Orlando’s first new theme park on May 22nd, for the first time in decades. Epic has already doubled the size of Universal’s campus and increased the number of hotel rooms by 2,000.

These visitors can also test the infrastructure surrounding the park.

In the first year of the Epic Universe, between 6 and 8 million people are expected to walk through its gates, said Dennis Spiegel, CEO of International Theme Park Services. These visitors also flock to hotels, restaurants and roads in the Orlando area.

More than 75 million people visited Orlando last year, according to the area’s tourism booster. Local leaders seem to know that the epic can drive more tourism. The state Department of Transportation had just expanded its slice of Interstate 4 in Polk County earlier than planned, and the increasing numbers heading east benefited from Walt Disney World and Universal.

Spiegel said that expansion and competition in Florida’s theme park industry won’t stop in epic space. He predicts Disney World will be unveiling its fifth park in the next 18 months.

“Disney and Universal are in the biggest competitive mode in their history where both are active with each other,” Spiegel said. “The park will be universally promoted in terms of entertainment offerings, technical product refinement… The epic universe certainly won’t let Disney go out of business.

To avoid being left behind, Bush Gardens Tampa Bay announced a new $40 million investment in April, setting its first day on June 6th, setting up a new kids ride-and-play area, Wild Oasis.

But while other theme parks are sweating just like the mere presence of the epic universe with popular franchises like “Harry Potter” and high-tech rides, there are still questions about how the new Universal Park will work in the first few months.

There is no serious shade in the park yet. The frequency of mechanical troubles on each ride can create or break the guest’s early experience.

A few days before the official opening, media and VIP guests descended into the park for an unusual opportunity to talk to the creative team behind each portal.

A common thread for those who design the enchanting sets and attractions of the park? “Amazing” moment.

Behind each of the four portals are views of Berk’s aqua blue sea, dragon sculptures and mountains, spinning coins and rambling Gubas, Frankenstein’s Castle, and Super Mario World replicas of the city’s Paris replica of the 1920s. The creative team created a moment when guests intentionally pause and pull out their cell phone cameras.

For Susan Cummings, executive producer of Super Nintendo World, a favorite part of the set design is the guest’s journey through green warp pipes deposited at the second level of the world.

“You leave Peach’s Castle and you are on second level. You can see Mount Beanpole in the distance,” she said. “It’s a ‘amazing’ moment for me. Similarly, it is when (you) go to Donkey Kong’s country. The music changes and the scenery changes. ”

On Berk Island, designers use real wood, replicate film details, carve intricate lagoon statues and dragon symbols everywhere, convince guests in the Viking-themed fantasy world, said senior show set designer Christine McKenzie.

Shade was an obvious point of discussion when guests fought against the heat and humid battles. Cummings said designers can quickly install umbrellas or build more canopies based on guest feedback.

When I returned from the park feeling nauseous and exhausted, I wondered why Epic was waiting for customer complaints before addressing the need for shade.

“I don’t know if they’ve mastered it or not,” Spiegel said, adding that it might take some time for the newly planted trees to grow.

Another challenge for Universal is to minimize how often the 11 new vehicles are down. Those participating in the preview are yelling about delays and closures in an online forum dedicated to the epic space.

However, Spiegel said Universal learned from the opening of its second park, Adventure Island, in 1999, and has been testing several rides for a year.

“They had a huge amount of guest complaints,” he said. “When you come to the opening of a theme park, you have downtime. But in this case, I think their downtime will be much less than what the previous parks saw for previous opening tests.”