Today, during their third-quarter earnings call, Comcast executives confirmed our guess of a 2023 opening for their newest theme park in Orlando, Universal’s Epic Universe.
This isn’t the first time we have gotten new information about the new park from an earnings call before an official announcement. Back in July of 2018, NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke was the first to publicly acknowledge that they were even considering building a new theme park.
According to the recording of this morning’s call, an executive says:
“And we recently announced we’re doing a fourth gate in Orlando in 2023…”
Audio from theme parks segment during this morning’s earnings call, including the opening year for Epic Universe. More info: https://t.co/wuMVTyFnwX pic.twitter.com/HZAetp9PbV
— Alicia Stella (@AliciaStella) October 24, 2019
We had long rumored that 2023 was the soonest that Universal could get Epic Universe up and running. Based on timelines set with Orange County for related infrastructure projects, such as the joint venture Kirkman expansion, the new park could not be ready for guests any sooner than 2023.
Universal’s Epic Universe was only recently officially announced back in August of this year. While few details were shared, Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts did say: “Our new park represents the single-largest investment Comcast NBCUniversal has made in its theme park business and in Florida overall.”
The new theme park will be located a couple miles south of the current Universal Orlando Resort. The new section of land is a 750-acre site that nearly doubles the total size of the entire Universal Orlando. Epic Universe itself will be located south of Sand Lake Road and to the east of Universal Boulevard.
The land where the new theme park will sit has been in development for years now, while Comcast has been purchasing additional satellite parcels of land around the surrounding areas. While the land for the new park is still only dirt at this stage, most of the land grading necessary for development has been completed. This hopefully means that we could see actual construction beginning by early next year.
Expected location for each of the lands set on top of a permit image
Epic Universe is expected to contain attractions set in several themed lands, including Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Universal Classic Monsters, and a large central hub. You can learn more about the rumored rides and attraction in our two-part series here.
The new theme park is also expected to be built with new hotels as well. One hotel will be situated at the back of Epic Universe itself, while another two have recently been permitted to be located nearby. In a recent interview, Tom Williams, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts, said they’re working on adding around 2,000 new rooms to this new resort (at least to start,) which would bring their total room count for Orlando up to around 11,000.
Speculation for where each land will be placed on the concept art
Universal’s Epic Universe will be the largest expansion for Universal since opening Islands of Adventure in 1999, and the first new theme park in Orlando to be built in the age of social media. Stay tuned right here for complete coverage of the construction of this massive project, as well as new rumors and news as it happens!
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Stay tuned for more news on the new theme park and more! Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email below to never miss an update. Official Concept Art: Universal | Graphics by Alicia Stella | Aerial Photos: Anonymous
