Believe the hype! Universal’s Epic Universe opens with much-deserved fanfare, setting a new standard for immersive theme parks.
It’s alive!…and it’s incredible! Universal Orlando Resort’s new Epic Universe theme park arrives on May 22, 2025, set to debut as the first major theme park to open in the U.S. in more than 25 years. Determined to catch up with Walt Disney World’s four-gate dominance in Orlando, Epic Universe elevates Universal Orlando Resort into a three-gate powerhouse (not counting the resort’s Universal Volcano Bay waterpark), with competition to capture the coveted week-long Orlando family getaway driving incredible innovation.
The new park encompasses five distinct and unique worlds, four of them inspired by Universal IP. You’ll be addressed throughout your time at Universal’s Epic Universe as a traveler, as you’ll be traveling through portals to access each world. The worlds are Celestial Park (refreshingly not based of any IP, this is the first portal that you enter and the hub that connects the four other portals), Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon–Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter–Ministry of Magic.
Years of anticipation have built considerable hype around this new Orlando destination park, initially announced in 2019 and delayed for two years due to COVID. The buzz among theme park enthusiasts has grown to deafening levels of excitement, often fueled by the surreptitious reporting of a local helicopter pilot who would post aerial footage of the construction process. After obsessing over every new brick in the park, we were finally able to experience the park for the first time, enjoying one incredible day of world-class thrills.
This park is a marvel to behold and also a lot to take in, especially in one day. Knowing that your initial time here will be limited, read on for the ten best things to do, ranked, along with the five things you can skip. Prepare for the most epic time in what is sure to become the most thrilling new theme park of a generation.
