An EPIC Announcement

The game of chess changes for the Walt Disney World Resort on May 22, 2024. Today, Universal Orlando announced the grand opening sate of May 22 for the incredible looking Epic Universe! In this corner, we have the suits at Disney who are slow to build but have a rabid fan base. In the other corner, we have relative upstart Universal who has access to one of the most beloved franchises ever: Harry Potter. With two parks gaining a massive following and the Boy Who Lived soon to be present in three separate parks, Disney continues to lose days guests to their competition. Will Encanto and Indiana Jones sway the flow? Will a Cars themed Frontierland tip the scales? We will see. Let the real battle begin!

(Art copyright Universal Creative.)

The Real Brilliance Behind Dark Universe

Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. It's a mouthful, but it may well be the attraction everyone is talking about when Epic Universe opens in 2025. What's behind this new land and why is Universal Orlando going to play a very significant role in something no one is talking about? Check out this video:

Back to the monsters unchained. I think this one will give Harry Potter and The Battle at the Ministry a run for its money. And sounds like Universal is betting on the whole of Darkmoor as well.

Walt Disney World Loses A Third Day to Universal- Harry Potter and The Battle at the Ministry Will Rock the World!

As expected, Epic Universe moves beyond Disney starting today. The final details have just been released. Harry Potter and The Battle at the Ministry. Take a ride on the Métro-Floo from Paris to the British Ministry of Magic for an attraction that look like the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror on steroids! It will leave fans with a resounding question of "How did they do that?!?"

In this new wizarding world, it wouldn't be Paris without a cabaret! In the brand new land, show patrons will enter a tent in the center of the streets to enjoy a full-scale incredible traveling group called Le Cirque Arcanus. Encountering fantastic beasts of many kinds and performers of equal variety, be prepared for something spectacular. When the brilliant minds of Universal Creative puts a theater show in the middle of the land, you can be they are very proud of it! 

What's the Wizarding World without some Butterbeer? Is it here in Paris as well? Mais bien sûr! (But of course!) Shops, restaurants, and brand new places to explore will bring guests for a third full day to the Universal Orlando Resort. And this is Disney's new problem.

How does Disney stem the tide of an additional third day loss day of revenue? Families by the thousands will now call Universal their home resort for the next family vacation. 

The full video.

They may act unafraid, but you can guarantee the suits at the Walt Disney Company have  to change their clothes today. In this world, no one successfully competes with the wizard named Harry Potter!

(Concept art copyright Universal Creative.)

Dark Universe is the One to Beat at Epic Universe- and Why Disney Can't Do It!

Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy and more. Things are going to get twisted and very scary and very interesting! By this time next year, theme park fiends will be screaming with delight talking about Epic Universe and especially the brand new land, Dark Universe. That is saying certainly something coming up against the themes of the other lands in the park. Think of the juggernaut that is Harry Potter. Then consider the rabid fan base 40 years strong of Mario Bros and Super Nintendo World. Even How to Train Your Dragon has families excited to visit the Isle of Berk. But Monsters will rule them all. Why? These characters' stories have been told for seemingly hundreds of years, tales as old as time, and they are the backbone of Halloween costumes for decades as well.

Main nemesis the Walt Disney Company can't fight this battle since Disneyland or Walt Disney World has nothing even close to compare. My hunch is the suits know it too. They'll blew their chance to include uber villain Dr. Facillier on the Tiana's Bayou Adventure remodel, and Rise of the Resistance aside, they just don't have the guts to do real bad guys anymore let alone real monsters. Cartoon monsters that gather screams or laughs, sure. Those that truly terrify? No. Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom is proof. On the other coast, Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim has more edge but misses the horror mark too.

Let's be honest, no one does horror like Universal. Whether it is the brutal slasher type scarefest of Halloween Horror Nights or the more playful Monster Make Up show, guests love to be scared. Now, the classic Universal movie monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy, are on the scene, they've got to go to Universal to get it.

 

The main attraction in the area named Darkmoor will be the new rite of passage for those younger theme park guests. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment promises nonstop thrills and chills with a nightmare of a story. Cutting edge effects, unforeseen lifelike- or is it deathlike - frightening characters gone beserk in a setting that will make riding Disney Imagineering's Haunted Mansion look like time spent at Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Sign me up, he said trembling a bit.

The whole area will be fleshed out with otherworldly experiences, character meet and greets of a whole new dimension, and dining and shopping like nothing ever seen. Certainly incredible during the day but absolutely foreboding once the blackness of night settles in. Fans of classic horror now have another option to be scared, especially if slasher flicks are not their genre of choice.

I'm not even a big fan of the classic monsters franchise, and this has me very excited!

Could this year's D23 reveal Disney countering with a Villains land or even entire theme park? No. Robert Iger and company would appear to be playing catch up. And they are! For about two decades, the suits at Disney have not truly invested in building the parks. They've rested on their biggest cash cow, and now it is rightfully going to bite them in the wallet. And I hope it does- with a huge set of Dracula's fangs! 

(Art copyright Universal Creative.)

Wizarding World of Harry Potter Concept Art

There's a reason for the rabid fan base for Universal Orlando Resort's incredible Harry Potter themed worlds, and Epic Universe is about to add to it in an incredible way! First we had Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, then it was Diagon Alley's thrilling Escape from Gringotts. Then, Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure took the crown and rightfully so. Perhaps my favorite ride in the resort. What's next? The upcoming Battle for the Ministry at Epic Universe. The great thing about Universal I'm discovering is that the actual construction and attractions are far better than the concept art. I can't always so that's true of their biggest competitor. Can't wait for more Potter- or anything else Universal Creative chooses to dish up!

(Art copyright Universal Creative.)

Universal Builds Epic Universe and More While Disney Talks, and Talks, and Talks

While Disney executives Josh D'Amaro and Robert Iger talk and talk and talk some more, Universal Creative is hard at work building Epic Universe, the third major theme park for Universal Orlando Resort. Due to open in 2025, you can see in this image by Bioreconstruct, the dueling coaster tracks of the park's high profile Star Fall Racers are coming into their own. The great Theme Park Stop with host Alicia Stella provides the latest news. (See below.)

While Disney Imagineering is hamstrung due to finances- and the full on announcement of Indiana Jones Adventure and an Encanto and Coco themed attractions for Disney Animal Kingdom continues to be placed on hold- Universal forges ahead. The park's going to be game changer once again. 

Harry Potter and Nintendo may be the biggest headliners. (Who can resist a new Parisian themed area with a ride to save the Ministry of Magic?) But my bet is that Classic Monsters and How to Train Your Dragon themed lands will surprise and delight us as well. I'm counting down the days to the park's opening. The only question remains- What Disney park will I have to cut to make enough time at Universal?

(Photograph copyright Bioreconstruct.)