According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe will “be fully opened as early as Memorial Day weekend of next year—earlier than expected—with tickets on sale as soon as this month, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The new 750-acre theme park, announced by Comcast in 2019 and delayed over a year due to the pandemic, will feature themed areas based on Super Mario Bros. and How to Train Your Dragon, alongside the existing Harry Potter world. Additionally, two new areas will debut: Celestial Universe, with an outer-space theme, and Dark Universe, inspired by classic movie monsters like Frankenstein and The Wolf Man.
While Universal has not officially announced anything, hitting that Memorial Day target would allow Universal to capitalize on the entire summer vacation season, marking significant strides in its ongoing rivalry with neighboring Walt Disney World.
In the early stages of the park’s opening, Universal plans to require that visitors purchase multiday passes in order to enter Epic Universe, travel agents briefed on the plans said. Those passes would also include admission to Universal’s other Orlando parks, including Universal Studios Florida, these agents said. Ticket holders would be able to spend only one of the days at Epic Universe, in part because demand is anticipated to be high and the company wants to avoid overcrowding, they said. –The Wall Street Journal
This strategy could encourage visitors to spend multiple days at Universal’s properties, making it harder for some to justify purchasing passes to Walt Disney World’s theme parks during the same Florida trip—a common practice for many families.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Can’t wait!