We’re about a year away from the grand opening of Central Florida’s newest theme park, and it promises to be epic. Next summer Universal Orlando Resort will open Universal Epic Universe, its third theme park in Orlando and the most immersive yet. As crews continue to pour concrete and test rides some 2.5 miles away (as the dragon flies), Universal Orlando has opened the Epic Universe Preview Center to guests visiting CityWalk. While we remain a Disney World-focused site, it’s impossible to ignore a brand new theme park opening in Central Florida, so we will continue to cover Epic Universe through its opening. Also, I personally can’t resist photographing a good scale model.

Before we jump in, I also want to give a shout out to Alicia Stella and her work at the Theme Park Stop YouTube channel for providing a treasure trove of background information that helped me understand what I was looking at in the model. While I frequent Universal Orlando and keep up with the latest news to the best of my ability, it’s a relative blind spot compared to the catalog of Walt Disney World knowledge that I have.

Before we dive into the model, it’s worth noting that there are portals with concept art around the perimeter of the preview center that not only offer a nice photo op but also give guests a peek into each land that is otherwise difficult to visualize from the model alone.

Once you’re through security, you’ll enter the main entrance and ticketing plaza.

The main entrance plaza looks to extend much of the greenery that guests will find when they enter Celestial Park.

As we pass through the portal, here’s a reverse look at the main entrance from the Helios Grand Hotel.

With acres of rolling gardens, chasing waterways, and strolling pathways, Celestial Park puts the “park” back in “theme park.” Guests will be able to wander through lush living gardens nestled along shimmering waters surrounded by stunning architecture inspired by astronomical and mythological elements.

Here, guests can relax while taking in the sights and sounds around them, board a shooting comet for an exhilarating roller coaster adventure, dine on delectable cuisine, shop exclusive merchandise to commemorate their visit, and more.

Universal says that Celestial Park will feature plenty of exciting entertainment, including various fountain shows throughout Celestial Park’s seven acres of water where a multitude of fountains sway, dance – and even reach heights up to 135 feet in the air – to music and interactive lighting from day to night.

Here’s a side angle of the flow from the main entrance into Celestial Park.

Looking toward the Celestial Park main entrance from the Helios Grand hotel, we can see the gardens and water features that basically lead from the main entrance down to the Constellation Carousel and Atlantic restaurant.

Another view brings the Helios Grand hotel back into view.

Going back to the “front” of Celestial Park, we can find two buildings next to each other. The previously announced Nintendo Super Star Store can be found next to Pizza Moon (called Moon Pie in the model). These two locations will be next to the portal entrance to SUPER NINTENDO WORLD.

We’ll turn our attention to the Constellation Carousel now, which appears to be the largest structure in Celestial Park.

The other attraction in Celestial Park is Starfall Stardust Racers. Stardust Racers is a dual-launch racing coaster that sends guests rocketing through the skies aboard comets in a race to see who’s the fastest of them all. Reaching speeds up to 62 mph and heights up to 133 feet along 5,000 feet of track, Starfall Racers will be Epic Universe’s most thrilling coaster experience with unique maneuvers such as the “Celestial Spin,” in which the two coaster vehicles perform an inverted crisscross while speeding through the air – creating an “out-of-this-world” adrenaline rush. With no external track lighting at night, the fully illuminated ride vehicles appear as comets shooting across the night sky above Celestial Park.

While the entrance to Stardust Racers is in Celestial Park, the roller coaster will run the full length (and then some) of the How to Train Your Dragon land next door.

Here’s a closer look at the entrance, which will be through a tunnel, and the former name of the attraction as seen on the marquee.

What appears to be a burger joint sits near Astronomica, an interactive wet-play area that also doubles as a giant compass rose to the many wonders of Epic Universe. Signage for the restaurant says “Meteor” and features a burger as a shooting star with the tagline “Boy! How I Go for That Meteor Flavor!”

We’ll start with a look at the entrance to the land before going inside. As we’ll see as we continue to take a look at the individual lands, the model includes the massive show buildings that the indoor attractions will use. I love that Universal did this because it gives people a really good idea of just how big the rides will be in relation to the rest of the space.

Here are a few overviews of SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, which is essentially split into two separately themed areas. At the front of the land, you have Super Mario Land, and at the back of the land, guests will be able to explore Donkey Kong Country.

Going back to the other side of the model, and our birds-eye view from somewhere above the Stardust Racers roller coaster, we can look into Super Mario Land and see some of the notable landmarks such as the entrance to Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and Mount Beanpole.

Returning to Super Mario Land, we can see how highly themed and colorful the area is.

Heading over to Donkey Kong Country now through a tunnel and into another world.

UPDATE (June 20th): Universal Orlando Resort has officially announced details for Dark Universe, so we’ve updated this section of the article with new information!

We’ll start where every adventure in Epic Universe starts: the portal. The caption on the portal for the model reads, “The Air Itself Is Filled With Monsters”. From what we understand (and what is obvious by the tone set by the design of the land), Dark Universe will be scary, but Universal Orlando says not too scary. It might end up being a skip for families with young ones, or a rite of passage, depending on how you look at it. Before we walk through the portal and enter the village of Darkmoor, here are a few photos of the portal, which is highly detailed and just plain cool.

In the distance past the entrance portal, we can see the dark manor facade for the land’s main attraction – Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. We’ll have a more detailed look at the facade, including the entrance to the attraction, in a minute.

In this side view, we can see the land laid out from the entrance on the left side of the image below, to the manor on the right side. The land is essentially split into two areas – the Darkmoor village, and the manor grounds. It’s in the manor grounds that there will be an immersive indoor attraction and an outdoor spinning roller coaster.

Here’s a superwide overview of the back of the land, looking toward the portal gate and the Celestial Park Astronomica fountain. Again, we love that the attraction show buildings are included in this model, giving us a good idea of just how large the Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment show building will be.

As you reach the end of the Darkmoor village, you’ll pass through a gate into the manor grounds. Here, the scenery changes into a more lush setting, offering a clear distinction between the village area and the attractions area. I can imagine that it will be quite dark and spooky here once the sun sets. Dark Universe might be a wonderful land to visit during the evening hours (assuming Epic Universe is open past 8pm).

In the back half of the land (probably 2/3rds if you count all of the building square footage), we see the outdoor spinning roller coaster to our right (left when walking through the land), and the manor opposite it. We’ll start with a closer look at the manor.

The once-stately manor will be overgrown and rundown a bit on the exterior. Vines will be stretching up from the ground as if to “capture” the building. I’m sure the sense of dread will only increase once we walk inside.

The main entrance to the manor attraction reads “Monsters Unleashed” and signage over the walkway reads “Frankenstein”.

There is plenty of outdoor queue for this ride, including an overflow, unthemed switchback area similar to other massive E-ticket rides at Universal Orlando Resort. As we can see in the photo below, the entrance to the ride will likely take us into the manor, if only briefly, before sending us outdoors into the graveyard for a themed maze of queue.

Sort of like the new Haunted Mansion queue being constructed out at Disenyland, this queue will take you past various smaller set pieces such as gravestones and the like. It also looks like a twisted tree with a possible electricity line back to the manor will act as a wayfinding point as you snake through the queue.

Here are some more details of the queue, including the previously mentioned extra overflow switchback that will hopefully only be in operation during the busiest times of year.

Ok, with the main E-ticket attraction in Dark Universe out of the way, let’s explore the rest of the manor grounds, including the spinning outdoor roller coaster nearby.

Finally, lets head over to the outdoor spinning roller coaster, which replaces earlier plans for a theater show in this location. The spinning roller coaster is said to be a family-style roller coaster, and isn’t necessarily a long roller coaster, although the spinning element of the ride vehicle should add some thrill. While a spinning roller coaster instantly draws comparisons to something like Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, the spinning roller coaster in Dark Universe will be nowhere near Cosmic Rewind in terms of scale or intended ride experience.

Here’s an overview of the roller coaster, which contains two buildings. The largest building is the load area and vehicle barn, and a smaller building with the “A”-shaped roof in the foreground is described as a “scene” for the mostly outdoor roller coaster.

Wagons will be found throughout the area, perhaps as outdoor vending locations or set pieces. Colorful tents appear to be part of the entrance and/or exit to the indoor ride load area.

Ok, it’s time to walk past the Helios Grand hotel on our clockwise walk around Epic Universe and head over to the Harry Potter-themed called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. As you’d expect, the main attraction for this land will probably have something to do with the Ministry of Magic, but Universal Orlando hasn’t announced exact details yet.

You’ll notice a few dead ends throughout the land, reportedly to allow for future expansions and new rides. The centerpiece of the land will be Le Cirque Arcanus, a red tent in the streets of this Parisian city block. It is rumored that the tent will lead guests to a 5-story theater show with more than 600 seats.

The theme for the main attraction of the land is in the name of the land itself: the Ministry of Magic. A rather unassuming entrance to the ride will be found to the right of a statue to the left of the Le Cirque Arcanus tent. While the tent will be the main visual weenie of the land, it is not for the main attraction.

In this reverse view, we can see the massive show building in the lower left of the image below. Guests will reportedly visit the iconic British Ministry of Magic via the Floo Network when entering the queue. Details on the immersive ride have not yet been announced by Universal Orlando.

Here’s a closer look at Le Cirque Arcanus, from different vantage points. True to the movie, Le Cirque Arcanus will appear to be a small tent from the outside, but like any good tent from the Harry Potter series of movies, it will be much larger once you step inside.

In the photo below, we can see the various support buildings. Lighting on the model allows us to better differentiate between the theater building (white, right) and the Ministry of Magic E-ticket ride (blueish, right). Of interest now is the white building to the lower left of the image, which will reportedly be a restaurant. As we can see in this overview, guests will access the restaurant via a courtyard of sorts, separated from the main streets of the land itself.

And now we turn our attention to one of the aforementioned dead ends. The building behind the trees in the photo below is said to be the exterior of the French Ministry of Magic. Remember, the main attraction in the land uses teleportation to reach the British Ministry of Magic for what will surely be a massive wish-fulfillment moment for fans of the original Harry Potter series, but what about the French Ministry of Magic?

It is rumored that another attraction was set to use the facade of the French Ministry of Magic as an entrance, but that the attraction was cut from the final plans. As we can see, there is green grass behind the facade, representing a massive expansion plot should Universal want to build in the future.

The massive 15.5-acre Isle of Berk is loaded with details on the model, many of which I simply couldn’t capture and have this webpage still load (if it even loads in the first place). While the Harry Potter land was rather light on photos, the Isle of Berk will be dense, so let’s jump in!

While we’re viewing the model from this vantage point, we can see statues in the main lake at the front of the land, and Mead Hall near the middle-back of the land.

Ok, walking through the portal, we will immediately be greated by the lake and statues seen above. Here’s a look at the interior of the portal, complete with lake overview area.

Ok, time to take a look at the attractions for Isle of Berk, starting with the main roller coaster that snakes through the land. A wide angle view of the land shows that the Hiccup’s Wing Gliders roller coaster will spend a bit of time at the back of the land, but also work through the front of the land too, offering some kinetic energy for a land that will surely feel quite alive.

Guests will be able to practice barrel rolls, swooping, and soaring skills on Dragon Racer’s Rally.

With fire-breathing dragons everywhere, villagers have to be prepared. Viking twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut have transformed Berk’s Fyre Skööl into a watery, interactive boat battle at sea. Board your ship in Fyre Drill and blast your water cannons at flame-like targets – and the occupants of every other boat – to out-soak other Vikings. Located in the middle of the world within the lagoon, guests will be able to see the attraction from multiple different angles.

In the overview photo below, we can see the entrance to Isle of Berk in the top right, along with the lake. Fyre Drill is in the middle left of the image below, next to the towering Mead Hall mountian.

In the back right corner of the land (as you enter from the portal), guests will find The Untrainable Dragon Show. Here’s a look at the building and entrance/exit.

Before we take a look at the Helios Grand hotel, here are some more photos of the Isle of Berk. Again, it looks to be a busy and colorful land!

With a dedicated and exclusive entrance into Universal Epic Universe theme park, you’ll be transported to a fantastical world where heavens and earth unite at this full-service hotel. Opening 2025.

Ok, whew, we made it to the final piece of the Epic Universe model! Located at the “back” of the park is the towering Helios Grand hotel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this look at the Epic Universe model! The preview center contains merchanidse as well, that doesn’t fit into the scope of this article. We’ll continue to cover Epic Universe as more announcements are made, and through the grand opening next summer!