During a press conference this morning at the Orange County Convention Center, Universal Orlando officially announced plans for a major expansion of the resort, including a new theme park complex known as “Universal’s Epic Universe.”
Ever since Universal Orlando began acquiring land formerly owned by Lockheed Martin, speculation has been running rampant among theme park observers about how the resort will develop the 750 acres purchased near the Orange County Convention Center. Today, Universal Orlando finally publicly acknowledged plans to develop a second campus—dubbed “Universal’s Epic Universe”—along Universal Boulevard, about a 12-minute drive south of its original resort.
In addition to a new theme park, Universal’s Epic Universe will include hotels, restaurants, and shopping. The new expansion will employ 14,000 workers, who will be paid a starting salary of $15 per hour. Universal also hopes that the upcoming Virgin train to South Florida will make a stop at the resort.
“Our new park represents the single-largest investment Comcast NBCUniversal has made in its theme park business and in Florida overall,” said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Comcast Corporation. “It reflects the tremendous excitement we have for the future of our theme park business and for our entire company’s future in Florida.”
“Our vision for Epic Universe is historic,” said Tom Williams, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Universal Parks & Resorts. “It will build on everything we have done and become the most immersive and innovative theme park we have ever created. It is an investment in our business, our industry, our team members, and our community.”
Additional details about the expansion’s opening date, intellectual properties, and attraction themes that will be included in Universal’s Epic Universe will be released at a later time. Super Nintendo, Fantastic Beasts, DreamWorks, and Universal’s Classic Monsters have all been rumored to be featured in the new theme park. You can sign up here for more information about Universal’s Epic Universe as it is released.
Check out the upcoming edition of The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando by Seth Kubersky for more about Epic Universe. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up for our newsletter here.
