One year after opening its newest theme park, Universal Orlando has begun testing a long-rumored way for select guests to enjoy Celestial Park’s entertainment and dining without a ticket to Epic Universe, and the Unofficial Guides team was among the very first guests to try out this innovative “open hub“ concept!
Ever since Universal Orlando revealed the layout of its Epic Universe theme park, which features a large central-hub design with four stand-alone worlds accessed by “portals,“ fans and insiders have speculated about the possibility of “open hub“ access to Celestial Park. The area was theoretically designed so that guests could access certain venues in the center while being restricted from others.
Those rumors were recently proved true when the Premiere Orlando Ultimate Beauty Experience—the nation’s largest gathering of beauty professionals, attracting over 50,000 attendees to the Orange County Convention Center—became the first corporate group ever to test Epic Universe’s Celestial Park open hub access. On the evenings of May 30th-June 1st, badge-wearing registered Premiere Orlando convention-goers were allowed to enter portions of Epic Universe from 5 p.m. until park closing. Thanks to a media invite, we were among the handful of guests to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity.
Guests eligible for this Celestial Park open hub test entered Epic Universe through dedicated security lanes at the far right of the front gate, then passed through the turnstiles without being scanned or photographed, while regular park guests continued to enter using photo validation as usual. Once inside the park, convention guests mingled freely with park visitors in Celestial Park, enjoying the shops, restaurants, and atmosphere.
However, team members operating photo validation scanners prevented anyone without park tickets from proceeding through any of the four portals, with additional employees stationed at the worlds’ exit pathways to block entry. These new long-distance scanners no longer require guests to pause in front of them and smile; instead, guests simply walk through in a steady stream with little or no slowdown. We observed operations at each of the portals and only saw a small handful of guests stopped at the portals for a manual ticket check (likely because they had opted out of the photo validation system).
Along with the portals, Stardust Racers also had scanners to restrict ineligible guests, with similarly smooth operations. Scanners have not been installed outside Constellation Carousel, but portable scanners should be added in the future.
At no time during our two nights experiencing Epic Universe’s Celestial Park open hub testing did we witness any long queues or significant backups for accessing the portals or the rides. Likewise, there was zero impact on attraction wait times, with everything except Mine Cart Madness posting waits well under an hour. The only real aesthetic difference was the presence of temporary stanchions outside the portals, which we saw tested in a variety of configurations. Hopefully, those will ultimately prove unnecessary once operations have been fully tested (or at least better themed), but they don’t seriously impact the portals’ overall appeal.
Although we weren’t able to access the portals or attractions, there was still plenty to do during our Celestial Park open hub evenings. First and foremost, there was the food. Atlantic and Blue Dragon are two of the best sit-down restaurants inside any theme park, but they almost always have open reservations in the evenings, making this experiment an opportunity for the staff to earn additional tips.
Similarly, the spectacular Pizza Moon and Oak & Star quick-service locations are usually packed at midday but thin out around dinner, particularly following afternoon thunderstorms. In fact, all of the park’s casual restaurants (except Pizza Moon) ordinarily close one hour before park closing due to lack of demand, but Celestial Park’s eateries stayed open until closing during this open hub test.
Speaking of Oak & Star, the adjoining Plastered Owl bar hosts dueling guitar players, whose request-driven performances are perhaps the best reason to visit Epic Universe without riding rides. With 30-minute shows starting around 6 p.m. and 7:15 p.m., I only wish they’d add an additional closing set to their schedule.
Outdoor entertainment options include a live band blasting cover tunes on the outdoor stage, in addition to nightly fountain shows that start at the Cosmos pool in front of the Helios Grand Hotel and extend throughout the park’s water features. There are actually two evening fountain performances: a brief 3-minute illumination ceremony exactly at sunset and a grander 10-minute celebration of Epic’s worlds that begins at park closing. Once again, there appeared to be ample room for open hub guests in the fountain’s terraced seating area right until the show started, without displacing paying guests.
Finally, the store at the front of Epic Universe remains open until about an hour after park closing for all guests. We ended up spending money at Moonship Chocolates and the main souvenir store that we probably wouldn’t have, if not for this Celestial Park open hub opportunity.
Based upon two nights of first-hand observations and off-the-record conversations with employees, the first-ever test of using Celestial Park as an open hub for convention visitors appears to have gone smoothly, with minimal disruption to regular park guests. The new scanners are impressively efficient in operation and would be a welcome replacement for any park’s turnstiles. Shops and restaurants may have done slightly more business but were in no way overcrowded, and we encountered barely a dozen other convention guests during our visits.
Despite that apparent success, fan reactions to this open hub test have been decidedly mixed, at least based on the social media comments. Many of the negative responses seem based on misunderstandings or misinformation regarding the term “open hub,“ with some assuming that means anyone at all will be allowed through the gates for free.
While speculation has run rampant online about Celestial Park serving as a second CityWalk, we don’t see it becoming a free-for-all anytime in the near future. Instead, we predict this open hub testing to continue with additional evening corporate conventions—which might otherwise be buying out the other theme parks and shortening their hours for ordinary guests—before potentially expanding to other groups, such as on-site resort guests (starting with Helios Grand Hotel), annual passholders (starting with Premier), or perhaps guests purchasing a special hub-only ticket.
All these ideas are currently speculative and completely unconfirmed, but it’s logical to assume Universal will gradually extend this first Celestial Park open hub experiment to additional guests, with the goal of maximizing food and merchandise sales revenue without alienating full-fare park guests. Finding that balance may involve adjustments and internet backlash, but at least until traditional annual passes including Epic Universe arrive, some kind of controlled system for accessing an open hub might become fans’ best chance for enjoying Celestial Park’s vibes without going broke buying single-day tickets.
What do you think about Epic Universe experimenting with Celestial Park as an open hub? Let us know in the comments below!
