The next Universal Orlando theme park, Epic Universe, is going to have a company first: The first entire themed land dedicated to the studio’s famous movie monsters: Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, and more.
Universal has had their monsters represented in their parks before in movie makeup shows, or as members of the ensemble in a Beetlejuice stage show. (That thing is still running in Japan, by the way.) But the company has never showcased their monsters in a theme park to this degree before, maybe because theme parks are generally regarded as family-friendly spaces, and these are horror movies we’re talking about. How do you stay faithful to the movies without terrifying little kids?
While the press release heralding the first concept art of this “Dark Universe” area at Epic Universe makes it clear that this area is for “guests of all ages,” the images and the descriptions definitely skew a bit on the scary side. You can see the area’s rides and attractions in the gallery below.
Here is a video further showing off some of the details of the Dark Universe corner of Epic Universe.
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Obviously a lot of the success of this Dark Universe area will depend on the execution of this stuff; This is just concept art after all. Still, the ideas seem pretty on point to what a Universal Monsters fan would wantout of something like this. The fact that you can get made up like a monster is the sort of idea that seems hard to execute in this setting — how do you do a good monster makeup without eating up half of a person’s day at the park? — but really speaks to the core of the concept and why generations of horror fans have loved it.
Epic Universe will contain five separate “universes” themed to different properties. In addition to the Dark Universe, there will be a new Harry Potter area, a How to Train Your Dragon area, and a Super Nintendo Land like the ones Universal already has open in its Hollywood and Japan theme parks.
Universal’s Epic Universe is scheduled to open in Orlando in 2025. One can only imagine what this Universal Monsters area is going to look like during Halloween Horror Nights.
