Dark Universe at Universal Epic Universe Theme Park

am i crazy for wanting to go there early 2026 (february to be exact) and see all the other universal parks too or is it going to be too packed?
 
Remember the Dark Universe? It's back! In theme park form!


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TastyPastry said:
am i crazy for wanting to go there early 2026 (february to be exact) and see all the other universal parks too or is it going to be too packed?
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Oh, it's gonna be paaaaaacked. I'm considering fall 2025 but gonna have to spring for an on site premium resort for the 1 hour early admit and the included fast pass thing.
 
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Wild to me that they didn't immediately cancel the theme park plans when this fiasco of a film franchise bombed
 
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OmegaSupreme said:
Wild to me that they didn't immediately cancel the theme park plans when this fiasco of a film franchise bombed
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Eh, the value of Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster (and the Bride), the Mummy, and Wolfman, and to a lesser extent the Invisible Man, Jeckel/Hyde, and Creature from the Black Lagoon, if these constitute the core of the Universal Monsters, is still pretty strong. Theme park rides tying in the older films and just the pop culture zeitgeist of these beings is a good idea. The newer films, eschewing the source material (such as it is) and attempting to revamp the concepts without really understanding their appeal in the first place was a big misstep, as was hiring expensive trendy actors all at once in a forced attempt to "make the Dark Universe happen". A lot of these beings are products of their times and can't work nearly as well in a modern context in order for them to all coexist, but I don't think, in the right hands, its an inherently unsolvable problem (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, for example, did it quite well [refering to the comics]).

But as a dad who grew up on these B&W universal monster films on rainy saturdays, I'm totally down to dragging my kids to go to it. That it is paired up with much more current IPs like Mario, How to train your dragon, and yet another Harry Potter land ensures it doesn't have to be a single draw.
 
OmegaSupreme said:
Wild to me that they didn't immediately cancel the theme park plans when this fiasco of a film franchise bombed
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This is Dark Universe in name only. It has nothing to do with the failed film franchise and everything to do with the classic Universal monsters
 
I also wanted to mention I'm curious about the Harry Potter portion of the part. One of the best rides I've seen in recent memory was Gringott's Escape. That was unbelievable and way better than anything Disneyland has done and yes I'm even including Rise of the Resistance.

My understanding is that the main attraction/ride at the new Harry Potter park is going to be something new. IIRC the ride is going to take place in the Ministry of Magic.
 
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Darkmakaimura said:
I also wanted to mention I'm curious about the Harry Potter portion of the part. One of the best rides I've seen in recent memory was Gringott's Escape. That was unbelievable and way better than anything Disneyland has done and yes I'm even including Rise of the Resistance.

My understanding is that the main attraction/ride at the new Harry Potter park is going to be something new. IIRC the ride is going to take place in the Ministry of Magic.
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I can't wait till they expand Nintendo Theme Park with Zelda, Metriod etc additions
 
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
I can't wait till they expand Nintendo Theme Park with Zelda, Metriod etc additions
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It's pretty much just a Super Mario theme park. I don't even know why they call it a Nintendo theme park. They need Zelda and Metroid as well as other Nintendo franchises as rides and attractions.
 
Darkmakaimura said:
It's pretty much just a Super Mario theme park. I don't even know why they call it a Nintendo theme park. They need Zelda and Metroid as well as other Nintendo franchises as rides and attractions.
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Nintendo should do that and divide them in sections that you enter a pipe and suddenly you are in Donkey Kong world or Zelda world etc

I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter (Grew up reading the books) so that's another theme park I always wanted to go to
 
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
Nintendo should do that and divide them in sections that you enter a pipe and suddenly you are in Donkey Kong world or Zelda world etc

I'm a huge fan of Harry Potter (Grew up reading the books) so that's another theme park I always wanted to go to
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I'm not actually a fan of Harry Potter. I like the concept but not the execution. But damn, that Gringott's Escape ride is one of the best rides I've literally seen in decades. It beats out anything Disney has done recently or even within the last couple of decades. I'd say the only thing that Disneyland has that compares to it is the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. It's very similar to that but even more advanced.
 
There were previews for press people and alike about a week ago for Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.

Word is that this is the best dark ride ever made. I usually don't trust in press people but I can believe this.

I'm really curious about the new Ministry of Magic ride as that is supposed to blow away people too but it's not functional yet.
 
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Darkmakaimura said:
There were previews for press people and alike about a week ago for Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.

Word is that this is the best dark ride ever made. I usually don't trust in press people but I can believe this.

I'm really curious about the new Ministry of Magic ride as that is supposed to blow away people too but it's not functional yet.
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They are given everything free to hype it up. But I hope it is all good.
 
AJUMP23 said:
They are given everything free to hype it up. But I hope it is all good.
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From everything I've seen and heard, I really do believe this is going to be an amazing ride.

One of the things said is that it operates similar to the Harry Potter ride at Universal in Hollywood, California but the ride is smoother and much more impressive.
 
Darkmakaimura said:
From everything I've seen and heard, I really do believe this is going to be an amazing ride.

One of the things said is that it operates similar to the Harry Potter ride at Universal in Hollywood, California but the ride is smoother and much more impressive.
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I saw a woman come off the hogwarts ride in Orlando in a full panic attack. I want to know what that ride did to cause that. I couldn't fit in the chair but my daughter did.
 
I wanted to say that another reason I believe the hype is because Gringott's Escape is better than any Disneyland attraction/ride that I have seen within the last few years.

Universal has really been delivering and they've shown it.
 
I like Universal Studios, but I feel like there's currently a significant quality gap between Universal and Disneyland

I'm out of stuff to do in under a day at Universal whereas I could probably spend 2 days at Disneyland

Granted this is in California. Maybe it's way bigger in Florida.

Universal Studios does have the Studio Tour though which I really, really love
 
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Word is going around that the Ministry of Magic ride is even better than Monsters Unchained and might be the best dark ride ever made.



 
I was there in January and I took a ton of photos of the miniature map of the park so I'll get those from my wife and post them.
 
Oh shit. I think someone's going to get in trouble. Major spoilers for the Monsters Unchained ride.

 
Just bought my tickets for 1 day at epic, might try for a second day once we get there. Sooooooooooooooooo psyched. Just the Universal Monsters stuff is all I really care for.
 
jason10mm said:
Just bought my tickets for 1 day at epic, might try for a second day once we get there. Sooooooooooooooooo psyched. Just the Universal Monsters stuff is all I really care for.
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The two main rides that have me excited are of course Monsters Unchained but also Ministry of Magic.

As I mentioned above, there's word going around that Ministry of Magic is even better than Monsters Unchained.
 
Darkmakaimura said:
The two main rides that have me excited are of course Monsters Unchained but also Ministry of Magic.

As I mentioned above, there's word going around that Ministry of Magic is even better than Monsters Unchained.
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I'm a bit of a theme whore, and I really can't see how anything Harry Potter can beat what they could do with Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein and the monster, Black Lagoon, and Mummy. That is a powerhouse of ideas that, for me at least, is UNMATCHED. But I'm willing to be proven wrong, hopefully without having to wait 2 hours for the 'priviledge' :P
 
jason10mm said:
I'm a bit of a theme whore, and I really can't see how anything Harry Potter can beat what they could do with Dracula, Wolfman, Frankenstein and the monster, Black Lagoon, and Mummy. That is a powerhouse of ideas that, for me at least, is UNMATCHED. But I'm willing to be proven wrong, hopefully without having to wait 2 hours for the 'priviledge' :p
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I'm actually not a Harry Potter fan myself. I like the concept but I never liked the execution that much.

That Gringott's Escape ride, though. Wow. That really is impressive so I can definitely see another Harry Potter ride just as good if not better.
 
It makes me so happy that the Universal monsters appear in a big way like this. This looks so cool. I wouldn't have expected them to get their own section of the theme park.
 
Spoilers! Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment ride POV.

 
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I went earlier this week as part of Employee preview. I cannot over state this enough. This park will "PRINT MONEY". I'll share a more Indepth review later.

Personal Highlights(in no specific order)
1. Super Nintendo World: The interactivity and immersion are a step up from places like HP in Universal or Disney stuff. Mario Kart was a fun experience.
2. Isle of Berk: My girls have watched the movies but I never have. Must say this was also very well done. The animatronics of the dragons!!!! WOW.
3. Dark Universe: Can't wait to go here during the night. The ambience is almost perfect. They are still working on it, but some added mist in some areas add a lot. The ride is fantastic and almost unnoticeable mix of VR and practical effects.
4. Ministry of Magic.. Ride was closed, but we were allowed to walk through the queue line. That experience alone is worth it.


Don't get me started on the merchandising.. Like I said. iwataitprintsmoney.gif
 
Vestal said:
I went earlier this week as part of Employee preview. I cannot over state this enough. This park will "PRINT MONEY". I'll share a more Indepth review later.

Personal Highlights(in no specific order)
1. Super Nintendo World: The interactivity and immersion are a step up from places like HP in Universal or Disney stuff. Mario Kart was a fun experience.
2. Isle of Berk: My girls have watched the movies but I never have. Must say this was also very well done. The animatronics of the dragons!!!! WOW.
3. Dark Universe: Can't wait to go here during the night. The ambience is almost perfect. They are still working on it, but some added mist in some areas add a lot. The ride is fantastic and almost unnoticeable mix of VR and practical effects.
4. Ministry of Magic.. Ride was closed, but we were allowed to walk through the queue line. That experience alone is worth it.


Don't get me started on the merchandising.. Like I said. iwataitprintsmoney.gif
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Universal going in for the kill... imagine if they do more pop culture, Minecraft/Fortnite/Pokemon. Not everything to all people, but the younger demographic will gravitate to them more I think while Disney continues to kill its franchises. I don't think Disney will ever go away, but then again I wouldn't have predicted malls being basically defunct 20 years ago.
 
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Vestal said:
I went earlier this week as part of Employee preview. I cannot over state this enough. This park will "PRINT MONEY". I'll share a more Indepth review later.

Personal Highlights(in no specific order)
1. Super Nintendo World: The interactivity and immersion are a step up from places like HP in Universal or Disney stuff. Mario Kart was a fun experience.
2. Isle of Berk: My girls have watched the movies but I never have. Must say this was also very well done. The animatronics of the dragons!!!! WOW.
3. Dark Universe: Can't wait to go here during the night. The ambience is almost perfect. They are still working on it, but some added mist in some areas add a lot. The ride is fantastic and almost unnoticeable mix of VR and practical effects.
4. Ministry of Magic.. Ride was closed, but we were allowed to walk through the queue line. That experience alone is worth it.


Don't get me started on the merchandising.. Like I said. iwataitprintsmoney.gif
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Will you get me one of those Dk mugs.
 
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