NEW aerial pictures show that Universal’s huge new theme park in Orlando, Florida, is close to completion.
The ‘Epic Universe’ park, which will open on May 22, 2025, will feature five new lands based on blockbuster movies and popular culture icons.
All guests will enter the park into the Celestial Land, which is inspired by outer space and features a comet-inspired rollercoaster and a starry carousel.
From there, there are four portals into the remaining four Epic Universe themed lands.
Among them is a brand new Wizarding World Of Harry Potter land, where guests can explore scenes of 1920s Paris from the Fantastic Beasts series.
There, interactive wands will allow guests to cast spells and interact with fantastic beasts and enchanted objects, in storefront windows on the Place Cachée.
They can also help Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley stop Dolores Umbridg in Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, based in the 1990s Ministry of Magic in Britain.
Another of the lands will be based on the Isle Of Berk from the popular family film series, How To Train Your Dragon.
Guests can ride Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, a winged flying machine coaster that sends riders speeding through the sky with dragons.
Alternatively, on the Dragon Racer’s Rally guests take part in aerobatic manoeuvres and and high-speed barrel rolls in a flying dragon-riding trainer attraction.
Then there’s the Untrainable Dragon live show, featuring characters from the movies like Hiccup, Gobber and Astrid, as well as Toothless flying directly overhead.
For those needing to let off some steam and run around, the Viking Training Camp features slides, climbing frames and swings among other attractions in an interactive adventure camp and play area.
Gamers will be able to immerse themselves in all things Nintendo at the Super Nintendo Land.
Visitors can battle Team Bowser by throwing shells and collecting digital coins on Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge, and journey through colourful landscapes on Yoshi’s Adventure.
In neighbouring Donkey Kong country, they’ll also be able to help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong protect the Golden Banana in Mine-Cart Madness
After all that action, they can refuel at the Toadstool Cafe.
Finally, there’s the Dark Universe land where monsters from myth and mystery roam, including werewolves and Frankenstein, the Phantom Of The Opera and The Mummy.
Steve Tatham, the executive creative director for Universal Epic Universe said: “We’re telling stories that resonate with our guests, immersing them right from the front gate.
“Never before have guests been able to immerse themselves in these stories as deeply as they do when crossing the thresholds of the four portals.
“They’ll come face-to-face with scary monsters, they’ll tame dragons and encounter new magical eras.”
