Opening in 2025, new milestones are being hit for every area of Epic Universe, the new theme park for Universal Orlando. The tallest points on several structures have been installed since our last update, including within Super Nintendo World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and more. Plus, new lighting effects are being tested in Celestial Park.

Let’s dig into all that, as well as construction progress for all of Epic Universe, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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The image below is an official piece of concept art, with labels added for all of the main attractions for Universal Epic Universe.

Thanks to recent aerial photography from @bioreconstruct on social media, we’re able to compare the latest construction progress to permit details and official concept art for this new theme park.

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

We’re beginning our update at the back-right section of the park, at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, a land based on both the Harry Potter series of books and films as well as the Fantastic Beasts films.

New lighting has been installed atop the portal into this world.

New hanging lantern-shaped light posts have been installed along the Parisian park-style pathway, which forks to the left and right after passing through the portal.

Moving into the streets of Wizarding Paris, after passing through the entry arch, we can see that the large Phoenix statue has been installed on the opposite side of this arch.

This large golden phoenix statue faces the Wizarding streets. A carved relief with creatures can be seen on this side of the arch, behind this phoenix statue.

At the very back of the land, the furthest and tallest element of the forced perspective display that will make it look as though Paris continues on beyond the land has been installed.

These two turrets represent some of the peaks of the real-life Sacré-Cœur Basilica of Montmartre, peaking up above the skyline.

The official concept art below shows how this element will appear in the skyline, seen top-right of the next image.

The front of these towers are extremely detailed, but the detail does not continue around the back, since it will not be visible from within the land.

The building at the back of the land, in front of the forced perspective background, has received it’s main sign.

The sign reads “Patisserie Matagot,” and features three matagot creatures from the second Fantastic Beasts film that resemble black cats.

Another layer of red material has been added around the circus tent-style entry into the land’s live stage show attraction.

An opening into a smaller section of the tent can be seen on the left side of the structure.

But the main entrance to the tent can be seen on the front, in the next photo, with the tall posts flanking the sides.

Official concept art shows these poles as holding large banners above and beside the tent entrance.

Trees have been planted within the small square at the dead end on the right side of the land.

In this area, Bar Moonshine has received exterior theming, including the word “BAR” added to its front, as well as adverts for non-alcoholic Wizarding beverages above ther bar.

Since Bar Moonshine is described as an American-style bar, it could explain why these adverts for Pumpkin Juice, Giggle Water, and Butterbeer are written in English when everything else is in French.

An entry into the land’s secluded side alley can be seen to the right of the bar.

Below is a peak into this side alley.

One of the land’s two dining locations is located within this alley.

Outside of the alley, the K. Rammelle candy store is starting to receive decorations in its several window displays.

Banners have been added above the entrance to the corner gift shop across the street.

The land’s Butterbeer cart has been added.

This cart can be found on the left side street, on the way towards the land’s main attraction.

The main entrance into this indoor ride, named Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, can be found at the end of this street, on the right side. Framing for an awning over this entrance has been installed.

On the other side of this area, we can find a covered exterior queue for this ride. The awning appears to be complete.

This section of the queue is located after entering from the street, but before we will travel through a fireplace to arrive at the British Ministry of Magic.

There will be more queue through the themed office areas of the Ministry after entering.

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Dark Universe

Moving all the way to the left side of the park, to the Dark Universe, which is an original land inspired by the Universal Classic Monsters…

…we can see that landscaping is looking complete around the winding entry paths through a graveyard after passing through the portal into this world. We can see a broken coffin in this grave on the right.

New arm elements have been added to the well in the center of the village street.

Concept art shows a smoking cauldron-like structure in the center of these supports in the well.

Spooky broken shutters have been added to the bell tower near the entry to the village street.

Scaffolding is surrounding the tall tower at the center of Frankenstein manor as theming and special lighting effects are being added.

This manor building will act as the entrance to the land’s main attraction, an indoor ride named Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.

Just like the official renderings show, (like the one above,) it does look like some sort of lighting tests have been happening at the tall tower for the manor, as seen in the photo below taken by Adventuring with Annie.

The other attraction for the land, a spinning roller coaster named Curse of the Werewolf, has seen new posts installed.

These posts are varying in height, and can be seeing installed along the curve of the track in this section of the ride.

Official renderings for the land seem to show some sort of netting or mesh attached to these poles, which may include creepy projections at night… At least according to this rendering anyway.

Themed posts are being added to the coaster’s safety fence.

The menu board for the windmill-themed dining location, named The Burning Blade Tavern, can be seen installed in between its main sign and entry doors.

New directional lighting has been installed on the roof this restaurant, all pointing towards the windmill itself.

The windmill blades were spotted rotating last month, as seen in the video below, also by Adventuring with Annie.

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The windmill blades will appear to burst into flames regularly throughout the day when the park opens. Universal says it will use two types of fuel to achieve this effect, so it can be seen during the day as well as at night.

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Celestial Park

Heading now into the central areas of Epic Universe, named Celestial Park, this hub contains a couple original attractions, dining, shopping, and entertainment all located in areas between the portals into each of the four themed worlds.

At the entrance to Celestial Park is the Chronos, a large machine above the park’s main portal. This large machine was recently spotted on video rotating for the first time ever.

Adventuring with Annie was not only able to capture footage of the Chronos machine spinning, but the night before it appeared to be testing lighting effects too.

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And that wasn’t the only thing testing its nighttime lighting. A train for Stardust Racers, the park’s massive dual-track roller coaster, could be seen testing it’s on-board LED lighting package as well.

The Stardust Racers lights look great pic.twitter.com/34s10wuMEa

— Adventuring with Annie (@AnniesUniUpdate) October 4, 2024

The track for Stardust Racers will not be illuminated at night, so the trains will appear to streak across the sky like shooting stars.

Some new train cars for Stardust Racers can be seen here, backstage, about to be hoisted into the maintenance building.

Themed walls can be seen here on the exterior of some enclosed stairs as part of the coaster’s queue building.

The vines added on the coaster’s entry tunnel can now be seen flowering.

Lamp posts have been installed in this area, seen to the left of the entry tunnel.

The ride’s marquee continues to receive work in front of this area.

And a string of decorative lights are being added into this tree in front of the coaster area too.

In the center of Celestial Park, the Constellation Carousel has seen its temporary work walls removed under the large canopy.

Not much can be spotted inside of the carousel’s domes roof, except for what appears to be plywood over the ride pit’s floor. No ride vehicles are visible yet, which will be shaped like animals inspired by constellations.

The water within the park’s central lagoon now appears to be clean and clear, like a swimming pool.

The colorful pavement design for the nearby kids’ splashpad is looking nearly complete.

On the other side of Constellation Carousel, we can spot the main sign for Pizza Moon has been installed. This is a quick service dining location.

Courtyard work is happening between the Meteor restaurant location and an outdoor bar.

Like the round dining areas for the Meteor restaurant and the round roof of the nearby bar, this courtyard features concentric rings.

Landscaping is looking more and more complete in front of the Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant at the back of the park. Plus, many lamp posts have been installed in this section of the hub.

Behind this restaurant, the large hotel at the back of the park continues to see reflective panels added to its central domes roof.

This dome is located over a rooftop bar at the top of the hotel with views overlooking the theme park.

Recently the hotel has been testing its rooftop lighting package, as can be seen in the photograph below.

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Super Nintendo World

At the bottom-left side of the park, we find the portal into Super Nintendo World, the colorful world of Mario and friends featuring the Mario Kart ride, Yoshi’s Adventure, and Donkey Kong Country.

At the entrance to this world we can see the star-shaped courtyard is still missing the star element itself.

Looking very closely next door, we can see that the Mario statue has been installed atop the fountain in front of the Nintendo store near the land’s exit.

Here is how this fountain appears in official concept art.

Inside of the land, the tallest point of Peach’s Castle has been installed. The castle acts as the land’s main entrance after passing through the portal.

The 2D hills-shaped backdrop around the perimeter of the land appears to have been primed with white, ready for the murals of colorful hillside to be added.

The sleeping Pirahna Plant has been installed for Power Up Band interactive game on the land’s second level.

The Bowser’s Fortress facade for the Mario Kart ride continues to see Bowser’s face take shape, with a section making up one of his eyes now installed.

Natural tone color brickwork looks complete at the base of the stairs in front of Peach’s Castle, leading to the lower level central courtyard.

The face of the land’s main retail location has been painted red. This store is named 1-UP Factory.

Here is how the 1-UP Factory appears in official concept art.

A red Shy Guy is being shy and hiding in the background behind the Yoshi ride, on the left side of Mt. Beanpole.

The green pipes into and out of the inside scene for Yoshi’s Adventure are being painted.

A Balloon Baby Yoshi can now be seen installed at finale for this omnimover-style family ride.

Moving behind this area, into Donkey Kong Country, new scaffolding is up along the wall that separates this area from Super Mario Land, including around the future warp pipe entry into the mini-land.

The airplane-shaped retail kiosk has been cleaned up and smoothed out since being assembled in this area.

The KONG sign and wall theming has been added to Donkey Kong’s Treehouse.

This will act as a backdrop for character meet and greets in this area.

A wall of trees have been planted on the right side of this area, blocking the outside world from view.

Dixie Kong can be seen hidden among this jungle of trees.

This figure is perched at the first turn out of the station, for the Mine Cart Madness roller coaster ride.

Tropical trees have been added to other side of area, against this blue temple wall, as well.

An interactive game featuring multiple DK barrels in the courtyard area in front of the ride has seen the barrels painted.

Here is a look at the ride’s future entrance.

A golden monkey head is visible just inside of the ride building behind this area.

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How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

The final world to explore, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, is based on the DreamWorks’ film series, and sees a colorful viking village filled with dragons and multiple outdoor rides, as well as an indoor theater show.

Like the center of the park, the lagoon within this world has been filled with clean water as well. This may be the final look for the lagoon in this area.

Work is happening near the sheep in the field in front of the land, which is encircled by roller coaster track.

New concrete has been poured within the center of the village square.

According to concept art and official renderings, this is where a fountain will be located in the middle of the village street.

A walkway leading from the village square to the entrance of the Mead Hall dining location is being prepared for pouring.

Roof tiles have been installed over the round candy store section of the land’s main retail location.

The play area, named Viking Training Camp, is receiving a lot of work, including new framing over the center raised platform.

The Dragon Racers Rally attraction has seen new posts installed around the load area for one of the two spinning rides.

Progress is being made for the front entrance for the land’s indoor theater show. The background for a sky-themed mural has been painted on the theater building above the entrance.

New raised dragon houses have been added, (at number 3 in the image below,) located near the bridge which connects the theater area to the boat ride area in front.

New canopies have been installed over the queue area for this boat ride, named Fyre Drill.

On the other side of the boat ride, the sign continues to take shape for the Spitfyre Grill quick service restaurant.

And the foundation work for the dining location’s seating area is taking shape as well, in front of the boat ride in the next photo.

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Epic Universe Parking and More

Before we wrap up, looking outside of the Epic Universe theme park, we can spot the roof being installed for the parking toll plaza.

The final section of the parking lot is being prepared for pouring. This area had previously been used for construction staging until now.

Permits indicate that this part of the parking lot will be used for ride share and guest drop-off/pick up.

Trenches are being dug out for pathways leading from the parking lot to the theme park’s main entrance.

It is possible moving walkways may be utilized, as indicated in older permit information, but trams are not expected to service this flat parking lot.

Bus shelters are being installed around the bus loop in front of the park entrance area, seen on far left of the next photo.

We can see the bus-only turn lane along Epic Blvd leading into this loop, seen at top of next photo.

And one last thing, thanks to reporting from WKMG Orlando, we’re getting a sneak peak at new digital entrance signs that will be replacing the older Universal Orlando signs around the resort.

Located at four entry points into the main resort areas, like at the corner of Kirkman Road and Major Boulevard, these signs will utilize digital displays to rotate through multiple properties featured at the parks like “Trolls,” “Fung Fu Panda,” “Jurassic World,” The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and “Shrek.”

These sample illustrations from Universal Orlando and posted by WKMG show the same sign but with rotating imagery on its digital display.

The City of Orlando will have to approve the new designs next month before they can be installed around the resort.

That’s all for this update, but be sure to check out the video version of this story for additional visuals. A huge thank you to Bioreconstruct for the amazing aerial and on the ground photographs. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter), Bluesky, or Mastodon for more incredible theme park photos.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Official Art: Universal Destinations & Experiences | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Permit Documents: fasttrack.ocfl.net | Graphics and Overlays: Alicia Stella | Other Images as Captioned

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