Universal Epic Universe is getting back on track after pausing construction briefly for hurricane Milton, as it passed through Central Florida last week. Despite enduring heavy winds and excessive rain from this devastating storm, the work site appears to have avoided any catastrophic damage.

Let’s check in on some of the effects of the storm, as well as some new elements that have recently been added to Dark Universe and more, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Hurricane Milton may now in the rear view mirror, but many in Florida are still reeling from its effects. The Universal Orlando Resort area received over 10 inches of rain, and experienced wind gusts of over 80 mph.

In the days following we could see minor damage to street signs, downed trees, and general debris throughout the area, but the theme parks did reopen on Friday after being battered by the storm Wednesday night through Thursday morning.

At the Epic Universe site, a couple miles south of the current resort, some minor flooding could be found in a construction staging lot across the street from the theme park area itself.

Since this lot, (seen below,) is not yet developed, it may lack the drainage capabilities seen at the theme park areas, which were not as negatively affected by the rains.

Here is where many of the themed items and supplies are being stored for work on the new theme park, which is still set to open some time in 2025. And only a small section of this staging lot was filled with water when these photos were taken on Friday last week.

In some of the other areas of the staging lot we can see that the fabric had been previously removed from the tents in preparation for the storm, like this one seen below where foam blocks are sculpted for the park.

Here we can also see some ice trees for Super Nintendo World.

And here are some colorful panels for that world as well.

Also staged in this lot across from the theme park itself, are these Universal Classic Monsters statues of Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein’s Monster, and The Wolfman. These statues were once on display in front of the former Monster’s Cafe, before it closed to become part of the new Minion Land.

We’re not sure yet if these statues will be utilized at Dark Universe or not, or are just being staged here for safe keeping. I have had a theory that the figures may find a new life on display within the Team Member support building located behind Dark Universe, which will contain a Team Member grill which serves fresh pizza.

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Celestial Park

Looking towards the actual theme park areas for Epic Universe, and starting within the central areas of the park, called Celestial Park, the water levels in the central lagoons have risen from rain water.

What was once clear and sparkling water within this central lagoon just a week earlier is now muddy from the storm, but this lagoon does probably have its pumps operational so should hopefully be able to clean this out on its own.

The results were worse two years ago when Hurricane Ian passed through, while the park’s progress was much less further along. The park’s drainage systems have improved since that storm two years ago.

For Milton, most leftover waters have been relegated to within the water features of the park and retention ponds that surround it, which appear to be doing their job as designed.

Two days later, as seen in the next photo below, we can see that many of these lagoons have already been drained for cleaning.

Looking to see what progress we can see around the park this week, it appears that the plywood that was covering the turntable floor of Constellation Carousel has been removed, revealing the celestial designs along the round floor. Ride seating does not appear to have been installed yet at this time.

Here is how this turntable floor appears in official renderings for this attraction.

Trees have been planted atop this unique foam berm around the side of the park’s central lagoon.

At the base of this berm structure, a zigzag pattern of wiring has been installed, connected to light points throughout.

This wall of sparkle lights will be covered in green material, similar to the section on the other side of the lagoon, which is further along.

A sample of the finished look for this foam berm can be seen at the staging lot across the street.

Here is how the complete foam berm appears in official renderings for this area.

Like the central lagoon, the basin for the park’s large fountain display was also filled with muddy water from the rains…

…as well as the Neptune Pool located in front of the Atlantic Restaurant, and the Luna Overlook waterfalls near the front of the park.

The Neptune pool in front of Atlantic can be seen drained in this newer photo taken just two days later.

A glass dome is almost fully installed over one of the two covered walkways in front of entrance shops at the front of the park.

Prep for the pouring of a large circular courtyard just inside park after passing through main portal is happening now.

This future entry area courtyard can be seen here in front of the Luna statue, along with her bunny.

The round courtyard on the front side of the Chronos arch and park entry portal is much further along.

The American flag was removed from the top of the Chronos arch in preparation for the storm. This flag was installed a few months ago to celebrate the topping off of this entry structure

Platforms were removed from much of the scaffolding around all of the Epic Universe site in preparation for the storm. This gives us a better view of work happening behind the scaffolding in multiple areas.

One thing that is easier to see now is the shooting star icon for Stardust Racers, the park’s dual track racing coaster.

New footage of Stardust Racers, seen below, shows two trains dueling at night with what appears to be on-board lighting tests. These trains are illuminated using multiple colors, like red and blue, for this test.

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The statue in front of the Helios Grand Hotel is something else that is easier to see now that parts of the scaffolding around it were removed for the storm.

Some plank-style sections of the walkway are visible here, leading from hotel to the courtyard in front of the Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant, at the back of the park.

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Super Nintendo World

Quickly checking in on each of the other worlds of Epic Universe, here’s a look at the star-shaped courtyard in front of Super Nintend World, still in progress.

As pointed out in our previous update, here is a closer view of the Mario fountain, which can be seen near the exit for Super Nintendo World. It looks as though these coins may rotate as part of the fountain display.

This fountain is located near the land’s exit, directly between the portal into Super Nintendo World and the Super Star Store, a Nintendo-themed gift shop facing the central hub of the park. To the right of this store we can find the Pizza Moon restaurant, as seen below.

Inside of the land, the Yoshi’s Adventure ride vehicles were covered ahead of the storm.

A Spiny figure can be seen here, in the middle of the Yoshi ride.

Despite being filled with dozens of colorful animated figures, there isn’t any apparent damage easily visible for these animatronics upon first inspection.

Many construction materials look as though they may have been covered prior to the storm, and much of the area does seem to be waterlogged from excessive rain, but no flooding is visible within the worlds of the park.

Across from Peach’s Castle, Bowser’s Fortress continues to see his face installed, with a section that could be framing for his snout staged on the ground in front.

Behind this area, the entry arch at the entrance to the Donkey Kong Country area of Super Nintendo World can now be seen taking shape.

Here is a closer look at this arched entry into the area.

Here is how this entry arch appears in official concept renderings for the area.

With the platforms temporarily removed from scaffolding for the storm, we’re getting a better look at the face for the waterfall at the top of the golden temple at the Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness roller coaster, which appears to be in the process of being painted.

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Dark Universe

Moving into Dark Universe, platforms were removed from scaffolding in front of large manor, making it a little easier to see some of the details on the structure’s central tower.

This building is the entrance area into Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, which will be an indoor ride taking place in the massive ride building located behind the manor facade.

Some of the scaffolding platforms were already being added back as these photos were being taken a few days ago.

Looking closely at the top, the four smaller peaks can be seen around the top of the tower.

These four peaks are where we expected electricity-themed lighting effects.

Here is a top-view of these peaks around the top of the tower.

Streetlamps can be seen installed in the ride’s extended queue area, located behind the manor on the left.

More landscaping was recently added surrounding the ride’s exit pathway on the right side of the manor facade.

Checking in on the other ride for Dark Universe, a spinning roller coaster named Curse of the Werewolf, new tent covering has been added over the ride’s final brake run.

This purple material is likely only the first, inner layer, for a multi-layer canopy.

Some rain and tree debris can be seen the tent covering from the storm. In the background we can see a downed tree within the queue for the coaster.

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

We’re only quickly peaking into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic to check on a couple things.

Here is a large doorway that can be found on the right side of the land.

The next photo shows that during construction a year ago this month, the doorway looked like this from the back side, with a clear opening passing all the way through.

Now though, in 2024, the next photo shows how this former doorway appears to have been fully covered up on the back.

If and when a new experience is added to this Wizarding World land in the future within the large expansion plot on this side of the land, it has been expected that this would have been the main entrance for it someday.

On the other side of the land, below is a look at the Butterbeer cart, which was only recently added.

The plywood that was covering this street was removed, revealing the textured concrete design for this area. Only the section located underneath the Butterbeer cart appears have had its color added, with the rest of the street still unpainted.

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How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

In the final world for the park, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, its lagoons also appeared muddy after the rain, but there was not flooding here as well.

The next photo shows how the main lagoon in this world appeared shortly after the storm.

In the next couple photos, which were taken just two days later, it seems as though the lagoon water for this area was being cleaned up, and is no longer looking brown.

In fact, pumps can be seen spraying filtered water back into the lagoon in multiple areas along the perimeter of this water feature.

New dragon-themed carved colorful poles can be found in the center of the play area, named Viking Training Camp.

Two of the coaster trains can be seen behind the play area in this photo, parked on the second launch for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders.

Two more coaster trains can be seen parked on their way back into the station, and a fifth train can be spotted sitting underneath the roof of the ride’s first launch.

Additional colorful awnings have been installed over the extended queue for the land’s boat ride, named Fyre Drill.

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While it can be hard to understand the full extent of possible damage as seen from aerial photos taken from a helicopter, but it doesn’t appear that Epic Universe was too negatively affected.

The Volcano Bay water park at the original resort area seemed to sustain some cosmetic damage, like this missing canopy near its entrance seen below.

All of the theme parks for Universal Orlando were able to open Friday, October 11th, just a day after the storm passed through the area. This is thanks to the amazing work of Team Members, who worked fast not just to get the parks ready, but also somehow set up everything needed for Halloween Horror Nights that night, including entire scare zones. Thank you.

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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