With only 162 days until Universal Epic Universe officially opens in May of 2025, some areas are receiving final touches, while others are still rushing to catch up. Color is quickly arriving to the rest of Super Nintendo World, signs are being installed all around the park, and several sections of land are suddenly being cleared and flattened, but for what?

Let’s check in on all of that, as well as progress happening in all areas 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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Super Nintendo World

Kicking off our update with work happening around Super Nintendo World, the Mario fountain near the exit to this world is testing.

This fountain is located in front of a Nintendo-themed gift shop facing the center of the park, outside of the land, called Nintendo Super Star Store.

To the left of the fountain, we can see the portal into this world. Blue accent color is being painted onto the top part of this portal entry.

Inside of the portal guests will take an escalator or elevator, which takes us up to second level, where we enter the world out of Peach’s Castle.

Color is finally spreading all across Peach’s Castle, including pink along the tower roofs.

To the left of Peach’s Castle, we can see the first parts of the structure installed that will make up her meet and greet gazebo.

New theming elements have been added to Bowser’s Fortress, like the shield at the center.

This will be the main entrance for the Mario Kart ride, and we can now see that the wait time and ride safety warnings sign has been added at the base of the fortress.

The mushroom-shaped roof of Toadstool Cafe has been painted, and two little windows added to the front.

Attachments for the sign above the door for this quick service dining location are visible as well.

The sign for 1UP-Factory has been installed over its main entrance. This is the world’s main retail location.

A second smaller side entrance underneath the Yoshi ride is receiving a sign above as well.

The wait time and safety warnings sign for the Yoshi’s Adventure ride is being installed near its main entrance on the lower level.

This family ride above the Super Mario Land section of Super Nintendo World continues to test with weighted dummies.

Vine theming has been added, and is draping down the wall beneath the finale scene for the Yoshi ride. Below these vines are attachment points for the sign for Donkey Kong Country.

Below is an official look at how the warp pipe portal into the Donkey Kong Country area appears in Universal Studios Japan.

The Donkey Kong Country area, along with the Mine Cart Madness coaster attraction, are now officially open in Universal Studios Japan.

The park has released new official footage of several of the outdoor segments of the ride, including on-ride footage showing the riders reactions, which gives us a better idea of how the jumping the tracks portions may feel. See the clips below or check out this review for full details.

The video includes rare footage of Mine Cart Madness in action, provided by USJ. pic.twitter.com/gd3Qr42m4D

— ParkTwister🎡 (@ParkTwister) December 10, 2024

Inside of the Donkey Kong Country area at Epic Universe, all scaffolding looks to have been removed from the golden temple at the back of this mini-land.

Professor Chops can be seen installed in the middle of the ride, holding checkered flags.

The background walls along the top edge of the Mario Kart ride building, located beside this area, are being painted with jungle theming.

The mural looks complete on the back wall of the area, which separates the Super Mario Land section from Donkey Kong Country.

And on the ground, near this area’s entry, the sign has been added for Funky’s Fly ‘n’ Buy, an airplane-shaped retail location.

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Dark Universe

Moving now into Dark Universe, an original world inspired by the Universal Monsters, we can spot new themed lighting installed—and some even testing—all around the village of Darkmoor.

Hidden on the tops of the buildings though, we can now spot rows of backlighting that have been installed on grids.

These lights will shine from behind the peaks of the village roofs at night, creating a spooky moonlit mood.

A couple new signs can be seen to the left of the entrance to the Das Stakehaus dining location.

Blue electricity effects can be seen testing on the sides of this sign for the retail location, named Pretorius’ Scientific Oddities.

Wires have been added to the top of Frankenstein Manor, which will glow as part of the many electrical effects motif for this world. The tower on the right can be seen testing a lighting effect in this image.

Here is a look at the lighting effect for the wires themselves being tested, in video shot by Adventuring with Annie.

Lighting and coaster testing in Dark Universe. It’s all coming together now. pic.twitter.com/yTJzbELTvf

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

Weeds theming has been added along the lower roof line above the entrance into the manor.

This structure will act as the entrance to Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, a massive indoor ride featuring all of the monsters.

The other ride for Dark Universe, a spinning roller coaster named Curse of the Werewolf has seen continuous testing with weighted dummies.

New banners have been added to the exterior queue areas for this roller coaster ride.

A backstage gate has been installed between the roller coaster and the windmill-themed dining location named The Burning Blade Tavern.

Thw small area below is being cleared for pavement, located in front of a backstage operations building hidden behind Dark Universe.

Another area is being cleared nearby. This one is located on the other side of the access road, located between Dark Universe and Super Nintendo World. Perhaps this is being set up as a new staging area for future development?

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

Over at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, what looks to be doors that can be closed have been added inside of the entry portal.

Perhaps these doors could be used to close off the world if it closes earlier than Celestial Park, or if the world reaches capacity.

Inside of the world, looking along the streets of Wizarding Paris, new signage can be found above the robes show near the candy store.

Street level signage has been added on the hotel facade at the back of the area. The live stage show will exit through these doors.

A small themed kiosk has been added in front of this area as well.

Guests will enter the stage show attraction through the circus tent in the center of the land.

Red fabric continues to be attached to this circus tent-themed entry, with the main entrance seen here on the left of this photo.

An interactive wand ground marker has been installed in front of window display.

These markers indicate to guests where an interactive wand experiences can be found.

Here is the Butterbeer cart, located in the middle of this street on the left side of the world.

The entrance to the Wizarding World’s main attraction, a large indoor ride, can be seen at the end of this street.

New window displays have been added to the ride’s exit gift shop, which appear to be large spherical lighting fixtures. This exit shop is themed as a Floo Network travel agency called Tour en Floo.

Since our last big update, Universal revealed official photos from inside of this attraction, named Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.

These photos were taken inside of the ride and the queue, including the inside of the massive atrium featuring multiple stories of office windows seen along the walls of this more than 5 story-tall structure.

The hall of fireplaces we use to enter the Ministry via the Floo Network can be seen below.

This ride will have us board magical elevators that can travel in all directions, as we try to escape Death Eaters and bring Dolores Umbridge to justice.

Photos from the queue featuring Umbridge’s office were shown, and well as the animatronic for Higgeldy, her former house elf who joins us on our adventure.

An actual photo of the 14-seat elevator-themed ride vehicle was revealed as well. (See more photos in our previous story.)

Utilizing an all-new type of ride system, we do not expect this attraction to be a drop ride like the Tower of Terror at Walt Disney World—but it will feel like we are going up and down, as we travel around a tracked ride path within the ride’s gigantic show building.

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How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

Heading into How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, where some new themed elements have arrived, are wrapped in protective plastic, and have been set in front of the lagoon.

The mist effect can be seen active, under the bridge over the lagoon where the roller coaster passes under the water level for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders.

A statue has been installed near the entrance to the roller coaster. This structure can be seen used as a horn in the How to Train Your Dragon films.

Ground pathways are receiving realistic color along the exterior queue areas for the roller coaster.

Theming is being added along the side of the ride’s exit gift shop that faces the coaster itself.

The next photo shows how the exit gift shop appears from the front, seen on the right, with the ride’s entry seen on the left.

Canopy support framing for queue areas of Dragon Racers Rally now wraps around the two Sky Fly flat rides.

New decorative elements have been added within the play area, named Viking Training Camp.

A dragon themed merry go round can be spotted in the middle of the play area.

And more slides have been added since our last update.

Here is a good look at the colorful entrance to the Viking Training Camp play area.

Progress has been made on the fountain in the center of the village plaza.

Decorative elements ready to be installed around the area are staged on the ground.

Two fully themed sheep can be spotted here, facing the fountain.

A crate with what appears to be a section of the main dining hall’s chandelier can be spotted near the Mead Hall entrance.

Here is how the chandelier appears in official concept art.

Multiple accent colors have been added to the roofing tiles atop of the candy shop, which is attached to the main retail location.

Different style targets can be seen on the Fyre Drill interactive boat ride.

Riders will compete against others by shooting at these targets, which appear to feature icons like a red flame and a blue X.

Framing over the covered seating area for the Spit Fyre Grill dining location is being installed, which features a section that appears to resemble an overturned boat hull.

Thematic elements like icicles have been installed along the side of the Spit Fyre Grill building.

This is where a large animatronic ice dragon will be featured.

The covering has been installed over the meet and greet stables outside of stage show theater. This meet and greet area is named Haddock Paddock.

What appears to be a carving of Toothless’ head can be seen on one of the beams of the paddock.

A gift shop is located between this meet and greet area and the theater show’s exit doors, seen on left of the next photo.

In the foreground, a scenic element designed to appear as a downed tree can be spotted.

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Celestial Park

The last, and largest, world to explore in today’s update is Celestial Park, which is the name given to all of the central hub areas of Epic Universe.

Just outside of the park’s main portal we can see progress on decorative rockwork on either side of the entrance plaza.

The rockwork appears to have a rock wall around it, which may serve as a planter for foliage in front.

Stars have been added all along the green gates on either side of the main portal and tower. These stars match the points added to the tower above the entry portal.

Ornate elements are being added to both of the covered walkways just inside of the park, located in front of the entry shops. They are being staged on the ground in the center of the courtyard seen below.

Workers can be seen at the Luna Statue, giving us an idea of just how large this statue is.

This building, which is listed in permits as a phase 2 dining location, appears to be making incredible progress.

Despite not being officially announced perhaps it can be ready for opening day in May?

The columns are being installed between the picture windows around the octagon-shaped Atlantic restaurant.

Constellation Carousel, in the center of the park, has seen glass installed on one section of the domed roof. The other panels have not yet been installed.

More light bulbs continue to be added all around the dome over this carousel attraction.

Now that the former foam berm along the lagoon in this area has been completely removed, the land that it once sat on is being smoothed out, and prepared, but for what, we do not yet know.

Two-tone coloring can be spotted on rockwork beneath comet icon for Stardust Racers.

Slow progress is being made on the marquee sign for this dual-track racing coaster. The marquee features two comet icons.

The two statues at the entry portal into Stardust Racers have been uncovered. These statues are said to depict two Celestians using comets for fast travel around Celestial Park, which is the story for the attraction.

New snaking canopy framing has been installed over a section of the exterior extended queue for Stardust Racers.

Meteor Astropub exterior work making good progress. Like the phase two dining location near the front of the park, the addition of this restaurant was another change from the park’s original plans.

A mobile order outside pickup window can be seen here, on the left side of the restaurant.

An array of decorative rings has been added along the back of this dining location, facing the Wizarding World’s entry portal.

New concrete forms are being added between this in-park Starbucks location and the park’s large show fountain.

The model on display in the Epic Universe Preview Center at CityWalk shows this small round area as an outdoor stage for Celestial Park.

Trenches are currently uncovered while work continues within the show fountain basin.

Land is being cleared and prepared between the right side of the Universal Helios Grand Hotel and the theme park.

Site plans seem to indicate that this area will only receive some light landscaping, likely to not block the view of diners on the lower level of the hotel looking out over the park.

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Epic Universe Hotels & Roads

Checking in on the new hotels and roadways around Epic Universe, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel’s lobby light fixture can be spotted installed inside.

Here is how this chandelier appears in official renderings for the hotel.

This hotel has been testing rooftop lighting in recent days, including the icon sunburst facing the park, as seen in these next two photos from Adventuring with Annie.

Across the street, in front of Epic Universe, the pools at both the Terra Luna and Stella Nova Resort are filled with clean water.

The entire pool area at the Universal Stella Nova Resort has received furniture, with rows of beach chairs ready to go.

The Stella Nova Resort opens January 21, 2025, which is just a few short weeks away.

Terra Luna Resort does not open until March 25th.

The traffic circle ramp and Kirkman Rd. extension will not be ready for the opening of Stella Nova next month.

Guests will instead have to take Destination Pkwy., (seen at number 1 in the next photo,) to Epic Blvd to access the hotel, (seen at number 2).

This connects to Universal Blvd, which is how guests will have to get to and from the existing Universal Orlando Resort until the Kirkman Rd. extension is completed, which will then offer a shorter route.

Over at the parking lot, the ride share drop off area has quickly come together.

Coverings are being installed for guests waiting to be picked up at the end of each turn-around lane.

Unlike the current Universal Orlando Resort, this area was designed specifically for services like Uber and Lyft to have their own purpose-built space to drop off and pick up riders from the start.

Before we wrap up, look for the 2025 edition of The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando, co-written by myself, Alicia Stella. In addition to detailed information for the existing resort, this new edition includes the full scoop on Epic Universe. The book hit stores this month, and can be ordered online directly from the publisher, or at Amazon, Target, and more! Check it out!

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 & Nintendo | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Permit Documents: fasttrack.ocfl.net | Graphics and Overlays: Alicia Stella | Other Images as Captioned

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