Epic Universe is officially one year old this week, and we’ve gotten our first advertised instance of open hub, where guests are being allowed into the central areas for dining and shopping without a theme park ticket. Plus, new sky lights are being installed in all areas of Epic Universe, including at the fireworks launchpad, and construction trailers have arrived for expansion.

Let’s dig into those stories, as well as construction happening all around Universal Orlando, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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Open Hub for Convention-Goers

After years of rumors, we have gotten our first official instance of guests being allowed into the central area of Epic Universe for dining and shopping, but without access to the lands or rides.

A trade show at the Orange County Convention Center at the end of this month is advertising a new perk of attending the event. All guests of this year’s Premiere Beauty Show will be able to enter the Celestial Park area of Epic Universe, with free parking after 5PM.

The promotion states these guests will “have access to a variety of dining, shopping, and live entertainment” while in the park, but they will not be allowed to enter any of the themed lands or ride the rides.

To enter they will have to show their convention badge at the park entrance.

This promotion, which takes place May 30th through June 1st, will likely utilize the Photo Recognition technology that had been testing at the portals of Epic Universe in recent weeks.

This facial recognition system will allow guests who have actual theme park tickets enter the lands and ride the rides of Epic Universe, while relegating the convention-goers who choose to visit after their day at the trade show to Celestial Park areas only.

So far this is the only known public instance of this portal screening technology to be used since testing started last month, but Photo Validation was recently utilized at an after hours Team Member only event.

It is not yet known if the open hub concept will be scaled up to include other guests in the future, or will continue to be tested with smaller groups like this.

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New Sky Lighting Installed

New large sky lights are being installed all around Epic Universe, including a long row of them behind the fireworks launchpad behind the park.

Located at the furthest back edge of the property, this row of large showbiz-style searchlights can be found along the outer line of the pond where fireworks will be set off from a newly installed launchpad.

The lights are wrapped in plastic, and are surrounded by their own little privacy fences, which have been filled in in the week between the above and below photos were taken.

But these large sky lights aren’t the only new lights that have been installed.

More skyward facing lights have been installed atop several buildings throughout Epic Universe, in all of the locations shown at the arrows in the photo above, and more.

Here is a row of a dozen new lights installed atop of Das Stakehaus in Dark Universe…

…And another row installed on top of The Oak & Star Tavern outside of the land, seen on the right of the photo below.

On the opposite side of the park rows of lights have been installed atop of the restrooms near Stardust Racers, on the left of the next photo, as well as on top of the health services building, seen on the right.

The photo below from the park’s grand opening shows how all of these new lights could appear once in use, firing beams of light toward the sky.

But that’s not all, because in addition to these four new sets of sky-facing beam lights, new lights have also been installed in the lagoon surrounding Constellation Carousel.

The lagoon is currently drained for work happening to improve the fountains within the area, as well as to install these new lights, which can be seen in the photo below placed in between each of the ground supports for the canopy over Constellation Carousel.

While the lagoons near Constellation Carousel and in front of Atlantic are currently drained for work, the large Cosmos Fountain has been refilled. The fountains within the Cosmos Fountain have resumed running as well, after being fitted with new lighting and other enhancements.

A small section between show seating areas is still blocked off near the fountain for continued work. The ground can be seen open in the next photo, revealing a mess of wires and pipes running below.

All of this work is expected to be related to an upcoming, yet still unannounced, new nighttime spectacular show. With permanent fireworks launchpads, new sky lights installed around the park, and enhanced fountains, a new show could very well be on the way, and soon.

Remember, the official grand opening anniversary is this Friday, May 22nd, so maybe we could see an official announcement in the coming days.

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Park Expansions and Updates

What may be preparations for a massive expansion to the park’s Wizarding World land is happening now.

A small city of trailers, equipment, and supplies is being set up in an empty plot behind Stardust Racers, just beside the Potter expansion area.

Permits were filed, approved, and issued for the installation of 14 trailers by Whiting-Turner, as well as connections for electricity and plumbing.

We can see that these trailers are arranged as 2-wide and 12-wide at the site, just like they were listed in their permits.

The major construction project in the empty plot next door, directly behind the main Wizarding World land, will be for a 150,000 square-foot new attraction, and it is assumed that these trailers are being set up to support this project.

Work on the Potter expansion project itself has not yet begun, but the site has been cleared, and survey markers were spotted here a few months ago.

Across the park, work is continuing on the Project 915 multi-purpose events structure in Celestial Park.

Foundations have been poured for the back of the structure, specifically for an area that will be a catering kitchen for events held at this future venue.

The largest part of the structure, which will be a large multi-purpose ballroom-like space, has yet to see its foundation poured, but the first preparations for pouring can be seen in this area here.

Also in Celestial Park, starting this Friday, the park’s first anniversary, guests will be able to meet Captain Cacao.

Universal showed the new meet and greet character off on social media, but he’s not planned to debut in the park until May 22nd.

The marshmallow stars have aligned 💫 Captain Cacao has arrived and is ready to meet you at Universal Epic Universe! Be sure to find the Captain in Celestial Park starting May 22nd.

Character appearance subject to change. pic.twitter.com/xGk3CxcwTx

— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) May 18, 2026

An icon for the park’s sweet shop, Moonship Chocolates, plush of this chocolate teddy bear were very popular when the park first opened, leading to fans hoping for a meet and greet character to be introduced.

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Big Change Across Universal Orlando

To the west of Epic Universe, land prep continues for a mystery project along Universal Blvd near I-Drive.

This large parcel is being covered in a thick layer of sand, which Universal claims is only for regular maintenance.

Insiders claim the company is preparing the land to someday build a transportation hub and entertainment district.

Across the street from Epic Universe, more sections of roller coaster track have arrived for the drifting coaster being built at Universal Studios Florida.

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster is set to open next year.

Manufactured by Intamin, these large track pieces are being staged here alongside the already staged blue supports.

Some of the pieces that have recently arrived are curved, like the one below. This piece appears to be capped at one end, so it may for the top of the 170-foot tall spike that has been announced for the coaster. If so, that would mean the spike will be twisted!

A couple miles north of the staging lot, the first supports have now been installed along the CityWalk-facing side.

Located between the Hard Rock Cafe and the entrance to Universal Studios Florida, these new angled supports can be spotted by guests walking through CityWalk now.

And if you look closely, you can even spot an arrow with the letters DOT on the inside of many of them. This stands for Direction of Travel, and can give us a better idea of how this ride will be laid out.

See our recent update for more details on this upcoming roller coaster.

Over at Islands of Adventure, Universal has confirmed that The Lost Continent will be closing in phases in the coming months.

The Mystic Fountain has had its final day last week. This interactive fountain, which featured a live actor interacting with guests, was the last remaining attraction within the land.

The fountain is now hidden behind work walls, which continue to expand outward, swallowing more and more of the disappearing land.

Universal has also confirmed that the Mythos restaurant will be closing permanently next year in 2027 as part of the redevelopment of the area into a new land.

In the same park, Thunder Falls Terrace in Jurassic Park will close this summer to be transformed into a new full service dining location, which will open in 2027. It’s expected that this will be ready in time for Mythos to close. Many fans speculate Thunder Falls may return as a variation of Hammond’s, as seen in Universal Studios Beijing, which conveniently shares some visual similarities in its decor.

The Horror Make-Up Show in Universal Studios Florida closed last week to be reimagined. It will reopen this coming winter, but no word yet on how it will be changed.

That’s all for now, but see our recent vlog from inside of Epic Universe for more expansion speculation and on the ground reporting. Watch the video version of this story for additional visuals. Big thanks to Bioreconstruct for sharing all of the aerial photos and more seen in this story.

Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Permit Images: Orange County Government Permitting Office | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Additional Photos: Alicia Stella | Other Images as Captioned

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