Universal Epic Universe’s first expansion project since opening over a year ago is going to be a new multi-purpose events space, and the first level of steel is going up now.

Plus, the new nighttime fireworks show, Celestial Goodnight, officially debuts in exactly one week, but testing for pyro and lighting have been ramping up in recent days.

Thanks to new aerial views from theme park photographer Bioreconstruct we’re getting a new look at the recent construction progress on this ongoing project. We will compare the current work to previously filed permit images to see how it will look once completed.

Located in the Celestial Park section of Epic Universe, and close to the front of the park, the new events building is described in official permit documents as “new event space facility building of 53,886 gross square feet total that consists of 2 levels.”

The latest construction has new steel rising toward the back of the structure’s footprint.

This section at the back, on the first floor, will be for a commercial catering kitchen, which is described as serving the larger ballroom space in front.

A second story will be built above this kitchen area. The upper level will contain office space space to serve the park.

Permits filed with the Orange County Government show the layout of the structure. The image below has labels added showing where the main event space will be compared to the kitchen area under construction now.

A rendering of the building’s final appearance was also included in official permit images. The image below shows how the front of the building will contain an awning similar in style to the nearby shops also at the front of the park. Permits list solar panels for the structure’s roof, which can be seen in the rendering as well.

Additional renderings included in the plans show how this event building will fit into the theme park areas around it. It will connect to the existing courtyard area across from the Atlantic restaurant.

While most major construction is currently focused on the back kitchen-related areas of the project, some prep work happening near the front where restrooms will be built at its entrance.

Zooming out, while this events space may be the first expansion project to actually be built, two more expansions have been permitted to start work next in the same park.

A massive 150,000 square foot building is permitted to be built behind the Wizarding World land, and 14 modular offices have been added nearby that may be related to the project.

Across the park, new permits describe another new addition that will be 71,500 square feet in size.

Permits describe the preparation of land within Dark Universe for a new building to be built in the future for an upcoming attraction, although a timetable has not yet been revealed.

Universal Orlando may not have announced these new expansion projects just yet, but they have revealed that the new nighttime show will officially debut July 7th.

Named Universal Celestial Goodnight, the new show will replace the existing fountain show. The new show will add enhanced lighting, more music, improved fountains, and of course, fireworks.

To help prepare for the new show the park has been testing fireworks at both the main launch site, located behind the park, and the two smaller launch sites on the sides.

The impressive video below from Bioreconstruct on YouTube shows all three sites in use at once.

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Adventuring with Annie has been getting incredible video of fireworks testing in recent weeks as well, including the clip below of some of the more unique pyro styles.

Celestial Goodnight is going to be insane to watch from inside the park. These fireworks look amazing. pic.twitter.com/TWtgdXzsKN

— Adventuring with Annie (@AnniesUniUpdate) June 23, 2026

New lighting on the park-facing side of the Universal Helios Grand Hotel has also been testing in recent days. The video below shows how the colorful lighting changes for the show. The end of the video shows the lighting returning back to normal.

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The dozens of new spotlights, which have been added for Celestial Goodnight, have been testing at the park for over a month now, like in the following video from Adventuring with Annie.

Lights testing at Epic Universe this morning pic.twitter.com/ZOF7M0B1cx

— Adventuring with Annie (@AnniesUniUpdate) May 26, 2026

Despite the various after hours testing, the new Celestial Goodnight nightly show does not officially begin until July 7th.

That’s all for now, but a special thanks to Bioreconstruct for the amazing aerial views. You can follow him on social media for more theme park photography, and on YouTube for even more videos, including the recent one below of the events building construction progress.

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

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