Universal's Epic Universe Construction Thread

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

If this park isn’t open until 10pm every night that is an utter shame.

 

[NotPennysBoat]

Ain’t that the truth!

 

[Evan]

If this park isn’t open until 10pm every night that is an utter shame.

Let’s hope this park finally gives them the push to have more late night hours…

 

[NotPennysBoat]

I love going to the parks at night for several reasons. The atmosphere just seems more vibrant with all the lights on. The hot Florida sun has set. And it tends to be a little less crowded late. So please Universal, give us more nighttime hours!!

 

[Magic-Man]

Let’s hope this park finally gives them the push to have more late night hours…

As a former TM, I hope not. It's good for guests but sucks for employees. That should be weekends and holidays only.

 

[USO92]

As a former TM, I hope not. It's good for guests but sucks for employees. That should be weekends and holidays only.

Certainly not meaning to come across disrespectful…but that’s part of the job in this industry?? It’d be one thing if it wasn’t paid…perhaps you’re meaning it isn’t worth it when comparing total guest attendance after sunset??

 

[Jake S]

Yeah, I didn’t love working nights but longer hours means more available working hours for employees — and I certainly liked that.

 

[Evan]

As a former TM, I hope not. It's good for guests but sucks for employees. That should be weekends and holidays only.

I mean… that’s the job? Not to be insensitive - I was an ICP who worked a summer (2013) at magic kingdom, which involved working sometimes until 2-3 am.

It doesn’t need to be that late; but if Universal wants to grow as a vacation destination, they need longer hours.

 

[Magic-Man]

Certainly not meaning to come across disrespectful…but that’s part of the job in this industry?? It’d be one thing if it wasn’t paid…perhaps you’re meaning it isn’t worth it when comparing total guest attendance after sunset??

Mostly, yeah. A lot of guests go home once it gets dark and it becomes a lot of waiting around. Then by the time you get off most places are closed and you're exhausted. It's different when it's a weekend or an event.

Edit: There's also a lot of college kids at Universal that have class in the morning and need to get up early. And at least in my experience, guests later in the day tend to treat workers a lot worse due to being drunk, exhausted, or a mixture of both. It's just not fun.

 

[Mad Dog]

Probably a secondary reason why Universal closes so early, so often, is that they probably want to divert business to CityWalk since it's basically Universal owned/operated businesses also, and adjacent to the parks....unlike Disney Springs which is a long haul from the Disney Parks. The Universal Hotel resorts also seem to have a better mix of night options (restaurants/bars) than Disney hotels so that's another possible reason, namely reinforce their business. Epic will be kind of an island unto itself in the beginning, with no CityWalk type destination, so there's more reason, business wise, to keep later closing hours.

 

[tidecat]

Dark Universe and Celestial Park at night will definitely be the standouts, but I'm wondering how Isle of Berk will turn out at night. Any fire-breathing dragons should really stand out at night.

There's probably not a whole lot Ministry of Magic and Super Nintendo World can do in the way of nighttime special effects. Ministry of Magic can at least give off the proper vibe of nighttime on the streets of Paris because we expect artificial light sources in a city. Not really sure if anything special can be done with Super Nintendo World.

 

[Hatetofly]

What do we think Universal’s deadline is to entirely wrap up construction, excluding minor touches and finishes? Four, maybe three, months? I’d imagine they want most of April and all of May to actively train team members and conduct internal + AP previews.

I think based strictly on these aerial pictures they’re closer than many would think.

Potter looks like it could be turned over by the first week of January to a commissioning team. Again no clue on the insides but based on the scale of that land whoever was the general contractor (PCL?) they should get first dibs on next project there lol. Monsters also looks very close to being turned over. Not sure of effects, again no clue on inside the Village but man it appears its close.

Dragons has scaffolding all over the land, a lot of work to do with the play area, the stands for the flat rides etc. Nintendo looks to be the furthest behind in terms of the 4 main portals. Maybe it will come together quick but it appears that would be the land furthest from being ready based on pictures from a helicopter.

Overall I could see everything being turned over to their commissioning teams by February with all final touches being complete before March park-wide.

From there I think we see TONS of special events, corporate events, previews etc etc.

 

[Skold]

I think based strictly on these aerial pictures they’re closer than many would think.

Potter looks like it could be turned over by the first week of January to a commissioning team. Again no clue on the insides but based on the scale of that land whoever was the general contractor (PCL?) they should get first dibs on next project there lol. Monsters also looks very close to being turned over. Not sure of effects, again no clue on inside the Village but man it appears its close.

Dragons has scaffolding all over the land, a lot of work to do with the play area, the stands for the flat rides etc. Nintendo looks to be the furthest behind in terms of the 4 main portals. Maybe it will come together quick but it appears that would be the land furthest from being ready based on pictures from a helicopter.

Overall I could see everything being turned over to their commissioning teams by February with all final touches being complete before March park-wide.

From there I think we see TONS of special events, corporate events, previews etc etc.

Love to see you back!

 

[saint.piss]

 

[saint.piss]

 

[Brian G.]

The first Universal Orlando signage has been added to the Epic Universe resort area.

Universal Orlando resort entrance signage added to Epic Universe area

The first Universal Orlando signage has been added to the Epic Universe resort area. The new entryway sign is located at the Epic Blvd and Destination Parkway entrance. Universal is installing new signage around their Resort as they get ready to welcome Epic Universe into their Resort line-up

www.insideuniversal.net

 

[HandsomePete]

Speaking of traffic and signage and whatnot, did they ever fix the intersection at Sand Lake Road and Greenbrier Parkway? For the longest time the people exiting EU (heading north into that intersection) had literally no traffic signal when there were traffic lights the other three directions. No idea how there weren’t wrecks every hour there.

 

[saint.piss]

 

[tidecat]

Speaking of traffic and signage and whatnot, did they ever fix the intersection at Sand Lake Road and Greenbrier Parkway? For the longest time the people exiting EU (heading north into that intersection) had literally no traffic signal when there were traffic lights the other three directions. No idea how there weren’t wrecks every hour there.

Looking at it on Google Maps, it looks like the all of the movements to access Greenbriar south of Sand Lake were eliminated. Traffic in the one southbound lane on Greenbriar must turn left on to eastbound Sand Lake. Westbound traffic on Sand Lake must continue on Sand Lake or turn north on to Greenbriar.

The only valid movement for traffic heading north on Greenbriar south of Sand Lake Road would be to turn right on to eastbound Sand Lake. I question whether the intent was to allow that movement, although it certainly looks physically possible in the Google Maps imagery. On some of the street view images I see cones across the road, so right now it looks like possibly only construction vehicles may be able to turn right from Sand Lake to Greenbriar, so it looks like all access from northbound Greenbriar Sand Lake may be eliminated.

It looks like Universal Team Members would be expected to enter and exit via the slip lanes to/from eastbound Sand Lake that are roughly 750 feet east of Greenbriar. It also looks Opportunity Way may eventually connect to Mandarin Drive and Sand Lake; Opportunity stops about 85 feet south of the current intersection of Sand Lake and Mandarin.

 

[saint.piss]

Is this the queue for Stardust Racers? I'm 99.9% sure it is but I'm not completely sure