By Dawn Chmielewski
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – Orlando’s first new theme park in more than a quarter-century, Epic Universe, is set to open on Thursday.
The new Comcast-owned park doubles the footprint of the Universal Orlando Resort and creates themed worlds around some of the most successful movies and games in recent years, including Harry Potter, the Super Mario Bros, Mario and Luigi, and the “How to Train Your Dragon” films.
Celestial Park, a verdant area with expansive gardens and waterways, is the point of entry to the four other themed worlds. It also boasts the speediest roller coasters in the Epic Universe, the Stardust Racers, dueling coasters that reach speeds of up to 62 miles per hour.
One area, Dark Universe, re-animates Universal Pictures’ classic movie monsters. Another is dedicated to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Ministry of Magic, the third themed area in Orlando inspired by the Warner Bros films.
Another portal opens to the Isle of Berk, inspired by the Viking world in the DreamWorks Animation trilogy, “How to Train Your Dragon.” Super Nintendo World, a themed area that places guests inside the Super Mario and Donkey Kong games, comes to Orlando, following successful openings in Japan and Hollywood.
SUPER NINTENDO WORLD
Epic Universe’s Super Nintendo World attempts to capitalize on the enduring popularity of Nintendo’s characters as the Japanese video game company launches its new Switch 2 game console.
The park offers attractions that recreate some of Nintendo’s most popular video games, including Mario Kart racing, with the aid of augmented-reality headgear, and a roller coaster shaped like a mine cart that careens through Donkey Kong Country. Guests can purchase wearable Power-up Bands that allow them to collect digital coins and stamps throughout the park in the real world, as they would in a game.
ISLE OF BERK
Thirty-one animatronic dragons make their home on the Isle of Berk, a faithful recreation of the “How to Train Your Dragon” setting, down to its sparkling lagoon and towering 40-foot-tall Viking statues. A family roller coaster, Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, takes passengers on a brisk ride around the perimeter of the island, while Dragon Racer’s Rally simulates the experience of dragon flight. Another attraction, Fyre Drill, places guests in Viking boats, where they blast targets with water guns.
DARK UNIVERSE
Universal, the film studio that popularized the monster movie genre, reaches into its film vault to offer theme park guests encounters with such characters as Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, the Wolf Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The fictional setting of Darkmore draws its ravaged look from classic films, such as a burning windmill depicted in the 1931 movie “Frankenstein.”
The centerpiece of the Dark Universe is Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, a ride that takes guests through the underground catacombs of Frankenstein Manor, where an experiment goes wrong and riders come uncomfortably close to the animatronic creatures.
Molly Murphy, president of Universal Creative, said the ride is both a nod to Universal’s film heritage and builds on its popular Halloween Horror Nights. “It really modernizes the stories, brings all of our classic monsters to life in a way that is relevant today,” she said.
THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
The world recreates 1920s Paris, as seen in the Warner Bros “Fantastic Beasts” series, and the British Ministry of Magic, set in 1990s London. In the main attraction, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, riders board an elevator lift to witness the trial of Dolores Umbridge, but get swept up in her attempt to escape justice.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Orlando, Florida; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
