The Epic Universe Effect: Disney, Theme Parks, & Orlando Are Changed Forever | One Year Review

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]Epic Universe was one of the most anticipated theme parks to open in history with some even predicting that it could be the Disney killer. But what impact has Epic Universe really had?

[00:00:10]Hello everybody, welcome. On this one-year anniversary of Epic Universe, let's revisit this amazing theme park and discuss the truth about the effect this park has had on the theme park industry.

[00:00:22]>> [music] >> It's hard to believe that Epic Universe opened exactly 1 year ago today on May 22nd of 2025.

[00:00:47]I actually attended a sneak preview of Epic Universe before opening day, which was absolutely incredible, but you know that I just had to be there on opening day as well. And I will say it lived up to the hype. It absolutely lived up to the hype for me. After reporting on this park for years, I was probably one of Epic Universe's biggest fans. I was probably one of the most excited to really step foot inside this park after seeing all the concepts, everything that had to offer, all the all the hype that I really was generating even myself through my videos. Stepping into that park for the first time absolutely lived up to expectations for me. And I met so many of you that watch my channel. I think that was probably the most amazing things for me that day was actually getting to meet all the people who have been commenting, watching, liking, subscribing to my videos over the years.

[00:01:39]Getting to meet so many of you, I think I talked to at least I mean at least 100 people. I stopped and we had conversations, we talked, we said hi. I absolutely just loved that. It was probably one of the best experiences of my entire life. Of course, I also had the perfect day at Epic Universe, which not everybody has had, but I had the perfect day. During opening day, believe it or not, they had the capacity was so low. There was just nobody there. I mean, I feel like it people were kind of shy about going, worried opening day was going to be a zoo. They didn't go too crazy with the ticket availability. And so, opening day ended up being almost completely empty. There was like no wait times for anything. Everything was walk-on. All the food was fresh, perfect. Everybody was on the top of their game. Everybody working at the park was like just as excited to open the park as we were to attend the park.

[00:02:27]So, all the staff, all the team members, everybody was on their best behavior.

[00:02:31]They were all excited to be there. They were on the top of their game. The food was perfect. Amazing service, amazing spirit. Everything was running perfectly. It really was like a fever dream. Like I didn't want to wake up from it. It was like such an amazing experience. And many people throughout the days and weeks following were just talking about how amazing the park was, and that it could potentially really disrupt Disney. That it could be the Disney killer. But, of course, we know this was the honeymoon period. I mean, this was when all the biggest fans were there. Everybody was excited to try this park out for the first time. But, then that honeymoon period sort of started to wear off. And all the problems with Epic Universe really started to come to the forefront, started to emerge. Some of those problems real, some of those problems imagined. So, here we are 1 year later celebrating this anniversary.

[00:03:16]I just had to do this video. And now that all the hype has died down, reality has started to set in, what truly is the real impact that Epic Universe has had?

[00:03:26]First, I want to talk about the design of Epic Universe. Epic Universe just feels like a modern theme park. Every single detail makes it feel really like the theme park of the future. Which makes perfect sense. When we think about the last theme park that the last large theme park that was really built in Orlando, that was, believe it or not, Islands of Adventure, way back in 1999.

[00:03:48]It's been over 25 years since the last big theme park prior Epic Universe was opened. Before that was Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World right next door.

[00:03:57]This was in 1998. And at the time both of those theme parks were groundbreaking. They were each amazing parks in their own rights. And every single theme park that opens hopefully learns from the past theme parks. And you can clearly see all the learnings from Animal Kingdom opening, all the learnings from Islands of Adventure opening at Universal, decades of theme parks opening over and over and time and time again. You can all see those things reflected in the design of Epic Universe. First, let's talk about some of the good things. From the moment you walk into Epic Universe, the spacing, the way the park is laid out, the color, the lighting, music, even the placement of trash cans, all work perfectly.

[00:04:37]Nothing feels bolted on, nothing feels like an afterthought, nothing feels like it was just jammed in there at the last second. Everything was methodically thought through, designed, and exists in the park for a reason. Unlike a lot of the older theme parks where they had to evolve over time and they've had to add things, Epic Universe feels like it was not only built with purpose for what it was to be upon opening, but also feels like it was built for the future. To make sure that they could expand and they could do new attractions and they could add extra entertainment and things >> [music] >> without having to make it feel like it was bolted on as an afterthought. And one of my most favorite things at Epic Universe is Celestial Park because it really I I used to say this in my videos, it really brought the park back into theme parks. When other theme parks are removing water features and removing space that you might consider just be wasted space, open areas, places to sit, water features, a lot of other theme parks are removing those in favor of attractions, Epic Universe has this massive massive park space >> [music] >> that just runs through the entire center of Epic Universe. Now, the overall design of the park with the portals, the hubs, it's basically the hub and spoke model. And this is not a new model. The classic sort of hub and spoke design was really pioneered by Walt Disney as part of the Disneyland layout, then obviously later adopted for Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. It was architected and created and imagined by Walt Disney Company. They pretty much set the standard when it came to this layout.

[00:06:15]But what they did with Epic Universe is they improved on that model. The design of the portal entrances, where there's a clear entrance, there's a clear entrance and an exit to this area, looks absolutely beautiful, especially at nighttime, all the lights and the theming.

[00:06:30]It has enabled them to create these amazing immersive experiences. The As soon as you walk into that portal, you are transported to a completely different world. They took what they did with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter over in Islands of Adventure and then later did in Diagon Alley, they took that to a whole new level. Obviously, these amazing immersive lands also exist at Walt Disney World and other theme parks. You think of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and the World of Pandora. Again, beautifully immersive themed worlds, but the worlds at Epic Universe just feel like they're on another level. It's It's like again, just improved on what has already been done by the theme park giants of the past. These worlds that they've created at Epic Universe just feel well-rounded. They're visually appealing, they're extremely immersive.

[00:07:17]Every attraction in that area works perfectly with that land, feels part of a story. They have amazing meet and greets and moreover, you have great character interactions that are just walking through the park, adding energy and life. The food is completely aligned to the world of the land, the entertainment, the merchandise. It really feels like five theme parks in one. From a food perspective, Epic Universe has really redefined the category, in my opinion. They've redefined how theme park food what theme park food really can be. You have amazing fast casual quick service dining locations that are most of the food is almost like a sit-down table service, except it is fast, it is quick service.

[00:07:58]You're in and out really quickly, and they have lots of food options to choose from, and it's all themed amazing food.

[00:08:04]You can tell they brought all their best chefs, all their best creators when it comes to food to the table and made sure that Epic Universe knocks it out of the park. So much so that some people say there's more food at Epic Universe than there is attractions. And I'm quite honestly here for it. In addition, they have amazing world-class shows like Untrainable Dragon. I mean, this is a Broadway quality show that is done multiple times throughout the day. It is a fantastic show that has emotion, has feeling, [music] it's for all ages. It is a must-see.

[00:08:34]Usually shows are sort of an add-on. It is a must-do attraction. The show itself is something you just have to do when you go to Epic Universe. And then, of course, there are the world-class groundbreaking attractions like Stardust, Monsters Unchained, Battle of the Ministry. The attractions are so spectacular that they basically cleaned house at the Golden Ticket Awards last year. There is one and only one theme park industry standard awards. It is like the Oscars of theme park awards.

[00:09:03]That's the Golden Ticket Awards. And last year, Universal took home more awards than any other any other theme park. They took home so many awards that they even shut out Disney, who actually took home zero awards that year. I mean, they basically took control of that awards ceremony. One of the biggest upsets was the Dark Universe Monsters Unchained attraction. It finally unseated Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance over at Galaxy's Edge. That ride had been winning this best dark ride category for year after year after year. It's the same category that the Spider-Man attraction over at Islands of Adventure war won for like 15 years.

[00:09:38]That was unseated, Rise of the Resistance took over for a long time, and then now Monsters Unchained has unseated them. They also won best new theme of 2025, that was Dark Universe.

[00:09:48]Best new attraction installation, that was the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Battle of the Ministry. And they won best new roller coaster, which was of course Stardust Racers. They took home five out of 21 awards. Now, let's talk a little bit about some of the not so good things. Number one is too many outdoor attractions. I think the the biggest issue One of the biggest issues with the park is there are not enough indoor attractions, not enough things that can operate during thunderstorms, rainy periods of time. Magic Kingdom, if you go to Magic Kingdom during a thunderstorm, it's pretty much almost unaffected. There's a couple of rides that are going to be gone, but for the most part you can still have a killer day, even if it is lightning and thunder the entire day. Epic Universe almost shuts down. Like it it pretty much shuts down. Because there's not enough Yes, there are some indoor attractions, but the problem is when it's a thunderstorm, all the other attractions shut down, and then there's only a couple of attractions still running, everybody is going to be at those attractions, which creates multi-multi-hour waits, and it becomes basically untenable. And so, when you think about Orlando, where it rains more than pretty much anywhere else, and it is going to thunderstorm a lot, I think that was a little bit of a miss, and Universal really knows this, which is why they're already adding more indoor attractions as we speak. Not only do they need to add additional capacity, but they also need to add more indoor capacity. Which leads me to my second piece, which is the capacity issues. Not enough attractions that eat enough people, not enough rides like Monsters Unchained, the Frankenstein experiment, that just pushes tons of people through it, and is a dark ride. They need more of those, and so they're actively working on that. Another big one is not enough grab-and-go food carts. Like I said, there's tons of restaurants, tons of casual dining, tons of places to grab food, but they are all go inside, get some food, get a table, eat. Not enough like grab-and-go like hot dogs and pretzel stands and ice cream. I think ice cream is probably the biggest missing component at Epic Universe. They need some good ice cream, and they really don't have it. We do have Croissant Moon there in Celestial Park and a couple other places where you can get a little bit of ice cream, but they just don't really have I don't think Croissant Moon is that great. There's not enough options. I think they need more ice cream. Another big one is the lack of a big end finale for the evening. They have a great water show.

[00:12:01]I'm not going to take anything away from that, but they don't have fireworks.

[00:12:04]Yes, the water show is good, but on water show evaluations, water show levels, Universal Sensation over Universal Studios is light-years beyond the water show in my opinion. From a visual aesthetic, it also has drones, it has a few fireworks thrown in there. It is just completely on another level. It crushes the water show at Epic Universe in my opinion. So, the lack of like a big finale of fireworks, I think is something that is hurting them. However, we do know they're working on fireworks.

[00:12:33]Actually, supposed to hopefully get an announcement even today, maybe, about a brand new fireworks show that is supposed to be coming to Epic Universe.

[00:12:41]So, we'll hear about that soon, which could solve this problem. Now, let's talk a little bit about guest sentiment.

[00:12:46]How do people feel about Epic Universe after the first year? How did it go?

[00:12:50]Well, overall on the surface it by the end of this year, overall, it's been about 70% positive sentiment and 30% negative sentiment. I did some social listening to try to understand the the sentiment, whether it was positive or negative, and some of the emotions that are spiking. On volume, it's about 70/30. However, even the negative comments are still somewhat praising Epic Universe for its ambition, for its innovation and creativity, despite a lot of the operational challenges that they've had. Some of the positive notes include design quality, immersion, visual aesthetic, innovative attractions, the Super Nintendo World, and and Harry Potter experiences, of course. Some guests even describing it as the best theme park ever built. A lot of the negative feedback centers around ride breakdowns, operational challenges, long wait times, capacity issues, the weather issue I was talking about, and even the pricing. The premium pricing of Epic Universe, the cost of having to purchase single-day tickets over and over again, and it is not a cheap ticket. A lot of people were saying that like Universal used to be like a cheaper version of Walt Disney World that you could go to to to Universal, they weren't price gouging. That sentiment is starting to go away. Like Epic Universe, the addition of that, Universal, their prices are continuing to go up up up as demand increases.

[00:14:04]>> [music] >> And so, the pricing, I feel like Universal's getting up there in pricing just like with Walt Disney World. So, some complaints about that, but overall to be expected. So, I think the sentiment of the price is going to change away from like what's more expensive and what's more about the value that you're getting. It may be the same price on the surface, but what is the value you're getting out of a Walt Disney World vacation versus a Universal vacation? If you feel like the value is higher at one of the other for the price, that's going to probably influence which one you decide to do.

[00:14:36]Let's talk about financially for Comcast, what it's been doing for Universal. In Q2 of 2025, despite Epic Universe only being open for about a month at the time, they reported an 18.9% year-over-year increase for the quarter in revenue. And Comcast specifically cited Epic Universe as fueling that. And in Q3 of 2025, it went up again. They had another increase, 18.7% in revenue for the quarter over 2024. Q4 saw a 21.9% increase. And in just this past quarter, Q1 of 2026, they posted a 24% increase in revenue year-over-year. That is just an insane number, and it is very much credited towards Epic Universe.

[00:15:27]Guests were staying longer at Universal Resorts, which is exactly what they wanted. They wanted to turn it from a couple of day destination to a week-long destination. They wanted people to stay on Universal property instead of staying on Disney property and taking a day trip over to Universal. They wanted to flip that. That's exactly what it did.

[00:15:44]Multi-day ticket sales increased, food and beverage spending rose significantly, merchandise sales absolutely flew, I mean, surged. It flew off the shelves, especially the Nintendo and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter merchandise. So, their strategy of trying to get people to come to Universal and stay longer, and if you're going to do a Disney vacation, maybe a week there, maybe a week at Universal, or maybe a few days at each place, it has been working. Reportedly, it cost about $7 billion to create Epic Universe, and they've almost recouped that money here in the first year of operations. They've already almost gotten that money back that they spent in about a year's time. So, some great things that happened out of Epic Universe opening and the success that they've had, there was more new new announcements that were coming out. The new family-focused resort that's opening in Texas, Universal Horror Unleashed permanent Halloween Horror Nights type experience there in Las Vegas, and plans for a huge new Universal theme park over in the UK. All fueled by the success of Epic Universe. Now, let's talk about the impact that Epic Universe had on other theme parks in the industry in general.

[00:16:49]Number one, it really put pressure on Disney. This is not This is not me coming out and saying like, "Oh, it's the Disney killer." What it is is saying it put pressure on Disney that they had to now step up and perform. The competition, I mean, Disney's just been on top for so long. They've been kind of able to I'm not saying they're resting over there cuz they're always thinking about new things, but the pressure for sure has been amped up big time. And competition just in general breeds better creativity, better innovation, and now you see Disney is investing $60 billion over the next 10 years. $30 of that is going to their theme parks specifically, and a lot of that in Walt Disney World. That pressure that Epic Universe has added is pushing Disney to go further, bigger, better, bolder. In many ways, this has reignited what I'll refer to as like the theme park race in Orlando. This really defined the Orlando area in like the 19 90s, early 2000s with Universal and Islands of Adventure.

[00:17:49]There was just became this really competitive race that was going on, and this is sort of like reignited that. So, here's the takeaway is that this is not about hurting Disney. This is not about hurting SeaWorld and Legoland and all the other areas. It really isn't about that. It's making them all better. And it's actually increasing the amount of revenue for all of these parks for the most part. Epic Universe has increased demand for the overall Orlando area as a destination.

[00:18:18]That has drove increased revenue for Disney, for other theme parks in the area, and especially Universal Orlando Resort. This goes back to that rising tide lifts all boats sentiment. It really has come to fruition. Some of the big changes that I expect to see over theme park design in the future based on what we've seen at Epic Universe, number one, I think is better, like more kinetic energy in the parks. One of the criticisms of some of the recent areas that have been created in Universal and even in Disney is that they didn't have enough like life to them. You think about Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, for example, one of the criticisms there is that it looks visually impressive and beautiful, but it doesn't feel alive.

[00:18:59]And that was one of the things that was promised for that land, there would be all these characters and people walking around and it would feel vibrant and like a living hub of transit in the Star Wars universe, and it just really didn't come to fruition. And that's something that Epic Universe has really done in spades. In me for me specifically in How to Train Your Dragon, the Isle of Berk, I think it is the most immersive, most alive land. There There's all these sort of moving and vibrant animatronics that make noises, make sounds, they they have movement to them. You have different characters that are sort of walking through the park. It feels like a bustling area, like a a real Viking sort of village. Of course, Dark Universe also has that in spades with all their monster characters roaming around and having conversations with people very organically. It's just they did such a great job with just the visual, the design, but the kinetic energy has been off the charts. So, I think we're going to start seeing more visible moving things in lands going forward and more visible ride systems. You look at something like How to Train Your Dragon Isle of Berk and Hiccup's wing gliders, it is meant to be a flying like you're on the back of a flying dragon that is serpentining through the actual land and that motion and seeing that that dragon sort of go by while you're walking around in the park. Again, just brings energy to that area. I think we're going to start to see more of that instead of a instead of an attraction just being walled off behind a little a bunch of trees or a building, seeing it actually woven through the land as a living breathing element, I think it's going to start emerging more and more. I think we're going to see more dynamic lighting packages like you get at Epic Universe.

[00:20:32]Has to have the best lighting of any theme park by far. More atmospheric effects, interactive scenery, roaming entertainment, and of course, amazing like layered ambient audio throughout the park. Another big impact I think that Epic Universe has had and really Universal in general as they continue to go forward is I think the speed. The speed of development for which they are getting these things out here is insane.

[00:20:55]So many other theme parks, especially theme theme parks like Disney, have really been slow to move. They've been slow to move, slow to start building, slow to release. And Universal has just been a game changer when it comes to that. Not only did they build an entire theme park during the COVID pandemic at a lightning speed, they also are tearing down attractions, replacing them, I mean, super quick. Not just a simple theme change or a little bit of refurb, like a complete transformation really quickly. So, I think we're going to see that have to start happening at other theme parks as well because Universal has now set a standard. Another big element, I think, is they are really transforming Orlando in general. I think it's becoming more and more of a multi-park theme park destination.

[00:21:37]You're going to see huge transformations there along Universal Boulevard, near I-Drive. I think it's going to transform that space, bring more tourism in, generate more revenue for the entire city. It has been a game-changer. So, overall, this park, Epic Universe, a year later, we are at that it is a massive success. Yes, it's had challenges. Yes, it's had problems. But, what theme park hasn't upon opening?

[00:22:00]This place has been spectacular. It is a massive success for Universal and Comcast. It's a success for Disney. It's a success for the city of Orlando.

[00:22:11]Disney, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, other theme parks paved the way for Epic Universe to become a reality.

[00:22:19]You have to give them credit. You got to give them credit cuz they are they paved the way. Epic Universe is now standing on the backs of these giants. And what's really exciting is that whatever comes next, whether it's an Epic Universe or whether it's a brand new theme park altogether from Universal or Disney or otherwise, they will have learned from what Epic Universe has done successfully and what they haven't done successfully. They will learn from this and it will only get better. So, it is truly transformative. It is truly a success and it is a success for us, the theme park fans. It's an exciting time to be alive if you are a theme park fan, a theme park enthusiast, and I cannot wait to see what's next. That's all I've got.

[00:23:06]Thanks so much for joining me in this one-year review, this one-year look back at all the amazing things Epic Universe has accomplished, celebrating this theme park. I hope you are celebrating with me and looking forward to the next year. Be sure to comment below and let me know what you think. What do you think about Epic Universe? What do you think is coming next that you're excited about?

[00:23:26]I'd love to hear from you down in the comments. Be sure, of course, to like, subscribe, and please share this with other people that you think might enjoy it. And please, subscribe, subscribe, subscribe. Please subscribe to this channel. Most of you watching this video are not subscribed. But to all you who are and who are my biggest fans, please keep watching. Thank you so much. I do really appreciate you. Here's to the next. Till I see you next time. Noble light is the easy way. Bye-bye, everybody.