Universal plans to open Epic Universe in ‘a couple of years’ — but no mention of Harry Potter
Epic Universe will be the largest U.S. theme park in Universal’s portfolio, with attractions tapping into intellectual property from Nintendo and the movie studios responsible for “Shrek” and the “Minions,” a company executive said Monday.
NBCUniversal Jeff Shell singled out the attractions will be based off of “some of the Illumination and DreamWorks content but especially Nintendo,” although he didn’t provide further details on which characters from the films might appear.
Illumination is known for its “Despicable Me” and “The Secret Life of Pets” franchises as well as the movie adaptations of Dr. Seuss’ books. DreamWorks Animation, another subsidiary of NBCUniveral, created the “Shrek” franchise, “How to Train Your Dragon” and other films.
Theme park fans were quick to point out on social media that Shell didn’t bring up Harry Potter or its Fantastic Beasts spinoff. A representative for Universal Orlando Resort didn’t immediately respond to a question if the beloved wizard storylines, which form the centerpiece of two popular lands at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, would appear at the new park too.
As he answered questions during Credit Suisse’s Investor Conference, Shell said Epic Universe is opening “in a couple of years” near the Orange County Convention Center.
He touted what having a third Orlando theme park could mean to Universal without mentioning its biggest competitor, Walt Disney World, saying, “... It allows us to continue to take share from other attractions in Orlando.”
Epic Universe — which Shell described as “our largest domestic park. Globally, it’ll be just a little bit smaller than Beijing,” — could entice Universal-goers to make a whole week out of their Orlando vacations.
And Shell also said the park’s location lets Universal tap into the convention business.
Convention-goers will “want to have an event across the street at the park ... I think that’s going to give us a unique opportunity to play with pricing a little bit and get even more demand for people,” Shell said. “I’m excited about that. ... Not only is it going to be a great theme park anchored by some of our key IP, but I think it gives us a chance to really drive some new revenue streams.”
Shell also provided some updates from the Orlando parks.
Last month, Universal Orlando announced it was increasing its starting wages to $15 an hour effective June 27.
“We took our wage rate in Orlando up to $15, which was always planned, and we did it a little bit more rapidly to attract more employees back as we’ve ramped up to full capacity,” Shell said Monday.
Meanwhile, the economic recovery from the pandemic is happening faster than expected in the theme park business, said Shell who spoke of strong attendance at Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure in Orlando.
“We’ve had 11 million people, as of last month, go through the parks since we reopened. We haven’t had any outbreaks. We’ve done it safely,” Shell said of Orlando.
Walt Disney Company’s CEO Bob Chapek, who spoke at the same conference later Monday afternoon, also said consumers were coming back. He pointed to future reservations at the California parks and Disney World as well as strong demand for Disney cruises.
“We’re very encouraged by what we’re seeing across those businesses,” Chapek said.
