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Universal Epic Universe may be officially open, but construction work continues inside of this new theme park, including the staging of these new green-colored beams and materials. But what are they for? With the CEO of the company’s theme park division touting the planning of new expansions coming to Epic Universe, what can we expect to see first?
Plus, we have new story details for Celestial Park, original soundtrack release news and more, in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.
New materials staged at Epic Universe, All Aerial Photos by @bioreconstruct
While we have been tracking some expansion projects for Epic Universe since its grand opening back in May, there has been yet another recent development on the ground in one of the expansion plots.
Thanks to new aerial photos by Bioreconstruct on social media, everyone has been asking what these new bright green beams and building materials are for? Guesses have ranged from a new Wicked expansion for Epic Universe to a new Slimer-themed Ghostbusters ride at Universal Studios Florida.
The leading theory is that they will be used for something here at Epic Universe, but it won’t be for a new attraction. According to our best guess, these staged elements appear to be pieces of a new wall to be constructed along this side of the park.
This new wall may be similar in construction to the massive barrier at the edge of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure in Islands of Adventure. You can even see how similar beams were used in the construction of that wall in the photo below.
Close up view of walls at Islands of Adventure by https://x.com/bioreconstruct
It appears that trenches may already start to have been dug along the side of the expansion plot where these elements have been staged, behind Stardust Racers.
While the beams are most obvious in the photos, we can also see piles and piles of the wall panel pieces themselves to be installed between the supports.
These elements could create hundreds of feet of walls, and tall walls at that. The possible example below by Tommy Hawkins shows just how big a wall that could be created using all of the elements staged.
Speculation graphic by Tommy Hawkins showing how much wall could be built
Ground work seems to have started on at least one side already, the edge of the park that runs along the nearby water treatment plant. And that may be part of the reason for installing such a large fence in the first place, to block the water plant from the theme park.
We will keep an eye on this possible project, but if these pieces are for a wall, and the earth movement along the perimeter of this area is the land prep, we may see construction begin on this tall wall soon.
An element of one phase 2 project we’ve been covering on the channel for a while has finally been confirmed. New permit comments from the county have confirmed the types of cuisine to be offered at this upcoming phase 2 dining location near the front of Epic Universe, known as Project 914.
Despite only being one building, the permits continue to describe this upcoming eatery as two locations, which Universal says will open in early 2026. Permits now describe them as Italian and Mexican restaurants, confirming prior rumors.
Permit comments confirming cuisine types, fasttrack.ocfl.net
Work on the interior build out for these new dining locations is going on now according to documents, and rumors say they could open sooner than next year if ready by the holiday season.
Another phase 2 project we have been following, known in documents as Project 915, is for the addition of a backstage multi-purpose structure.
Permit notes have confirmed the location for this new structure as being built between buildings 1205 and 1310, which are the building numbers for the park’s main gift shop and the Mario Kart buildings.
Newer permit notes seem to confirm the total occupancy for the building, which will apparently be 3,837 persons, with the first floor accommodating up to 2,824 occupants—at least according to these comments by county officials.
The building is described here as having two stories, with a footprint of about 40,000 square feet.
Permit notes describing some of the features of this new structure, fasttrack.ocfl.net
The plans seem to call for Meeting and/or Banquet Room Seats, as well as an Office Area, and a commercial kitchen. These specifications are in line with this structure being used for private and special events in the future.
It seems like vertical construction has not yet been approved to begin, but we will continue to monitor the permits as they seem to be continually updated.
Site of Project 915, as seen from inside the theme park
Unknown if related to Project 915 or not, but there are permits to install a prefabricated aluminum tunnel over a backstage road. It will cover 2,432 square feet in size. The permit says this is for protection, but unclear if it means from nearby construction or for something else.
With so much work happening at the park currently that is not related to new rides, the good news is that the Chairman and CEO of Universal Destinations and Experiences, Mark Woodbury continues to give fans hope for the future of the park.
Woodbury was recently quoted as saying:
“What you can’t see sitting here are all the expansion areas that are outside the spaces that you can see. There’s a lot of room for expansion. We’re already thinking about how that plays out, and it’s the same on the north end of the campus, new attractions coming, new intellectual property coming.”
Rumors have swirled for an expansion to Super Nintendo World being the first to take shape, with talk of a possible Luigi’s Mansion shooter ride happening before the park opened, and more recently, speculation for possible Zelda attractions to be added.
Zelda has been a top guess based on the franchise’s inclusion in of the new theme park’s retail locations.
Epic Universe’s Executive Creative Director Steve Tatham responded to these theories with:
“I have no comment about that. I mean, that’s a beloved character… and this is called Super Nintendo World, so it includes all things Nintendo. So that’s a character we have included… I wouldn’t read too much into that. So if people want to speculate, that’s up to them.”
Speculation has also turned to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, which had its second ride cut from the plans early on in development, and if you have visited the park, it shows. This land could use another attraction to help fill out its offerings, and help take some of the stress off of the popular Battle at the Ministry ride.
Recent Notices of Commencement, or.occompt.com
New notices of commencement for new contracts with attraction design firms have been filed in recent weeks, some of which are labeled as “Phase 2”. This includes companies that focus on designing indoor attractions from the blue sky to schematics stages, and others that create 3D models from blueprints for pre-visualization of new theme park attractions. And these companies have been hired to work on something for Epic Universe.
Unfortunately, these documents filed with Orange County do not list which areas of the park these firms have been brought on to work on, but it’s exciting to see new notices show up for upcoming design work at Epic Universe nonetheless.
For now, there have been rumors from Team Members working inside of Epic Universe that we could see a couple of the locked doors inside of the Wizarding World actually open someday.
According to some folks we’ve spoken to, the patisserie at the back of the area may someday open, and the theory is that it could offer real-life versions of the fantastic beasts-shaped treats created by Jacob Kowalski in the film.
A sneak peak for these creations can actually be spotted in the fake window displays for this non-operating patisserie. You can however purchase branded merchandise for Kowalski’s Bakery, currently for sale at the land’s candy store across the way.
The interior space for this Patisserie facade is quite small according to permits, so it’s unclear if it will ever actually open for business or will remain only for show, but the robes shop on the other side of the street is very different.
Patisserie at number 1, Robe shop at number 2
Permits showed this as part of the retail space in this area, and while the door to this Parisian version of Madam Malkin’s Robes retail location is currently locked, perhaps someday it may open.
These possible future additions to Epic’s Wizarding World could be similar to the way Sugarplums or Globus Mundi opened later after the opening of Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida.
HEXaPOT Dark Ride, Simtec Systems
Speaking of the Wizarding World in Epic Universe, the ride technology behind the impressive Battle at the Ministry ride has been revealed by its manufacturer.
From Simtec Systems, the HEXaPOT dark ride system utilizes 6 degrees of freedom motion platform, and the official video below shows how it is capable of a wider range than the Ministry of Magic ride uses.
The company says this ride system is engineered to handle larger payloads, up to 30 passengers per vehicle, while delivering highly dynamic and precise motion.
Like the way the tracked KUKA arm ride vehicle, first introduced with Forbidden Journey, has since been utilized in other attractions around the world, we may someday see this more heavy duty ride system applied elsewhere as well.
Universal recently announced that original music created for Celestial Park will be released on vinyl and digital in 2026. For now, they have released three tracks from upcoming album, which you can listen to on Apple, Spotify, and Amazon.
The three Celestial Park soundtrack selections include Court of the Moon Theme, which plays in the courtyard in front of the Luna statue, “Majestic Rising (Reprise of Apollo),” for the statue at the back of the park, and the daytime version of the on-ride music for Stardust Racers.
These tracks were produced by IMAscore in Germany, who have created the original music for Celestial Park. These songs have also been used in marketing and behind the scenes videos.
Celestial Park & Dark Universe Albums Coming to Streaming pic.twitter.com/JBEWMFjRuF
— Gprodigy (@G_Prodigy) July 27, 2025
The news for the new album was first announced at Comic-Con. It was also announced that the Dark Universe album, which has only been available on vinyl so far, will also be made available on streaming. Danny Elfman composed the original music for that land. John Powell’s new arrangements for the Isle of Berk will be released too.
Not much was announced at the panel on Epic Universe at Comic-Con that we didn’t already know, except for one interesting thing for Isle of Berk. The extremely popular mac and cheese cones will see a variation with turkey released this Fall!
In addition to news on the original score for Celestial Park, this month saw Universal’s official blog drop new lore for Epic Universe’s original land. While it delves deeper into things like The Chronos, which powers the portals, and The Celestians, who live in Celestial Park, there are a few new pieces of info worth exploring.
Flux capacitor photo by Bioreoconstruct
The backstory as to why there are Flux Capacitors on the back of the trains for Stardust Racers has been revealed. According to the story, Doc Brown happened to travel through the portal into Celestial Park. While he was here he helped the Celestians stabilize the comets for racing using his technology.
And we finally know who the smallest door is for at the Moonship Chocolates candy store. In story there are doors for Maya of the Skies, and her navigator Captain Cacao, but until now we had no idea who the smallest door was for, with the initials M.L..
Apparently M.L. stands for Major Lolli. She is a little sugar glider who joined the team, and makes sure the moonship is kept in tip-top shape. We’ll see if we get some sugar glider merch to go along with the Captain Cacao plush, whenever it’s back in stock that is.
And before we wrap up, there was a fire at the bus depot just outside of Epic Universe last week. I happened to be in the park that day and was able to see what the smoke looked like from the ground, as shown in the photo above.
Location of bus depot, west of Epic Universe
Luckily no one was hurt, but two buses did catch fire while parked at the station, located outside the park, just west of Kirkman Road.
Bioreconstruct was able to get photos shortly after the incident, which give you an idea of just how serious the fire was. Thankfully firefighters were able to get it under control quickly, and again, no one was harmed.
That’s all for now, but don’t miss the video version of this story for additional visuals. Big thanks to Bioreconstruct for sharing all of the aerial photos seen in this story.
Be sure to check out our recent deep dive into the new planning documents for the new Universal theme park being built in the UK! We will be following that project from the very start, just like we had done for Epic Universe.
Subscribe to the news feed or enter your email address below to never miss an update. Official Art: Universal Destinations & Experiences | Aerial Photos: Bioreconstruct | Permit Documents: fasttrack.ocfl.net | Additional Photos & Graphics: Alicia Stella | Other Images as Captioned
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