Epic Universe & Universal Orlando News: Wall Permits, New Parcel, and Rockit Demolition

Construction is once again happening at Universal Epic Universe, and permits now confirm what the green steel beams and materials will be used for at the back of the park. Plus, could Universal Orlando already be starting work on another 50-acre parcel of land located near the Epic site? And Hollywood Rip Rockit is already halfway demolished just days after officially closing.

Let’s dig into all of those stories and more in today’s news update. See the video version of this story below for additional visuals.

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EPIC UNIVERSE WALL CONSTRUCTION

We are beginning our update at Epic Universe, where there are several open permits for new construction around the area.

Construction has officially started at the back edge of the theme park, behind the Stardust Racers roller coaster.

As we discussed in our previous update, permits have confirmed that these green materials that have been staged in an expansion plot will in fact be used to construct a large wall along this side of Epic Universe.

Permits filed with Orange County describe the work as:
“Building a 17′ sound wall that spans 0.53 miles long. The wall will be built with steel columns that will be erected every 20′ in most locations and will be infilled with panels attaching to the web of the columns. The columns will be supported by auger cast pile foundations.”

The work is valued at $5 million according to public documents. And this half-mile long 17 foot-tall wall will be able to withstand 139 mile per hour winds.

The wall is being described as a “sound wall.” This is the same description for the tall wall behind Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, which block the view of the outside world from the park while helping to keep the noise in.

The permits, which expire in February 2026, were filed by Universal’s special district, the Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District. They oversee any projects related to the water treatment plant that may affect the properties Universal owns, which is likely why the wall permits were filed by them and not Universal themselves.

Land for the new wall project has been cleared from the back of the park, all the way at Sand Lake Rd, down to the edge of the water treatment plant’s property, behind Stardust Racers.

This will put the new wall on the outside of Epic Universe’s backstage ring road, which encircles the park.

A bypass road section was created during construction. This will allow Team Member shuttles to bypass the usual ring road backstage, as it will be used by cranes and other construction equipment to construct the wall.

Footings for the new wall are being installed now along the cleared section of land, with heavy equipment pile driving into the earth.

With a permit end date of February, and work already underway, it’s possible we could see this half-mile wall go up rather quickly.

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NEW PARCEL NEAR EPIC UNIVERSE

New permits submitted to the South Florida Water Management District show that Universal is ready to begin some sort of work on one of their parcels located near Epic Universe.

Described as a 53.76 acre plot of land, just west of the Epic Universe theme park, and located along Universal Blvd, permits refer to the project as “West Parcel Mass Grading.”

The official permit image above shows the location and shape of this 50-acre site, which is essentially located between Epic Universe and the Endless Summer Resort, on the east side of Universal Blvd.

The graphic below by Tommy Hawkins gives a satellite view of the property in relation to the Epic Universe theme park. It also gives us a better idea of just how large this particular parcel is.

Unfortunately public documents do not say what exactly they are going to be grading this large parcel for, but environmental resource permits have been filed for “New Construction/Operation.”

The type of work selected in the permit documents for this parcel is listed as “Construction and operation of new works, activities and/or stormwater management system,” which could mean a lot of different things.

The same document later describes this application as “UNIVERSAL SLRC CONCEPTUAL PERMIT MODIFICATION.” While work should be happening here in the near future, which is likely to prepare the land for something, there is still no telling whether they’re preparing to utilize the land soon, or just readying it now for a future date.

Rumors for this, and other satellite parcels around Epic Universe, have varied over the last 8 or so years since this land was acquired.

Concepts like new hotels, entertainment districts similar to CityWalk, or even smaller park venues like water parks, Universal Kids, or Universal Horror Unleashed have been speculated on, but we do not have any recent information on how this particular section of land may be used.

Regardless of their intended use for this section of land, it is exciting to see Universal planning for something down the line, even if it won’t be happening immediately.

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EPIC UNIVERSE NEWS

In other Epic Universe news, Universal Express has been added to two more attractions at the new theme park.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness now accept Express, two of the most popular rides in the park.

The only ride that does not accept Express now is Dragon Racers Rally in How to Train Your Dragon.

The Dark Universe soundtrack has been released digitally, and is now available on streaming services.

This 16 track album is 40 minutes long, and orchestrated by Danny Elfman. In addition to music you can hear throughout the land’s streets, shops, dining, and attraction queues, the soundtrack also includes the entire musical backing track for Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.

You can find the album on streaming services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Amazon Music. It had previously only been available on vinyl, for sale within Epic Universe.

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RIP RIDE ROCKIT DEMOLITION

Shifting gears and heading to the northern end of the resort, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit officially closed last week, with its last day of operation on August 17th, 2025, after 16 years of operation.

Universal wasted no time demolishing the former attraction, with large sections of coaster track already removed from both ends after just a couple days. See video of the track being removed from Bioreconstruct.

The Rockit characters from the queue are greeting guests as they enter for their final rides of Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. @UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/fDStSZyoWd

— Inside Universal (@insideuniversal) August 17, 2025

To celebrate its closure, the park did have real life meet and greet characters roaming around, based on the animated people in the queue videos and safety briefings. This is the first time these characters have ever appeared in the flesh. Riders were also handed a farewell tour guitar pick after exiting the ride on the final day.

Now, a week later, and it’s clear that Universal is serious about getting this attraction cleared as quickly as possible, with demolition crews working through the night to remove pieces of track, and even continuing into the days.

Rockit is gone gone from the firehouse. @UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/IZqHB4TEXa

— magic city mayhem (@magiccitymayhem) August 27, 2025

A section of the New York street has been blocked off from guest traffic in front of the firehouse facade, but this was one of the first sections to see its track removed.

Track pieces in the area closest to CityWalk were the first to go, with piles of discarded track seen stacked up in aerial photographs from Bioreconstruct.

The photo above shows a cut piece of track, revealing the sand or gravel that was inside of it, a method of reducing vibration and dampening sound.

With the damage being caused to the track to remove it, and no care taken to keep it in decent shape, it’s obvious this ride will not be sold or repurposed. This ride is being scrapped.

As we discussed in our last update, permits seem to indicate that Rip Ride Rockit will be replaced with a new roller coaster ride, which will occupy mostly the same footprint, but with additional space added at either end.

See our recent story for more rumored details and permit information on the new attraction, including how the new ride’s station may be laid out.

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VOLCANO BAY UPDATES AND OTHER REFURBS

Universal Orlando’s water park, Volcano Bay, is scheduled to close for its first major seasonal refurbishment. The entire park will close in about a year, remaining shut from October 26th, 2026 through March 24th, 2027 at the latest. It may reopen sooner if it is ready.

One big change to the water park that we’ll see this year, is the removal of the TapuTapu wearable and the park’s virtual line reservation system. It is officially being retired on October 1, 2025.

Permits for minor tweaks are already starting to post now, but in addition to refurbishments and updates to the park’s attractions, we should also expect modifications to add actual space for queuing now that TapuTapu is going away. This will especially be important for the Krakatau Aqua Coaster, the most popular attraction.

To help take some of the load off of that ride and others, it is speculated that we may see the long-awaited expansion into the reserved expansion plot at the south side of the water park.

No word on what types of slides or attractions we could see added, if in fact they do pull the trigger on adding more to the park, but we will keep an eye on permits as we get closer to the planned closure date.

Major refurbishments are expected soon for attractions at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida in the coming months as well.

Jurassic Park River Adventure has been rumored to be getting a major overhaul when it closes for its annual winter refurbishment at the end of this year or early next year.

River Adventure is currently rumored to close for much longer than usual. This would allow time to upgrade all of the dinosaur animatronics and refresh show elements throughout the ride.

Universal has not yet confirmed these rumors, but we should learn more, if it is in fact happening, in the coming months.

I do not believe River Adventure will be rethemed to Jurassic World if this rumored refurb is actually going to happen, but I can see a major overhaul to the appearance of the dinosaurs, even if it is keeping the Jurassic Park theme.

We’ll keep you up to date on all of those possible projects, as well as the possibility of Fast & Furious Supercharged closing for a Back to the Future overlay in the coming years, so stay tuned to the channel.

Be sure to see the video version of this story for additional visuals. Big thanks to Bioreconstruct for sharing all of the aerial photos seen in this story.

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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