The layout and design of the park is an interesting one. It's clearly following the design philosophy that Universal effectively originated with Islands of Adventure, built up with Hogsmeade, and perfected with Diagon Alley. Using a singular IP, high-effort theming, and a focus on "immersion" and becoming one with a singular fictional world without any outside intrusions. This has been the trend for theme park expansions for over a decade now, and this park essentially takes that philosophy to it's extremes. No more is the Loop layout of Islands of Adventure; where Toon Lagoon bridge brushes against Skull Island, which transitions cleanly into Jurassic Park. There are no transitions needed. There is a singular entrance and exit to each land, and the only way through is from the grander hub that is Celestial, which itself has the identity of a beautiful liminal space joining these disconnected worlds together. I call it "Oops! ... All Diagon Alley!" cereal, and it comes with some definite high points, and some unfortunate downsides.
This design philosophy leads to each land having incredibly different layouts and scope. No land feels like it's working against the underlying structure and skeleton of the greater park, or is brushing up against another in an obvious way. Almost everything feels like it has exactly the space it was designed to have. Contrast it to Kong at Islands nestling overly snug into an expansion plot that feels a little too close to Jurassic Park, close enough to necessitate the removal of an Iconic Jurassic Park landmark even. That's a flaw of the Loop design that parks have used essentially since Disneyland first opened. Most areas within Epic that feel tight, small, or cozy feel like they were designed for that exact purpose, and are not that way out of necessity. Has anyone coined the term - "The Blessing of Size" before? Missed opportunity on their part, so that's what I'll choose to call it. Please credit me with this development from now on. : P
The only moments where this might not be the case is Berk with the giant imposing Stardust track looming over the island, and Dark Universe with the Werewolf coaster making the land feel a little more claustrophobic than it was probably originally designed to be.
Otherwise, everything feels custom built for it's own purpose. SNW feels very vertical and full, it's compact and packed to the gills; Paris is wide yet enclosing with it's very tall and uniform buildings; Berk is wide and incredibly open, always feeling sun-drenched; and Monsters is intimate and small-scale, as well as occasionally cramped because of the Werewolf coasters layout.
Any of these faults are not due to the usual culprits that have plagued parks for a while. There are little to no areas where you can clearly see a Krusty the Clown head in Hogwarts, or Hogwarts Castle through the Jungle brush of JP. There are no close proximity theming issues like that to be found. If you aren't on a coaster or in an elevated ride queue, those kinds of issues are effectively null which is very cool!
I know we have some sightline-heads here. I don't personally consider myself a part of that crew, but for those who really care about that sort of thing, here's what I'll say.
- SNW is designed for you, it's such a perfect walled garden. The only other land you can see from the elevated portions of Mario World is DKC, which I count as an absolute win and means you can totally engross yourself in the fantasy of being in this video game world. The land itself invites that as well, but that's for that thread. DKC being as low to ground level as it is, while still being the same kind of walled garden as Mario World means it's even better with this.
- The high walls of Paris do a ton to help that land as well. Maybe Stardust or Helios are visible from some angles, but if that was ever an issue I was able to tune those out pretty easy if that means anything.
- Berk isn't great. It's wide and open nature leads to a lot of bleed-thru from Stardust, Helios, the high walls of Potter and SNW in certain far-flung places, and even the outside world and roads from areas near the back of the land closer to the Hiccup coaster station. The land is designed to emulate the kinds of sweeping shots of ocean and island you often see in the dynamic animated shots the film series is known for. When you are enjoying a ride on Hiccup's Wing Gliders this can feel just as breathtaking, open, and freeing as the films make it out to be, but it can conversely work against itself where it can feel almost barren in the wrong areas and definitely lacking in shading and effective berming across most of the visible spaces from a ground level perspective.
- Monsters' intimate nature helps to seperate itself from those Berk worries, but it's close proximity to Helios means that the hotel is not the easiest to block out in the skyline when looking Northwest. It can feel like Spaceship Earth looming above Moana Journey of Water sometimes, which works really well for the hub of Epcot, but doesn't fit anywhere as well here with the clearly opposing themes of both Helios and Dark Universe.
- Celestial Park is the only land that has consistent views of every other land, and while that works in some ways given its aformentioned role as an ethereal liminal space, it also leads to some weird views of the backsides and rough corners of lands that weren't meant to be seen. The great green Super Nintendo Wall is a massive imposing structure that can be seen from almost everywhere in Celestial Park, with Mario enemies and locales clearly visible and actively moving above it all even still. The backsides of Potter are also truly unflattering and really don't do the park's atmosphere any favors. They feel like seeing the back of MiB during HHN, or the exterior unthemed walls of Diagon as a TM, except these are built into the equivalent of Main Street USA and Cinderella's Castle Suite from the start. The wideness of Berk and short stature of Dark Universe naturally lead those into having a significantly lesser effect on the Celestial skyline. Seeing the IP beacons rising above each portal definitely strengthens the visuals of the Celestial Park skyline, with Helios being such an incredible visual as well.
The Portals themselves are really cool as entrances to each land, and they really work alongside the general elegance of Celestial Park and the great framing device of the Chronos to elevate Epic Universe far above other IP-focused parks. They work as a solid thematic break between Celestial Park and the lands themselves, using some light theming elements from each land as a way to make that transition even more smooth and gradual. The united nature of each portal's design elements makes the subtle differences between each IP even more distinct and purposeful.
The beacons above each portal work as a way to orient yourself, and are essentially the primary tool to find your way to each land. Helios itself as kind of the King Portal towering above Celestial looks stunning and beautiful, especially at dusk into nighttime when the perfectly dim lighting package really comes to life.
There was a timeline where Epic was no more than another Hollywood Studios, with IP lands connected for no greater purpose other than convenience and a general vibe of "I dunno...movies?". This is far, far from that. It all feels integrated and purposeful, and I believe that's largely because of the work put into these portals.
Outside of sightline considerations, there are other quirks and issues with park layout. It did get a tad tiring to see that Hiccup's Wing Gliders had come back online while in the back of Dark Universe, and then having to make that odyssey between the two points. At times it felt almost like a "Metroidvania"-style video game; lots of exciting exploration of new spaces! and then lots and lots of eventually grating backtracking between them too. Celestial's size doesn't help this issue much either. At times, I honestly felt myself longing for the IoA Loop, where you were always only a few steps away from the next land and would find everything the park had to offer organically and without effort. You definitely have to know where you're going to get everything done at Epic Universe in a standard day, which isn't some inevitable issue that every theme park faces. That's a result of that "Oops! ... All Diagon Alley!" design I've been talking about.
At Epic Universe, Universal has built a bunch of really incredible dead-ends, and you are invited to navigate through to the ends of all of them, which then requires you to turn backwards many, many times as well. It's a system with some solid upside like how individual the lands themselves all feel, and even logistical gains like being able to wall off specific chunks of the park for private events or maintenence in ways that would be completely unfeasible in a traditional Loop park. Those upsides don't make the obvious flaws that come from making Diagon Alley your standard much easier to deal with, in my opinion at least.
TL;DR: In conclusion, Epic Universe is a land of contrasts.
