Celestial Park - Reviews, Photos & Media

[BigRed98]

Having spent the day in Epic, it’s really obvious the plan was to open Celestial in the evenings City Walk style. The gates on the portals make it easy to close off lands (for the night or for corporate buyouts), but the capacity of the restaurants and bars in Celestial is really designed for huge numbers already, and that’s even before Blue Dragon and the big Mexitalian restaurant come on line. I really have to believe they’ll open Celestial Park at night, even if it’s just for the resort guests. Gotta fill those tables!

We probably should have a dedicated food of EU thread since there’s so much to try. We ended up eating two meals yesterday, and both were excellent. The quick serve restaurants are all encouraging using the app and scanning table numbers for food delivery like in a few of the North Campus venues.

We ate our first meal at Oak and Star. The restaurant and the Plastered Owl Bar are absolutely gorgeous inside. Beautiful arts & crafts style meets deco details throughout. Huge fireplace front and center when you walk in, with a second hearth in the dining room to the left.

We both ordered the two meat platters, which each came with choice of side and honey cornbread. Portions seemed small at first, but it turned out they were exactly right— not too much, nothing wasted, felt full in the end. I got the brisket and pulled pork with the burnt ends baked beans, Brian got the brisket and the smoked sausage with the mac and cheese, and also ordered a side of the slaw so we could try that. Meats come unsauced with four varieties of sauce on each table to add to taste. The 14 hour brisket absolutely melts in your mouth, and is legit some of the best I’ve ever had. Pulled pork and sausage were both excellent as well. Sides were small but really delicious and the entire meal was great. Comparable to Four Rivers in (regular) price, so I think this will be a real winner.

While waiting for Monsters to reopen we decided to check out Das Stakehaus and tried the red velvet coffin cake dessert which was good. The atmosphere of Das Stakehaus is great.

For our final meal we went to Pizza Moon. I absolutely love the whimsical theme elements inside. Really beautifully done. We split a Nanarossa which was more than enough for two people. The pizza was excellent, although there were some hiccups with service. We ordered through the app and put in the table number, and when our pie came it was beautiful. We asked for plates and the server brought them but we didn’t have napkins or utensils— those come from the cashier, so if you’re mobile ordering currently you have to go up and get them yourself. I’m sure this will be remedied quickly and easily, and is the point of these previews to figure out issues. We also ordered the Meyer lemon olive oil Moon Phase cake which was quite tasty, but was delivered with one spoon. I’m sure most people share desserts, so once again it required going and asking for a second spoon. The cake was really good— perfect balance of sweet and tart, and the presentation was beautiful. The limoncello sauce was quite boozy tasting (I loved it, Brian not so much) and the fresh blackberries and raspberry crunch were so good.

All in all, great food experiences and I look forward to trying more next week!

Is the Plastered Owl an actual bar with bar seats?

 

[jarmor]

We haven’t received any surveys and we weren’t asked for feedback, so I’m not sure how they’re monitoring the process other than watching what’s actually happening in the moment

I mean, I think they are doing the employee/family previews to get into a grove and to see how things break and what it takes to fix it. It is not the final product so why ask for feedback when what you may say is already in the works?

I'm an enthusiast as well and really appreciate this breakdown. Mack for me has been hit and miss (I'm not a fan of Copperhead Strike but really enjoy Time Traveler.) Have you been on Velocicoaster, and if so how does is it compare for you?

I have been on VC and, to me, it is more about the inversions and turns/transitions. Copperhead strike is about the slow hangtime and inversions as well. Stardust made me instantly think of Superman:ROS at SF new england with those airtime moments and now intamin did those s-turn airtime hills. The coaster is a masterpiece from start to finish. The celestial spin is the chef's kiss of inversions. Like I said, I liked the yellow side because the airtime was stronger (to me) and I like falling into the spin vs rising into it. The initial launch will catch everyone by surprise in a WTF is happening way lol.

Is the Plastered Owl an actual bar with bar seats?

Yes. And some of the strongest drinks i've had in the parks! My friend had to water his down lol.

 

[GAcoaster]

Is the Plastered Owl an actual bar with bar seats?

It is a bar that is part of Oak & Star that takes up a portion of the right side dining area for inside service, and an outside patio section behind the oak tree looking towards Celestiki and the big fountain show area.

Forgot to mention, Frosty Moon is now open. Also the area around the show fountain still has not opened yet.

Celestiki seems to be very popular already and had frozen margaritas.

 

[Jake S]

I mean, I think they are doing the employee/family previews to get into a grove and to see how things break and what it takes to fix it. It is not the final product so why ask for feedback when what you may say is already in the works?

Because it also might not already be in the works. Getting feedback on products/experiences still in development is very, very normal. That said, it's possible they are sourcing feedback — just not in a way that is obvious to us right now.

 

[Rhian]

Because it also might not already be in the works. Getting feedback on products/experiences still in development is very, very normal. That said, it's possible they are sourcing feedback — just not in a way that is obvious to us right now.

Universal reading this thread right now:

Right now there's a lot of glaring issues such a Monsters' unreliability so it may not be useful getting feedback on a majority of the issues they're aware of. We'll see if APs, which are more likely to be made up of the general public, are asked about their visit. Perhaps they'll station employees near the exit like they do at the current parks doing surveys.

 

[GAcoaster]

Forgot to mention— one of the biggest fears I had about the park is the sewage treatment plant next door. They seem to have (mostly) mitigated the issue— we didn’t smell anything in the park and according to TMs who have been on property for months said the smell has been mostly gone for a few months now. That being said, while walking out to the car at the end of the day you could definitely smell it. I assume it was because of the strong winds that had picked up.

Glad they managed to abate the situation for the sake of the park, but it makes you wonder why they didn’t do it a LONG time ago for the poor people who live in Tangelo park except that they are poor people so the politicians didn’t care.

 

[Disneyhead]

Happy to report that early rumors of premixed drinks at CelesTiki are false. The only premixed drinks they have are the 3-ish frozen drinks. Pina Colada, Margarita, and Mudslide. They have a frozen Strawberry Mocktail that they can add rum to for a Strawberry Daiquiri. The Waturi Punch is a hand mixed tiki cocktail. Rum, fruit juices, with a dark rum floater. Could see myself drinking several...if someone else is buying.

I had a Lobe Blaster at Bar Moonshine in Potter's Paris. Strongly recommend.

Reaper's Reserve beer at Burning Blade. I have thoughts. Looks like a darkish beer. Tastes and smells like...not what I was expecting.

As far as food. I had the GARLIC pretzel at Burning Blade. I loved it. The people I got within 10 feet of, probably not so much.

I also had a pepperoni pizza at Pizza Moon. It reminded me very much of Red Ovens pizza. A step above all theme park pizza except Via Napoli.

A beer & pretzel, 2 cocktails, and a pizza & coke. $100.




With employee discount.

 

[Jake S]

A beer & pretzel, 2 cocktails, and a pizza & coke. $100.




With employee discount.

*long, exasperated sigh*

 

[Mad Dog]

Happy to report that early rumors of premixed drinks at CelesTiki are false. The only premixed drinks they have are the 3-ish frozen drinks. Pina Colada, Margarita, and Mudslide. They have a frozen Strawberry Mocktail that they can add rum to for a Strawberry Daiquiri. The Waturi Punch is a hand mixed tiki cocktail. Rum, fruit juices, with a dark rum floater. Could see myself drinking several...if someone else is buying.

I had a Lobe Blaster at Bar Moonshine in Potter's Paris. Strongly recommend.

Reaper's Reserve beer at Burning Blade. I have thoughts. Looks like a darkish beer. Tastes and smells like...not what I was expecting.

As far as food. I had the GARLIC pretzel at Burning Blade. I loved it. The people I got within 10 feet of, probably not so much.

I also had a pepperoni pizza at Pizza Moon. It reminded me very much of Red Ovens pizza. A step above all theme park pizza except Via Napoli.

A beer & pretzel, 2 cocktails, and a pizza & coke. $100.




With employee discount.

When it comes to alcoholic drinks, @Disneyhead is an expert. I can personally vouch for him. Take his opinions as fact.

 

[fryoj]

Happy to report that early rumors of premixed drinks at CelesTiki are false. The only premixed drinks they have are the 3-ish frozen drinks. Pina Colada, Margarita, and Mudslide. They have a frozen Strawberry Mocktail that they can add rum to for a Strawberry Daiquiri. The Waturi Punch is a hand mixed tiki cocktail. Rum, fruit juices, with a dark rum floater. Could see myself drinking several...if someone else is buying.

I had a Lobe Blaster at Bar Moonshine in Potter's Paris. Strongly recommend.

Reaper's Reserve beer at Burning Blade. I have thoughts. Looks like a darkish beer. Tastes and smells like...not what I was expecting.

As far as food. I had the GARLIC pretzel at Burning Blade. I loved it. The people I got within 10 feet of, probably not so much.

I also had a pepperoni pizza at Pizza Moon. It reminded me very much of Red Ovens pizza. A step above all theme park pizza except Via Napoli.

A beer & pretzel, 2 cocktails, and a pizza & coke. $100.




With employee discount.

They have... Mudslides?!?

 

[Disneyhead]

They have... Mudslides?!?

On tap. They got you.

 

[DrStarlander]

Because it also might not already be in the works. Getting feedback on products/experiences still in development is very, very normal. That said, it's possible they are sourcing feedback — just not in a way that is obvious to us right now.

This is so spot on. My experience in playtesting and consumer research is mostly in gaming, and there are some similarities between gaming/interactive entertainment and theme parks. We would start testing early on and test all throughout development. In the early phases, with a lot of the feedback we got, we would nod, smile, jot down the note, and thank the tester (but it was obvious no-brainer stuff we didn't need to be told). That's okay, no harm.

As the project went along, the testing uncovered more serious things we had missed -- and as the deadline was looming closer -- the feedback became increasingly valuable.

But there was no obvious line in the sand as to when that cross-over would occur (it was not a hard before/after transition, it was a fuzzy line). So that's why we started early and kept testing all along.

Sometimes, even early, we'd get some feedback that would require a lot of time to address...and we were thankful to learn about it as early as possible. Hearing about it later could have jeopardized the timeline.

Often, very late in the project, after countless people had tested it, a tester would point something out that no employee or tester had never noticed. It was shocking sometimes what problem was right in front of our face, unnoticed. So just the "numbers" (having more eyes on it, more testers) meant we had a statistically higher chance of catching stuff.

They have 60 days until they open the park. There could be all sorts of unexpected issues that would require more time to address. Say they hear that their parking signs can't be "read" by people with certain color-blindness due to the hues a designer used but failed to test for color blindness; or that a certain Celestial Park lighting effect is causing neuro sensory issues; or a graphic symbol/reference is being perceived as culturally offensive; or a plant is causing allergic reactions. Who knows what happens when you build something this complicated and bring tens of thousands of people in. I'd be wanting to hear about anything and everything now so I could decide what to jump on urgently or not.

 

[Frank Drackman]

seeing the emerald gate, the kronos -- looking through the kronos portal one sees Luna, noticing how GRAND the Helios hotel appears off in the distance -- just WOW, so much detail, so much to take in. Approaching the portal, I realize how incredible the sound system is in this park, I mean (as @Disneyhead called it) the 'soundtrack' starts back in the parking lot, but approaching the kronos portal, I can hear the energy swoosh or maybe the heartbeat of the park the sounds are placed where they belong -- when one approaches the Nintendo World area, sounds from Mario seem to start to blend into the Celestial sound track. We have seen the lighting from above, but the sounds, the placement of each sound.....I cannot wait to see some time of show that uses all that Celestial Park has to offer!

Sightlines, weenies -- I found it hard to explain how neat I found the skylines -- portals competing with other elements of the worlds they contain, weenies to draw you every which way -- the Dark Universe portal competing with Frankenstein Manor, the Berk Portal competing with the mountain top within Berk -- how the Helios appears as such a centerpiece.

The carousel -- I tend not to care for them, I ended up riding Constellation Carousel three times. Between waiting to ride and riding, I must have seen five different routines. Not sure how many there are, but the music is different on different runs and the animals represented seem to move with the music. For each run, I saw many folks just smiling, the vibe felt sort of hypnotic. For one routine, the music stopped, sounded like the track was being rewound (or maybe a record scratching) at which time everything started going in the opposite direction as if the ride were now being rewound, running backwards.

I know Stardust has its own topic but I'll just mention it seems the left (yellow) side is more of an airtime machine while the right (green) side is more intense. I did not find the ride rough at all, it was not smooth as glass but I do not think it was rough and certainly not uncomfortable. Two great tracks with many more 'close calls' than Dueling Dragons ever had -- lots of fun!

One thing I found odd well maybe different -- restrooms, they are all outside the restaurants (not sure about Atlantic and the Blue Dragon) but thought it worth mentioning the Pizza Moon and The Oak and Tavern do not have bathrooms inside.

There is a small outdoor theatre near Starbucks were a few Celstians were telling stories about the portals/kronos and such.

There is just way too much to take in. I hope to be exploring this park for many years to come!

 

[Ryuniversal]

Forgot to mention— one of the biggest fears I had about the park is the sewage treatment plant next door. They seem to have (mostly) mitigated the issue— we didn’t smell anything in the park and according to TMs who have been on property for months said the smell has been mostly gone for a few months now. That being said, while walking out to the car at the end of the day you could definitely smell it. I assume it was because of the strong winds that had picked up.

Glad they managed to abate the situation for the sake of the park, but it makes you wonder why they didn’t do it a LONG time ago for the poor people who live in Tangelo park except that they are poor people so the politicians didn’t care.

Wait their is a sewage plant next door what is used for.

 

[Disneyhead]

One of the first things I noticed was the music approaching the Chronos. And the use of sub-woofers. Amazing effect. Very cinematic...in real life.

 

[Jones14]

seeing the emerald gate, the kronos -- looking through the kronos portal one sees Luna, noticing how GRAND the Helios hotel appears off in the distance -- just WOW, so much detail, so much to take in. Approaching the portal, I realize how incredible the sound system is in this park, I mean (as @Disneyhead called it) the 'soundtrack' starts back in the parking lot, but approaching the kronos portal, I can hear the energy swoosh or maybe the heartbeat of the park the sounds are placed where they belong -- when one approaches the Nintendo World area, sounds from Mario seem to start to blend into the Celestial sound track. We have seen the lighting from above, but the sounds, the placement of each sound.....I cannot wait to see some time of show that uses all that Celestial Park has to offer!

Sightlines, weenies -- I found it hard to explain how neat I found the skylines -- portals competing with other elements of the worlds they contain, weenies to draw you every which way -- the Dark Universe portal competing with Frankenstein Manor, the Berk Portal competing with the mountain top within Berk -- how the Helios appears as such a centerpiece.

The carousel -- I tend not to care for them, I ended up riding Constellation Carousel three times. Between waiting to ride and riding, I must have seen five different routines. Not sure how many there are, but the music is different on different runs and the animals represented seem to move with the music. For each run, I saw many folks just smiling, the vibe felt sort of hypnotic. For one routine, the music stopped, sounded like the track was being rewound (or maybe a record scratching) at which time everything started going in the opposite direction as if the ride were now being rewound, running backwards.

I know Stardust has its own topic but I'll just mention it seems the left (yellow) side is more of an airtime machine while the right (green) side is more intense. I did not find the ride rough at all, it was not smooth as glass but I do not think it was rough and certainly not uncomfortable. Two great tracks with many more 'close calls' than Dueling Dragons ever had -- lots of fun!

One thing I found odd well maybe different -- restrooms, they are all outside the restaurants (not sure about Atlantic and the Blue Dragon) but thought it worth mentioning the Pizza Moon and The Oak and Tavern do not have bathrooms inside.

Oak & Star has bathrooms on the right side! They’re just past the freestyle machines.

 

[GAcoaster]

Oak & Star has bathrooms on the right side! They’re just past the freestyle machines.

They are small though.

Yesterday we did get a survey and filled it out.

 

[DrStarlander]

I'm watching all the video tours of Epic and I'm just gobsmacked at the details and "plussing." Take this image for example showing the WOOD ceiling of a small Celestial Park F&B (apologies for not knowing which one). Obviously that could have just been drywall. And look at the STAINED GLASS! That's the kind of stuff that's just blowing me away. I'm so happy for Universal, they should be proud, they really built something very special, which is a real gift to theme park fans.

 

[OrlLover]

I'm watching all the video tours of Epic and I'm just gobsmacked at the details and "plussing." Take this image for example showing the WOOD ceiling of a small Celestial Park F&B (apologies for not knowing which one). Obviously that could have just been drywall. And look at the STAINED GLASS! That's the kind of stuff that's just blowing me away. I'm so happy for Universal, they should be proud, they really built something very special, which is a real gift to theme park fans.

View attachment 25811

Did you see vid of the Moonship shop ?

Crazy details !!!

 

[UNIrd]

Yeah, yeah. All the lands were cool. But Celestial Park is where I want to hang out.

Love the music, the details, the vibe... What seems like a real nice assortment of bars and restaurants that will take me quite a few visits to try them all.

I could see where the original rumors of it having its own set of Park Hours to enjoy after the rest is closed came from. Wish they could make that happen. But in the meantime, I need an EU AP ASAP!