Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[Alicia]

And what if it doesn’t have the same ammenities?

Like a slide.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

And what if it doesn’t have the same ammenities?

They’re not the same but different. Rooftop bar, likely to have restaurants, pool, nicest rooms at UOR, as well as on site access to a top 3 park in Orlando. That’s the ammenities.

 

[grlhowl]

Any chance we see some teases next month followed by some Super Bowl promotion? I think we'll definitely see it ramp up during the Olympics, considering they're on NBC, but I can't see them doing the first major reveal/promotion less than a year before opening.

 

[HandsomePete]

They’re not the same but different. Rooftop bar, likely to have restaurants, pool, nicest rooms at UOR, as well as on site access to a top 3 park in Orlando. That’s the ammenities.

The tradeoff is going to be short walking distance to one park versus longer walking distance to two parks + CityWalk + VB nearby.

Poly/GF/Contemporary are so expensive because they’re 1) next to the premier park in Orlando that is 2) a real pain to get to from anywhere other than those three hotels. For a family on a 3-4 night stay, bussing to the existing property and getting dropped off by the parking garages is going to be a bigger annoyance than the people going the other direction getting dropped off right by the park entrance.

All of that to say, the market will bear the price it deserves. Until they release details I think it’s hard to make any real proclamations on rates.

 

[graspthesun]

Any chance we see some teases next month followed by some Super Bowl promotion? I think we'll definitely see it ramp up during the Olympics, considering they're on NBC, but I can't see them doing the first major reveal/promotion less than a year before opening.

I think Super Bowl ads will be held for 2025. They're very expensive and it would be a good start for the final pre-opening push in February 2025.

I can't imagine that Helios doesn't open as the flagship hotel for the resort and sits at the top of the hotel tiers alongside Portofino. I still think that Royal Pacific will get repositioned to be more in line with Sapphire Falls, but I don't have any hard intel on that.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Any chance we see some teases next month followed by some Super Bowl promotion? I think we'll definitely see it ramp up during the Olympics, considering they're on NBC, but I can't see them doing the first major reveal/promotion less than a year before opening.

I can. I'd be very surprised if they do a major announcement before the Olympics.

 

[Clive]

I think Super Bowl ads will be held for 2025. They're very expensive and it would be a good start for the final pre-opening push in February 2025.

I can't imagine that Helios doesn't open as the flagship hotel for the resort and sits at the top of the hotel tiers alongside Portofino. I still think that Royal Pacific will get repositioned to be more in line with Sapphire Falls, but I don't have any hard intel on that.

If I'm not mistaken, Universal contractually cannot remove the Express arrangement with any of the three original hotels - Portofino, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific - so the latter should stay in that category/collection, albeit as the "lowest" of the four. I would be shocked if Helios does not eventually get the Express perk like the others.

 

[Alicia]

If I'm not mistaken, Universal contractually cannot remove the Express arrangement with any of the three original hotels - Portofino, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific - so the latter should stay in that category/collection, albeit as the "lowest" of the four. I would be shocked if Helios does not eventually get the Express perk like the others.

I agree with all of this. As soon as Epic Universe rides themselves start offering Express access, that will add a whole new park's worth of Express capacity, so I would assume then Helios could offer that perk to guests of the hotel. (Until then, it probably couldn't without losing Express sales capacity.)

 

[Clive]

I agree with all of this. As soon as Epic Universe rides themselves start offering Express access, that will add a whole new park's worth of Express capacity, so I would assume then Helios could offer that perk to guests of the hotel. (Until then, it probably couldn't without losing Express sales capacity.)

This is what I figured. I assumed (apparently incorrectly) that most of Epic would open with Express, giving the resort the added capacity to offer another Express-enabled hotel. Makes sense that they'll hold off until Express activates... though I'm curious how they will message that their shiny new prestigious hotel does not initially come with the same perks as their decades-old facilities.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

This is what I figured. I assumed (apparently incorrectly) that most of Epic would open with Express, giving the resort the added capacity to offer another Express-enabled hotel. Makes sense that they'll hold off until Express activates... though I'm curious how they will message that their shiny new prestigious hotel does not initially come with the same perks as their decades-old facilities.

Orlando's first "true" in-park hotel

 

[Alicia]

This is what I figured. I assumed (apparently incorrectly) that most of Epic would open with Express, giving the resort the added capacity to offer another Express-enabled hotel. Makes sense that they'll hold off until Express activates... though I'm curious how they will message that their shiny new prestigious hotel does not initially come with the same perks as their decades-old facilities.

Location location location.

 

[Magic-Man]

This might be more of a question for the hotel thread, but how are we expecting the in-park hotel to affect park operations? Isn't the main reason Volcano Bay can't be open at night because of guest complaints from Cabana Bay? I'd imagine that Starfall and Werewolf wouldn't be able to run past a certain time.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

This might be more of a question for the hotel thread, but how are we expecting the in-park hotel to affect park operations? Isn't the main reason Volcano Bay can't be open at night because of guest complaints from Cabana Bay? I'd imagine that Starfall and Werewolf wouldn't be able to run past a certain time.

I don’t think that’s the reason VB closes early. The Grand Californian at Disneyland has its most expensive rooms quite literally next door to a small roller coaster that stays open as late as 11 (or later on party nights). I don’t think EU will run into any operational issues some soundproof windows can’t fix.

 

[quinnmac000]

This is what I figured. I assumed (apparently incorrectly) that most of Epic would open with Express, giving the resort the added capacity to offer another Express-enabled hotel. Makes sense that they'll hold off until Express activates... though I'm curious how they will message that their shiny new prestigious hotel does not initially come with the same perks as their decades-old facilities.

SImple...open the park an hour early for only helios hotel guests....they should be able to get a lot done in that hour as long as not all of them go to the same attraction.

 

[HHN Maddux]

We are now approximately about 17-18 months from Epic opening!

 

[Alicia]

We are now approximately about 17-18 months from Epic opening!

Edit: Yea that sounds about right. At least, grand opening anyway.

 

[Paulio]

We are now approximately about 17-18 months from Epic opening!

Tell me about it. We're closer to seeing the newest, additional theme park in the Orlando area for a long time. I'm gonna wait to book the trip unless we have a specific date for EU's opening.

 

[BayAreaBubba]

This might be more of a question for the hotel thread, but how are we expecting the in-park hotel to affect park operations? Isn't the main reason Volcano Bay can't be open at night because of guest complaints from Cabana Bay? I'd imagine that Starfall and Werewolf wouldn't be able to run past a certain time.

I've stayed in the Volcano Bay view room twice and the only thing I remember hearing was the wave-pool alert melody, which is loud but I'll admit. And maybe the blast when the volcano would erupt (though I could be making this up). The windows do a good job at blocking out noise, I don't think noise is an issue. Starfall's layout is also pretty far from the hotel and Wolfman is a low-coaster that is completely surrounded by other buildings which will help the noise.

 

[NotPennysBoat]

I guess we won’t know till it opens, but I agree that noise shouldn’t be a problem. Would imagine with the fireworks right behind the hotel and the possible theme park noise, they would provide adequate soundproofing for the rooms.

 

[Mad Dog]

I've stayed in the Volcano Bay view room twice and the only thing I remember hearing was the wave-pool alert melody, which is loud but I'll admit. And maybe the blast when the volcano would erupt (though I could be making this up). The windows do a good job at blocking out noise, I don't think noise is an issue. Starfall's layout is also pretty far from the hotel and Wolfman is a low-coaster that is completely surrounded by other buildings which will help the noise.

Same here. I don't recall any noise issues.