This morning, Universal Studios will hold a news conference at the Orange County Convention Center that seems to signal that a new theme park is being announced and could be built on 540 acres that is owns, not far from the convention center. This announcement takes place prior to Disney’s D23 Expo in August, where their vision and plans for Walt Disney World are expected to be announced.
It would be the first theme park, not including the Universal’s Volcano Bay water park, in the last 20 years to open in the Orlando area, with Islands of Adventure as the last park to open, back in May 1999.
The rumor mill is working overtime with a few guesses that a new theme park might be named “Fantastic Worlds” or “Epic Universe.”
When the park announced on social media that “something epic is coming,” it triggered fans to come up with the name “Epic Universe” as a possible name for the next theme park.
“Fantastic Worlds” is another possible park name, if it is a theme park that will be coming, and would lead us to expect that we might be seeing a new Harry Potter-themed land, this time based on the film series and book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
So far, we do know this much…
Development plans from 2018 show the future construction of a new road, an empty lot possibly for parking, another empty area possibly for a new park, resort hotels, a city walk-type development, and sections for warehouses and office buildings.
The location ( 540 acres) where all this is planned is at Universal Boulevard and Destination Parkway, not actually connected to the existing Universal Orlando Resort, but only a short drive away.
Universal also could announce other news, such as a new roller coaster that may be coming to Islands of Adventure’s Jurassic Park area.
Universal has posted a dinosaur eggs graphic with a caption saying “Something is hatching…” on its Instagram.
Many of the people who commented on the post and theme park insiders believe it refers to a new Jurassic Park themed roller coaster. We shall see!
In 2015, Universal joined Nintendo in announcing that they were working together on theme park lands, so we’ll see today if that’s part of the “epic” announcement.
Universal has already broken ground on Super Nintendo World in Japan and said it will open in 2020, but has been silent about when or where Nintendo will come to Orlando. The guessing will end today, and we’ll be sure to share the news as it becomes official!
