Epic Universe - Celestial Park

Earlier today Jennifer and I attended an Annual Passholder preview of Universal’s new park, Epic Universe. It’s located a few miles southeast of the Universal Orlando Resort. We arrived a little more than an hour before opening, and slowly made our way through security and into the park’s entry area and hub, Celestial Park, where we waited for the rest of the park to open.

 

Celestial Park contains several stores and restaurants, some fountains and plazas, and two rides.Stardust Racers is a dual track hyper coaster, and reports have been that it’s a lot of fun. Unfortunately it never opened yesterday. There’s also a carousel, which we rode after dinner, right when it started raining. It’s one of the few rides in the park which doesn’t close when there is lightning. 

We ate dinner at the Oak and Star Tavern in Celestial Park. It was pretty good, and reasonably priced for a theme park restaurant. It looked like it had some good beers and drinks too, but Jenn and I had refillable soda mugs that we refilled at the various freestyle machines around the park. 

The park entrance is located at the south end of Celestial Park. In the north is a hotel, the Grand Helios. In front of the hotel is a large fountain that has dancing waters and music periodically. Celestial Park is a nice area, although it is a little spread out and needs more shade. We enjoyed the look of the buildings and I am looking forward to coming back in a few years from now when the trees are a bit more mature.