NBCUniversal lit up the skies above Orlando on Wednesday with fireworks, flames, water, and drones, in what it called (in understated fashion) a “celebratory moment” for the grand opening of its newest multi-billion dollar bet: Epic Universe.
But first, it had to trot out Steven Spielberg.
The visionary director was not in attendance, but as a “good friend and creative consultant” to Universal’s experiences business, to quote Universal Experiences chairman Mark Woodbury, his presence was felt, particularly in the land based on the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, which is from Spielberg’s Dreamworks.
“In each of us, lies a desire to explore new worlds in search of adventures, joy, discovery and even to face our fears,” Spielberg’s voice said, as a Bellagio-esque fountain elegantly shot water high into the sky. “Through amazing stories and unforgettable characters, we are introduced to incredible worlds we only dare imagine, and in the process we discovery the hero in ourselves. Universal Epic Universe has brought those worlds to life.”
The theme park, which officially opened to the public Thursday (it has been hosting paid previews for a couple months), boasts four immersive themed lands surrounding a central green area called Celestial Park. How to Train Your Dragon’s Isle of Berk is one, as is a third Harry Potter world with the Ministry of Magic, set in a 1920s Paris setting; Super Nintendo World, based on the video game giant’s legendary IP (including, for the first time, a Donkey Kong Country section); and “Dark Universe,” based on Universal’s stable of iconic monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy.
Visitors to each land pass through a portal before entering the heavily-themed areas filled with shops, restaurants, rides, characters and attractions.
Team Comcast: CEO Brian Roberts, entertainment studios chief Donna Langley and president Mike Cavanagh at the opening of Epic Universe on May 21.
“It’s taken us probably a decade to be at this moment,” said Brian Roberts, the chairman and CEO of Comcast, speaking to reporters a few hours before the opening celebration. “It’s astonishing, the coordination of that team to come out of Beijing [where the company had just built a theme park] in the middle of COVID and do this here, where there’s never been something quite like it in the world. It is a proud moment.”
At the opening celebration Wednesday, Comcast executives including Roberts, Woodbury, Mike Cavanagh and Donna Langley joined executives from partner companies like Warner Bros. Discovery and Nintendo (Mario creator and video game legend Shigeru Miyamoto was there), as well as star talent like the cast of the upcoming live-action How to Train Your Dragon Gerard Butler (Stoick the Vast), Mason Thames (Hiccup) and Nico Parker; Harry Potter franchise stars like James & Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), Warwick Davis (Professor Flitwick) and others like WWE star Cody Rhodes, Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang, who were along for the ride.
The company turned it into an entertainment event, streaming the proceedings live on its social and digital platforms.
Epic Universe is NBCUniversal’s biggest bet yet on live experiences, a multi-billion dollar push into a side of the entertainment business that has high costs, but can deliver outsized returns, not only in revenue, but in what one top experiences executive describes as the “soft power” of stepping into an immersive world.
The park has been years in the making, as Roberts noted. First announced publicly in 2019, the park had been in development for years before then.
“Our new park represents the single-largest investment Comcast NBCUniversal has made in its theme park business and in Florida overall,” Roberts said at the time. “It reflects the tremendous excitement we have for the future of our theme park business and for our entire company’s future in Florida.”
A view of fireworks at the grand opening of Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida on May 21.
The park’s role in Florida’s larger economy was underscored by the presence of Governor Ron DeSantis, who was spotted walking through the park Wednesday evening.
While Disney has long been the dominant force in theme parks and live experiences, Comcast has responded like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, quietly learning how to take advantage of the experiential business it acquired with NBCUniversal in 2011.
Epic Universe is the culmination of those learnings. The original Universal Studios Orlando mimicked a Hollywood backlot, with soundstages and faux New York streets. Islands of Adventure created themed areas based on characters from Marvel comics (in a deal that pre-dated Disney’s acquisition of the comic company), Jurassic Park and Dr. Seuss.
Roberts noted that when they acquired NBCU, “the theme parks were not doing great in that moment,” still reeling from the global financial crisis a few years earlier. The company had begun to sell off parcels of land that it owned. And then it struck gold with Harry Potter.
Universal’s Harry Potter lands changed the course of the company’s experiences business, and led to the creation of Epic. The company recreated Hogsmeade in Island of Adventure, transporting visitors to Hogwarts castle with immersive shops, restaurants and rides. It subsequently built Diagon Alley in Universal Studios, recreating another part of the Harry Potter universe.
The reaction to the Harry Potter lands surpassed the company’s expectations, sparking Epic Universe and its four fully immersive lands as well as Celestial Park, the central land that is part space-age and part greek mythology. In fact, Universal has created an entirely mythology and backstory to Celestial Park, including characters and story arcs that visitors may be able to discover during their visit.
“It started with the idea, how do we continue to grow our Orlando business, and the realization that in order to do that, we needed another park to garner a week’s vacation, to make this a destination of choice for people on their Orlando vacation trips,” Woodbury says.
New theme parks don’t open very often, and Epic Universe is the biggest new park to open in the U.S. since Disney’s California Adventure back in 2001. The hype is real, but as always with experiential worlds, the real challenge will come years down the line, ensuring that the destinations become the must-visit that Woodbury envisions. The characters, IP and worlds are in many ways the key to that puzzle, as the grand finale to the opening celebration underscored.
As the fountain show continued and the fireworks illuminated the sky above the Grand Helios Hotel adjacent to the park, a swarm of drones spelled out the word “Epic” above Celestial Park. Finally, the “Universal Studios Fanfare” played, as the drones formed a semicircle above the hotel, mimicking in some ways the familiar spinning globe that opens every Universal film.
And as the Fanfare ended, the lights darkened, and the company prepared for Epic Universe’s first real test: Opening the doors to its paying guests seeking the “adventures” that Spielberg promised.
