Where is Epic Universe Being Built, and How Far Is It From Universal Studios?

Updated on August 18th, 2024

Epic Universe — Universal’s new high-tech theme park scheduled to open in Orlando in 2025 — is one of the most anticipated projects being worked on in the theme park world right now. For years, the company stayed tight-lipped about what was coming to the new park. However, they’ve recently begun divulging new and exciting details about Epic Universe and its lands that have us even more excited!

After years of speculation, Universal confirmed in early 2024 that Epic Universe will be made up of an east coast version of  Super Nintendo World,  a new expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that merges elements of the original and Fantastic Beasts films, and lands based on How to Train Your Dragon and Universal’s Dark Universe of famous monsters, all surrounding the central Celestial Park land.

However, two of the biggest questions many still have about the park are simple ones: Where is Epic Universe being built, and how far is it from Universal’s existing property?

Universal first announced Epic Universe in 2019. At the time, the company said of the new park, “Universal’s Epic Universe will take guests on a journey where beloved stories expand into vibrant lands – and where that journey is as much a part of their adventure as the ultimate destination.”

Later in the same statement, Universal also went into detail on the site plans and the park’s location:

“The new theme park will also feature an entertainment center, hotels, shops, restaurants and more. It will be located within a larger 750-acre site that nearly doubles Universal’s total available acreage in Central Florida.  Universal’s Epic Universe is just a few miles from the existing resort in Southwest Orange County.  Specifically, it will be south of Sand Lake Road and east of Universal Boulevard.”

This location, which has come to be referred to as South Campus, is next to the Orange County Convention Center and about 15 minutes away from the traditional Universe Studios complex. That area — now known as North Campus — features the Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure theme parks, the CityWalk complex, and the Volcano Bay water park.

Interestingly, the Epic Universe site is actually closer to Walt Disney World than it is to Universal’s other parks, which will arguably make it easier for Disney guests who wish to sample the new park. For those guests, or anyone else who wants to visit, Universal and the state of Florida have been busy.

As construction of Epic Universe has chugged along — surviving a pandemic-caused shutdown, among other delays — Universal and the state have also been working to improve the infrastructure that leads to the new park. Kirkman Road, near the original Universal resort area, is being expanded with 1.7 miles of new pavement from Carrier Drive to Universal Boulevard, allowing for a direct connection between the North and South Campuses. 

One of the major features of the Kirkman Road extension will be a massive elevated traffic circle. As Orlando’s My News 13 reported in the Spring of 2023:

“One of the main features of the project is an elevated traffic circle. That’s going to be used to facilitate traffic distribution to the Universal property,” said Ken Leeming, Orange County highway construction manager. Leeming said the road is expected to be finished in late 2024, well before the new theme park is set to open in the summer of 2025. “(The road project) is also fully multimodal, the first one in Orange County,” said Leeming. “It provides bicycle/pedestrian facilities, it provides three travel lanes in each direction for general use and it also provides dedicated bus lanes, which will assist in distributing traffic to the Universal park.”

Aerial photo of current work at the Sand Lake Rd overpass of Kirkman Rd.
Arrow at exclusive bus lanes. Universal will have electric buses to shuttle resort guests for visits to Epic Universe.
At top center are Surfside and Dockside resorts. pic.twitter.com/dsGO0jvW26

— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) July 31, 2024

 

 

 

This extension will lead directly to a new, roughly 10.5-mile-long road named Epic Boulevard, which will serve as the main guest entrance to the resort, and feature entrances to the Epic Universe parking lot, ride-share drop-off areas, valet stations, and access to future expansion plots and the on-site resort hotels. 

According to an update from the fall of 2023, the Kirkman Road extension project is set to be finished near the end of 2024.

In addition to the roadwork, Universal has also pledged 13 acres of land near Epic Universe for a Brightline high-speed rail expansion. John Sprouls, Executive Vice President/Chief Administrative at Universal Parks & Resorts said at the time of the announcement,

“This train is an opportunity for people that live north, south, east or west to be able to commute to work, to commute to the airport, as well as carry both residents and visitors on the trains and connect them with the convention center and downtown Orlando.”

And in the fall of 2023, a special taxing district was approved for Universal Orlando Resort — it is called the Shingle Creek Transit & Utility Community Development District. It will assist in funding the proposed Sunshine Corridor, which will connect passenger trains to International Drive and Orlando International Airport.

Things are moving forward as 2025 and the opening of Epic Universe approaches! We’ll continue to keep an eye out for updates and share all the latest news with you.

➡️ Check out our Epic Universe page for updates! ⬅️

Are you planning to traverse these new roads and visit Epic Universe once it opens, or is the distance between the new park and Universal’s original Orlando campus a dealbreaker? Let us know in the comments below!

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