When Universal Epic Universe opened in Orlando last month, it marked the first major theme park debut in the U.S. in a quarter century, the first of this millennium and the most expensive theme park ever built. It is also, according to Universal, its most immersive and technologically advanced park to date.

The expectations for a product with those descriptors is high. And according to travel advisors who experienced Epic and theme park experts who have studied it, Universal has met them.

“I thought Universal hit a grand slam with this park,” said Adam Duckworth, president and founder of Travelmation in Fort Lauderdale (No. 59 on Travel Weekly’s Power List). “It’s a next-level experience.”

Duckworth, who visited the park, said he particularly liked the concept of portals that provide entry into each of Epic Universe’s five worlds. The first is at the park entrance and leads guests into Celestial Park, where a highly themed portal provides entry into each of the four other areas with themes based on various intellectual property (IP), like the “Harry Potter” and “How to Train Your Dragon” franchises. Duckworth also praised the park’s layout and the efficiency with which guests can move through Epic.

Melissa Sanchez, owner of Spellbound Vacations in Rochelle Park, N.J., used descriptors like “amazing,” “beautiful” and “gorgeous” to describe Epic after her visit, but above all, she said, “It was so immersive.” Sanchez also appreciated the theming Universal was able to achieve, especially with its portal concept.

“Every land that you walked into, you really felt like you were in those lands,” she said. “You felt like you were in Super Nintendo World. You felt like you were on the Isle of Berk. There was such a separation of each of the lands. I thought it was really amazing the way they did it.”

Wide, lasting economic impact from new park

While Epic Universe has already spurred increased business for travel agencies, they are far from the only ones benefitting: Throughout its construction, the park has produced economic impact to the tune of billions of dollars throughout the country, and it is expected to generate billions more now that it is fully operational. Much of that is in central Florida. 

“When a major new park debuts, the entire region benefits,” said Casandra Matej, CEO of Visit Orlando. “Visitors don’t just go to one park — they stay in our hotels and resorts, dine in local restaurants, shop in our stores and explore our diverse attractions. It’s truly a rising-tide-lifts-all-boats scenario, from global brands to our small businesses.”

Universal Destinations & Experiences engaged economist Sean Snaith, director of the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) Institute for Economic Forecasting, to perform an analysis of Epic’s impact locally and nationally. The report found that Epic’s five-year economic impact from 2019 to 2023 totaled $44 billion and that the construction of the park generated 65,000 jobs across the country. 

Further, in its first year of operation, Epic is expected to generate an economic impact of $2 billion in Florida. 

Visit Orlando’s Matej called Epic’s opening a “landmark moment” for the region, the most visited in the U.S. with 75.3 million visitors in 2024.

Stays this year are already trending positively: From April to June, hotel bookings were pacing 2.5% ahead of the same period last year, according to Matej. Short-term rental bookings were up 16%.

“For more than five decades, theme parks have played a key role in transforming Orlando from citrus groves into a global tourism destination — driving growth, expanding infrastructure and boosting the local economy,” she said.

Jorge Ridderstaat, associate professor of finance, accounting and econometrics at UCF’s Rosen College, said the park’s overall economic impact expanded well beyond Florida in its planning and construction phase. Going forward, it will be felt more in Florida and the Orlando area, he said, with an estimated $1 billion in additional tax revenue and nearly 18,000 direct employees.

“There’s also an indirect effect, and that’s coming from additional restaurants, hotels; and you can even think about banking activities,” Ridderstaat said. “The direct and indirect impacts are major here.”

Universal’s other projects under development may be smaller in scale than Epic but will provide significant economic benefits. 

Universal Horror Unleashed, a year-round attraction in Las Vegas, will open this year; the Universal Kids Resort is slated to open in Texas in 2026; and Universal’s first theme park in England is set to debut in 2031.

Ridderstaat said the new parks would impact local and national economies as well as motivate other operators to compete.

“Because these technologies being used are very sophisticated, that gives a run on Disney to increase the quality of their product,” he said. “Because otherwise, you don’t catch these types of people who are interested in innovative types of products. I think that’s a challenge for the competition.”

Next-level innovation

According to experts in theme park experiences, the technology used at Epic Universe is the highest there is, enabling some of the most immersive experiences out there. 

Peter Weishar is a professor at the University of Central Florida’s (UCF) College of Arts and Humanities and director of its Themed Experience program. He oversees the Universal Creative Lab, UCF’s partnership with Universal Creative that connects students with professionals to learn more about themed attractions and operations. 

Epic has been a helpful case study, he said, and he praised the park’s innovation, especially in its attractions.

“It is a beautifully and carefully designed park that is next-level as far as the technology and the detail that you’re seeing there, so it’s a huge achievement for Universal,” Weishar said, adding, “You have next-level robotics, you have next-level visuals, as well. And you have ride systems that have never been seen before.”

He also praised the park’s ability to use original IP to create worlds that the guests are familiar with, while expanding upon them.

Epic’s level of immersion is not just advanced but is “the future of theme parks,” said Carissa Baker, assistant professor at UCF’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management, who focuses on theme parks and attractions.

“One of the things that we teach the students is that we’re in the era of the immersive world,” Baker said. “That is the predominant design paradigm right now.”

And with Epic, she added, “they took the homework assignment seriously.”

Baker said immersion is achieved with sensory details — guests being able to see, hear, smell, taste and touch — combined with elaborate details. 

Epic Universe isn’t the only theme park to focus on intense immersion. Other modern examples of immersive lands Baker pointed to include the Wizarding World of Harry Potter areas in Universal’s other parks; Cars Land at Disney California Adventure; Pandora — The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom; and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Florida and California parks.

And coming down the pike, Baker predicted, will be the ability for theme park guests to go deeper into a story by engaging with the world around them. At Epic Universe, for example, interactive wands can be used at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, and Power-Up Bands can be used to interact with features at Super Nintendo World.

“I think the future is about finding those extra, deeper ways for guests to engage, especially to encourage them to come back so they can really, really get involved in that story world in a deeper way,” Baker said.

How to sell Epic

For advisors selling Epic Universe, Adam Duckworth, president and founder of Fort Lauderdale’s Travelmation, said that visiting the park themselves is paramount. 

It’s always easier to represent a product to clients once it’s been experienced, he said, but in the case of Epic, it also makes it easier to pick up on details, such as how long the transfers to the park take from hotels located near Universal’s other Orlando parks.

“There’s no substitute for seeing new product in the industry,” he said.

Spellbound Vacations’ Melissa Sanchez advised clients stay at one of the hotels near Epic Universe: Universal Helios Grand Hotel, Universal Stella Nova Resort or Universal Terra Luna Resort. 

The Helios Grand has its own dedicated entrance to Epic, which Sanchez said is a big perk, while the Stella Nova has a walking path to Epic. Only bus transportation is available from Terra Luna.

She also recommended that clients purchase an Express Pass to bypass lengthy waits on attractions. Parties who don’t mind splitting up to go on rides can also make use of single-rider lines when available, she added.

Both Sanchez and Duckworth said it’s still early to pin down details about the order in which to visit attractions or which days Epic will be less busy. That’s information they will be looking to give clients in the weeks ahead.

But one thing is certain, each said: Shade is sparse in the new park because its foliage hasn’t had a chance to mature yet.

“Please bring your cooling towels and bring your fans, specifically this summer, because it is a toasty bird,” Duckworth said. “It’s hot.” 

Extending resort vacations

Those repeat visits and longer stays at Epic are already giving travel agencies a bump in Universal sales. 

Duckworth said that Universal bookings are trending longer: What might have previously been a two- or three-day stay is stretching into a four- or five-day stay. He predicted more of that as ticketing restrictions around Epic fade next year and visitors gain more flexibility (for 2025, Universal employed a ticketing strategy to limit capacity at Epic).

Turning Universal Orlando Resort into a weeklong destination was one of Universal’s hopes with Epic Universe. 

The new park “changes everything,” Universal Orlando president and COO Karen Irwin said. “It truly transforms Universal Orlando Resort into more than a full week’s vacation destination.”

And yet, Duckworth said that for Travelmation, Epic’s success hasn’t come at the expense of other travel products.

Revenue from Universal sales is up around 30% year over year, but that increase has not cannibalized demand for other destinations. The agency’s Walt Disney World Resort business hasn’t decreased, and neither has its cruise business, both of which Duckworth considers competing products. 

Similarly, Travel Leaders Network is experiencing an Epic-induced bump to its theme park business, which is up 12% compared to the same period last year, said president John Lovell, adding that business across Orlando is benefitting.

“The expression ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’ has never been more true,” Duckworth said. “From my seat, whenever we have more products to sell, it is exciting,” and clients often add products like Universal, Disney World and a cruise out of Port Canaveral. “We think that type of rising waters is positive for all suppliers and travel advisors.”