Dark Universe Announcement: Reaction and Overview

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Universal has made a Dark Universe announcement about the land coming to Universal Epic Universe in Orlando next year. This is probably the land in Epic Universe I am most excited about – it could practically be my new home. I stan the monsters. I stan scary things. 

I’ve heard some rumors (shout out to Alicia Stella from Orlando Park Stop), but I haven’t seen anything official from the parks yet. So let’s take a look and see what this land is going to be – I’m so excited to finally be reacting to the Dark Universe announcement!

Universal Monsters and General Details

Nothing is more Universal than the Universal Monsters. The legacy of Universal Monsters is over 100 years old. Looking at some of these concept drawings, I just have to say that if we get a Creature From The Black Lagoon ride or theme, I am going to lose my mind. I love that movie so much, and it would be really cool to see it come to life. 

I kind of feel like a lot of people are going to run to Super Nintendo World and a lot of people are going to run to the Harry Potter area, but – if you know you know. After you do those for the first time, Dark Universe is where you spend most of your time.

The portal to the land is a spire that’s crackling with electricity, which according to Universal is how the dark energy is gathered, and we’re going to see the electricity pulsating through the land. They’re calling the land “Darkmoor”. Here, the monsters are real, and the park has said they’re able to be family-friendly, but also PG-13 in what they offer.

I’m really excited to see these monsters and characters roaming the land – I want to meet these monsters so bad, so I hope there’s quite a few of them to meet. It’s also cool that you can have yourself made up to look like a monster and then go out into a monster world. 

Restaurants of Dark Universe

Das Stakehaus – a brilliant name (again, who are these people?) – is a quick-service restaurant that’s centered around the story of Dracula and vampires themselves. Universal says you may get scoped by some vampires, and honestly? Scope me out.

The burning windmill is so iconic, and I love that they’re bringing it to Dark Universe. Is it always going to be on fire? 

Inside is The Burning Blade Tavern, a quick-service dining location where the monster hunters hang out. It’s a pretty neat idea to have it located in such an iconic landmark, and I can’t wait to try it out.

With all the food I’ll be eating, I better make sure to pack some medicine when I travel to Orlando.

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The Rides of Dark Universe

Curse of the Werewolf is going to be a family-launched spinning roller coaster that follows the same story arc as the classic film The Wolf Man. You’re given bad news that you bear the curse of the werewolf. If they have that Wolf Man swing down at you while you’re launching on this roller coaster, that’s going to be really cool. It looks like a lot of fun! 

Monsters Unchained will give you the chance to meet all of the classic monsters in a new and exciting way. Inside, we’ll meet Victoria Frankenstein, the great great-great-granddaughter of Henry Frankenstein, who’s captured all of the Universal Monsters.

They’re saying that this ride will have new technology, including a sense of touch. They mentioned being able to feel the characters breathing on you as you ride. I don’t know a lot about this ride, and its announcement surprised me in the best way. I knew that the roller coaster was happening, but I don’t think I knew that there was going to be a ride like this. 

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Overall Thoughts and Reaction to Dark Universe Announcement

I love that they mentioned Dark Universe is a place for the outsiders during Pride Month – happy Pride Month, everyone! Now we have a place to hang out with other “monsters”! 

I am so excited for Dark Universe coming to Universal Orlando Resort next year. The roller coaster, Curse of the Werewolf looks cool – it is going to be more family-oriented, but I think the spinning is going to be really neat. I think if they theme it well, it’s going to be amazing. Monsters Unchained will have all the monsters and it also just sounds really cool.

Of course, Das Stakehouse and The Burning Blade look awesome. I’m really intrigued to see if the windmill is something that’s going to be constantly on fire – how are they going to manage that? 

I’m also really intrigued to see how this land looks during the day, because obviously this land would be ideal in the night time, but you’re in Florida and it’s not constantly dark there. So I wonder if there’s anything they’ve done to kind of help with the appearance of the land and how it’s going to look during the day when the sun is all out and everything is bright, happy, and sunny (don’t forget those sunglasses and sunscreen!). 

This is this is the land I’m the most excited for, and like I said, I think that once I do all the lands once, this will usually probably be the land that I want to spend the most time in. This will be the place where I just want to chill out. I want to hang out, ride the rides, eat at Das Stakehouse, and stand in front of the burning windmill. 

As a Halloween fan, this is amazing, and I’m really intrigued to see if they do anything for Halloween Horror Nights. I mean you’ve got an area themed to the monsters right here, so is that going to tie into Halloween Horror Nights somehow? There’s just a lot of potential with this. 

I do think it’s really cool that they are nodding back to the monsters because in a way that is sort of what made Universal what it was – Frankenstein, The Mummy, Creature From the Black Lagoon – they’re embracing these classic movies that are such an integral part of their past by building an entire land around them. 

I’m really excited for people to see it, and I’m excited to experience it myself. Now, give us the Epic Universe opening date, Universal!

What are you excited about in Dark Universe?