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Universal Orlando releases first details about new Epic Universe park

CBS News Live
CBS News Miami Live

MIAMI - Something 'epic' is coming to Orlando next year.

Universal Orlando Resort has released some new details about its highly anticipated new theme park, Universal Epic Universe, which will open in 2025.

The heart of the new park is Celestial Park which will be landscaped with lush gardens and shimmering waters.

Guests looking for thrills can hop on Starfall Racers, a dual-launch racing coaster that will reach speeds up to 62 mph and heights up to 133 feet along 5,000 feet of track.

"Starfall Racers will be Epic Universe's most thrilling coaster experience with unique maneuvers such as the "Celestial Spin," in which the two coaster vehicles perform an inverted crisscross while speeding through the air - creating an "out-of-this-world" adrenaline rush," according to the resort.

The grand centerpiece of Celestial Park will be the Constellation Carousel where riders will move forward and backward, and even turn 360 degrees, as travel through a "milky way in a choreographed dance of music and starlight."

Celestial Park will also feature several dining options including Atlantic, a full-service "surf and turf" restaurant set inside a Victorian aquarium. There's also The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant, which will serve authentic Chinese, Japanese, and Thai fare, The Oak & Star Tavern where guests can enjoy savory barbecue, and Pizza Moon which will dish up a variety of pizzas and more.

At the end of Celestial Park is Universal Helios Grand Hotel which will have 500 rooms with one-of-a-kind views and a dedicated entrance into the theme park. 

There's also an interactive wet-play area called Astronomica that will double as a giant compass to the other themed land in the park. 

Celestial Park will be the gateway to explore these lands, "each bringing to life extraordinary adventures that go beyond guests' wildest imaginations," according to the resort. 

They are The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic, SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe.

In Wizarding World, "guests will discover a different era of the wizarding world in an all-new land that blends 1920s wizarding Paris from Warner Bros. Pictures' Fantastic Beasts films with the iconic British Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter series."

SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, guests will enter through the iconic green pipe and "discover a new way to play as they step into the worlds of beloved characters like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Donkey Kong."

Universal promises that guests will have fun-filled Viking adventures in the How to Train Your Dragon land and in Dark Universe guests encounter everything from Dr. Victoria Frankenstein's experiments to the "shadowy landscape where monsters roam in a world of myth and mystery."

Universal Orlando plans to release more details about these themed worlds in the coming months.  

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