After being delayed for nearly a year, construction on Universal Orlando’s new theme park, Epic Universe, has resumed. This new park will contain a US version of Super Nintendo World, but it won’t be open until early 2025, two years later than first expected.
As reported by The Orlando Sentinel, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings claims Universal Studios told him that the new park will be open in “early 2025.” In a statement released by Universal following Deming’s comments, the company confirmed that construction had indeed resumed on Epic Universe, but didn’t give a specific window for when to expect the park to open. However, the statement did warn that it will take months before construction returns to “full-speed.”
The construction of Universal’s Epic Universe was delayed indefinitely back in July 2020, as the pandemic rapidly spread across the world. In January, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka had to delay the grand opening of the finished Super Nintendo World area of that park due to covid-19. Super Nintendo World in Japan was supposed to open on February 7, but Universal Japan said it will wait until the state of emergency in Osaka has been lifted. That happened a few days ago, but no new opening date has been announced.
It seems like maybe trying to build or open big theme parks during a global pandemic is a bad idea, and we should all focus on trying to stay safe and avoid crowds.
(H/t IGN)