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Universal's Epic Universe Hotel Speculation

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Bringing the discussion here so we can keep it on topic.


Here is the permit image in question. It appears to be from early 2020, probably when things were just about to really get rolling before Covid slowed everything down. Comments from Loews employees online seem to confirm things are picking back up right where they left off so I imagine all the plans are still on, same as before. We still haven't gotten anything new to compare though, so consider these "old" until verified by newer ones!

View attachment 16026

These are Projects 912 (hotel on the right of Kirkman, and 913 (left of Kirkman). Both are located just south of Epic Universe. The road at the bottom of the image is Universal Blvd. For reference:
Thanks for sharing that.

The first things that jump out at me are the similarities and differences between the two sides. While the tower building footprints are very similar, the parking garage on the east side appears to be about 30% longer than the one on the west, and the east side also has a ~120 spot surface lot too. The east plot also shows a second multilane drop off area in front of that garage, which could just be the bus stops but otherwise seems pretty weird as depicted in these plans. Additionally, the entrance road to P912 clearly has two lanes in each direction while the entrance road to P913 is only single lane width, which suggests that there will be more traffic on the east side, albeit potentially due to expansion on the plot north of P912 (although it seems like that would require canal modifications, which these plans don't show at all).

In terms of height, each of these towers does have a larger footprint that Aventura, but not massively larger, so if the 750 room reporting is correct I wouldn't be surprised to see towers in the 12 story range (Dockside tops out at 13 for comparison).

It's no surprise that the towers are oriented to provide theme park views, and P912 looks well laid out with the pond on the south at the resort area entrance and the parking garage and BOH spaces fronting the adjacent apartments. I'm more confused on the west side, because Universal bought the land to the west of P913 back in Sept 2019. It will be interesting to see if these are just old plans and they change things to better connect west or if they do mostly block that parcel from having a nice walking connection.

Looking at Universal's hotel tiers, the biggest physical difference separating value from prime value besides the hotel rooms themselves is the ability to walk to the parks, and while this image is messy due to conflicting versions of plans, it does seem like there will be some sort of path connection from these resorts to the park which suggests a prime value is more likely than a value. I don't see anything on these plans suggesting they would be a preferred resort, and I'm pretty skeptical of Universal adding preferred resorts in general because the only existing one is basically a premier resort without express pass to appeal to the business meeting crowd for the connected meeting space, and I don't know what that market is going to look like in the future.

That's what I was thinking, then someone said "like Aventura" and then I second guessed myself lol

I'm thinking this will be something like "Universal's Gemini Resorts", with one being Gemini Sun and the other Gemini Moon or such (though these sound very Pokemon game like). Heck, they could also apply some sort of sun light theme with bright yellows and oranges to one and a cooler, darker theme to the other.

Thematically, I feel like the sun is already taken by Helios if that's the name for P910.

From these rough plans I'm generally getting a rock/moon/inner solar system vibe from P913 and more of an outer solar system/galaxy vibe from P912, but I have no clue how that would translate into anything meaningful.

If we're just making stuff up, maybe there's 8 fountains in the south ponds because there's 8 planets in our solar system?

And with them being this committed to the universe theme I'm now wondering if they might try to apply some sort of space aesthetic to the elevated circle roadway at the intersection of Kirkman and Universal Way.
 
I wonder if these hotels will have walkways over to Epic like the Disney Springs hotels have.

If you can't walk to the hub for dinner / nightlife, these hotels would feel pretty isolated.

At least at Endless Summer you can walk to Walgreens, ha.
 
I wonder if these hotels will have walkways over to Epic like the Disney Springs hotels have.

If you can't walk to the hub for dinner / nightlife, these hotels would feel pretty isolated.

At least at Endless Summer you can walk to Walgreens, ha.

There’s a bridge for Cabana to walk to UOR so could be something like that.

I agree these feel Prime Value. Maybe there’s a bar/restaurant on top of one and the other has some other cool feature?
 
Can see the scale of the hotels much better now in that image, thanks.

The hotel on the right has way more detailed blueprints than the other one ... sort of reminds me of an Endless Summer lobby / dining setup.

Will be interesting to watch these hotels go up - I vote for a New England island theme.
 
Is it just me or does the "statue" in front of the hotel on the right look more like an atom than something spacey? I guess it could be a star with planets surrounding it(or planets with moons), but it looks like an atom.
 
The theming / branding of the Epic hotels will be tricky.

All the hotels on the original campus share key access with each other for pools, etc. At Endless Summer you can key access Surf to Dock or vice versa.

So, if I were to stay at either Gemini Tower ... I would expect to be able to hang out at the Hub Hotel - but no way they allow that.
 
The theming / branding of the Epic hotels will be tricky.

All the hotels on the original campus share key access with each other for pools, etc. At Endless Summer you can key access Surf to Dock or vice versa.

So, if I were to stay at either Gemini Tower ... I would expect to be able to hang out at the Hub Hotel - but no way they allow that.
Ah, but what if it doesn't have a pool? ;)
 
NEW DVC Tower Coming to the Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

"The new villas are projected to open in 2024 and are supposed to complement the existing resort."

Concept art was released as well, sort of a mix between Disney's Hawaii resort and the recently cancelled modern / nature hotel at WDW.

Hope we get some concept art soon for the Gemini Towers at Epic, ha.
 
Universal won't release any artwork until they are ready which will be much closer to the opening of EU. No sense hyping a hotel for a park that hasn't opened yet...

I hope Universal takes the Disney approach to market the park/attractions. Universal typically announces a year or so before something opens and doesn't really do much until the media preview. Really hope we get construction updates, behind-the-scenes videos, etc. (Starting late 2023 obviously - still too early.)

I also hope they utilize actual videos/photos for commercials... really hate that they use concept art/animations for commercials/photos. It took like 2 years for the VB concept art to get replaced on the website, a year or so for Hagrid. Just a pet peeve of mine.
 
I'd guess they'll have a "Making of" documentary/promotional show for NBC to herald the opening with lots of behind the scenes, just like the one made for IoA. Especially with NBC/Universal trying to fill time on Peacock- could be a series of promotional shows for EU. They've been emulating Disney's park synergy strategy more and more, and making park behind the scenes shows makes a lot of sense. Cheap, easy to produce, and great promotion.
 
Is there a cheat sheet of what the three (or four?) hotels are all code named?

Is land cleared for any besides the Hub Hotel?
 
Is there a cheat sheet of what the three (or four?) hotels are all code named?

Is land cleared for any besides the Hub Hotel?
They're only known as Project 910, 912, and 913.

P910 is at back of the park, other two are across the street. Land is partially cleared for 912, and permits filed for some work to start. Still waiting on 913.

Here are their locations:

AllHotels02.jpg
 
I think it works much better to release concept art once things are well underway than to release art well in advance that doesn't match the finished product. Look at the concept art for Diagon released after the land was more than half built:
ZZ287182A3.jpg

Versus New Fantasy Land which ended up getting revised after they started construction:
2009-new-fantasyland-630x272.jpg
2011-new-fantasyland-630x272.jpg
2012-new-fantasyland-630x272.jpg
 
They're only known as Project 910, 912, and 913.

P910 is at back of the park, other two are across the street. Land is partially cleared for 912, and permits filed for some work to start. Still waiting on 913.

Here are their locations:

View attachment 16119

Is 911 known? The numbers seem sequential. Maybe another hotel or possibly intentionally avoiding using "911".
 
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