We’re less than two months away from the official opening of Epic Universe at the Universal Orlando Resort. However, a few very lucky people have had the chance to check out the park already, as Universal Team Members and their friends and families have had access to several preview events over the last few weeks. Normally, once any theme park experience gets seen, the internet is flooded with videos of it by everybody who got a first look, but not this time.
Since Epic Universe isn’t open to the public quite yet, the early previews have had a strict policy preventing anybody attending from taking any video at all. While the goal of this policy is obviously to keep secrets and prevent spoilers, it’s apparently having an unintended consequence that those in the park absolutely love.
Epic Universe Has A Strict “No Video” Policy For Previews
The Epic Universe preview rules don’t simply state that people can’t publish videos; they’re not even allowed to take video for their own personal use. As such, it means that as hundreds or thousands of people are wandering the park on any given day, nobody has their phone out. Universal Creative’s Michael Aiello says you can “feel” the difference in the way people are experiencing the park…
One of the best parts of the Epic Universe preview? No phones out. Seriously—it’s been kind of amazing. Without everyone filming or posting every second, something cool has happened. People are actually in the moment. You can feel the difference..
You don’t really realize how much people today stare at their phones until you notice that it isn’t happening. It’s completely understandable why people do it. Theme parks are special locations, so wanting to capture the experience in photos and video isn’t a crazy idea. However, it certainly colors one’s experience differently if you looking at a screen rather than the thing the camera is capturing.
YouTuber TPMVids, who was apparently able to join in on a recent preview and is somebody who professionally, I’m sure, would have loved to capture video of Epic Universe, also noticed how great it was to have everybody off their phones. He said…
One takeaway I had from the preview at Epic Universe yesterday was that it was so refreshing to see everyone so present. Since there was a strict no photo/video policy, no one was glued to their phone. It felt like the theme park experience from the early 2000’s
Whether you’re a professional vlogger or just a family on vacation, there can be a lot of stress and pressure attached to trying to capture all the great moments of a theme park vacation. It's understandable how being forced away from that may make the whole thing more fun for all involved. Of course, as one fan pointed out, there’s nothing stopping anybody from leaving their phones in their pockets normally.
I'm seeing quite a few posts about how great it is not seeing people on their cell phones or vloggers in Epic Universe. Guess what, you can leave your phone at home and still experience Epic without the distraction anytime you want...
Also, just because we haven’t seen video of Epic Universe leaking out, it doesn’t mean that there haven’t been some issues with the preview event.
Universal Orlando Resort Has Reportedly Fired Hundreds Of Team Members For Violating Epic Universe Preview Policy
Sneaking a video of Epic Universe would be a difficult thing to pull off in a theme park full of people, most of whom work there, so it’s perhaps not a shock that there hasn’t been much in the way of pirate video making its way online. However, there have been instances of people apparently saying more than they should.
It’s being reported that as many as 600 Universal Orlando Team Members may have been fired due to violation of the Epic Universe preview policy, either by themselves or by people that they brought with them. Originally, it was believed that taking pictures or video was the only significant “no-no.” However, one Universal Team Member recently posted that even discussing what guests saw is potentially off limits.
I’m telling yall right now, commenting about your experiences or describing things you shouldn’t be(even in tiktok comments) counts as going against the rules set in place. Keep it to ya self for now.
If it’s true that hundreds have lost their jobs, then it’s clear that not only is Universal Orlando Resort serious about keeping secrets, but it’s also willing to follow through on its threats. It’s a safe bet that anybody else getting an early preview will be taking extreme levels of caution to be sure they don’t violate the policy.
The handful of times that pieces of Epic Universe have been revealed, like the Burning Blade Tavern effect, it's come from people who are in a public space close enough to see. Some people who have had a chance to ride the Epic Universe attractions have talked about how good the Monsters Unchained dark ride is, but it's likely that a line has been drawn between simply saying, "It was great" versus describing details of the experience.
If you had asked me before all this started, I would have expected to have every detail of Epic Universe spoiled by now because I couldn’t imagine that Universal Orlando could have possibly kept this tight a lid on it all. And yet, the company has done a remarkable job keeping a lid on it all. The flood of information will certainly come, but it doesn’t look like it will happen a moment before Universal wants it to happen. So far, that sounds like a great thing.
