Come with me on a Journey to a Far away place inhabited by Mythological Gods and Constellations. Through the Portals we go to an Epic Universe.

[Robo56]

Just in case you wondered you will be dining with Staked Vampires out there too.
















This one was particularly creepy of the little child Vampire.





More to come

 

[Robo56]

I can always depend on and appreciate your thorough back stories and histories of places and characters throughout the park. It gives me an even better appreciation (and understanding) when I encounter those areas/characters.

Thank you so much wdwrule for your kind comments.

I’am just in awe of all the storylines, designs and the tiniest details that went into the creation of Dark Universe.

The folks that are behind the creation of this land are incredibly talented folks.

They have brought the Universal Monsters to life in a tangible way I could have never imagined.

 

[Robo56]

Monday, May 5th continued


I had received the text that my room was ready. I was ready to get in my room and get settled.

I stopped at the Frankenstein Manor Store to pick up some Jewelry I had my eye on and then it was time to head to the hotel.

It was short walk from Dark Universe to the resort guest entrance at Helios Grand.

I took photo of the fountain on my way back.


What a beautiful sculpture of Apollo couldn’t help not taking another photo of it.


I retrieved my luggage and off to my room I went.

There is a beautiful kinetic picture of the moon, stars and constellations as you approach the elevators.


I had a room on the 7th floor.

When I got off the elevator there was a nice arrangement of glass art pieces on the wall.


I walked into the room and was blown away as my eye was immediately drawn to the window and the view that awaited me.



I had a king bedroom. The room was nice open and the colors in the room were warm with the blues, pinks, cream and gold.

The design reminded me of art deco especially the lamps.


The TV is mounted on the wall which leaves plenty of surface area to put your needed supplies.


As with all other Lowes resorts there is a coffee maker provided.



There are plenty of plug ins and usb ports on the bedside tables. There is also a tablet provided for your convenience. I ordered some extra towels and wash cloths on the tablet and they were delivered quickly.

 

[Robo56]

There are more plug ins located on the wall by the desk.




The bathroom is set up nicely dividing the sink area from the toilet and shower.


Shower gel, shampoo and conditioner are mounted to the wall in the shower.


There are hangers provided as well as safe, iron, Ironing board, extra blanket and pillows, hair dryer, coffee maker and pods, mini refrigerator, ice buckets and cups.




There are plenty of drawers provided to store your clothes.


A mini refrigerator.

 

[Robo56]

You can control the lights, the curtain sheers and the heavy curtains from the fixture by the door or the pad mounted by the bed. This is a nice touch.

 

[Robo56]

I took out the jewelry I bought from the Manor Store. The jewelry are in nice sturdy boxes. I will revisit the jewelry they had on offer.

Also the lovely young lady who waited on me was wonderful. She was dressed in Vampire attire and she took out all the jewelry for me to look at.

First off all the Jewelry is well made. It is costume jewelry, but the quality is very good.

The Frankenstein’s Monster bracelet with the bolts is a bit to heavy for me as was Vampire bracelet, but I have to say if I was going to buy one of the bracelets for myself it would probably be the Vampires bracelet.






I tried on Frankenstein ring and it was well designed, but too heavy for me. Of all the rings I really liked the bride of Frankenstein’s Monster ring.


So what did I buy.

The Frankenstein’s Monster Bride pieces. I bought the ring and earrings. I bought a set for myself and my niece who is a big fan of Frankenstein’s Monster.

I thought the design on the earrings was interesting with the lightening bolts and the white and black stones with the metal lightening bolt design dividing the stone like The Brides hair.


The Brides ring was not heavy and the black stone with lightening bolts on either side is awesome. There is a white heart with red arteries mounted next to the black stone. It is visually just as interesting a piece as are the earrings.






I only had a carry on suitcase. So there was not much room to bring to many purchases home, but the jewelry boxes fit fine.



More to come

 

[keishashadow]

should have sent the salad back, but I could see the staff running their legs off delivering the food and did not want to bother them.

Hopefully, they will fine tune the offerings soon.

They have brought the Universal Monsters to life in a tangible way I could have never imagined.

At long last. No idea why it took them so long to open the treasure trove

 

[Robo56]

Hopefully, they will fine tune the offerings soon.

I’am hopeful too… At this point I think quality and consistency needs to be fixed. I think they are capable of doing this.

I have read folks who have had a great food at some of the restaurants and others who have not.

I have heard some really good reviews about the Blue Dragon that has opened since I was there.

At long last. No idea why it took them so long to open the treasure trove

I know…..this is one of my favorite lands for sure.

The Creators did a wonderful job of picking storylines to follow some of the great Monster movies in Universals vault.

I have heard this is the smallest land. So it will be wonderful to see it possibly grow in the future.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Hubby & I went to previews on 05/07/25 & I expected to like the HP portal the most but...Dark Universe ended up being both of our favorites ! Just so incredibly well done...

 

[Robo56]

Hubby & I went to previews on 05/07/25 & I expected to like the HP portal the most but...Dark Universe ended up being both of our favorites ! Just so incredibly well done...

I was there the 5th & 6th during previews.

I agree. I wanted to see Dark Universe first and I spent the most time there of all the lands.

The HP portal has impressive scale and architecture. I enjoyed walking through it, but I just think for theming, design and character interaction Dark Universe really hit it out of the park.

I’am a Universal Monster fan so I was very impressed with Dark Universe and the immersive aspects that have been included with this land.

I don’t think there is a themed restaurant in all of Epic Universe that can beat Das Stakehouse in the theming department. Not that there is a competition. It is just so well thought out.

It is nice that Universal really thought of presenting various lands that could speak to a wide variety of interests for sure.

 

[Robo56]

Monday, May 5th continued

After taking photos of the room and my Jewlry purchases I closed the curtains and took a shower and got into some comfy clothes.

It had been a warm first part of the day and I was ready for a rest and the cool ac. I opened the curtains back up and could see all of Celestial Park and the lands from my window.

I was still so awed by the view.

The bed was very comfy as were the pillows. I propped up in bed and answered some emails and took a quick nap.

I had tried for a VQ for the Ministry of Magic ride at 11 am with no luck so there was another two chances today. One at 3 pm and one at 6 pm so would give it another try.

Exactly at 3 pm the VQ sign up came up and was down in seconds. I got as far as getting the time and when I clicked to submit it was gone. Oh well……there was always 6 pm.

I do not have the lightening finger skills that the younger ones do. I have watched them fly across the keys with their thumbs.

At about 5:55 pm I started watching the VQ for MOM and again it came up at exactly 6 pm and was gone in seconds again. I again got as far as the time submit and was shut out again.

I was beginning to feel this was not going to be an easy VQ to attain. I had heard that the ride was having issues and many were retuning for repeat ride times because the ride had gone down on their scheduled time to ride MOM which was limiting the available VQ’s.

I got ready for another outing to Celestial Park and the Lands. I had only been to Dark Universe and needed to see some more Lands.

I don’t want to rush through when I’am on vacation. I had only two days in Epic to try and enjoy Celestial Park and the other Lands.

I knew that if I did not get on the rides I wanted to try I would be back another time so it was not the be all end all to ride certain rides.

So out he door I went.

It was a breeze getting out the Hotel guest entrance to the park.

I went to my right and past the Blue Dragon and Dark Universe. I was going to try and sample some food at




The exterior sign was modeled off a movie “A trip to the moon” from 1902. It was a French movie adapted from a Jules Verne novel “From the Earth to the Moon”.

The theming is like the dark rides of the 1900”s.

There are kinetic scenes in motion on the ceiling and the walls.

There is both inside and outside seating .

There was a line inside and it was moving nicely.

A TM shows you to your table. You mobile ordered from a QR on your table.












The centerpiece behind the food counter is a pizza oven shaped like a rocket ship that has crashed on the cheese moon.


If you look closely you can see all the characters are dressed in clothes that have pepperoni and other various pizza accoutrements on them.

 

[Robo56]

I ordered the Rigatoni Meteor melt and a soda. Again like the Das Stakehouse the plastic glass was delivered to my table and I went and filled it with my soda at the freestyle machine. It took a while for my food to arrive.

They were pretty busy.

The server brought my food and quickly left. I looked down and my pasta dish was dry as bone. I new this was going to need a little sauce.

I asked a server that walked by if he could get me a little more sauce in a cup. He said, He would”. Then I saw him approach a lady who appeared to be the dining room manger and she told him she would take care of it. She never did.

I sat there waiting for the sauce and finally the server walked by and saw that I had never received the sauce and he went and got it. He looked at my dish and told me yes, it is dry and I will tell the cooks to add more sauce to the pasta dishes before they send them out.

After I added the sauce and mixed it around it really helped. The sauce is delicious and really the star here in the dish. They just need to add more sauce to these dishes and it would be perfect.

The meatballs were very flavorful and tender.

This was a good dish after the additional sauce was added.


I had noticed a few tables around me that had a lot of left over pizza on them. Some of the pizza looked like it was nicely baked and others looked burnt.

My neighboring table had changed two times since I was seated.

I was at a two top half chair half booth table.

The new group that came in next to me ordered two pizzas and the Cosmic Alfredo Chicken. They asked me about the meatballs in my dish and they were pleased with the things they ordered.


This is a beautifully themed restaurant. It is really colorful and something to see.

I think adding more of the delicious sauce they have created to the pasta dishes and monitoring the baking time on the pizzas will help move this restaurant over the moon…..couldn’t help myself……




More to come

 

[Robo56]

Monday, May 5th continued


After leaving pizza moon I wanted to get in and look around

As with all Universal creations. There is a backstory to this beautiful Tavern. I have read a couple, but I like this one the best.

The Tavern has a Terrestrial Forest theme. It is decorated like a forest with animal murals.

The story goes, that at an Owl fell into a tree trunk which was actually a portal. The Owls animal friends followed to save him and they all ended up in Celestial Park.



Everywhere you look these is something beautiful to see.








This is the bar area. It is breautiful with a Large Owl flanked on both sides by trees and stars hanging from the ceiling.




When you walk in through the front door the fireplace with the two Owls inside is beautiful, huge and a major focal point in the large inviting space.

This is a large open and airy restaurant with three different areas to sit in. There is seating in the main area when you walk in and there is another large dining area with booths and tables to the left. To the right is another seating area that includes the bar.

There are chairs around the bar as well as booths and tables in that area as well as outside seating.

 

[Robo56]

This Tavern/Restaurant is beautiful. Again Universal has really put the theme in theme park restaurants.










From the outside you would never guess the magical forest wonderland you are going to walk through.

This for sure is another one of those jaw dropping experiences when you walk through door and start to take it all in.



More to come

 

[Robo56]

Monday, May 5th conitinued

The park was supposed to close at 9 pm and I wanted to get over to Isle of Berk and have Quick Look around and make sure to be back to see Dark Universe in the DARK.

So off I went.

The Portal for Isle of Berk was pretty interesting.




The Viking and Dragon when you enter the World were striking.


When I was going through my pictures I really liked this photo of Mead Hall in the background and the Dragon Lairs, Viking houses and the Viking Longboat with the shields on the side.


The creators really thought of everything. There is a Dragons tail having out of his shelter and another Dragon with his head popped out the front looking around.





The Dragon theming was so well done.


I walked into the sweet store.





Every the tray that the Toothless cookies were displayed on looked like Dragon scales.

 

[Robo56]

Again incredible merchandise.


I stopped to look at the Snow Wraith


I stopped into Toothless Treasure shop. I was looking for a few things I knew my little Great-Nephew J would like. I was going to come back tomorrow and make some purchases.


This Toothless Backpack was so cute.


The backpacks were really cute.





It was getting darker fast so I Quickly headed out of Isle of Berk and headed up to look at the pretty Atlantic Restaurant.


Then headed back in the direction of Dark Universe and stopped for a photo of hte Helios Grand all lit up.

 

[Robo56]

I made it to Darkmoor and it was so fitting that after I entered into the world through the Portal



The sky looked like this.








It was so eerie and cool. The Well was bellowing mist.




Then the Manor started to light up and static electricity started pulsing through Darkmoor as Victoria Frankenstein was draining the villages power for her experiments.

 

[Robo56]

I had wanted to see something special in the night also. So I headed that way.
Past the Curse of the Werewolf.


To the Burning Blade Tavern










I had been looking forward to see the Windmill on The Burning Blade Tavern on fire.

It was 9 pm now and time to head back to the Helios Grand.

It was creepy walking back through Darkmoor which was almost empty. I loved it.

I walked passed the Blue Dragon.


Everything was so beautiful with all the lights on. Celestial Park and all the other Worlds really take on a different life at night.

I pasted the Apollo water statue and then it was back to my room.


I closed the curtains and took by shower and got my pajamas on lowered the airconditioning, turned the lights off and opened the curtains.




This would be my night light tonight. How beautiful.




More to come

 

[angryduck71]

View attachment 966368

There are massive paintings on the walls, which I read take on greater dimension as the lighting changes inside the dining room revealing hidden shadows of people.

I did not know that at the time and will have to look at the paintings more intently on my next visit.

The lighting does change at intervals in the dining room and it is awesome.

The chandlers on the ceiling are fantastic. There are bats and pointed red lights which I think depict the fangs of Vampires.
View attachment 966370

You are taken to your table and there is a QR code that you can scan with your phone which will bring up the menu for you to Mobile order from.

You can take off your AP discount when you order.

I can’t remember if I had to enter the table Number of my table or if it automatically picked it up from the QR on the table, but the food is delivered to your table.

Even the chairs are themed. There are bats on the tops of the backs of the chairs. The chairs are very heavy and well made.
View attachment 966369

The attention to every detail was above and beyond.
View attachment 966395

I did not want anything heavy for a meal. It was hot out and I really just wanted to sample some different foods.

I ordered the Forager Salad and a side of fries and a soda. When you order a soda you are given a nice size hard plastic tall glass. You go to the freestyle machine and choose your drink.

While I was sitting waiting for my food I looked up and you could see roots coming through the grates in the ceiling depicting that you were underground.

View attachment 966383

My server arrived with my glass to get my drink. Then my food arrived not long after
View attachment 966380

My salad looked good, but when I tried the chicken on the stake it was cold and the salad was drenched in the dressing and the mushrooms were mushy and I had a sweet vinegar after taste in my mouth after only two bites and I just stopped. The flavors of anything else in the salad were muted by the excessive salad dressing.
View attachment 966381

View attachment 966382
The Fries were lukewarm, but had a good seasoning. I did need to ask for ketchup as there was none served with the fries.

I should have sent the salad back, but I could see the staff running their legs off delivering the food and did not want to bother them.

I sipped my soda and just soaked in all the details in the dining room.

I didn’t have a photo of it, but true to the theming you are given black silverware and red napkins.


After I was done with my drink I got up and wondered the dining areas.

I really want to eat here -- but I think we may just do the deserts.