A Pile Driver Now Rises Over Epic Universe's Frankenstein Gate as a New Ride Pit Is Dug Behind Monsters Unchained

The plot behind Frankenstein Manor is no longer just being flattened. It is being dug down.

Orlando ParkStop's latest Epic Universe update, published Monday, says "A ride pit is being dug out in the largest part of the Dark Universe expansion area," and that "A crane mounted pile driver can be seen working here in the center of the expansion pad." Universal has still not announced what the ride is.

The expansion pad behind the Monsters Unchained show building, with the oval pit fenced in orange. Frankenstein Manor is at right. WDW News Today also published this photo on September 13. Aerial photo: bioreconstruct, via Orlando ParkStop.

From flat to below grade

When we last checked in on August 27, the site was land prep: a berm along Kirkman Road coming down, the ground being reshaped, and nothing vertical up yet.

That has moved on. ParkStop says the dig now goes "well below the grade level for the park," though it adds a useful caveat. Epic Universe's ground level was raised "around 10 or so feet" before construction started, so this earth moving "is pretty much just revealing the original true level ground beneath."

The fenced pit and the rigs working the pad, looking out from the show building toward the road. WDW News Today also published this photo on September 13. Aerial photo: bioreconstruct, via Orlando ParkStop.

The pile driver is not new this week. On September 13, WDW News Today published Bioreconstruct aerials showing excavation had begun and wrote: "The yellow crane will be used for building foundation piles." Those same aerials, now republished by ParkStop, already show the red pile driving rig on that crane. The biggest new piece of ParkStop's update is the view from inside the park.

Now rising over the land

For guests, the change is what they can see. ParkStop had ground-level photos of workers on the plot in August, but now the crane is tall enough to show above the land's walls. "This work going on now can now be seen from within the theme park," ParkStop wrote, alongside photos from inside the land that show the crane and its pile driving rig rising behind the Frankenstein gate.

The crane and pile driver, seen from inside the park over the Frankenstein gate. Photo: Alicia Stella, Orlando ParkStop.

ParkStop also reports a few smaller changes around the site:

• The raised berm behind the Monsters Unchained outdoor queue is gone, and the ground there now sits flat, even with the queue.
• The statues from the old Universal Monsters Cafe came out about two weeks before ParkStop's update. ParkStop says they "may have been relocated" into a nearby Team Member building.
• A dirt access road now runs behind the office trailers to the main site, after a sidewalk was removed as permitted.

What the paperwork says it is

Permits describe land preparation for a future three-story structure, and ParkStop says the first floor "will contain, at very least, a ride maintenance bay." Blog Mickey, citing Orange County permits in a September 13 report, put the building at 93,308 square feet, with 71,500 square feet of tenant space. Blog Mickey says the maintenance bay is what makes this a ride, rather than a show.

The rumor has shifted

ParkStop notes this corner of Dark Universe has long been rumored for a boat ride built around Creature from the Black Lagoon. ParkStop says newer rumors are "leaning more towards this expansion being for an indoor roller coaster-type attraction starring the Bride of Frankenstein," and some fans believe it could use a ride train like Revenge of the Mummy or Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts at Universal Studios Florida.

Treat that as rumor. ParkStop itself says it is "not clear" whether the Bride's popularity as a meet and greet and on merchandise is driving the talk, or whether the rumors are "coming from a true place." The Gill-Man already appears on Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment next door. ParkStop notes the Bride is not yet featured on any Epic Universe ride.

Where it stands: Universal has not confirmed the Dark Universe expansion, its ride type or an opening year. What the photos show is that the site has moved past grading to a pit and a pile driver since late August, and that guests can now see the crane and pile driver from inside the land.

Sources

• Orlando ParkStop, New Dark Ride Rumors for Epic Universe - Construction for Dark Universe Expansion
• WDW News Today, New Dark Universe Attraction Under Construction at Epic Universe, Aerial Photos Reveal
• Blog Mickey, NEW Ride Under Construction for Dark Universe Expansion at Universal Epic Universe

Image credits: Aerial photos by bioreconstruct, published by Orlando ParkStop. Ground photo by Alicia Stella, Orlando ParkStop.