Celestial Park is one of the absolute best theme park lands in the entire world. There is a backstory to Celestial Park, but it's very hard to make out what exactly it is. It involves these beings called Celestians who were actually walk around characters for a while before Universal removed them. Regardless, the vibes, theming, and detail in Celestial Park are immaculate. There is near-constant vegetation and water features including rivers, streams, and fountains.
The fountains in Celestial Park were designed by the same people who created the Bellagio fountains at Las Vegas. The fountains in Celestial Park are gorgeous, stunning, and endlessly entertaining to watch. There is a mini-show every fifteen to seventeen minutes or so, and a final ten minute show to close out the park themed to each portal/land/universe in Epic Universe. In a day and age where Disney is actively gutting any water feature they can find (Fountain of Nations, Rivers of America), it's so incredibly satisfying to see Epic Universe do the opposite.
It was certainly a thing to watch people constantly stop to sit and watch the fountains. There wasn't a seat left for the final show, which gives off Illuminations: Reflections of Earth and Fountains of Nations vibes (minus pyrotechnics and projections). Turns out people actually like having water features and fountains in their theme parks. They add to the overall atmosphere of the park, are free, don't require you to wait in a line to experience, and give guests something to do while in-between attractions.
Celestial Park itself gave off Disney Springs/Downtown Disney vibes to me, and I mean that in the best way possible. It feels like a small, little city or town. The musical score that plays throughout the area is beautiful. I wish Universal would release a full album of the music from Celestial Park like they did with Dark Universe.
Celestial Park is the main land in Epic Universe. Allow me to explain. Epic Universe has a unique structure from most theme parks. For example, in Islands of Adventure the first land you enter is Port of Entry, which then opens up to all the other islands.
Celestial Park is essentially Epic Universe's Port of Entry, except it's very neat, clean, pretty, sleek, and looks new. As you walk through Celestial Park (which might be the largest land at Epic Universe), you'll occasionally come across a large portal for each individual land/universe. The land connected to each portal is self-contained and you must exit out the way you came (through the portal or close to it) in order to return to Celestial Park and explore other lands/universes. In other words, Celestial Park is how you access each land/universe/portal in Epic Universe.
Celestial Park has quite a few shops and restaurants within it, there's even a backstory created for the mascot for Celestial Park's candy shop, a black bear named Captain Cacao. Celestial Park is such a vibe (Yes, I will be using this phrase a lot.) to walk through, especially at night (trees, vegetation, and water fountains glow with color). There's a live band that plays throughout the day, and even a few "secret" garden paths to explore.
Despite the amount of vegetation, there is very little shade in Celestial Park (and Epic Universe as a whole). This is the biggest issue with Epic Universe. Orlando in the summer months becomes a practical desert, with the heat and humidity aiming to kill. Luckily, there are quite a few "cooling stations" set up around Epic Universe with large signs pointing you to where they are.
It also doesn't hurt to pick up a Coca-Cola Souviner Freestyle cup as well. They are refillable throughout the day for free, and cost twenty-one dollars.. I mostly used mine for water, though each land except for Nintendo has it's own unique soda flavor. Celestial Park's is called Celestial Spritz and tasted (to me at least) like a blood orange soda. Different, but not bad. I actually preferred it to the other unique soda flavor I tried (more on that later).
From Celestial Park, you can see inside some of the other lands. There are some sightline issues. I wouldn't say there is anything too egregious or unforgivable, but they are definitely there if you look for them. I've also heard speculation that in time the vegetation in Celestial Park will grow to provide enough shade, but I'm not sure that's going to be the case from what I've seen. This is not ideal, and can make walking around the park or waiting in outdoor queues painful. For this reason, I would say the best time to visit would be in December, January, February, March, and maybe even April as those months tend to be much cooler and less humid.
Unfortunately, I missed the main attraction in Celestial Park, Stardust Racers. I had attempted to hit it once during the day, but the wait time was close to two hours. I tried again at night with Express, but they only had one track open (it's a dueling coaster), and Express was barely moving. So, I'll take the Big L on that one. Whoops!
CONSTELLATION CAROUSEL
I got to ride this puppy at night, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. It's a real vibe. The carousel is large and open air. It's themed to the different constellations, so the figures you get to ride on are bulls, bears, rams, lions, etc...they represent the constellations in the sky.
The ride starts and the lights go out. The figures you're riding on light up with twinkling fiber optics. They begin to rise, fall, spin, and even move in reverse all in synchronization to music played overhead. There are various different tracks that play, and the tracks are different at day and night. This is a very re-ridable and incredibly satisfying carousel, easily my favorite one I've ridden. It's like riding a synchronized dance. It's magical.
PIZZA MOON RESTAURANT
A clever take on Georges Melies' 'A Trip to the Moon'. In this version, we landed on the moon, and found it was made of cheese. Naturally, we used this moon cheese to make pizza. The interior is full of moving and swinging figures that resemble the aesthetic style of that film. It's a very colorful and pleasant place to be in, and the costumes the attendants wear are delightful.
I had the Nanarossa, which is basically their take on a Margherita. It was honestly the best pizza I've had in a theme park. It was restaurant quality. Out of the restaurants I ate at in Epic Universe (which weren't many), I'd rank Pizza Moon as number one. Every restaurant at Epic Universe relies on mobile ordering through the Universal app. There are some where you can order at the window, but there are others where you can only order through the app. It's not a difficult process, but it does take some getting used to.