See how Universal Epic Universe brings the holidays to life with Celestial Park Holidays, from hand-crafted ornaments to dazzling celestial-themed displays.
Photo Credit: Universal Orlando Resort
Universal Orlando is bringing the holiday spirit to its newest theme park in a big way. As part of its 2025 seasonal celebration, Celestial Park, the heart of Universal’s Epic Universe, is now fully adorned for the Celestial Park Holidays, blending cosmic elegance with festive charm. Recently, Universal Orlando Resort offered a look at how Celestial Park holidays come together.
Behind the Magic: Crafting a Celestial Wonderland
Work on the Celestial Park Holidays decor began long ago. Curtis Hopkins, senior scenic manager with Universal Entertainment Art & Design, revealed that discussions about “holly‑jollies and fa‑la‑las” date as far back as 2019, even before the park was publicly announced. He marveled at his team’s craftsmanship, calling their handiwork “mind‑boggling.”
“Our decor team at the warehouse is building and producing so many custom ornaments,” Curtis said. “When you look at them, you’d swear they came from a factory … It’s elevating the standard … that we always try to have for any project that we work on.”
Scenic designer Lindsey Ellis worked closely with Universal Creative to bring the vision to life. She explained,
“So many people are touching this project, and we wouldn’t have been able to get across the finish line without them, especially because the park wasn’t open or done when we started … We really relied on our Creative partners to provide us with their design intent. It was truly a labor of love for many, many people.”
Celestians
Drawing on the lore of Celestians, the fictional inhabitants of Celestial Park, Lindsey hand‑drew many of the decorative concepts. She incorporated cultural motifs from the park’s architecture, golden palm fronds at CelesTiki, red plum blossoms near The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant, and adapted them into festive textures and color schemes.
“I picked apart what makes each part of Celestial Park special and tied that in with the holiday … We have a lot of interesting new textures and colors and styles that I think people are going to be really excited about.”
Show producer Stephanie Trilli, who bridged the designers and the on-the-ground teams, emphasized fidelity to the original creative vision:
“For this project I tried to make both Lindsey and Curtis happy … It’s their vision and their dream. I tried to get the things that we’re making to be as true to their concept as possible.”
Lindsey added with delight how surreal it was to see her digital designs become real:
“One of the highlights of this job is going into the decor warehouse and seeing something I made on the computer as a real product … it’s so gorgeous … [The set dressers] put their love, effort, skills and thought into it, and it’s better than anything I could imagine.”
Celestial Park Holidays: Unique, Custom, and Full of Heart
Stephanie underscored the uniqueness of the Celestial Park Holidays pieces:
“This is not something you can buy off the shelf … These are custom items made just for Epic Universe. If you take a moment to look at each building, it is so impressive what these teams have done.”
Curtis hinted that this holiday effort is only the beginning:
“The level of detail that all of these teams have been producing for Epic Universe is going to trickle into Holiday product that is going to be at our other parks moving forward … The team is now so robust at creating all of this … custom detail work, it’s only going to enhance the decor parkwide.”
Bringing the Vision to Life: Installation and Care
The installation phase, overseen by art managers Mary Camacho and Jacquie Perry, is no small feat. These two dedicate nearly the entire year to preparing the Celestial Park Holidays décor, carefully installing garlands, ornaments, and lights and maintaining them throughout the season.
Jacquie noted the commitment to improvement:
“Every year we have an opportunity to make [the décor] better … When we take our decorations down in January, we start working right away on fixing them up … it takes a couple of months to build each of these areas with our full‑time crew of elves.”
Mary described the collaborative spirit behind the scenes:
“My favorite part is brainstorming with other people and coming up with solutions … It’s very collaborative, and they tend to be fun conversations.”
Because of Florida’s unpredictable weather, preserving the delicate decor is a challenge. Still, Mary and Jacquie are game: they call themselves “experts in the field of Holidays” and relish problem-solving to keep everything looking pristine.
Stories in Every Garland
For the team, the Celestial Park Holidays decorations bring an infusion of history.
“All of the crew has very special feelings about seeing their work on a building … I went to the park with a friend who said, ‘Oh, I really love those berries,’ and I remembered exactly how they came to be that way and who did it. Every piece of garland has a backstory, and it’s fun knowing it.”
— Mary Camacho
Team members love reminiscing about the creation of each piece, even down to tiny woodland creatures that appear in the garland around The Oak & Star Tavern.
Celestial Park Holidays: What This Means for Guests
- This is Epic Universe’s first Christmas season, and the decorating effort for Celestial Park Holidays is clearly meant to make a strong impression.
- Rather than using typical holiday decor, Universal has leaned into the celestial theme: ornaments, wreaths, and garlands feature motifs like stars, moons, and mythological flora.
- The level of customization suggests a long-term holiday strategy — not just for Epic Universe, but potentially for other Universal parks in the future.
Universal’s Celestial Park Holidays are a deeply immersive, thoughtfully designed experience. From hand-drawn concepts rooted in park lore to custom-crafted ornaments that can’t be bought off the shelf, the effort reflects real heart and creative ambition, setting a high bar for seasonal celebrations at Epic Universe.
For more theme park-related news and information, visit MSM News.
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