Dark Universe's Unannounced Third Ride Just Went From Permits to Dirt at Epic Universe, and the Berm Along Kirkman Road Is Coming Down

The empty lot behind Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment has been a paperwork story since July. As of this week it is a dirt story.

Orlando ParkStop published a construction update on Wednesday, August 26, built around fresh Bioreconstruct aerials from around Universal Orlando. Its section on Dark Universe opens: "Land prep work is happening now at Epic Universe as Dark Universe makes way for its third ride." The plot behind the Monsters Unchained show building, which guests see as Frankenstein Manor, is being dug out and reshaped, and the earthen berm that used to screen it from the road is going away with it.

"Trees were removed recently along a berm that used to help visually separate the area from the nearby Kirkman Rd.," the outlet wrote. "Today, that berm is being removed as the land is flattened to prepare the area."

Quick facts: The site is the 3.34 acre plot the earliest Dark Universe site plans labeled "Expansion Phase 2." Permits call the work early activity for "a future attraction known as Project 680." Heavy equipment, trailers, containers and a water truck have all landed there in roughly the past two weeks.

The detail that matters most: a name on the vests

The genuinely new fact in the update is not the dirt. It is who is standing on it.

"The workers seen in the area appear to have the Whiting-Turner logo on their vests," ParkStop wrote, adding that "that company is listed as the general contractor on permits related to this work." Whiting-Turner's name has come up at Epic Universe before: WDW News Today reported in March that it was listed as the proposed contractor on another building permit at the park. If its crews are the ones working on the expansion plot, that is a real step past paperwork, though Universal has confirmed nothing.

Worth keeping the hedge that ParkStop keeps: this is a logo read off a vest in a ground level photo ParkStop took from inside the land, plus a name on a permit document, not a Universal announcement. The aerials show land prep rather than foundations, with nothing vertical up yet. So far this is ground being cleared and shaped, not construction of the building itself.

What the permits actually describe

Survey markers went into the plot earlier this month. The newer filings go a good deal further than markers: they describe a three story structure, listed as Building 1570, at 93,308 square feet, of which 71,500 square feet is tenant space. Buried in that paperwork is the line that matters most, a "Ride Maintenance Bay on the first floor." ParkStop attributes that language to the newer filings, not to the earlier Project 680 paperwork.

A ride maintenance bay is typically where ride vehicles are serviced, which is why that one line reads as an attraction rather than a shop or a restaurant.

As for what the ride is, Universal has said nothing at all. ParkStop is careful about it too: "Rumors of a Creature from the Black Lagoon ride for this part of the land have been around since before the theme park was even announced, but Universal isn't talking just yet." Treat that as fan expectation, not a reveal.

A second permit, at the werewolf coaster

The same update flagged a smaller filing elsewhere in Dark Universe. It is titled "Project 375 902C Test Seat" and covers "Sidewalk alterations and owner provided accessory canopy and ride test seat installation."

The codes decode neatly. As ParkStop explains, "902 is the code for the Dark Universe land, and C is for C-Ticket, which the Curse of the Werewolf coaster is known as in documents." Project 375 is Universal's program for installing modified seating that accommodates larger body sizes, and per ParkStop it has so far covered Hiccup's Wing Gliders, Dragon Racer's Rally and Stardust Racers.

One caution before anyone reads too much into it. Curse of the Werewolf already has a test seat, and has had one since at least July 2025; WDW News Today listed it among the Epic Universe attractions with test seat photos in the app back in July 2025. So this permit could mean new modified seating, or it could just as easily cover a canopy over the seat that is already there, or a relocation of it. ParkStop hedges it too, framing new modified seating as a question rather than a fact. The permit language is the fact; the larger seating conclusion is the inference.

Either way, a modified seating program working its way across Epic Universe attraction by attraction is worth watching.

Where this leaves things

In late July this was still a permit. Earlier this month it was survey markers in an empty lot, with the old Monsters Cafe statues sitting in the grass beside them. This week there are trailers, a water truck and a contractor's logo on site, the statues are still out there, and the berm along Kirkman Road is being carted off.

Universal still has not announced a third Dark Universe ride, has not named it, and has not given it a date. What it has done is start permitted work on the ground.

Sources

• Orlando ParkStop, "Universal Orlando Update: Hollywood Drift Theming, Dark Universe Ride Breaks Ground, & Poseidon's Fury Demo"
• WDW News Today, "Universal Orlando Resort Adds Test Seat Pictures to App"
• WDW News Today, "Universal Files Permit for New Building at Wizarding World in Epic Universe"
• Universal Destinations & Experiences press room, Dark Universe

Image credits: All photos courtesy of Universal Destinations & Experiences. Construction aerials referenced in this story are the work of Bioreconstruct and were published by Orlando ParkStop; follow the source link to view them.