Orlando, Wednesday, 10 September 2025.
Last Tuesday Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment at Epic Universe was named Best Dark Ride at the 2025 Golden Ticket Awards, a clear industry endorsement of Universal Orlando’s narrative-led engineering and show-control sophistication. For retail leaders, the win matters because marquee dark rides demonstrably extend guest dwell time and lift spend per capita through themed F&B, merchandise, and retail opportunities. Epic Universe paired high-fidelity animatronics, synchronized vehicles and integrated media to create predictable capacity profiles and reliable show cycles—data points that influence procurement and ROI models for experiential capital projects. The award provides a benchmarking moment: operators can use wait-time and attendance signals to forecast merchandise velocity, design SKU assortments tied to IP moments, and justify higher-margin themed offerings. Expect RFPs and development briefs to prioritize narrative integration and technical redundancy over raw thrill metrics, shifting capex conversations toward guest experience economics and lifetime value rather than headline coaster stats.