Universal Orlando's two new resorts under construction that will open in early 2025 — and their 1,500 rooms — are but a drop in the bucket to satisfy next year’s hotel demand, said Michael Weinberg, a managing director in the Orlando office of commercial real estate firm Berkadia.

That’s all because of the anticipated 2025 debut of the Epic Universe theme park, he told Orlando Business Journal. 

“If you add this big demand driver in the market and then you look back at previous big demand generators — like when they added [Wizarding World of] Harry Potter in 2010 — the spike was around 10%-15%," Weinberg said. "This is like adding four or five Harry Potters.

"Every time you have these theme parks make a massive investment, you see this massive spike in demand in the market. So I'm a believer that 2025 could be one of the biggest years — if not the biggest year — in the history of Orlando's hospitality demand."

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