Epic Universe opens on May 22nd, 2025, and we are getting so excited!

We’ve already taken a sneak peek inside the theme park, and the new Universal Helios Grand Hotel is open, with the theme park not far behind. As we continue to explore the new park and hotel, we’re bringing you our full reviews of everything! Today’s full review tasks us to Aurora Market inside the Helios Grand.

Inside Universal’s Helios Grand Hotel, when it comes to food, you can find Bar Helios,  Flora Taverna, Lotus Lagoon, and Aurora Market! Today, we’re checking out everything inside the hotel that takes you straight into Epic Universe to see if it’s truly worth your time and money, starting with the market.

Aurora Market is the coffee shop inside the resort where you can find freshly roasted coffees, beverages, and grab-and-go options. It also serves up snacks like croissants, paninis, wraps, and salads, plus desserts like cakes and gelato day and night.

Atmosphere

The atmosphere around the market is relaxed but lively with its contemporary vibe.

This is basically a grab-and-go market combined with a coffee shop and a gelato shop.

So let’s see what we can grab!

Menu

You’ll find a huge variety of beverages and pre-packaged salads, sandwiches, and snacks here.

Got a sweet tooth, but don’t want sugar? You’ll find some pre-packaged sugar-free sweet treats.

You’ll even find a small selection of bakery goods like cookies, brownies, and donuts.

Check out the pastry case, though, because there are some nice pastries available, including macarons.

Wine and other spirits can also be found here.

You can also have a variety of gelato flavors. The gelato comes from two Florida-based suppliers, and they have some unique flavors. Want to try a flavor out before you buy? You can get a sample! There are a dozen flavors that will rotate seasonally. There’s even a dark chocolate vegan gelato made with oat milk plus sorbetto, which is also vegan. The more fun flavors we saw were tiramisu, cookie butter, and birthday cake, but we also saw mint chocolate chip, vanilla, and chocolate.

Need a pick-me-up? There’s coffee! We’re talking espresso drinks made to order!

You can also pick up a refillable cup here, which is $10.50 for one day, $12 for two days, or $16.50 for three days. You can also get one for your full length of stay for $19.

You can fill them up at the Coca-Cola Freestyle machine throughout Universal, but there’s one inside the market, too.

One thing we will note, though, is that there is NO seating here. You will find some seating right outside the market in the lobby, though.

Eats and Drinks

To start us off, we grabbed an Affogato for $7. An affogato is a scoop of gelato with a shot of espresso on top, so it melts over the ice cream and creates a creamy coffee drink with a caffeinated kick. We decided to try one with the cookie butter gelato. As you can see, you get it served in a plain white paper cup, sized for at least two or three scoops of gelato. So the affogato is looking a little…well..lonely in there. But this container is too big for the gelato, so you’re not getting the melting action. It could be that this is an opening week thing, and more containers/cups are on the way.

We ended up eating the gelato and then drinking the espresso to get the flavors together. That being said, it was pretty good, and the gelato itself was rich with a caramelized sweet flavor. It also has a bit of a crunch, so we think there’s something like a Biscoff in there.

We also ordered a Small Gelato for $5.50. We got two flavors, meaning that the price point is actually pretty sweet. We tried the vegan dark chocolate gelato made with oat milk. We think the oat milk isn’t noticeable at all, and you just get a creamy, chocolately scoop that’s a little easier on your stomach.

Our other scoop was the Birthday Cake Gelato, which is going to please kids with its fun blue color with sprinkles. This one had that nice cake batter flavor, and it was SO tasty and SUPER creamy.

We will note that once we had both gelato flavors together, we found the non-vegan option to be a lot creamier. You do lose some of that creaminess with the oat milk version.

Overall

Overall, this space is pretty small, and we didn’t think that there were a lot of options as far as grab-and-go snacks and meals go. However, Aurora Market could be a great place to grab a coffee in the mornings or a gelato at the end of the day (although we noticed a LOT of people coming back from the parks heading straight for the market). There’s also no seating, but you can head into the Helios Grand lobby and find seating there.

Aurora Market is a great option for an easy breakfast or dessert inside the Helios Grand Hotel with familiar bites and drinks. This will be a great option for you if you want to grab a quick bite before or after hitting Epic Universe. If you want something that’s more than basic, though, maybe consider skipping this spot unless you want coffee or gelato!

We’re continuing to check out everything Epic here at Universal, so make sure to stay tuned to DFB for more Universal news and updates.

See everything inside the Universal Helios Grand Hotel 

Tell us what you’re most excited about in Epic Universe in the comments!