Hits, misses, and everything else you need to know to get the most out of Universal’s newest theme park
My family got our first look at Universal Epic Universe, the fourth and newest of the Universal theme parks in Orlando, about a month after its official opening. After the intense hype and media raves, we had sky-high expectations. Our take? This is a really good amusement park, especially if you and your family have an interest in the featured themes — the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises, the How to Train Your Dragon movies, the Super Nintendo videos games, and the monster films of the 1930s. There’s a lot that Universal got right. However, we also think that there’s room for improvement.
It’s worth noting that media — including mainstream media, travel writers, influencers, and podcasters — typically experience a new park on a media preview day when the park operates far below capacity. In all the coverage that we saw leading up to this park’s debut, there was hardly a negative word uttered; the conditions were optimal. However, we experienced this park as paying customers, along with thousands of other parkgoers. In other words, we experienced what you will experience — the good, the bad, and the surprising.
Let’s take a closer look at each world inside Universal Epic Universe.
How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk
What did we like?
1. Viking theming
Universal did an exceptional job creating immersive worlds throughout Epic Universe with thoughtful, detailed theming. The Isle of Berk — home to Vikings and fire-breathing dragons from the How to Train Your Dragon movies — was, in our opinion, the most convincing and enjoyable. The effort made by park employees to refer to each visitor as a fellow “Viking” reinforced the vibe.
2. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
Here’s a bit of a spoiler: the most anticipated rides — Battle at the Ministry and Monsters Unchained — are not, in our opinion, the best ones in the park. The sleeper hit is Hiccup’s Wing Gliders. This family roller coaster does not have death-defying drops or upside-down loops, but it does give you the magical sensation of actually swooping and soaring on the back of your very own dragon, thanks to the pitch of the track and the familiar movie soundtrack piped into each car. And we’re not the only ones who think so. We overheard plenty of other Vikings declaring it the best ride in the park as they disembarked.
3. The Untrainable Dragon
The Untrainable Dragon is the best live show in the park, hands down. It tells the story of a seemingly untrainable dragon and her arrival at the dragon egg hatchery through music, dance and a giant dragon puppet ridden by Hiccup himself soaring above the audience. The puppet of Toothless weighs 1,157 pounds and has a wingspan of nearly 27 feet. Honestly, it’s quite a sight! And even if you typically don’t see the shows at theme parks, it’s worth going for the air conditioning alone.
KidTripster Tip: This seems like a good place for a reminder about Florida heat and humidity, especially if you’re visiting during the summer. Because Epic Universe is a new park it has few mature trees and very little shade. Bring your wide-brimmed hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Having a small backpack or bag on most rides isn’t an issue. For those in which it is, free lockers are provided.
4. Viking Training Camp
In a park that has some insanely long ride lines, it’s nice to have a space for no-wait play, especially for the youngest Vikings. The Viking Training Camp includes climbing towers, an agility course, a sheep launcher game, slides and more — all in a colorful, full-themed area. And yes, there are spots for parents to sit and take a breather!
5. Viking Feast
We had our best food of the day at Mead Hall, Berk’s main gathering place. Like all sit-down restaurants in the park, you order by scanning a QR code on your table. This restaurant features a hearty menu of Viking fare including meatballs, turkey legs, sausages and salmon, along with vegan options. There’s also an assortment of meads, ciders, and ales. Berk has a second sit-down restaurant, too, called the Spit Fyre Grill. Both are thankfully air-conditioned.
What didn’t we like?
1. Fyre Drill
This ride is a complete misfire. It’s pitched as an interactive boat battle where Vikings blast water cannons at flame-like targets and each other. In reality, your cannons barely have enough power to reach the targets as you slowly sail in a circle. What’s worse was the wait due to mechanical issues. Every other eight-person boat appeared to be out of commission. In the boats that were operating, several of the cannons didn’t work, so park employees couldn’t load to full capacity. Regardless of the line when you go, it’s not worth the wait.
2. Character Encounters
Want to meet Toothless and Hiccup in the flesh? Us, too! But there was no way that we were waiting 120 minutes.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic
What did we like?
1. Battle at the Ministry
Battle at the Ministry is part of the new generation of theme park rides that combine motion simulation, video effects, and live-action elements. In this ride, you board an elevator inside the ministry on your way to the trial of pink-loving, power-hungry Dolores Umbridge, who somehow escapes. Your job is to help Harry, Ron, and Hermione recapture her.
To be honest, the highlight of this ride is the actually the queue experience. Yes, really! It begins as you travel through the green smoke of the Floo Network and arrive in the ministry’s atrium. It’s really a wow moment for Harry Potter fans.
KidTripster Tip: Despite what Epic Universe employees may tell you, head to this ride first thing in the morning. We did and waited just 45 minutes — the shortest wait time we saw all day.
KidTripster Tip: While my family often uses single-rider lines to save time, I wouldn’t recommend it here. You’ll miss the queue through the stunning atrium.
KidTripster Tip: In case you’re wondering, this Wizarding World of Harry Potter is not connected to the other two wizarding worlds in Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure.
2. Le Cirque Arcanus
Le Cirque Arcanus is a live show in which the ringmaster steals Newt Scamander’s suitcase containing fantastic beasts, represented by larger-than-life puppets. The show is worth watching, and yes, the auditorium is air-conditioned.
What didn’t we like?
1. Theming in Wizarding Paris
This wizarding world is set in Paris in the 1920s, like the movie Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. We’ll admit it — we’re not fans of the Fantastic Beasts series, so this non-British wizarding world just didn’t resonate with us.
2. Shopping
As diehard Potterheads, we were missing the familiarity of Honeydukes, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, and Ollivander’s Wand Shop — which has been replaced in Paris by Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magique. Sorry, it’s just not the same.
3. Interactive Wand Experience
Like in the other Harry Potter worlds, you can purchase your own interactive wand. Here, first-generation wands are $65 while second-generation wands, which connect to an app, are $85. As you walk the streets of Paris, you’ll find markings which indicate that you can cast a particular spell and enchant objects in the storefronts. It’s novel the first time, but we watched as many young wizards lost interest.
4. Butterbeer Crepes
We have sampled nearly all the butterbeer variations in the other wizarding worlds — drinks (cold, hot, frozen), chocolate bars, cream puffs, ice lollies, fudge, potted creams and my favorite, ice cream — so we, of course, had to try butterbeer crepes, or bièraubeurre crêpe as they’re called at Café L’air De La Sirène. Unfortunately, we found them to be underdone and sickly sweet.
Dark Universe
What didn’t we like?
1. Gothic Theming
You may have noticed that we skipped the section about what we liked, because honestly, this part of Epic Universe just wasn’t for us. We’re not horror fans, nor are we drawn to the classic Universal monsters from the 1930s. If that’s your jam, happy haunting!
2. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Some folks rave about this ride, but we don’t understand the appeal. Like Battle at the Ministry, it blends video effects with live action, but the storytelling felt disjointed and hard to follow. Our saving grace? We used the single-rider line and only waited 15 minutes.
Disclaimer: Because of the long wait, we didn’t ride the Curse of the Werewolf roller coaster or wait to see the windmill blades on The Burning Blade Tavern ignite. Reportedly, it happens every 20 minutes.
Super Nintendo World
What did we like?
1. Super Mario Land Entrance
This world gets props for the most spectacular entrance. You follow the rainbow path up an escalator through an emerald green tunnel. At the top, you emerge onto the balcony of Princess Peach’s castle, overlooking Super Mario Land. With the vivid colors and oversized landscapes, there’s a definite wow factor.
2. Video Game Theming
Walking through Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong Country feels like stepping inside a video game, complete with the classic sound effects. It’s sensory overload — in a good way. In this world, visitors are called “players.”
3. Banana Treats
In the heart of Donkey Kong Country, we grabbed a post-ride treat at The Bubbly Barrel that we enjoyed — an oversized banana-flavored snack with an equally oversized price: $13 (or $19 with a souvenir cup).
Disclaimer: We didn’t get to ride Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge due to mechanical issues. It’s an interactive attraction where you wear special goggles and steer through a course with Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, collecting digital coins and tossing shells. With multiple possible outcomes, each ride is supposed to feel different.
We also skipped Yoshi’s Adventure, a slow-paced ride through the Mushroom Kingdom where players spot hidden colored eggs. From the outside, it gave us Disney’s It’s a Small World vibes.
What didn’t we like?
1. Mine-Cart Madness
Granted, our experience was likely clouded by the two-hour wait, which included two 20-minute delays — both just as we were rounding the final bend in the line. A month into this park being open, we would have hoped that all these technical delays would not have been an issue, but, of course, they were. The family-friendly coaster itself was just okay. The best part was the illusion of jumping across gaps in the track while helping Donkey Kong protect the Golden Banana — but certainly not worth the time that we invested here.
2. Power-Up Bands
Like the interactive wands, these Power-Up Bands are another add-on that doesn’t seem worth the $45 price tag. The idea is that you and your fellow players can collect digital coins and stamps, contributing to your score and ranking. But with so much going on in this world, we didn’t see many people engaging with them. For the average person, I think it’s just too much to manage.
3. Character Encounters
Meet-and-greets with Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad and Donkey Kong suffer from the same issue as on the Isle of Berk — amazingly long wait times.
Celestial Park
What did we like?
1. Less-Stimulating Setting
While Universal considers Celestial Park as the fifth world in Epic Universe, I’d describe it more as the cosmic center of the park’s hub-and-spoke layout. It’s a relaxing space with lush greenery, dancing fountains and more elbow room.
Disclaimer: We didn’t ride either of the two attractions in this area — the Constellation Carousel or the twin-track, looping Stardust Racers roller coaster.
2. Universal Helios Grand Hotel
While we didn’t stay at this on-property Loews hotel, we can see the appeal. It’s the only Universal hotel that directly overlooks a theme park. Guests have a dedicated entrance into Epic Universe and can enter the park an hour earlier than regular ticketholders. With wait times so long, a good strategy might be to spend a few hours in the park in the morning, retreat to the hotel during the heat of the day (or an afternoon thunderstorm, which is common during summer), and return in the evening when crowds thin out.
KidTripster Tip: Guests at the Helios Grand Hotel can also hop on a complimentary shuttle to reach the other Universal parks.
What didn’t we like?
1. Pizza Moon
This pizza and pasta spot sits in Celestial Park just outside Super Nintendo Land. We were hoping for a little Mario magic, but instead we got underwhelming pizza and lackluster service. Maybe we’d have had better luck at one of the other quick-service spots. Celestial Park also has two upscale (read: expensive) restaurants — Atlantic and The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant.
Know Before You Go
1. Park Admission
Guests staying at any of the on-property Universal Orlando hotels can enter the park one hour early at 9 a.m. That said, we had regular admission tickets but arrived early to secure parking (which wasn’t an issue) and get acclimated. At 9 a.m., when the gates opened, we walked right in and headed straight for Battle at the Ministry. This ride — like most in the park — doesn’t open until 10 a.m., so we simply got in line. I can’t explain why it worked, but no one ever checked whether we were hotel guests, and we were riding shortly after 10 a.m.
2. Single-Day Tickets
Early media reports suggested that guests would need a multi-day ticket and that no single-day tickets would be available for Universal Epic Universe. I’m not sure whether that was misinformation or a change in plans, but you can absolutely purchase a one-day, one-park ticket.
3. No Virtual Ride Reservations
When the park first opened, guests could reserve ride times in the Universal app. That system has since been discontinued. During our visit, parkgoers waited in old-fashioned queues. No word yet on whether Universal plans to bring back virtual reservations.
4. Express Pass
As you may have guessed, our biggest complaint about this park is the extremely long lines at most attractions. Universal does offer an express pass, allowing guests to skip the regular standby line and enter the express lane, cutting wait times by 50% or more. However, Universal uses dynamic pricing for these passes, so the cost can fluctuate based on the date and demand. Pricing varies wildly. Passes appear to average around $130 but have been reported as high as $330. The pass is not unlimited at this time; it’s only valid for one ride per attraction.
KidTripster Tip: If you plan to purchase the Express Pass, pricing is typically better online in advance.
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