I Went to Epic Universe – A First-Hand Experience

I recently had the opportunity to visit Universal Orlando Resort’s brand new theme park, Universal Epic Universe. This will obviously be a spoiler laden post, so if you want to avoid all things Epic Universe, now is the time to stop reading.

Universal Epic Universe has been in the works for years and I’ve been watching in anticipation of the reveals of the lands, the overview videos and photos that we’ve seen online, and more. I had extremely high hopes for this brand new theme park. And let me tell you, they not only met my expectations, but they exceeded them!

Celestial Park

When you walk under the Chronos, the main entryway for the park, you see this incredibly beautiful wide open, park-like experience. It features a ton of water throughout that flows throughout the land. This area is Celestial Park and it melds water with the cosmos in such a beautiful and unique way! Oh and let’s not forget how majestic Grand Helios, the new hotel looks in the background!

This land features many shops and restaurants, as well as a few attractions – Constellation Carousel and Stardust Racers.

The Attractions of Celestial Park

Stardust Racers is the attraction in this land that most people are excited about. This is the dueling coaster – one side is yellow and one side is green. Guests start out on a double launch (which is insane!) and race along the track on their own. Then, halfway through, the pair meet up and they duel each other in an incredible way!

I was able to experience both sides and have to say, I thought the green side was more intense. By just a hair. I did green first and when asked if I wanted to go on the yellow immediately after, I took pause because I wasn’t sure I could do it. It was a lot back to back! But I decided to go for it and was glad I did. Both sides are awesome, but I would give the nod to green if you’re only looking to ride one side.

We also tried out Constellation Carousel. This is one of the most unique carousels I’ve ever been on. The ride vehicles are special. Some can fit one, some two, and some three, depending on party size. They also vary on spinniness! Some vehicles just go along a regular circular path and some have a double circle track. It makes for a really interesting ride.

Dining

One last thing I was able to do in Celestial Park is eat lunch at the premiere restaurant, Atlantic. Let me tell you…this has to be one of the best restaurants in any theme park! It’s kind of themed like a cruise ship, ocean liner. It includes a grand double staircase, like the Titanic had, and you come upon the landing which showcases the full floor to ceiling windows that look out into the park. I couldn’t stop staring out the window!

As far as our meal was concerned, it was also incredible. I ended up getting the scallops, which were delicious. They were served with rice, charred broccoli, and mushrooms. I devoured the entire plate. This will be the date night spot and since it sits on the water, I can only imagine how beautiful it will be dining here at night!

How To Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk

Moving along, let’s head to the world of How to Train Your Dragon. This is, by far, the biggest land with the most number of attractions. And for those who are fans of the franchise, this land is certainly incredible! There are touches of dragons everywhere! And you can even see them just roaming the land! (Guests can also meet favorite characters in unique meeting opportunities too!)

The Attractions of How to Train Your Dragon

Guests can experience Fyre Drill, which is a water based attraction that allows you to shoot water cannons aiming at targets. How wet you get varies depending on how well you do. At Dragon’s Racer’s Rally, you board a vehicle and practice flying maneuvers. The description of this sounds much more thrilling than the attraction actually looked. While it looks intimidating at first, on closer inspection, it seems much more tame than I initially thought. (Though I didn’t get the chance to experience either of these, due to high wait times.)

There’s also the kids play area – Viking Training Camp. This spot is great for those who want to run off some steam! And for those who love stage shows, I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things around the show, which is called The Untrainable Dragon.

But the attraction that I was able to experience here was Hiccup’s Wing Gliders! This is a family-friendly roller coaster and for Disney fans, in a way, it reminded me a bit of Slinky Dog Dash. It’s a great coaster with a fun storyline. Also,I was surprised by the AudioAnamatronics that you actually see on the ride! That was very unexpected!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

Let’s move over to the Wizarding World. This land has basically two parts. The part set in France and the part set in England. Guests enter via the Metro and are thrust into France first. And let me tell you….this land…it feels like France. From the feel of the streets and architecture, to the cafes on the “streets” where you can eat outside; it was incredibly detailed.

The Attractions of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Speaking of detailed….I did not get to ride the main attraction here, which is Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, but I was able to walk through the queue. I’m gonna be honest….Harry Potter fans – you are going to lose it! This attraction’s queue, just the queue, blew me away. Guests travel by floo powder from France to London, and once you stepped inside the Ministry, it was like the films. I mean, you came in through the giant fireplaces we saw in the 5th film. And the main lobby looked EXACTLY like it did in the movies.

Speaking of the main lobby, it is SO incredibly immersive. I mean my jaw hit the floor! You can’t believe they built this for a theme park attraction’s queue! But they did! From the fountain in the main lobby, to moving in further into the ministry where you can see offices, to the moving portraits of the previous (and current) Ministers of Magic, to yes, Delores Umbridge’s office, WITH an incredible Higgledy the House Elf AudioAnamatronic, as well as yes, the moving cat plates and pink everywhere. Every room I went into just floored me.

If this is JUST the queue, I can only imagine how ridiculously amazing the actual attraction is going to be when I get the chance to ride.

There’s also another attraction that Guests can experience in this land, and that’s Le Cirque Arcanus, which is a stage show, the first every Harry Potter themed show for a Universal theme park. It takes place multiple times per day and includes some of the fantastic beasts from Newt Scamander’s suitcase. I can’t wait to see this eventually, as well.

Super Nintendo World

Somehow, through all the iterations of Super Nintendo World in all the other parks around the world, I’ve managed to avoid most spoilers of this land. And it paid off once I was able to step on the escalator to head up the iconic green pipe to enter into this land. (How cool is that? You actually get to ascend up the pipe and what a creative way to do it too!)

Now, I grew up on Nintendo games, but I didn’t “live” in the world of Nintendo growing up. I have knowledge and connection to some of the characters, but certainly not all. (Like Yoshi, I know Yoshi, but he wasn’t something I played.) But walking in this land, really if you just have cursory knowledge of the worlds, you’re fine. But if you’re a Super Nintendo fanatic, you’re going to be incredibly impressed! It’s like you’ve actually stepped into the games! There are mushrooms, there are piranha plants, there are yellow coin blocks that you really can hit; it’s a world that is so incredibly fleshed out.

The Attractions of Super Nintendo World

There are a few attractions in this land, as well. There’s Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, which is where you actually get to play Mario Kart, but in real life with you in the car shooting turtle shells, bananas, and more. We weren’t able to get to this attraction, nor were we able to get to the Donkey Kong section’s Mine-Cart Madness. (I was very sad I didn’t get to ride in the mine cart! I was so looking forward to it!)

We did get to ride Yoshi’s Adventure and it’s kind of like if you took Peoplemover at Walt Disney World, with a matching game. Guests get to travel above the land and have incredible views, plus there’s a game where you’ll need to find the different colored eggs. I feel this ride is great for the whole family, though I think it’s definitely geared towards the littler ones in the family.

Dark Universe

Obviously, the land I was most excited to get to experience was Dark Universe. I love Halloween Horror Nights, not for the scary stuff….for that part, I’m a complete chicken. But I love the details – all the depths that Universal goes to to tell the stories. I felt that with everything I’d heard about Dark Universe, we were about to get a area that would be next level. And I can tell you without a doubt, my hunch was right. The amount of detailing in this land is beyond belief.

Every piece of this land feels like it shouldn’t be real life. From the small details, to the “fog” in the land, to the burning windmill, which yes, it really burns, to the Frankenstein manor’s stately estate, which is falling apart in just the right ways, to the black toilets in the restroom, this land goes above what you think it should be and is even better than your imagination.

This land also features some of the best meet and greet and walk around characters, from the Invisible Man to Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride of Frankenstein, and those were just the ones we saw.

The is definitely the land I spent the most time in. I stopped in The Burning Blade Tavern. This is a hangout spot for monster hunters. It’s set up kind of like a dungeon, with “trophies” of killed monsters on the wall behind the bar. Many of the drinks are served in spectacle form and the food looked delicious. There’s also an outdoor seating area, if you’re craving a little sun.

The Attractions of Dark Universe

As far as the rides, there are two in this land. There’s Curse of the Werewolf and Monsters Unleashed: The Frankenstein Experience.

The Curse of the Werewolf is a coaster that spins and surprises! (I thought the ride broke for a second….that’s how surprised I was!) It’s a fun, but kind of intense coaster.

The second attraction I was able to experience was the one I think most people are most excited for – Monsters Unleashed: The Frankenstein Experience. Guests enter the stately manor of Victoria Frankenstein, Dr. Frankenstein’s great granddaughter. You’ll walk through the gardens and enter the manor where you’ll see some unique boxes and other experimental pieces of equipment. (Pay attention, you may also see pulses of light coming from this house, and you’ll even spot them, if you look carefully as you experience the land.)

Guests will make their way up the incredible staircase to enter the pre-shows. First you come across Ygor. His goal is to help you take part in this experiment. But I’m not sure if Ygor is here to help or not yet….this still seems fishy. He does show you the contraption you’ll be traveling on.

We then go into Victoria’s lair. You come face to face with Victoria as she tells you that she’s captured all the monsters. She’s still out for the illusive Dracula and she’s having her Frankenstein’s Monster help her with this task. You then board the attraction and take off on your journey.

When I say this is a thrilling mad-cap adventure, I mean it! It was like sensory overload in the best way possible! I was trying to catch the story, being scared by the monsters coming at me, all the while marveling at the incredible fluidity of these awe-striking AudioAnamatronics. These are almost lifelike. No joke. And some of them are massive!

This ride and Battle of Ministry (even though I didn’t ride it, I can already tell) are going to fight it out for my favorite attractions, not just at Universal, but I think in all of Orlando. The immersiveness of Monsters Unleashed is spectacular.

Final Thoughts on Epic Universe

This is really just the beginning of my thoughts about Universal Epic Universe. I still have a number of attractions to experience, but based on what I did get to see, this park has brought the theme park world up to another level. Universal has really hit it out of the park with Epic Universe. They thought of so many things in the planning of the park that made me think, “Oh that’s so smart”. It’s truly a next level experience and a great addition to the Universal Orlando Resort.

Want to hear more of my thoughts. I’ll be sharing them live on YouTube on Wednesday, April 9 at around 8:30 p.m. (Basically once I get my daughter down for bed, I’ll be live!) If you want to learn more or have questions, please join me here.

Follow A Disney World After All for all the latest Epic Universe news and tips.

But now, I want to know your thoughts. Which of these lands of Epic Universe are you most excited for? You can share with me in the comments or on social! Find me on Facebook, X, YouTube, Instagram, Threads,  BlueSky, and TikTok.

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