Last week, I had the opportunity to visit Universal Studios’ newest theme park in Orlando, Florida: Universal Epic Universe! This is the first major theme park to open in the United States in two decades and finally levels the playing field between the Universal Orlando Resort and Walt Disney World, which has four theme parks in Orlando. As a major fan of Universal Studios Hollywood and an annual passholder for two years, I was very excited to visit Epic Universe. I’m happy to say that the park is truly magnificent, albeit with a few problems.
Epic Universe in technical rehearsal
Epic Universe has been under construction for years, promising a brand-new theme park experience anchored by an original area called Celestial Park and introducing portals to various universes inspired by Super Mario, How To Train Your Dragon, Universal Classic Monsters, and the Wizarding World franchise. With the park opening in less than a week, Universal recently opened preview tickets to the general public in an effort to stress test their attractions. I was already heading to Orlando with family friends for two days at Universal’s parks, so when preview tickets opened to the public, we decided to squeeze both Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Islands of Adventure into one day and experience Epic Universe on our second day.
The preview period has been rocky to say the least, with several attractions experiencing significant delays and refunds being given to visitors last week. Preview tickets cost us $144 each for a single day, the same cost as a ticket to a fully functioning theme park. During our visit, two rides were closed for several days: the flagship Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride and the Curse of the Werewolf roller coaster. We stayed on property in the Loews Portofino Bay hotel, which gave us all free Express access to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. This perk did not extend to Epic Universe, where Express access during the preview period can cost as much as $200 per day on top of the cost for admission.
The high cost to experience a park with so many problems certainly feels greedy, but luckily, we didn’t face extreme issues during our preview day. Stardust Racers, a dueling roller coaster and the main attraction in Celestial Park, seemed to have the biggest issues as it did not open for the day until past 1 PM (early access into the park, included with our hotel stay, began at 9 AM).
According to the Universal Florida app, pretty much every other attraction experienced significant delays throughout the day. I noticed that all three rides in Super Nintendo World, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, and at least two rides in the Isle of Berk went down multiple times throughout the day.
After doing 24 rides the previous day at the other two parks, we tried not to stress about riding everything in Epic Universe. We watched the app and ran to rides when lines were short, completing all three rides in the Isle of Berk during the early access period, Monsters Unchained twice during the day, Stardust Racers in the late evening, and Mine-Cart Madness in Donkey Kong Country at the end of our day. We didn’t try to ride Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge since it’s an exact recreation of the one we’ve been to at Universal Studios Hollywood, and skipped Yoshi’s Adventure and the Constellation Carousel since they were too kiddy even for the youngest member of our group.
Overall, the delays didn’t really impact our time at Epic Universe besides messing with our original plan to rope drop Stardust Racers and Monsters Unchained. That turned out to be a happy accident, since we still got on both rides later but instead spent our early access period in the Isle of Berk, which was one of the highlights of our day. The only delay that affected our waiting in line was a short delay on Monsters Unchained, which stuck us in line for 30 minutes rather than 15.
That being said, so many significant delays occurring barely a week before the park opens doesn’t seem like a good sign. It seems like Battle at the Ministry is having major issues and other rides are following suit, with apparently only one main attraction operating without issues on Thursday. Hopefully, these issues are resolved quickly, since Epic Universe has the potential to be the best Universal theme park if everything is firing on all cylinders.
Design elements in Epic Universe
Epic Universe is an impeccably designed park in most respects. The central concept of a space-themed hub that branches out to other worlds is unlike anything in Disney World or Universal’s other parks. It’s a very strong thematic element and instantly sets Epic Universe apart!
Walking through each portal really does feel like you’re leaving one world and entering another, with the separation between the themed areas working very well. You can see rides peeking out in the distance (or in some cases right next to the one you’re currently on), but the way each land is constructed makes those rides feel very far away from what you’re currently experiencing. Coming back to Celestial Park between each land feels like a refreshing palate cleanser, establishing a base for you to relax before entering another universe.
Moving between the different lands therefore feels like a wholly separate experience than something you’d find in a traditional theme park. The way Universal Studios treats its areas is fairly simplistic compared to how Islands of Adventure creates distinct lands, but Epic Universe has taken theme park design to another level by introducing the hub and portals concept.
The Helios Grand Hotel rising above Celestial Park is another unique element to Epic Universe’s design, and it’s a stunning centerpiece when paired with the vibrant blue dome of the Constellation Carousel. The dancing fountains in front of the hotel and the ornate, starry design of the surrounding buildings creates a strong character for Celestial Park, no small feat for an original area of a theme park. I’ve never been much interested in the generic central areas of theme parks like Universal Studios Hollywood or Disneyland, but Celestial Park is somewhere I’d love to spend more time – if it had more shade and attractions.
The lack of shade in this theme park is killer. On a hot, sunny day like we had, it quickly becomes unbearable to be sitting almost anywhere in Epic Universe. Celestial Park may be the worst offender, as it’s a huge wide-open space with very little seating and shaded areas thanks to its open concept design. I can only imagine how awful it’ll become in the summer months. Another ride or some kind of science-y building where kids can learn about space would be great additions to Celestial Park, since a few restaurants, shops, and two rides is all it has at the moment.
On that note, the park does feel a little incomplete in some areas. Dark Universe has only two rides, two shops, and two restaurants, making it the smallest and least complete-feeling land in the park. Place Cachée experiences a similar issue, where its single ride and only four shops really drag it down. However, at least it has interactive spell-casting elements scattered throughout and a live-action show to entertain visitors.
Isle of Berk and Super Nintendo World in Epic Universe
The true crown jewels of Epic Universe are its immersive lands and state-of-the-art attractions. Each land is fully immersive and themed to the max, truly making visitors feel like they’ve stepped into the properties that inspired the areas. Super Nintendo World comes alive thanks to its faithful recreations of in-game characters that continuously move around the edges of the land, while Dark Universe has an incredible atmosphere even in daylight due to the misty fog pouring out of the ground and bushes, swirling around guests as they enter Darkmoor Village.
Super Nintendo World and the Isle of Berk are the best lands in the park in terms of their theming, as they feel a cut above the two more adult and teen-focused lands. Isle of Berk was a great surprise, transporting you directly into the animated How To Train Your Dragon movies. Complete with animatronic dragons and roaming characters, visiting the Isle of Berk was a dream come true.
My group was able to get on all three rides in Berk. Dragon Racer’s Rally was a fun flight over the park, taking you higher than you might expect. As someone who’s afraid of heights, I was planning to twirl my wings around and try flipping upside down while in the air, but I quickly changed my mind and held on for dear life while enjoying the elevated views of Epic Universe.
Fyre Drill was perhaps the best water ride I’ve ever been on. You will get soaked on this ride and it starts in line, where stray shots from players’ water guns will catch you in the side as you approach the loading zone. Once there, you’re placed onto a boat that moves in a circle around targets that soak you from head to toe the more you hit them with your water guns! The ride was engaging and very fun since you’re in control of how wet you get, and it was a much-needed refresher on a scorching hot day. The random cannon blasts of water as you reach the end of the ride guarantee a soaking if you happen to escape the worst of it during the target shooting.
But the real surprise in Berk was Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, easily one of the best roller coasters I’ve experienced. It’s not fully a kiddie coaster like Flight of the Hippogriff, but is certainly more family-oriented than something like Stardust Racers. No punches were pulled with its design, though – you immediately take off past a stunning Toothless animatronic, which is one of the most life-like I’ve ever seen, and quickly go careening through Berk.
It truly felt like we were riding a dragon, since the coaster makes smooth, sharp turns and dives around the buildings in Berk, sending you through a water spray and then into a dragon nesting area. We immediately rode it a second time, and would’ve gone a third if the line hadn’t suddenly exploded into a 30-minute wait (this was when the park officially opened at 10 AM).
We didn’t get to experience the Toothless meet-and-greet or the Untrainable Dragon stage show, and didn’t spend much more time in the land after completing the rides. However, Isle of Berk was a standout experience in our day, with fitting rides that bring How To Train Your Dragon to life.
Super Nintendo World is another kid-focused land that may be the most impressive area in the park. Its portal is the most elaborate, sporting warp pipes exploding with Mario-themed objects and bringing guests into the land through two elevators that travel up through a green warp pipe. The land is two levels and much bigger than the one found at Universal Studios Hollywood, containing a full Peach’s Castle and Bowser’s Castle at either end of the upper level.
Going down the stairs of Peach’s Castle leads you to gift shops and eventually Donkey Kong Country, a mini-land with a completely different aesthetic. The multi-level design and land-within-a-land feature makes Super Nintendo World the most interesting and immersive place in the park, giving visitors plenty of areas to explore. There’s also a variety of interactive activities to complete, from the key challenges and Bowser Jr. battle tied to Power-Up Bands (available for purchase in various gift shops around the park) to the blocks you can smash to live out your ultimate Mario fantasies.
Of the three rides in Super Nintendo World, we only got on Mine-Cart Madness in Donkey Kong Country at the end of our day. The ride was fun with a fantastic track-jumping effect, where the ride vehicle appears to fall off broken tracks as you whip around a golden temple. It was very bumpy though, randomly vibrating aggressively from side to side and making for an unpleasant feeling.
Super Nintendo World is where I spent the least time, since I’ve done everything in the Hollywood version of the land at least four times in the past year. The Epic Universe version is much bigger and more interesting to explore, and would likely keep kids who love Mario entertained for the entire day.
Exploring Celestial Park and Dark Universe in Epic Universe
Dark Universe may have been the most disappointing land. It feels smaller in scope than the other areas, maybe because there’s simply less to do in the land itself. There are two restaurants which we unfortunately didn’t get a chance to enter, as well as a monster makeup experience and a few gift shops.
What’s lacking is some kind of interactive experience. In Super Nintendo World, you’ve got blocks, there’s spell-casting in Place Cachée, and the Isle of Berk has some moving dragon sculptures and animatronics. There’s nothing similar in Dark Universe, and this feels like a missed opportunity for some kind of monster-hunting scavenger hunt that could be hosted in the Universal app at the very least.
One of the main rides being closed didn’t help, but Monsters Unchained was a fantastic ride experience. The Frankenstein Manor is a stunning centerpiece of the land, and its queue is among the best I’ve ever seen. You’ll walk through creepy hallways containing horror-themed videos, experiments along the walls, and tons of flashing blue wires and lightning strikes that pulse throughout the mansion. These effects were incredibly entertaining and add so much dimension to the ride before you even enter the pre-show, which is hosted by two animatronics – another cut above standard screen-based pre-shows.
The ride itself is similar to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and uses the same mechanical arm ride system. Monsters Unchained is far superior, though, since it doesn’t rely on enormous screens to entertain riders. There are plenty of screens integrated into the attraction, but they’re incorporated in a very natural way, embedded amongst tons of physically built details and world-class animatronics. The way creatures leap across the screens and then turn into animatronics that lunge out at you is executed perfectly. Some of the animatronics were quite creepy, the Mummy in particular, and all of them moved very realistically (except for Ygor at the beginning, who may have been broken).
The only negative about the ride is that it ends rather abruptly, with the action continuing in full swing as you’re shoved out of frame. Most theme park rides have an end to their story, but Monsters Unchained leaves you feeling a bit unsatisfied since the adventure continues without you.
It was also a surprise to find my feet dragging on the ground as the ride vehicle came back into the loading zone. Your vehicle comes back to the ground several seconds before you reach the moving track of the loading zone, which seems like a hazard since some people’s feet are likely to scrape along the ground until they’re able to put them down on the moving platform.
The best part about Dark Universe is its creepy atmosphere, which is in full swing even in daylight. As I mentioned earlier, fog pours out of several places in the land, which immediately sends shivers down your back! The creepy buildings are well-designed, and the flaming windmill at the Burning Blade Tavern is fantastic. The fire appears every 15 minutes and must really stand out in the dark. We were able to visit the land at dusk and enjoyed seeing it with the lights on, but sadly didn’t get to witness its full glory in complete darkness. We did find ourselves in Darkmoor when it began pouring rain though, and that added a lot to the atmosphere of the village.
We did get a chance to ride Stardust Racers with only a 30-minute wait, and it was well worth it! It’s one of the most intense roller coasters I’ve ever been on. You’re rocketed off at extreme speeds and get so close to the other roller coaster train on the opposite track that I pulled my hands down whenever the tracks intersected. The dueling coaster aspect of the ride was new to me and I enjoyed it, but getting that close to another train was a bit scary.
We rode on the yellow track, which is supposedly slightly less intense. There wasn’t enough time to also try the green side, but we were all perfectly happy with our choice. Although Stardust Racers was closed for the first 4 hours of the day, it didn’t seem to experience extended delays later on. It’s definitely the most intense ride in the park, and roller coaster fanatics will want to make a beeline for it. Many people have compared it to Velocicoaster in Islands of Adventure. I definitely prefer Velocicoaster, but Stardust Racers is a close second in terms of the most fun roller coasters I’ve ridden.
Epic Universe is a top tier theme park
All in all, I was very satisfied with my preview visit to Epic Universe. It would’ve been even better if there weren’t extended ride delays and two closures, but the park itself is so well-designed, it was nice to have a calmer day drinking it all in. The park is also a wonder to behold in the dark – while we only got to see Super Nintendo World and Celestial Park in full darkness, the lighting really brings an otherworldly feel to Epic Universe. I was a little disappointed that Stardust Racers doesn’t actually look like two comets chasing each other in the dark, though! I guess the original concept art exaggerated a bit.
I do wish Dark Universe, Place Cachée, and Celestial Park felt as complete as Super Nintendo World and the Isle of Berk. All five lands have several standout elements, whether it’s an attraction or theming or shopping, but they certainly aren’t equal. Hopefully those rumored expansions are built quickly!
I’d rate Epic Universe as the best theme park I’ve visited in the past year. For me, it tops Disneyland, California Adventure, Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando, and Islands of Adventure. I’m not sure that it’s actually my favorite though. I’d need to visit the park again when it’s operating properly to get a real sense of how it compares to other theme parks, but for a first visit (at full price) I do think I got my money’s worth.
Epic Universe officially opens to the public on May 22nd!
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