04/30/2025
I was able to preview Universal's Epic Universe yesterday & after sleeping on it, I have my thoughts.
Full warning: this post will be a long one! But if you are heading to Epic Universe, I think this will be helpful 🙂
Overview: Epic Universe is unlike the other Universal parks; it doesn't feel like a Universal theme park to me. It also doesn't feel like a Disney theme park - it's entirely its own. This is a positive in my opinion!
The park is large, but not hard to find your way to things. The portal entrances are literally large markers for the entrance to each land, which help direct you. We could have purchased Express Pass for the day, even with it being a preview day, for $180/person, but we did not need to do that.
We experienced all the major attractions in Epic, and of 9 rides we did, only 1 ride is an entirely new attraction. The other rides I could easily compare to something Universal has done before, only with a new theme. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, as some of the Epic versions of the rides were better than the OG version.
Since we visited in previews, a couple of things are true. 1. The crowds were not to full capacity yet and 2. the rides were down. A lot. There were significant delays & we waited in lines for rides that went down many times. Hopefully the kinks and down times are worked out before the Grand Opening.
⭐️ Stella Nova: I LOVED the Stella Nova Resort & this surprised me, honestly. I am typically a moderate or deluxe level resort girl only and I was apprehensive about Stella, but it was a perfect value resort experience. The lobby was bright & clean, there’s a Starbucks in the lobby, the food court had a ton of good food options that were very yummy, and the rooms were large, clean and comfy. BONUS: you can walk to Epic Universe from Stella Nova. It’s a short 5-7 minute walk, and very straightforward. This makes the end of the night so much more pleasant!
⭐️ The rides: Because it was a preview, we were able to experience almost all the attractions (and all the headliners) in 1 single day. We got 9 rides done in 12 hours (plus food, a show, a character meet - Toothless). It was a long day, but felt like it flew by.
⭐️ Constellation Carousel: this was what you’d expect from a carousel. It’s prettier at night and appropriate for young children.
⭐️ Starfall Racers: This is VelociCoaster, but a different theme, and better! Your legs dangle, there’s just a lap bar, and the speed of this coaster is unreal. It differs from VelociCoaster in that there are less upside down and corkscrew sections, but this isn’t a bad thing. The acceleration is better & faster and more frequent and because of that, when you crest the top of the many hills, you feel like you could just fall out of your seat. It’s spectacular! 10/10 for me.
⭐️ Curse of the Werewolf: This was my favorite of the 2 Dark Universe rides. Someone called it a “Baby Guardians coaster” but I disagree. It does remind me of Guardians but I would call it a condensed Guardians ride. It’s shorter, and it puts all the twists and turns of the longer Guardians into a shorter time. It’s thrilling, and really whips you around, and thoroughly enjoyable.
⭐️ Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment: This ride is very similar (same ride vehicle) as Forbidden Journey with the same ride movements, but because there are less screens and more animatronics, which makes the ride easier to handle (not as much motion sickness I think). As for the theme, from the conversations I had with people, you either love this ride so so much because you love classic monsters or you enjoy it, but it’s a one a done. For myself, I enjoyed the queue of the ride and the Dark Universe land more than the actual ride.
⭐️ Hiccup's Wing Gliders: This.Was.So.Much.Fun. This is a milder version of Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. It has a really fun storyline and was my second favorite ride of the day. I do think most kids could enjoy this roller coaster, because of the How to Train your Dragon theme and how smooth the ride is.
⭐️ Battle of the Ministry of Magic: Oh my goodness, this ride. And the queue! I could write a novel. Remember when I said earlier than there was 1 ride that wasn’t a version of something Universal has done before? This is the ride. It’s brand new, unique, and unexpected. It’s amazingly done, both in theme and storyline and thrill. The queue is as good as the ride, and combine them both, and it’s truly a masterpiece. Am I gushing? Yes. It’s well deserved of all the gushing.
That being said: the Battle of the Ministry of Magic goes down A LOT for a long time. And getting a Virtual Queue is really, really hard. We did not get a queue at the 11am drop, but did get lucky for the 3pm drop. Because of down times, there wasn’t a 6pm drop like there should have been. Also, we were in line for the Battle of the Ministry of Magic for 1 1/2 hours because it went down. We were evacuated, with tickets to come back later. The down time lasted so long after we were evacuated, I was pretty sure we’d not be able to ride, but with 2 hours of park time left, it reopened. We got back in line and the ride went down, while we were in line, again. Thankfully, the 2nd time, the ride went back online while we were in line, but it took us another 1 1/2 hours to ride it.
I hope the down times become fewer and farther between and the need for a virtual queue goes away sooner rather than later.
⭐️ Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge: This was my least favorite ride. It is also located in Universal Hollywood CA, so it’s not new to a US theme park. I thought the concept and game wasn’t explained well and so the ride itself was somewhat chaotic and confusing. But I am sure my kids would love this ride!
⭐️ Mine Cart Madness: The theme and ex*****on on this roller coaster was fantastic! This was a top 3 ride for me, along with Battle of the Ministry of Magic and Hiccup's Wing Gliders. The waits on this one are daunting, but the queue is well shaded and cooled. This was my favorite Super Nintendo World ride by far.
⭐️ Yoshi's Adventure: This is a short and sweet People Mover, but Super Nintendo themed.
If you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with me!! Let me know in the comments what ride you are most excited to experience and if you have questions, pop them in the comments, too!
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