Thoughts on the Newest Theme Park of Orlando in 27 Years

Epic Universe

I have now had two and a half days at Epic Universe, the newest park at Universal Orlando Resort. I have actually been three times, but I feel like I have had two days that combine to 1.5 days. Some ups and some downs but the biggest question I have is how are they going to get this ready by May 22nd? I just went on 4/13, one of the last days for team member family/friends team member preview and I don’t know how they will charge for this experience for annual passholders next week.

This was the first time, Ministry of Magic was open, so perhaps they had all hands-on deck for that attraction in the tech world because Monsters Unchained was open for 30 minutes and Hiccup’s Wing Gliders was open for zero minutes. The food took a long time, and managers were trying to deliver food because they were so behind. The lady sitting behind us made her displeasure known to the team members. I am not sure why. This is the workplace of somebody you know, this is also a TECHNICAL REHEARSAL. We are the guinea pigs, and we get in for free. The only issue I would have is if they CHARGE for a similar experience. There are some tremendous rides, but I am very scared of how maintenance will happen in the park. If they can stay on top, this will be a game changing park.

I was luckily able to ride the Ministry of Magic yesterday, thanks to express passes from DK Mine Cart Madness not having an accessible cart available. This ride was the most hyped for attraction in the lineup and the ride was open all day on virtual queue. It got stuck repeatedly, even with express and skipping A LOT of the line we still had to wait forty-five minutes. A big difference compared to the THREE hours somebody we knew had to wait with their virtual queue. It can’t move that slow when paying guests are in line. We also got stuck on the attraction for about five minutes at the end. Before that we were engulfed in the Harry Potter World. It had stakes, it had magnificent sets, a few cool effects, some massive and advanced animatronics. I felt it was similar to Spiderman with the screens and effects, suspended in a Tower of Terror vehicle with a Forbidden Journey motion. This ride will make people sick. It sadly, did not live up to the hype for me. But I am also not a Harry Potter fan. The motion, combined with the screens, and my seatbelt being on EXTREMLY tight made it just slightly not as good. Some awesome sets in scale, and tremendous animatronics. Unfortunately, there are too many screens for me. I am old.

This park at night is tremendous. It was BUILT for the night. So many lights, bright colors, and effects make this park incredible. It even wakes up Darkmoor as a land where the theming transports you. I wanted to be able to hop on Monsters Unchained at night but sadly wasn’t able to do that. Stardust Racers is another one amplified by the night. This was the best run I had on it, and I have been on it three times. Both tracks and now at night. It furthered solidified my ranking of it over Velocicoaster. Truly a masterpiece of a roller coaster. Once again, I pray it will be good with maintenance, and it won’t turn into a bumpy nightmare. Fantastic ride. My rankings of the big three:

1. Monsters Unchained

2. Stardust

3. Ministry of Magic

These three attractions alone will prop up this park attendance for many years. And two of them have great capacity which makes me very happy. All the rest of the attractions can’t hold a candle to these three. They are your e-tickets, they are the best. I am very happy that there are so many restaurants, shows, and supplementary rides to be able to experience but those three make the park. They just have to stay on top of maintaining these three. If they experience little to no downtime this park will be a hit. It will be able to absorb the crowds it will receive.

There are some mental preparations you need to prepare for especially in the first few days if things still aren’t ironed out.

Be prepared for stairs, this park has multiple different queues with stairs incorporated with them, it is just how it is, trying to put more people in smaller footprints. Like in Ministry of Magic you walk upstairs just to walk down them again.

Be prepared for WALKING. During our previews there would be attractions sometimes down all day just to come up for an hour window. It happened for Mario Kart, some people ran but my family and I walked fast and we were able to ride Mario Kart within ten minutes. Alternatively, Monsters Unchained had a similar issue and unfortunately, we did not get there quickly enough, and we waited an hour, just for the ride to close down again. Not ideal but whenever rides come up, jump on them as quickly as possible.

Be prepared for downtime. These rides are groundbreaking, so it is common to see them down. Be patient and try to make the best out of the options that are available.

Be prepared to wait. Nothing better than waiting in line at a theme park. 😊

That is just the reality at theme parks and Epic Universe could make the smaller tier attractions longer as well due to the inconsistency of the top attractions. Try to use the restroom as much as possible BEFORE you enter a line because I have made that mistake a few times where I am in physical pain where the ride goes down and I had no idea a 25-minute posted wait could turn into 85 minutes.

Also, charge your phone beforehand. This park is incredible to look at so take lots of pictures.

Buy a reusable bottle. There are so many water refill stations all throughout the park that you could save some money by not continuing to spend more money on water bottles. Avoid the DK banana soda…. That is not hydration.

Overall, this park is amazing. The big three attractions will be stealing market share from Disney for years to come.