Epic Universe is the brand new theme park that is part of Universal Orlando Resort. It officially opens on May 22. Right now it is in previews, aka technical rehearsals. My daughter and I recently spent an entire day at Epic Universe, from Rope Drop until closing. We purchased our tickets, nothing was gifted to us, so you know that my opinions haven’t been swayed.
When we walked into Epic Universe, we were immediately wowed. The park is visually stunning. Every inch has been thought out and themed. It’s spectacular.
You’ll enter Epic Universe through a portal. Celestial Park is at the center, and the other worlds are spaced around. You’ll go through a different portal to get into each new world. I loved the portals, you really did feel the transformation into a new story. It works so well.
The other worlds are SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, Dark Universe, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, and How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk. With each new world you truly felt as if you were part of the story. We didn’t experience everything while we were there, but we did spend time in each world. My favorite was probably SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, mostly because the immersion was so spot on! You don’t have to be a gamer to enjoy it.
There’s an interesting mix of rides at Epic Universe. It’s probably not the best park for families with small children. Although there are a couple of play areas, most of the rides have height requirements. Even Yoshi’s Adventure, which is a PeopleMover type of ride, has a height requirement of 34 inches. Smaller kids are going to get bored, unless parents want to spend the entire day in the play areas.
I’m a wimp when it comes to large coasters, but I like the “family” coasters. Epic Universe had me covered. Our favorite ride was Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe. We rode it three times.
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry uses a Virtual Queue. The ride has also been plagued with difficulties. We missed the first Virtual Queue, the second one never opened, and we didn’t even bother trying for the third VQ. The ride was marked as closed for most of the day. We’re going back at the end of the month once Epic Universe is officially open, maybe Harry will magically get us on.
We did watch Le Cirque Arcanus in the Ministry of Magic world. It’s a fun show, but honestly, I didn’t like the way they squeezed people in the room for the pre-show. The story begins in that room, before everyone is seated, and they packed us in! Next time I’ll try to be more towards the back for the pre-show, so that I won’t be constantly hit by backpacks as those around me shift to watch the action.
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is one of the E-ticket rides. (Am I allowed to say E-ticket when referring to Universal?) The ride is similar to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Islands of Adventure. The queue alone is worth it! Monsters Unchained has some of the best audio-animatronics that I’ve seen anywhere. Like many of the rides at Epic Universe, there is a single rider line if you don’t want to wait as long.
We ate at two different restaurants. Both used Mobile Ordering. Das Stakehouse was our favorite. The theming was top notch, and we enjoyed our meal. We plan to return when we go back at the end of the month.
Our other meal was at Meteor Astropub in Celestial Park. This was a great choice, the food was good and the Team Members were helpful. There is also plenty of seating.
We Mobile Ordered at both restaurants. The way that it works is that you place your order, and then when you get to the table you’ll scan the QR code with the table number. Someone will bring you your food when it’s ready. At Meteor Astropub we added that we had an allergy, which is an option when you Mobile Order. (The allergen wasn’t an issue at Das Stakehouse.) From there we found a table, scanned the code, and a chef came to the table before preparing the food. It was easy and worked well.
We didn’t attempt any meet and greets, even though we did see characters out. One problem with Epic Universe is that there isn’t much shade, and we didn’t want to wait out in the sun. We also didn’t buy any merchandise.
I absolutely loved Celestial Park. It works well as the center hub. From Celestial Park, you can easily see the portals to the other worlds. It was also a good place to go when we needed a breather from the crowds. There are two rides in Celestial Park. Constellation Carousel is a unique merry-go-round. Two people can ride on each animal if they so choose! There are also seats for those who don’t want to go up and down. The other ride is Stardust Racers, which you won’t find me on. It’s an intense roller coaster. It’s a lot of fun to watch, though, especially after dark.
I do have one complaint about Epic Universe. Universal Orlando Resort stopped using paper maps a few years ago, and you’re supposed to find everything in the Universal Orlando Resort App. I hate the Universal Orlando Resort App! I was constantly resetting filters, because it would give me Wait Times for all the parks, not just Epic Universe. The map on the app is confusing at times. The search feature isn’t always helpful. And it’s a battery drainer. Bring a battery pack. My phone was under 50% battery by noon, the park opened at 11:00.
One final thing; I need to give a shoutout to the Team Members. Every single one of them! They were happy to answer questions, they were friendly, and they all seemed to truly enjoy their jobs. Universal hired well for Epic Universe!
We had a fantastic day at Epic Universe, and can’t wait until we return at the end of the month. Universal Orlando Resort’s newest theme park takes immersion to a whole new level! It’s a beautiful park during the day, and breathtaking after dark. It’s rare that my daughter and I spend an entire day at any of the theme parks, but this was one day that we didn’t want to end!
