Universal Epic Universe is due to open on 22 May 2025 and will feature over 50 rides, shows, restaurants and experiences. During the media preview, blooloop got a first look at the 11 rides and attractions coming to the five themed lands at the new theme park.
Here, we run through all the thrills coming to the new park at Universal Orlando Resort.
The two most anticipated rides at Epic Universe are both indoor dark rides.
The first, Harry Potter and the Battle of the Ministry, is an elevator-style ride. It uses the world’s-first technology that can transport the ride vehicle up and down as well as forward and backward.
The queue is vast and is also themed extensively. Guests enter the attraction through the Métro-floo, a special effect that transports guests away from the French Wizarding World in the 1920s to the British Ministry of Magic in the 1990s.
They arrive in the enormous Atrium and then wind through Auror’s offices, the Department of Mysteries and the workforce changing rooms (where eagle-eyed guests can spot the creative team’s initials who worked on the project on the lockers). They end up in Umbridge’s office. Here, they meet her old house-elf, Higgledy, and learn they are about to go to Umbridge’s trial for her crimes against the wizarding world at the end of the original Harry Potter series.
Interactive portraits of old Ministers for Magic that discuss the trial before guests board their elevator. Once airborne, guests see Harry and friends in their lift. Then, Umbridge and the death eaters break free in search of the Ministry’s supply of time-timers, and the battle begins!
The ride system allows for fast movements as well as rapid changes to scenes and story. It felt like a more modern version of ‘Amazing Adventures of Spiderman’ where it gives the sensation of falling or scaling great heights with the help of projection-mapped sets. In reality, we weren’t dropping great heights.
Large screens, set props, and animatronics worked seamlessly together to bring the story to life.
The press group were the very first guests to ride Battle at the Ministry. The reaction from our elevator was that it was the best attraction in the park. It was a continuation of a story guests know and love, but experiencing it in a new and exciting way. The scale of the show building and queue was remarkable. It all added to the belief that we had travelled out of the park via floo powder.
The second of the most anticipated rides at Epic Universe is Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment.
The ride combines legends from classic Universal Pictures films, including Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, The Bride of Frankenstein and more.
Fans are thrilled that the monsters so popular at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights houses are getting a permanent attraction at the park. However, Darkmoor, the village within Dark Universe, is a unique story created for the land.
At its heart is Frankenstein’s Manor. Guests enter deep under the catacombs of the manor to find Dr Victoria Frankenstein conducting her experiments and drawing energy from the land. There is also a regular light show on the manor facade several times an hour that crackles with electricity.
Dr Frankenstein showcases her ability to control monsters with the help of her creepy but funny sidekick Igor. She fails to control Dracula and then unleashes monsters like the Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Bride of Dracula and more.
This state-of-the-art ride system is a robocoaster arm – a next-generation Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey-type system.
The story was told through a mix of high-end animatronics, of which there were so many throughout the ride, and the screens were part of the scenery. The ride didn’t need the screen domes like Potter had previously, as the robot arms were part of the story. The ride was a good length but not as scary as expected. It aims to entertain rather than to jump scare.
Anchoring the central land at Epic Universe, Celestial Park, Stardust Racers is the land’s e-ticket attraction. Guests board a comet train to race across the stars on the duelling multi-launch coaster. The attraction stands at 133 feet tall, with 5,000 feet of track, reaching a top speed of 62mph.
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Coaster enthusiasts will experience an entirely novel element as the duelling trains invert around each other whilst rising and falling, named ‘Celestial Spin’.
Rather than lighting the track at night, the ride vehicles themselves will light up and appear to be comets shooting across the night sky. The ride vehicles also feature a ‘flux capacitor’ on the back. This is a nod to the previous Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios.
These two flat rides at Epic Universe are located in The How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk world. Hiccup, the young Viking, is now Viking Chief. He and his friend Toothless, as well as all the villagers and dragons, live in harmony.
Throughout the 15.5-acre land, you’ll find animatronic dragons and an incredible 162,500 square feet of rock work, as well as a lot of dynamic elements that make the land feel very much alive and full of dragons!
At Dragon Racer’s Rally, the village’s new Vikings come to train their acrobatic aerial manoeuvres, with heights of up to 67 feet. On the ride, guests can control the angle of their own seat’s wings. This means they can make the ride more intense and spin more, or milder and spin less.
Nestled in the woods on the edge of the Darkmoor village is a spinning family coaster: the Curse of the Werewolf.
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Guests enter the area of the Guild of Mystics, where Maleva the seer warns them that they bear the mark of the werewolf. A wagon vehicle takes the guests into the woods to escape.
The spinning coaster goes up to 37mph. It spins freely due to the vehicle’s weight, making it unpredictable and different every time you ride. The coaster goes forward, backward and forward again as you rush underneath the werewolf animatronic.
The ride is short but a fun thrill ride with a lower height restriction (102cm) for younger guests.
This family multi-launch Intamin coaster is located in Isle of Berk. The coaster is Hiccup’s latest invention – a machine that launches aspiring Dragon Riders across the land and through the lagoon before escaping from exploding eggs just in time.
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The ride sees an animatronic Toothless and Hiccup and also weaves through the queue for Dragon Racer’s Rally. The ride was a lot of fun and a great way to see the breadth and scale of the land.
Located in Donkey Kong Country in the Super Nintendo World land, this ride is a family thrill ride. It sees Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong protect the coveted gold banana. Just like in the game, the mine cart appears to jump gaps and swap tracks, but in reality, the coaster is run on a hidden track underneath.
From the front row, the jumping tracks were a good trick. The ride was great fun on a compact layout within the land.
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Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is a gamified dark ride. Guests join Team Mario to battle Team Bowser to win the Golden Universal Cup.
The attraction utilises augmented reality technology, projection mapping and extensive sets and theming. It is the same as the award-winning experiences in Japan and Hollywood.
Fyre Drill is Epic Universe’s only water ride (not including the splash pad in Celestial Park). In this interactive ride, Vikings are training on flame-like targets to put out fires from dragons’ breath. Riders compete to score and get each other wet.
Constellation Carousel sits in the centre of the park in Celestial Park and is a centrepiece for the world. The new twist on a traditional carousel is that guests sit on animals, which are the various constellation animals, gliding backwards, forwards, rotating 360 degrees and up to 6 feet in the air. This is also one of the few attractions for much younger guests as parents and children can ride together.
Meanwhile, in Super Nintendo World, Yoshi’s Adventure is an outdoor and indoor omnimover dark ride. Aimed at families and younger children, they can enjoy views of the Mushroom Kingdom and the gamified experience.
Universal Epic Universe has included the highest-end technology and some of the world’s best-loved IPs, as well as the power of Universal Creative’s storytelling, to create 11 fantastic new rides for Universal Orlando Resort. The park’s Grand Opening is taking place on 22 May 2025.
