Over Mother’s Day weekend, I had the opportunity to visit the newest Universal Park in Orlando. Epic Universe is a 750-acre park, filled with five distinct areas themed around movies and games, with the main part being themed around space and the stars. The full capacity of the park is estimated to be around 40,000 people, but because I visited on preview tickets, the park had fewer than 10,000 visitors.
On May 10, I flew out at 7:20 a.m. to make it to the parks a little after opening. This allowed me to have nearly two full days touring the land. I stayed at the Helios Grand Hotel, which has an access gate only for hotel guests that leads directly into the park. The hotel was beautiful and offered many different restaurants and lounges for guests to enjoy. The room was big and easily accommodated a family of four. Staying here included the benefit of getting into the park an hour and a half early, making it easy to ride multiple rides with wait times of less than 10 minutes. Overall, I would highly recommend staying at this hotel for all the benefits and amenities for guests.
When I first got to the park on Saturday, we went straight to Super Nintendo Land and rode Mine-Cart Madness, the Donkey Kong ride. This was a short coaster meant for families, with some small drops and sharp turns. We waited around 50 minutes, with a wait time posted of 45 and a 15-minute delay while waiting. My family was expecting delays due to the park still being in preview. I personally enjoyed this ride, but didn’t think it would be worth more than an hour wait. We also rode the two other attractions in the area, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and Yoshi’s Adventure. Mario Kart was fun and fast, but it had a long wait and was disorienting due to some 3D aspects. Yoshi’s was cute, but slow and not worth more than a 5-minute wait. This area had great theming and characters, and was overall really fun to experience and look around.
Visiting Dark Universe was something I had been really excited about. This part of the park is themed after old horror movies and showcases the monsters you all know and love. One attraction in this area was closed during our time there (Curse of the Werewolf), so we were unfortunately not able to ride it. The other ride Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, was open, however, and quickly became one of my favorite rides. It utilizes animatronics, some over 9 feet tall, to help tell the story of the ride. It was thrilling and moved quickly, with short waits the majority of the day. The area was very well crafted and featured characters who would walk around and talk to guests from all over. The interactiveness is truly what made this land so fascinating, and easily made it a highlight of the trip.
Though only containing one attraction, which was not even open at our time of visiting, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic area was beautiful and featured the sights and sounds of 1920s Paris. The food and drinks stayed true to the Potter world, featuring Butterbeer and Crepes, which were delicious, if not a bit too sweet. The area also contained a show, Le Cirque Arcanus, containing creatures and beasts from “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, ” a Harry Potter spin-off movie. The show featured a multi-level stage and incredible effects, immersing you completely in the storyline. The actors were immensely talented, and the animatronics and puppets wowed the entire audience. I highly recommend this area to anyone who loves the magic of Harry Potter.
The majority of the park, known as Celestial Park, was filled to the brim with astrology, mythology and space-themed sights. From Atlantic, the undersea decorated restaurant near the front of the park, to Stardust Racers, the high-speed dueling tracks roller coaster, this area was absolutely gorgeous and flawlessly executed. I had the delight of riding both attractions in this part of the park, as well as dining at two restaurants. The carousel was themed after different constellations, and moved to the beat of several different orchestral pieces. It was beautiful and well-choreographed, and you moved with such grace as you spun around. The other ride, Stardust Racers, was one of my favorites in the park. It is one of the most intense roller coasters I have ever ridden, and its drops and launches kept me screaming for so long I lost my voice for a week. Both tracks are nearly equal in intensity, but I prefer the green track for a more fun ride. The restaurants we ate at, Pizza Moon and Blue Dragon, were both so equally delicious I couldn’t pick a favorite. Pizza Moon offers, as you may have guessed, pizzas of all kinds and assorted salads and pastas. Blue Dragon is an upscale Pan-Asian restaurant, featuring foods from China, Japan, and Thailand. I highly recommend their tea and orange chicken.
The last part of the park I’m going to share was my favorite part – Isle of Berk, the How to Train Your Dragon themed area. As someone who has seen the movies only once or twice (now more that I have returned home), this area was beautifully designed. The rides, three in total, are all extremely different. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is a family coaster that brings you all around the Isle, taking you on a tour the way a dragon would. This is one of my favorite rides, and I loved whipping over the top of the water and seeing the baby dragons. Dragon Racer’s Rally offered a short spinning ride, taking you high into the air and over the isle. Your goal- operate the wings to do as many tricks as possible. I even managed to flip over one time! The final ride in the land, and the only one I did not ride, was Fyre Drill – a water ride where your only goal is to soak other people. I preferred to stay dry when I could, which was hard when the rain was pouring down most of the time. There was a show in the area, as well as a meet and greet with Toothless, Hiccup’s dragon. The show was one of the best I’d ever seen, and even featured Toothless and Hiccup flying over us in the audience. The animatronics and puppets were stunning, and the actors told the story beautifully. The meet and greet was fun as well, though I would not recommend waiting for it if it is above an hour. We also got to try one of the famed Mac and Cheese cones, which was delicious but made me a bit nauseous. All in all, an incredible area.
My final thoughts? This park is a must-visit for anyone who enjoys theme parks. It’s beautiful, the food is great and there’s something to do for everyone. There are a few areas of improvement, though, such as the merchandise and options for when it rains, as many of the attractions are outdoors. This was one of the most “epic” experiences of my life, and I’m very grateful to my parents who made it happen.
