Something Epic is Coming
The Top 5 Rides and Experiences Coming to Universal’s Epic Universe™
Something truly Epic is coming in 2025 and no, we’re not talking about the launch of the Lubinski Family Travel website and blog (that’s happening now in 2024)! At a yet to be announced date sometime in 2025, Universal Orlando Resort™ will open its third theme park gate: Universal Epic Universe. It’s been a whopping 26 years since an entirely new theme park (Disney’s Animal Kingdom®) was opened to the public in Orlando, Florida, and I’m incredibly excited to see how the opening of this new gate transforms the theme park landscape in a place that is already widely accepted as the vacation capital of the world. Sure, we’ve had new and exciting theme park lands like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge™, Pandora – The World of Avatar®, Toy Story Land®, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and more come on the scene since the late 90s, but we haven’t seen anything on a scale like this in quite a while, and I couldn’t be more pumped!
Universal Orlando™ released details of all the theme park lands coming to Universal Epic Universe in a phased manner*, with information on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic™ being the last and latest to drop. Speculation abounds around the official opening date for the theme park, ticketing structure and more, but for the purposes of this blog post, I’m going to limit myself (try as we might) to the facts that Universal has released and confirmed already. The amount of information that’s been shared to date is as abundant as you would expect given an endeavor this size, so to keep things as brief** as possible, I’m going to focus on the five experiences that I’m personally most excited about (in no particular order). I’ll then wrap up the post by sharing about my trip to the Universal Epic Universe Preview Center at Universal CityWalk™ where guests can see and interact with a large model of the new park, as well as purchase some cool new merch. Let’s dive in.
You can see art for Mine-Cart Madness in the background of this depiction of the portal to Super Nintendo World.
Mine-Cart Madness™ in Donkey Kong Country™ inside Super Nintendo World™
From Universal: It's up to you to help Donkey Kong protect the Golden Banana on Mine-Cart Madness™. Enter the majestic Golden Temple, board your mine cart and take off in this thrilling family coaster. Speeding through the mine, you'll appear to jump across gaps in the track and perform other eye-popping feats from the Donkey Kong Country video games.
Did you catch that? You’ll appear to jump across gaps in the track! You can search online for more information about how the ride system will make that possible – it’s incredibly innovative and I for one can’t wait to experience it first-hand. A version of Super Nintendo World already debuted in Hollywood in 2023, but you’ll only be able to experience this particular attraction in Orlando (stateside at least – Japan is slated to get one as well).
Universal Helios Grand Hotel™
From Universal: With a dedicated and exclusive entrance into Universal Epic Universe theme park, you'll be transported to a fantastical world where heavens and earth unite at this full-service hotel. Opening 2025. (Valid theme park admission is required for park entry.)
I love a hotel with an exclusive entrance to a theme park. We’ve seen iterations of this at Disney California Adventure® and Disneyland Paris®, but this is a first for Universal Orlando, and I’m here for it (granted, the other Universal Orlando hotels are very walkable). More details are coming soon and we’re looking forward to seeing what other amenities this hotel has to offer.
Das Stakehaus™ in Dark Universe™
From Universal: Shrouded in mystery, Das Stakehaus is an old inn and dining hall built over the ruins of ancient catacombs. Here you can enjoy a meal surrounded by vampire artwork and artifacts. In fact, the restaurant is run by vampires’ “familiars”, or servants. Just don’t venture down to the catacombs below, or you might find yourself on the vampires’ menu.
Everyone who’s ever picked up a fantasy novel knows that inns are central to any good story. This restaurant checks a lot of boxes for me personally: spooky medieval style inn – check, steak – check, dad joke in the title – check! For me personally, this is the land that I’m most looking forward to exploring (but shhh – don’t tell any of the other lands!).
Harry Potter and the Battle for the Ministry™
From Universal: Travel by Métro-Floo from Paris to the British Ministry of Magic™ where Dolores Umbridge is about to stand trial. Board a lift and join Harry, Ron, and Hermione as you journey deep into the Ministry’s many departments. Thrilling adventure, fantastic beasts, and unexplored mystery await in Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry™.
Like other attractions in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, it seems like the queue for this one is going to be an experience in and of itself. When I first heard about the new Wizarding World land being built, I was candidly a little less than enthusiastic. What could top Hogsmeade™ and Diagon Alley™? Then I watched the teaser video, and my attitude completely changed. Give me all the Wizarding World immersion. Biere au Beurre – are you kidding me?! I’m all in! Lastly, speaking of top 5 lists, Dolores Umbridge is definitely a top 5 villain for me.
Fyre Drill™ in How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk™
From Universal: With fire-breathing dragons everywhere, villagers have to be prepared. Viking twins Ruffnut and Tuffnut have transformed Berk’s Fyre Skööl into a watery, interactive boat battle at sea. Board your ship in Fyre Drill™ and blast your water cannons at flame-like targets – and the occupants of every other boat – to out-soak other Vikings.
A theme park experience isn’t complete for me without a water-based attraction, and I expect this one to deliver in a big way. Not only is it a boat ride, but it’s an interactive experience to boot. The water cannons shoot up to 28 feet and you can aim them in the direction of the competition! Something tells me that the flame-like targets will remain very much aflame.
So, there you have it. Those are the five experiences that I’m most looking forward to when Universal Epic Universe opens. For our family, the day can’t come soon enough! If you want to get a taste of the in-person excitement now, you can head to the Epic Universe Preview Center in Universal CityWalk. I was lucky enough to coincidentally be there on the first day that the center opened to the public after a couple days of team member and media previews. The outside of the building is adorned with a large screen showing videos similar to what you see on the Universal Orlando website. When I stepped inside the building, I was greeted by a very nice team member and directed to download the preview center-specific app from a QR code on a sign that she was holding. When you open the app, you’re able to use your phone’s camera to point at the model to make it come to life on your screen. The AR features, like the windmill of The Burning Blade Tavern™ in Dark Universe bursting into flames, were super clever and added an immersive element (to a model map!). On the inside walls of the building, there were replicas of the portals*** that you’ll use to enter each of the themed lands of the park with concept art giving you a sneak preview of what you can expect to see. Lastly, there was plenty of Epic Universe and land-specific merch to peruse and buy so that you can be appropriately dressed for your Epic Universe theme park day when the time comes.
Peering into the model above Dark Universe with Celestial Park in the background.
Are you as excited as I am to experience all that Epic Universe has to offer? Are you feeling at all overwhelmed by the idea of planning a theme park vacation given all that the process entails? Do you want to make sure that you’re squeezing every last drop of amusement (and maybe a little bit of relaxation) out of your trip? Let us partner with you so that you’re completely prepared to hunt monsters, tame dragons, and beat final bosses (while finding the perfect specialty beverage and snack in between). Reach out to us through the website! We’d love to talk theme parks with you!
Safe travels!
*In conjunction with the phased release of information pertaining to each land, Universal also embarked on a super fun promotional campaign where they mailed a model of the Chronos park entrance tower, which contained spots for medallions corresponding to each theme park land, to a handful of influencers. The social team then separately sent the individual medallions of the land they were releasing information for over time, which certainly enhanced and prolonged the hype around the reveals.
**I’m still the one writing this post, so keep that in mind when interpreting the word “brief.”
***We do really love a great theme park transition from one land to another here at the agency.