*Updated 9/26/25 Battle at the Ministry & The Untrainable Dragon Show

*Update 5/7/25 The Ministry of Magic & clusterfuck.

Let's just dive right in this.

*This review is from my May 1st.

5. Ministry of Magic: Another Harry Potter world and my least favorite portal. The 1920s Paris scenery is nice and immersive. You have the clean and somewhat colorful looks in the front and towards the back alley; you have the dark and mysterious, which is more interesting to me. Much like the area at Universal Studios. However, if you’re looking for rides, there is not much to do there. They have restaurants, a cirque show, and The Battle at the Ministry. I did not watch the show, and I did not get a virtual ticket for the Battle. I probably stayed there for about twenty minutes and didn’t return. This place just wasn’t for me. 2/5

Cirque de Arcanus (May 7th Update): It was pretty good. I loved the part when you actually get into the theater. Huge animatronics, and great costumes. Very pretty atmosphere and great acting. 3.5 out of 5

Harry Potter Battle at the Ministry (May 7th update): First, the only reason I was able to get into this ride was because a gentleman came out of nowhere and invited me as his plus one. Thank you, Scott. The queue through the ride was amazing and large. It was as grand and the videos and pictures showed. I enjoyed the scenery. Boarding the ride was easy however, we were told to keep our backs against the chair and do not cross your legs because the ride can be sensitive with those things. That was already a red flag for me. Never knew a ride to be so sensitive to crossed legs. Well, as we went off, everything was fine. Unexpected jerks and moves but, otherwise fine. And then, 1/3 in the ride, it broke down. Yep. the only and only chance I got to ride this ride, it breaks down. We were there for about an hour before we got down because they were trying to fix it but they could not fix it for us so, we had to be evacuated. Well, at least I got to see what 96% of riders would not see and that is the bottom and all the ride scenery with the lights on. The ride is easily 40 feet from floor to ceiling. It took us a little over five minutes, walking, to reach the exit. It's not the experience that I wanted but I got to see a part of the ride that the employees see. Because of this, I can not rate this ride. Maybe in the future I'll have the opportunity to ride, and it won't take me six years like it did for Hadgrid's, but I can not fairly do it now. Also, this ride is known for going down quite a bit and I'm not sure this will be fully ready for May 22nd.

Harry Potter Battle at the Ministry (September 21st Update): So I finally go to ride BATM after four visits to Epic.

The wait time said 60 minutes however, I only waited 20 minutes. I rode 3 times in one day so I think I have a good feeling on how I feel about the ride.

And no, I did not wait 2 hours at any time. I wouldn't do that. First, the queue is beautiful. I love the different color tiles as you go through the line. Getting on was smooth and the seats could definitely accommodate a variety of body sizes. There was a lot of tossing you around, despite being told to keep our feet

on the floor and backs against the chair. My butt came up twice at one time. I was gripping the armrest. The animatronics are top tier however, the screens really do bother me a little. Too many of them for a new ride. Overall, it was a fun ride. Not what people hyped it up to be. Not better than Monster's Unchained, in my opinion. Out of the Universal HP rides, Hadgrid's and Gringotts is better to me because they are rollercoasters. This one would come third on the list.

4. The Isle of Burk: A nice and colorful place. I rode Hiccups Wing Gliders and Fyre Drill. I did not ride Dragon Racers due to the style of the ride. It does have a lot to see and if you’re into the movie How to Train Your Dragon, you’ll love it. 3/5

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Untrainable Dragon Show (Update September 21st): It was nice. A lot of singing. I never saw the movies so I am in the dark about some of the references. Overall, 3 out of 5

Fyre Drill: Fyre Drill is an interactive water ride where you shoot at targets. It was ok. A short boat ride that goes around a small island. You’re shooting at targets outside the boat which sometimes triggers water events. There is a possibility you will get wet but, I barely did. This is a family friendly ride and not much too it.

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Hiccups Wing Gliders: It was pretty fun. It reminded me of a tamed Hagrid’s Magical Creatures. It wasn’t intense like some of Universal’s other rollercoasters, but still fun. I understand this is more of a family friendly portal, so things won’t be so intense over here.

3. Super Nintendo World: Speaking of a lot to see. Holy overstimulation. This place had A LOT of visuals (movement and colors) and sounds. If you get overstimulated easily, this might be a lot for you. I have a thing about loud noises, so it was a little much for me at some point. It’s less intimidating at night due to the darkness contrasting all the colors. It definitely looked like you were in Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong. A lot of nostalgia going on. 3.5/5

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Yoshi’s Adventure: Boring. It’s an extremely slow-moving and short people mover-style ride. You’re basically just taking a break from your day and collecting yourself to see 1/3 of the world for a minute or so.

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Mario Kart: Bowsers Challenge: I’ve already seen videos of this from the California park, so I know what it was. Nevertheless, actually being on it is different. Well, it really was lackluster for me. The line was long, even in single rider, and the visor was painstaking. I wear glasses. It’s a virtual ride, so if you don’t wear the visor, you don’t know what is really going on. There weren’t clear instructions on how to play the game, only on how to get in and out of the ride. Therefore, I felt like I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I somehow managed to get over 100 points. Seeing rainbow road made me smile because I thought about all the times my siblings and I played Mario

Kart. However, it really didn’t do much for me outside of that.

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Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness: Whew! What can I say about this one? I was excited about this one because I am a big lover of rollercoasters. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed with the overall execution. I waited five minutes in the single rider line, so that was good. Getting in was easy. As soon as you started going up the first hill, things felt a little bumpy. That feeling didn’t end there. The whole ride was rather bumpy and jerky. The turns could give someone whiplash. And I understand the point because it is fashioned after a mine-cart and those aren’t supposed to be smooth rides, but wow, it really takes away from the enjoyment of the ride. I could see this one easily giving someone pains. Overall, it was the best ride in the Nintendo section, but it definitely needs improvements.

2. Celestial Park: You all know I am an astronomy/space nerd, so I was so hyped at the visuals and the immersion of this area, the main area of the park. This section of the park really comes alive at night. It was made for the nighttime. How can you have a celestial themed park and not have nighttime visuals? I wish it stayed open past 9pm to fully immerse myself because 30 minutes of darkness wasn’t enough to take in this section. Hell, the park in general. 4/5

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Constellation Carousel: Absolutely Stunning. For some, they see a simple carousel. For me, it was an out-of-body experience. This ride brought out my inner child and I couldn’t stop smiling. At night, OMG, there is nothing else that compares to this. And I mean nothing. I love this one.

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Stardust Racers: This is a dueling, high-speed rollercoaster(s). If you’ve been going to Islands of Adventure since its opening, then you should be familiar with the now defunct ride Dueling Dragons. Which has been replaced by Hadgrid’s Magical Creatures. After a while, they weren’t dueling and more like delayed on one side or one side not working at all. Anyway, these coasters are much faster and more intense than the Dueling Dragons. With two launch systems, at the beginning of the ride and toward the middle. People are comparing it to Velocicoaster. But I would like to disagree because I will not ever riding Velocicoaster again, but I will ride these. The Velocicoaster is way more intense than this. They're also gorgeous at night.

Yellow: I like to think this is the less intense side however, there are a lot of deeper drops that lift you from your seat when going back up.

Green: More twists and turns but smaller drops. This one is said to be more intense, and I can see that due to the number of twists vs. yellow.

1.Dark Universe/Dark Moor: Horror fan on deck. How can this not be my favorite section? The portal to enter was purple, and that already sucked me in. Everything was reminiscent of a dark old town. Blacks, dark grays, browns, and purples are the colors that make up this place. The first thing you see once you step foot over the portal is a chained off mausoleum. If you go up to it and listen, you’ll hear Ygor talking as well as some screams and moans. There’s a violinist playing and telling stories in the square. The invisible man and Ygor roasting people in their designated spots. A windmill in the back where the blades catch on fire right after you hear the bells go off in the square. Then there’s Frankenstein’s manor, which also gives us a light show every ten to fifteen minutes. Both look so much better at night. However, this is also a smaller section, which I hope will be expanded because we definitely need more horror rides/events that are outside of Halloween Horror Nights. 4.5/5

*Update (September 21st): I got to meet and take a picture with Ygor.

Curse of the Werewolf: This is a spinning coaster which sits four people per car with a total of four cars, sixteen people per coaster. Two coasters are operated on the track at a time (one riding and one at the station). This ride is fun, and you’ll get a different experience every time you ride. Sometimes you’re spinning the whole time or sometimes you spin half the time. I’m not sure what determines the reason for the spins, but I suspect it has to do with weight distribution. Though this ride is fun, it’s really short. That’s my only complaint about it. This definitely could’ve been much longer because it was exciting. This was my first time experiencing a spinning coaster.

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Monster’s Unchained: My favorite ride in the park. It tells the story of Victoria Frankenstein alongside her companions, Ygor and Frankenstein’s monster as they work to capture Dracula. Dracula manages to escape, and that’s when all hell breaks loose. Hence the “Unchained”. So many classic monsters are featured on this ride. The ride mechanism is similar to The Forbidden Journey but better, in my opinion. One thing that shocked me about this ride is how large the monsters are. My goodness. ~Spoiler~ The mummy coming out of the ceiling is huge.

So, that is my review of Epic Universe. Overall, if you’re in it for the rides, you may be a little disappointed. If you’re in it for the architecture or immersion of the visuals, you might have a better time. If you like both, this may be a win for you. I give the park a 7/10.

*Update: I went again on September 15th (Comp ticket for May 7th) and September 21st.

*Update: I went again on May 7th and it was a mess. They added more people to come to the preview. Most of the rides were down due to mechanical reasons and I heard they were filming commercials. After seeing a difference from May 1st to May 7th, with the added capacity, I don't feel this park will be fully ready for the grand opening on May 22nd. Just my thoughts.