Epic Universe Envisions A Bold New World For Immersive Theme Parks – And It Succeeds

It's been a minute since I've been astonished.

Sure, I've seen movies I've loved and played video games that ate up my life and given myself over to hours and hours of addictive television. But astonishment is that rare reaction, one brought about when you realize, "Oh, I'm doing something that feels actually feels different from anything else I've done before." And after a day at Epic Universe, the latest theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort, I feel little bursts of astonishment creeping into every corner of my brain as I reflect on the experience. Waves of "How'd they do that?" and sparks of "Wait, did that just happen to me?" To say I had a great time exploring the five worlds of Epic Universe would be an understatement. I had an astonishing time.

Epic Universe feels like a gauntlet drop — if immersive worlds based on popular existing intellectual properties is the present and future of major theme parks, this is the new high watermark. One original hub connects the worlds of Harry Potter (Universal's third land based on the film franchise), "How to Train Your Dragon," Nintendo, and classic movie monsters, and visitors transport themselves into these lands via inter-dimensional portals. It would be silly if the effect wasn't so convincing, and the resulting worlds so detailed and thrilling to explore.

More than once, I wanted to sit down and exist in the curated landscapes surrounding me. Even before I got on the rides, I was sold on the vision. Epic Universe has taken every tool Universal Studios has developed in its decades of theme park history and put them all to good use. Theme park nerds will hyperfocus on how they pulled it off. Normal folks will simply enjoy the sheer beauty of the thing.

This is the part where I tell you that I toured Epic Universe as a guest of Universal Studios on their media day, a month and half before it opened to the public (although the park was packed with Universal team members and their families as part of the previews). I cannot offer a fully-informed opinion on ride operations, or what the guest experience will be like when the doors fully open. I can say that the Universal team members I encountered were friendly, many of them thrilled to act "in-character" with their world, and that ride and crowd management seemed on-point. But because of my status as visiting media, a privilege that I feel is important to acknowledge here, I was put in the best possible position to focus on simply, well, having a good time.

Therefore, my reaction can only showcase what it's like to tour Epic Universe under ideal circumstances.

Under ideal circumstances, Epic Universe is an all-day experience, and an exhausting one. The good kind of exhaustion. You know, the one where you walk until your feet hurt because you want to do one more thing, taste one more snack, or just go peer at that thing that looks neat and probably is. I spent nine hours within its borders, rode nine rides, saw two theater shows, ate one hardy lunch, and enjoyed one mocktail in a heavily-themed tavern. I didn't manage to get on every ride, or step into every shop, and I certainly wasn't able to sample every restaurant or food kiosk, but I was impressed by their abundance and variety.

Even under ideal circumstances, tackling Epic Universe is a challenge. You feel the need to speed run it, to try to squeeze everything into a single day, but the park's very layout suggests that you slow down and take it all in. It's too beautiful to rush. Drink in the scenery now, and then book it to the next queue.

If you've been to Universal's previous Harry Potter-themed lands (and Disney's Star Wars-themed lands, to acknowledge the mouse in the other corner), you'll probably have the right expectations for each of the worlds of Epic Universe. Each wants to be that detailed, and offer that level of immersion. This is the first brand new theme park of this scale to be constructed in the age where this is, frankly, expected from a lavish new ride or individual land. To see that level of commitment spread so far and wide in a single park makes the head spin.

Each land in Epic Universe demands its own closer look (and I will be doing just that in the coming days here on /Film), but a broad overview is required.

Isle of Berk, based on the "How to Train Your Dragon" film trilogy and its associated spin-offs, is the biggest land in Epic Universe in terms sheer walking space, and number of attractions. It's also full of photo-ops, delightful sights, and more than a few opportunities to interact with actual dragons (actual meaning costumed actors and animatronics, depending on the circumstance of your meeting).

The marquee ride is Hiccup's Winged Gliders, a smooth-as-silk family coaster that swerves in, over, under, and around the landscape, providing a blast of kinetic energy and just enough story to satisfy those looking for something beyond a mere thrill. Those thrills are mild compared to other coasters in the park, but the pacing, and the way the layout utilizes the geography of Berk, makes it a sublime experience. Some may call it the best family coaster in the Orlando theme park arena. I'm among them.

Those looking for a more stationary experience will find plenty to love about "The Untrainable Dragon," which tells a story set between the second and third films in the series. Anyone who has seen more than a few movies will know where the story is going, but that doesn't diminish the show's visual panache and daring visual choices. Who cares if you see the ending coming when the spectacle of these live actors, and their majestically crafted dragons, is staged with such skill?

The other rides are more minor, but worthwhile. Dragon Racers Rally is either a chill aerial tour of the island or a stomach-churning flip-a-thon, as the rider is allowed to control how extreme experience their experience gets. However, the most daring in my party had a difficult time achieving even a single flip, so this will default to gentle for all but the most committed riders. The similarly low-key Fyre Drill is a short but satisfying water ride that'll leave you somewhere between dampened and soaked, which makes it a nice choice for those hot Florida afternoons.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic is an odd one, mainly because the land itself isn't, uh, the Ministry of Magic. Instead, you initially enter 1920s Wizarding Paris, a setting inspired by the less-loved "Fantastic Beasts" films, before taking the Floo Network to modern day London and the sprawling Ministry itself for the land's main attraction. (When I asked a Universal employee about the discrepancy between time and space, they smiled and said something about Time Turners, so you should probably just go with the flow.)

Thankfully, even those who skipped the "Fantastic Beasts" movies (and that would be most visitors) will find a great deal to treasure here, as the sense of place is astonishing. It's easy to get lost in this faux-Paris, with its numerous shops and restaurants and nooks and crannies full of interactive windows and cool visual treats. The land's live show, Le Cirque Arcanus, feels torn from old school Universal Studios with its blend of live actors, puppets, animatronics, and general "How'd they do that?" wizardry. It's enjoyable enough that you can forgive it for being a "Fantastic Beasts" story.

Naturally, everyone is here for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, a new ride set after the events of the final film in the series, and one that asks an actual question fans have wondered: what the heck happened to Dolores Umbridge, the all-smiles fascist villain who never quite got her just desserts onscreen? Well, you're visiting the Ministry of Magic on the day of her trial (the massive queue, an attraction unto itself, recreates the massive Ministry in exacting detail), and your magical elevator ride goes haywire as she attempts an escape. Naturally, Harry, Ron, and Hermione loop you and your hapless companions into the mission to capture her.

Even if you know how the ride system works (I won't spoil it here), Battle at the Ministry is a remarkable theme park attraction, one that feels like Universal's gleeful attempt to one-up the incredible work Disney Parks pulled off with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. The blend of screens and practical sets, projection and animatronics, is seamless, and the ride system offers a genuine sense of unpredictability. The sense of verticality left my senses aflame — I've never felt a theme park vehicle move like this one does.

Meanwhile, all the goths and freaks (that's me) get to hang out in Dark Universe, AKA the cursed village of Darkmoor, the theme park land dedicated to Universal's classic monsters, like Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster. There's a gruesome restaurant run by vampires (make sure you check out the paintings), and a tavern run by altruistic monster hunters (if you're lucky, they'll saddle up next to you at the bar). The Invisible Man wanders the streets, exchanging barbs as you ask for a selfie. Every team member working the gift shops and eateries tells you "good luck" instead of "have a nice day." It's a vibe and a half even before you get on a ride, and it's dripping with pure love and affection for the iconography of classic horror cinema. It's the best land in Epic Universe.

The fog-covered streets of Darkmoor lead to the Frankenstein estate, and the workplace of Dr.Victoria Frankenstein, descendant of Victor Frankenstein, who has dedicated her life to building a new creature and successfully capturing and imprisoning a menagerie of monsters. That's the "What Could Possible Go Wrong" premise of Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, which begins as a stroll through Victoria's laboratory (yet another queue that needs to be seen to be believed) before you venture into the catacombs on a tour of her monster collection. Things go wrong with the speed you'd expect when Count Dracula decides he's no one's prisoner and unleashes every creature, all of whom want to tear you asunder.

Theme park fans will recognize the KUKA Arm ride system from Universal's own Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, but it's been perfected here, sending riders on a frenzied and disorienting trip that feels like The Haunted Mansion gone apocalyptic. The stars are the monsters themselves (plus Victoria, who makes one heck of an impression), depicted via a blend of seamless screens and over a dozen animatronics. Few things tickle the pleasure senses quite like a theme park robot, especially one that's very scary and coming straight at you.

If the Ministry of Magic attraction is Universal building a new tool, Monsters Unchained is the company showing a genuine mastery of an old one. There's a brazen confidence here, a willingness to push what a dark ride can be to its limit: more robots, more movement, more characters, more story. It's the kind of ride that will benefit from several trips just to see every detail and nuance. It's the best ride at Epic Universe.

Right next door, The Curse of the Werewolf is a very fun spinning launch coaster themed around a Romani caravan, and a certain lycanthrope who may be lurking nearby. It's a good time, and provides a surprising kick despite its small size, but it's easy to miss the actual werewolf if you don't know where to look (my ride companion didn't see it at all!), so your mileage may vary. It's an enjoyable attraction (and one worth taking if the spinning won't make you lose your lunch), but it does suffer just a wee-bit from being a few minutes down the street from Monsters Unchained.

Super Nintendo World may be the most familiar of the lands to visitors, as this is the third time Universal has built it, following nearly identical versions in their Hollywood and Japanese parks. What's there is also here: an augmented reality dark ride based on Mario Kart and a slow-moving, toddler-friendly Yoshi adventure. I skipped Yoshi's Adventure, and had a good time with Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, but the "game" aspect of it sometimes left me and my middle-aged brain a bit addled. It's interesting stuff, and younger riders in particular will thrill to what it offers.

And as has also been widely reported from its other locations: the land is beautiful and detailed and every single corner will give a video game fan the photo op they've been dreaming about. My hot take is that the act of simply being in the Mushroom Kingdom section of Super Nintendo World is more fun than the Mario Kart ride, but I am also old and my knees hurt.

New to North America (but not to Japan), is the Donkey Kong-themed mini-land beyond the Mushroom Kingdom, and the Mine-Cart Madness roller coaster. The ingenious design recreates the famous Donkey Kong Country levels where the player leaps over treacherous gaps in a dangerous mine via an out-of-control mine cart. The ride is beautiful to watch from the ground, and, rather surprisingly, one of the more extreme-feeling family rides at Epic Universe.

Mine-Cart Madness jolts you around like no one's business, but the feeling of leaping over and around a broken track is unique enough to be worth the trip. This is the kind of bonkers ride system experiment we should be encouraging. And the target audience, namely younger riders intimidated by the bigger coasters and whose backs aren't made of glass just yet, will have a blast.

Towering over the Epic Universe skyline is Stardust Racers, a dual track roller coaster so fast and intense that it made my teeth rattle. I found myself involuntarily shouting "Holy cow" during my time on the ride, a phrase I never use in regular conversation. The gimmick of the coaster is that two trains are launched at once and experience a series of close calls across various inversions and hills. I rode it twice to try both sides. On each occasion, I saw my life flash before my eyes. But you know, in a good way. Coaster enthusiasts and casuals will make this one a hit, and one of the biggest draws in the park. (Psssst, the right track is slightly more intense, but don't tell anyone I told you.)

Stardust Racers is the centerpiece of Celestial Park, the hub area that connects the rest of the lands and, honestly, the one area of Epic Universe that didn't consistently fill me with that sense of astonishment. Yes, Stardust Racers is spectacular, and I'm thrilled that Universal's creative team built a wholly original world to act as the gateway to the familiar franchise lands. But right now, it feels less like its own living, breathing world and more like the pleasant place you truck through to get to the other areas.

There's a lot to love, including a new mythology that's buried across the various shops and restaurants that explains the existence of this space fantasy community, whose portals allow you access these disparate worlds. But right now, it's hard to find. And while many stretches of the land are lovely to look at, the newly planted trees have yet to mature enough to provide shade, there don't seem to be enough benches, and criss-crossing Celestial Park multiple times during a sweltering Florida day starts to feel ... well, a bit difficult. Bring water. Bring sunscreen. Wear a hat.

I do think Celestial Park will one day be a more satisfying experience. The trees will grow. The grass and foliage will fill in. Park ops will recognize the need for more shade, and more areas for guests to rest. And there are so many places to eat that visitors will probably need a few visits to sample each restaurant. However, Universal needs to care for Celestial Park. As much as I love the familiar, IP-driven lands the populate Epic Universe, I also look forward to a future where theme parks still have the nerve to build something from scratch. Celestial Park is an interesting first draft, and I expect (and hope) Universal will nurture it.

Taken in the vacuum in which I was allowed to experience the park, Epic Universe delivers exactly what it sets out to do. Even as I sit here, writing about it, memories drip drop across my mind and I have to remind myself that yes, those things I experienced did happen, and yes, those images I saw were real. Or rather, brilliantly orchestrated unrealities.

Themed entertainment — the practice of creating experiences and curating locations that transport and delight — is one of the great under-sung art forms, and Epic Universe is the kind of calling card that asks everyone else in the space to raise their game. I left the park feeling like I had experienced something special. Will that magic weather the storm of actual operations? Will Universal continue to maintain the details that made my trip so remarkable? I sure hope so. I want everyone who walks trough Epic Universe to experience the pops of pure, undiluted astonishment I did.

Epic Universe opens to the public on May 22, 2025.