In April I got a very exciting work email to the effect of: “the new Universal park you have been working on for years is finally about to open and is doing technical previews and would you and a plus one like to see it before official opening???“ When one is offered free tickets to Universal…. And realizes you can drive there from Charleston…. You immediately say yes! I grabbed a friend and we headed down to Orlando for the weekend and spent a lovely Saturday exploring Universal’s newest park: Epic Universe.
Some Key Notes
You will need a working smartphone to use this park. Download the Universal app before you get there. You will be able to interact with a couple of lands using the Universal app (Nintendo especially), but you will NEED to order food through the mobile ordering side of the map in multiple locations. So bring your phone and a portable charger because you’ll want the peace of mind all day that you can use the park effectively.
Don’t worry about having a bag or water bottle with you, there are lockers at pretty much every large ride for you to stow your items as you go on the rides. So stay hydrated and leave those glasses / hat in the lockers!
You can spend all day here, and will. So if you plan to visit any other Universal parks, I’d definitely make that a multi-day trip.
Celestial Park
The new park has one central area / theme called Celestial Park and four IP (intellectual property) related areas that branch off of it. The main area & the largest roller coaster all honestly belong on the set of Wicked. It’s a mix of fantasy and art nouveau architecture that’s a delight to explore. While each land has their own restaurants, there are also a bunch in the central zone and that’s where we ate for lunch & dinner.
Ride Reviews:
The big roller coaster was INCREDIBLE. We went on it twice, worth it!
There is a beautiful carousel over the central lake, we didn’t have time for it but it looks beautiful and I’m sure its a great spot for some shade for kids and adults alike.
How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk
The first themed area we went into was dragon land. This is the biggest area and has something for everyone. The theming in here was truly incredible, and I can see how it’s going to bring a smile to fans faces of all ages, but especially the younger ones! I worked on a few of these interactive games so if you see them give them a try!
Ride reviews:
The big roller coaster was fun
The small dragon flying / glider ride was very short - good for the non-coaster riders because it isn’t too fast
There is a water boat ride that we skipped, but on a hot day it looks great
There are also some child-geared shows inside so if you have little ones, check out the theater for some air-con entertainment.
Super Nintendo World
Area number two was a Nintendo fever dream. It feels like you’ve entered a video game, and then you realize you actually have. The theming is truly next level detailed. To get fully immersed, go into any of the shops to purchase a bracelet to interact with all of the classic Mario & DK infrastructure you’re used to (punching ? blocks included!). Check your progress in the Universal app and once you’ve completed enough tasks / gained enough coins you can go defeat Bowser. For the gamer folks out there, this land is for you. You could spend hours just interacting with the land itself, before you even go check out the rides.
*If you plan to do this, I recommend going to the other areas first and then just ending the day here so you can play around as much as you want.
Ride Reivews:
The DK roller coaster was still closed when I was there so someone tell me how it is!
The Mario Kart ride includes a VR headset and it wasn’t worth the wait. It was a LONG line, and you’re mostly standing on stairs which is weird and uncomfortable. Then in the ride itself, the helmet didn’t fit my eyeline very well, and you’re in a ride vehicle with multiple people, and it doesn’t matter if you’re driving well, if anyone else in your ride vehicle drives poorly you just spin around. Not the best interface. For me, if I was doing it again, I would just go explore and play with the land itself instead of going into this one.
Dark Universe
Area number three was Dark Universe. This is a mixture of 30s and 40s monster movies including The Mummy, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, The Wolf Man, and The Bride of Frankenstein. The whole area is like a big haunted house, I can only imagine how fantastic it’s going to be around Halloween. There is a themed dark ride in this area that was truly fantastic… and I’m not just saying that because I had a hand in engineering a few parts ;-) The roller coaster in here is also fun, but I wish we had done the dark ride twice just to see all the fun stuff in line!
Ride Reviews:
Dark ride in the castle - a MUST
Outdoor roller coaster - smaller scale but still fun
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic
Last up is another Harry Potter area. My friend and I skipped this because as much as we have fond nostalgic memories of HP from our childhoods, supporting JK Rowling in ANY way these days is an absolute non-starter for both of us. So skipped it we did. We ended up finding some late dinner and walking around the Dragon area again instead to find a cute toy for our relatives.
Veggie Friendly Food Options
1) Pizza Moon - Vegatarian frinedly, ask to remove cheese to be vegan friendly (confirm)
This restaurant is located in the central zone, between Nintendo & Dark Universe, adjacent to the big carousel. When I was there for previews you did need to order via the app so keep that in mind. I did a lot of work all the theming in here so definitely look up!
2) Meteor Pub - Vegan friendly
This restaurant was also in the central zone, near the back and the associated hotel. They have an impossible sausage sandwich on the menu. Double check that the sauce they add is veggie friendly or just ask to have it not added.
3) HTTYD - Isle of Berk - Mead Hall
Honorable mention, they have a veggie burger on this menu but I tried to go late in the day and they were either out or didn’t have them in yet for the technical preview. So someone tell me if that burger is an ok veggie option in the HTTYD area.
Thanks for coming along with me to Universal for the day, if you make a trip to visit this park please let me know how it was!
Happy Travels
~V