Finally visited Epic Universe this past week, and have some thoughts to share!
Let me start by saying, that I have been following Epic Universe since it was announced. I remember being off from grad school that day and following the press conference on Twitter, and thinking “LOL I’ll believe it when I see it.” 7 years and a global pandemic later, I finally made it and it’s a little surreal. A lot of life happens between when they announce these projects and we finally get to experience them, but I’m happy to report Epic Universe lived up to the hype.
We stayed off property and bought the EXPRESS PASS. I truly don’t see a world in which you can experience the entire park in 1 day without an express pass. YES it’s expensive, but it was worth it. If you can swing it, it’s a MUST.
We started in Super Nintendo Land and hit Mario Kart first. I understand the criticisms of this ride, and while I do wish it was a little more like Test Track or Radiator Springs Racers, I found that the AR worked well and it accomplished what it set out to do. I don’t necessarily think it’s worth the wait that it usually gets, but I think this ride has the most re-rideability of any in the park. We skipped Yoshi’s Adventure as it was 99 degrees and we would have probably died sitting in the sun on that ride. We hit Donkey Kong next. I kept hearing that this ride was the biggest disappointment for people as it was short and jerked you around, I didn’t find this to be the case. I actually think this was my favorite ride of the day. My biggest fear prior to experiencing Epic Universe was that it didn’t feel very “Universal Studios” to me, but my takeaway from the Nintendo area is that it fit the Universal vibe so well, it would have fit into any of the existing parks! Plus the merchandise alone, all that color- makes you want to spend money real bad…
Next, we entered the Dark Universe. We went to Monsters Unchained which was a walk on at 10 minutes. The Team Members at the entrance told us to hold onto our Express Pass as it wasn’t worth it to use yet, so we could come back later and ride again. The AC in this ride alone was worth it. The entire experience was so impressive and the ride was larger than life. I felt it did a great job being creepy and scary without actually being creepy and scary. I don’t vibe with anything horror of any kind, but this ride was the perfect balance. Not easy to accomplish. Next we used Express on Curse of the Werewolf. The TM out front quotes us a 25 minute wait on the Express Line, but we literally walked on- like not one person in front of us. We thought we went in the wrong line. Great ride. Too short. Like an adult “Flight of the Hippogriff.”
We made our way to the Ministry of Magic next. We didn’t spend much time exploring “Paris” but they nailed the vibe. This Paris is more accurate than the EPCOT Paris by miles. Also, due to the size of the building- the most shade in the park? Ministry ate a lot of time. The wait was long, the ride went down and came back up, and we finally rode it. My issue with the queue for this ride was some hallways are tiny- not claustrophobic in any way but when the ride went down, we were trapped in one of the small hallways and I was considering calling it quits right there and moving on with our day. We finally rode and dare I say…. not my favorite? I think possible my least favorite of the Harry Potter rides. YES, the scale is impressive but nothing truly thrilling about it? I may be wrong, just didn’t really feel all that worth the 2 hour wait.
We did Stardust Racers next. WOW that’s faster than fast. I was floating for the majority of it and thanking the universe that these restraints really work. Maybe the best coaster at Universal Orlando.
Finally we hit the Isle of Berk. The most fleshed out and lived in land. We rode Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, great roller coaster and the use of the music truly makes it amazing. We rode Dragon Racers Rally which in my opinion, is super underrated. GREAT ride, though too short! We happened to pass the Toothless meet and greet when it was down for “technical issues.” We stopped there in the shade for a few minutes and next thing we knew, they opened it back up and we were the first to meet Toothless! We hit the jackpot for that one, no wait!
We left the park for a few hours to head back to the hotel and shower and change before coming back around 8 to hit some rides one more time. When we came back we did Monsters Unchained, Mario Kart, and somehow got one more ride on Donkey Kong before calling it a night. The closing fountain show was fantastic and ending with the Universal Theme Song gave me chills. It was an amazing day.
WHAT WE ATE: We did lunch at Pizza Moon and thought it was fantastic. We had the Mushroom Truffle, the Pepperoni, and a plain pie. We also had a Caesar Salad. I’m a NYer and this pizza was great. Also had a Mac and Cheese cone in Isle of Berk and a chocolate cake pop from “How to Treat Your Dragon.” That thing must have weighed 2 pounds.
MY TOP 3 CRITICISMS OF THE PARK:
- THE FLOW: The park itself is gorgeous, and Celestial Park is a great main area, but having to constantly trek across it to get from land to land to land is hard, especially on a hot day with no shade. I wish there was at least a tunnel/portal of sorts between the two lands on both sides of the park. Just for better flow of guests and making the day a little smoother. We might have spent more time and money in the portals if we didn’t have to keep leaving them?
- THE CUSTOMER SERVICE: I’m prepared to get some real pushback for this one. But a lot of the TM’s we met were truly… not that nice. I can imagine how hard it must be to do your job in a new theme park, and I’m sure that management is putting so much pressure on everyone, but we truly experienced some rude TMs. (WE ALSO EXPERIENCED MANY LOVELY ONES). For example, when sitting at Pizza Moon they offered us a Table of 4 for 5 people. We said that we wouldn’t fit as we were 5 people and there were 4 chairs. The TM told us “this is all I can offer you.” After we asked how we should determine who gets to sit and who gets to stand, a manager swooped in and offered to push 2 tables together. Another example, when riding “Monsters Unchained” the TM asked how many people were in our party, when we responded 5- she said “ok! 4 and 1.” When we asked if we could do 2 and 3 like every other ride throughout the day, she made it seem like we had asked to cut the line before rolling her eyes and relenting. Just very confusing. Even getting drinks at Meed Hall for a bit, I went up to the “bar” area and asked if I pick up the drinks to which the TM cut me off and goes “No, please go back to your table. Bye!” and turned around- just a level of customer service well beneath Disney and even the other Universal parks.
- THE HEAT: This park is hot. In fact, imagine the hottest place you’ve traveled and add 10 degrees to that. I don’t know how they fix it? Canopies? Fans? But something needs to be done, because it is going to affect the amount of time people can tolerate in the parks and the amount they spend.
FINAL RIDE LIST:
Mario Kart (x2)
Donkey Kong (x2)
Monsters Unchained (x2)
Curse of the Werewolf
Stardust Racers
Battle at the Ministry
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
Dragon Racers Rally
All in all, a fantastic day. I can’t wait to go back and experience more. Epic Universe is firing on all cylinders and it makes you feel lucky to get to live through and experience a park that is at the top of its game like this. Universal did great.
