One Day, One Park, Infinite Memories: A First-Timer’s Journey Through Epic Universe

First-Time Magic: Celebrating, Exploring, and Surviving the Heat

I still can't believe that on Friday, I got to visit Universal's newest theme park, Epic Universe. I didn't think that I would get to go until it had been open for a while, but the stars aligned correctly, and I was able to experience this incredible park for the first time. It made it even more special since we were there to celebrate my little brother’s birthday.

As a person who has grown up going to Disney and Universal, the excitement of checking out a brand-new theme park for the first time was unmatched. I’d seen all the previews and heard about it from family who had already gone, which only made me want to visit more.

Arriving at the park didn’t even feel real. There’s something so strange and exciting about visiting a brand-new theme park for the first time. Knowing I didn’t even have an annual pass made it feel like a rare treat. I felt like a tourist immediately and wanted to do as much as I possibly could! I will say, in person, the entrance is so much cooler at night, but here is a picture from when I first walked in:

Ranking the Epic Universe Realms: My Land-by-Land Breakdown

We went to all the lands and did almost all of the rides. Each land had its own kind of magic, but here’s how I’d rank them from ‘cool’ to completely unforgettable.

5. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic

I do love Harry Potter, and this area was still surreal, but compared to some of the other lands, this land ends up on my least favorite. Walking in, I was amazed to see Paris hidden beyond the portal. One of the first things that I had to see was Pickett, the string bean looking guy from Fantastic Beasts. While I thought the land was great, it did not feel the most Harry Potter-esque compared to the lands in Universal and Islands of Adventure and a bit lackluster compared to all the other incredible lands in Epic Universe.

We also got to ride the Ministry of Magic ride and let me just say, the theming of this ride and ride queue were visually insane. I truly felt transported into the ministry and thought the ride itself was unique.

TL; DR: Visually cool, but not my favorite.

4. Super Nintendo World

I was super excited to see this land in person because it is absolutely insane. You truly feel like you are in the lands of Mario and Donkey Kong. This land is also the loudest, brightest, and most overstimulating, but what can you expect from video game inspired lands?

We did not get to ride Yoshi's Adventure, but we did get to do Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge and Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness. These weren’t my top rides of the day, but the queue theming alone was worth the experience, absolutely next level. The Mario Kart ride was very unique and weird. I've never been on a ride where you are wearing a visor to see visuals that don't show up to anyone else! I will say, I instantly became competitive, and yes, I scored the most coins in my family (127!). The Donkey Kong ride was also quite unique, and I enjoyed the coaster, but I did not love how jerky the ride was.

TL; DR: Visually wild and overstimulating, rides were fun but not my top picks.

3. Celestial Park

I put celestial park here in the middle because it has one of my favorite rides in it, but it is also just the center of the park. I think that this land was perfect for being the center and again, a common theme, the theming was great. When you stand in Celestial Park, you can see all the spires from the different portals sticking up, the carousel, Helios hotel, and all the other different hidden things. We did not spend a lot of time taking in the small details, but this area was gorgeous during all times of the day.

One of the best rides of the day is in this section of the park, Stardust Racers. I love rollercoasters so much and this one was insane. One of my favorite rollercoasters growing up was Dueling Dragons, so being able to ride a dueling coaster again was a fun little peak into my childhood. Now, this ride is nothing like Dueling Dragons. I would have to compare this coaster to Velocicoaster in Islands of Adventure mixed with Mako in SeaWorld. It was intense and seeing the other coaster right next to you dancing with your coaster was a crazy addition.

TL; DR: Beautiful central hub with an all-time favorite ride.

2. Dark Universe

This land felt like Halloween all year round. I know that I didn't get the full experience since we did not get to see the roaming characters and we had quite the experience on the ride (which I will cover later in this blog), but it was one of the coolest themed lands of them all. Everything here was dark, even the toilets were black!

Both of the rides in this area were so fun. The first one we did was Curse of the Werewolf and I didn't know what to expect when I got on. You can have so many different experiences on this one because the carts spin! It depends on the weight distribution, but my cart spun around like crazy, and it was so much fun. The other ride was Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment and we got to do this one twice. The first time was a complete flop that I will get into in a little bit, but the second time was insane. This ride is nothing like anything that I have been on before and it truly felt like Halloween Horror Nights in a ride. The animatronics were some of the coolest that I have ever seen and there were so many jump scares. This was one of the best rides in the entire park!

TL; DR: Spooky, immersive, and unexpectedly awesome. Plus, one of the best rides (eventually).

1. How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk

This was my absolute most favorite land of them all. If you have read my live action HTTYD review, you know how much I love this movie franchise and have for so long. We visited this land the most and spent the most time here. There were dragons everywhere: perched, flying, carved into signs, I was in heaven.

I could talk about this land forever and I don’t even think I could choose a number one favorite! We did everything except Fyre Drill. We met Toothless and Hiccup, saw The Untrainable Dragon, rode Dragon Racer's Rally, and got to ride Hiccup’s Wing Gliders twice: once during the day and again at night. This ride reminded me a lot of Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure, but I think I enjoyed it more. Dragon Racer's Rally was fun, but I was so distracted watching my little brother fully flip three times!

Two must-do's if you find yourself at Epic should be to see The Untrainable Dragon and meet Toothless. You get to see Toothless and Hiccup fly over the crowd, and it honestly gave me chills. Meeting Toothless was like a dream come true and such a unique experience. We got lucky and Hiccup was meeting with him!

TL; DR: Dream come true, emotional connection, immersive show, and amazing rides and character experiences.

Fuel for the Adventure: What I Ate (and Loved)

Since we were there from park open to close, we had to fuel up for lunch and dinner. We decided to have lunch in Darkmoor at the Burning Blade Tavern where my mom, sister, and I had the Charred Loaded Potato. That potato had to have been one of the best loaded potatoes in my life. It was hickory char-crusted potato with Monterey Jack, sour cream, jalapeño bacon, and chives. My brother had the Burning Blade Burger which was a 4oz. black angus patty with American cheese, caramelized onions, and jalapeño bacon all on a potato bun. We also all shared the Hunter's Garlic Stake which was a crispy garlic butter pretzel with garlic dipping sauce. All the food in this land was incredible!

For dinner, I had to go back to Berk for my meal. I stopped over at Hooligan's Grog and Gruel for a mac and cheese cone. I had the Goldfish Mac & Cheese Cone which was creamy mac and cheese with Goldfish served in a crunchy cone. This was the one meal that I was excited to try and it did not let me down!

Charred Loaded Potato

Burning Blade Burger

Hunter's Garlic Stake

Goldfish Mac & Cheese Cone

Side Quest Moment: Stuck on a Ride (and Kind of Loving It?)

We had quite the unexpected detour when we were visiting Darkmoor... The first time we rode Monster's Unchained; it actually broke down. We were stuck lying on our backs staring at snakes on the ceiling! We were about halfway through the ride where we were stuck for about an hour before they determined that we would need to be evacuated from the ride. I have never been evacuated from a ride like that ever, because that’s such a rare experience! I was simultaneously excited and a little nervous to be taken off this ride. It sucked that an hour of our day was spent stuck, but we were at least still able to enjoy everything that we wanted to do that day and even ride it in its entirety later in the day!

Top 5 Moments from My First Visit

1. Riding Stardust Racers for the first time (twice) and experiencing the dueling coaster

2. Meeting Toothless AND Hiccup in Berk

3. Surviving an hour-long ride breakdown inside Monsters Unchained

4. Seeing Hiccup and Toothless fly in The Untrainable Dragon with my own eyes (plus the whole show was just so good)

5. That loaded potato at Burning Blade Tavern and the mac & cheese cone in Berk (chef’s kiss)

Reflections from My First Visit

Overall, the entire park exceeded all the expectations that I had. I have heard some people complain that the park was smaller than expected, but I did not feel that way at all. I got my steps in! When I go back in the future, I really don't see myself spending a lot of time outside of Berk, Darkmoor, and Stardust Racers! There is so much to do in those lands and that coaster is just the best.

I will say that wait times were high and the heat is intense right now so if you want to have a more optimal experience, I recommend waiting until the cooler months to visit this park. The sun was brutal, and I am a bit burnt, so if you aren't a fan of the heat, wait until the later months.

Photo Dump: The Day in Pictures

Take a peek into my visit and check out some pictures and video from the day!

One Day Later… Still Thinking About It

I am writing this on Saturday morning and truly cannot wait to go back. I was originally waiting until the hype died down to visit, but I am so thankful that I got to visit the park a lot sooner. It's possible to get a lot done in one visit, but I will definitely be waiting for an annual pass option before I go back. I hope you enjoyed this little peek into my Epic Universe visit!

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Your Side Quest:

I want to hear from you! Ask me questions, share your experience if you've been to the park, and tell me what I should check out next time! Did you have a favorite ride? Want a full food review next time? Drop a comment!