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EPIC UNIVERSE review
May. 22nd, 2025 10:00 pmMy visit to Epic Universe during its opening weekend was quite a whirlwind. I’d worked a tiny bit on the park back in 2018–2019, so I knew the layout, lands, and outdoor environments — but seeing it realized in person is another thing entirely.
The entire experience centers around CELESTIAL PARK, a “world between worlds” with lush landscaping, winding paths, vast water features, and a striking Sun/Moon art deco theme. It sets the stage beautifully for the IP-based “worlds” beyond each elaborate portal: How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk, Super Nintendo World, Dark Universe, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic.
Celestial Park reminded me of European parks like Tivoli Gardens, where the journey is as important as the destination. With its numerous restaurants, bars, and scenic walkways around lush landscaping and water features, this place will be a “local passholder hangout” for sure. The fountains, the buildings, and the central icon, “Constellation Carousel,” all looked gorgeous at night. I could easily spend a whole day or evening just relaxing there.
STARDUST RACERS is the park’s marquee thrill coaster — it’s a wild, g-force-packed dueling ride that belongs right next to VelociCoaster in Universal’s top-tier lineup. Both sides are a blast — the acrobatic moves around the opposing train are truly next-level.
There are two shortcomings in Celestial Park; first are the sightlines and immature landscaping. The show buildings for the other lands often loom over their portals — more “backstage” than “alluring weenie.” It’s particularly noticeable with Nintendo and Potter, given their scale. It’s definitely a necessary design outcome of the overall Portal conceit, and the immersive payoff once you pass through them is absolutely worth it. Second, as the land is meant to be the primary circulation of the park with the lion’s share of the park’s food & beverage, the area definitely needs a LOT more shade, both in terms of greenery growing in, and built structures. I suspect both of these issues will fade as the landscaping matures.
First stop: DARK UNIVERSE. The Universal Monsters were my superheroes growing up, and my inner eight-year-old was vibrating with glee. I got lucky with one of the first late-night previews — the land is even better after dark. “Curse of the Werewolf” is a delightful spinning family coaster with a gorgeous queue, and a fun shuttle launch with a cool mid-course werewolf encounter. The “dark forest” track area is unfortunately surrounded by a lot of safety fencing and netting, which breaks the illusion a bit (ironically, as if the werewolf himself is held in some kind of giant zoo enclosure), but it’s still a great bit of kinetic energy in the land.
I had a mead and two menu items at the Burning Blade Tavern, tucked under the Frankenstein windmill (which literally bursts into flame hourly — great touch). The Burning Blade Burger and Cheddar Bites were both charcoal black and super tasty… and presumably due to the black food coloring, resulted in some neon-green gastrointestinal consequences later. Totally worth it.
The crown jewel here is the gorgeous Frankenstein Castle and its world-class dark ride, “Monsters: Unchained.” It proved to me that a robot-arm-style dark ride (previously used on “Harry Potter & The Forbidden Journey,” and I used it for “Batman: Knight Flight” at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi) isn’t a one-trick pony. It’s used very differently here, not as a flight simulator but rather as a far more thrilling version of Haunted Mansion’s Omnimover, directing your view like a camera (often haphazardly piloted by comic-relief sidekick Igor). It’s filled with staggering physical environments — where projection is used as set extensions and special effects, not as central focus — and incredible animatronic figures. I would sort of categorize it thusly: imagine if you had eight-year-old Dave re-design the Haunted Mansion while hopped up on Monster Cereals. It’s a non-stop, thrilling gothic opera of chaos that requires multiple rides to really absorb. Only about half of the animatronics and effects were working the two times I rode, and it was still jaw-dropping.
Next: ISLE OF BERK. Unexpectedly, this was my emotional favorite of the entire park — the whole thing felt very complete physically and emotionally, and hit me right in the feel-good spot. I kept visiting this land multiple times throughout the day; its Viking village and hillsides are stunning, with beautiful forced perspective. “Hiccup’s Wing Gliders” was, to me, the best ride in the park; a simple multi-launch family coaster, but with some unexpected show scenes and a breathtaking use of a custom arrangement of John Powell’s amazing movie score that actually made me tear up — on a coaster! The live “The Untrainable Dragon” show similarly made me burst into tears when Hiccup flew in on Toothless; highly theatrical, charming, funny, emotional — it’s a hit. Bonus points for baby dragons.
SUPER NINTENDO WORLD is the full version from Japan — not the smaller California one — and the detail is overwhelming in the best way. I skipped the interactive games this time, but did ride the two attractions we don’t have at home. “Yoshi’s Adventure” is a gentle scenic ride with toddler-friendly egg-hunting gameplay. “Mine-Cart Madness” uses clever hidden tracks to simulate “jumping” tracks like in Donkey Kong Country. The effect works brilliantly from both inside and out — especially a mid-ride near-miss and a wild side-to-side segment that had me giggling. It’s not necessarily a “smooth” coaster ride — but given the theme, I think that’s a feature, not a bug; I would categorize it as a highly themed, modern take on a wild-mouse coaster, complete with similarly jerky dynamics, but with a full cartoon makeover and a killer soundtrack.
Then there’s THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER: MINISTRY OF MAGIC. It’s the biggest land in the park and absolutely breathtaking in detail and scale — a sprawling Parisian parallel to Diagon Alley, pulled from the “Fantastic Beasts” films. The main ride, “Battle at the Ministry,” is a breathtaking new high-water mark — elevating a Spider-Man-type ride system with a mix of media and practical scenery, animatronics and effects in a way that truly, truly fooled me, even after multiple rides. “Le Cirque Arcanus,” a live show using puppetry, animatronics, and practical effects to showcase magical creatures, is heartfelt, surprising, and ambitious — another crowd-pleaser.
And now, the elephant in the room. It’s hard — impossible, really — for me to talk about anything Potter-related without acknowledging the harm its author continues to cause. J.K. Rowling’s very public anti-trans activism and rhetoric have had a real, measurable impact on actual human beings, especially in the UK, where regressive policies are already hurting many people I care about. As a queer person, I no longer support her work financially — no books, no films, no games, no merch.
That said, I also want to be clear: the new Wizarding World land at Epic Universe is a triumph of theme park design. Thousands of artists, technicians, engineers, writers, and craftspeople — many of whom are queer, trans, or vocal allies — poured their hearts and talent into a land that largely expands upon lore and environments barely glimpsed in the films or books. The resulting experience is full of lateral storytelling, original concepts, and spectacular immersive design that reflects their voices and vision as much as any IP source material.
As someone who’s worked in this industry for three decades — and who has, at times, worked on this IP myself — I’d be lying if I said it isn’t complicated. I may well work on it again someday, and that would be a challenge I’d have to reckon with.
But the reality is, many of my friends and colleagues have been pouring their talent into this land for a decade — long before the author revealed the full extent of her views — and Universal, for better or worse, is far past the point of changing course. None of that erases the very real harm she’s caused, but it does highlight how many others are trying to build something meaningful in spite of that legacy.
Yes, visiting Epic Universe — even without buying Potter-specific merchandise or visiting the Wizarding World at all — still supports the IP in some way. I respect and fully understand why some of my trans friends and allies choose not to engage at all. But I also believe that the artistry on display here deserves to be celebrated. It’s not about the author. It’s about the hundreds of brilliant creatives behind it — many of whom share these same complex feelings, and who worked tirelessly to make something beautiful and inclusive despite the baggage. To them, I say: thank you. You’ve built something incredible.
Epic Universe is a staggering achievement. It’s easily a two-day park, and in a market already packed with options, it’s going to be a major draw for families with older kids and teens — a demographic it serves especially well. While I didn’t see everything, what I did experience was ambitious, beautiful, and boldly executed.
One final thought: this is the first major U.S. park to open in the age of TikTok, YouTube essays, and nonstop “ackchyually” hot takes. That means everything — good, bad, nuanced — is going to be picked apart online, often with more reach than Universal’s own marketing. It’s an environment that rewards snark over substance, and clickbait over curiosity. So be prepared for a lot of noise. But know that beneath it, there’s something truly special here — and it’s worth seeing for yourself.
