An EPIC Adventure Begins…

If you’ve been following me for awhile, you know that I met two of my theme park buddies at a Passholder Preview event on May 5, 2021. So it made perfect sense to schedule our Passholder Preview for the newest park that same weekend, 4 years later! And while one of the original crew couldn’t ultimately attend, five of us were able to experience a good bit of what the four lands and central hub of Epic Universe had to offer, entering before park open to exiting beyond park close haha. Words will not do it justice, by any means, and I definitely don’t want to ruin anything for your first experience… but I’ll try to capture my first impressions (and supplement with some pictures of course)!

Arrival

First, let me say that I loved bussing in for our first time at Epic as it actually allowed our experience to begin before we even entered the park! The new traffic pattern has an elevated traffic circle that permits buses to travel outside of regular traffic and enter/exit the park quicker. And this also gives you some behind the scenes views of certain sections of the park, which was pretty cool. Plus the walk from where the buses drop you at Epic is wayyyy shorter than the walk from CityWalk into either USF or IOA. Bonus!

“Beyond this gate find gardens green and epic worlds to fill your dreams.”

Portal #1 – Celestial Park

The Chronos Tower is stunning and your main entrance to Celestial Park. This is the hub of Epic Universe with a beautiful fountain, statues, and a view of the Helios Grand Hotel overlooking the park, with each of the remaining portals extending out like spokes on a wheel. The park icons are all represented within the tower (Time Turner, Mario coin, purple orb, and orange globe with flying dragon silhouette) and you can hear the gears turning when walking underneath! I think the portal aspect is one of my favorites with this park because it really allows you to feel the separation between the lands and immerse yourself as you move from place to place. Plus having the central hub really saves time getting from one to the other, rather than circling back!

Ride #1 – Stardust Racers
Some of us decided that the long awaited dueling coaster would be our first ride for the day, so a few of us split off to go do that before the lines got too long. There are two tracks you can do on this ride, with Green said to be a little more intense, and Yellow a little on the calmer side. We decided to go for green and hoped to get back for a night right on the other track later (side note: we, in fact, did not haha).

Since I never got to experience Dueling Dragons when it was open, having that side-by-side coaster aspect was super cool, especially during the celestial spin!! The intensity is nowhere near Velocicoaster and I missed the inversions for sure. But all in all, a great coaster and can’t wait to try it again when we’re there next month…especially at night, which I heard is an even different experience! 

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“Here we go!”

Portal #2 – Super Mario World

Before I can even talk about entering the Super Mario World portal, I have to mention approaching the entrance itself. I was so overwhelmed by the excitement of everything, that I never even noticed everything on the ground leading up to the portal until going through our photos later haha. So just be sure to look up, down, and all around everywhere you go…I know I’ll be catching new stuff every time I walk around this newest park for the foreseeable future.

Going up the green escalator warp pipe and hearing that iconic “b’rum b’rum b’rum” (side note – how does one really write that sound out?!) was just the beginning of our trip “back in time.” Walking into Super Mario World and seeing the games we played so many times come to life and objects move all around us was a piece of nostalgia I never knew would hit me so hard! I feel like I was smiling like an idiot just looking around and taking it all in for a good 15 minutes haha. The theming continues into the bathrooms, in the stairwells, and around every corner. Warning, this land is super loud and has A LOT going on. I highly recommend experiencing it in small doses, and in both daylight and nighttime! 

Merch Purchase #1 – PowerUp Band
This purchase technically happened before we even entered the park, by our friend who was staying at one of the new Epic hotels. This is basically a heavy-duty slap bracelet that you can pair with the app to participate in interactive activities in Super Mario World. Ricky and I chose a Yoshi one, and decided we would take turns before investing in more than one haha. It does get a little sweaty underneath (hello FL), but wasn’t bad overall.

Snack #1 – Toadstool Cafe
After we played with our PowerUp bands a little bit, hitting blocks and checking out hidden pixelation (be sure to find the “naughty” Toad HA), we decided to grab a snack. The cafe didn’t have all of the offerings yet promised in the full menu, but we decided to try a kid’s burger meal, complete with fries, broccoli, and corn, along with a cookie coin for dessert. The theming inside was amazing and we even got tiny souvenirs from our plate to take with us! There was plenty of seating and the orders didn’t take too long to come out.

Ride #2 – Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge
If you’ve played any version of Mario Kart, it was like walking into the game. The sounds, the sights, the trophies… everything replicated near-perfectly! For this ride, you are equipped with a dorky head strap (cue group photo of course) and visor that attaches when you get on the ride. I found the controls a little tricky, but I typically just mashed buttons in the game anyways, so nothing new there 😛 

One big tip from me after this ride, and it has nothing to really do with the ride itself…REAPPLY SUNSCREEN ON YOUR FOREHEAD haha. This was the only place I ended up with a little extra redness after a day in the Florida sun, and I blame the head strap rub haha.

Merch Purchase #2 – Star Popcorn Bucket
Before we even set foot in the park, I had made up my mind that I needed this popcorn bucket. I have a Toothless one I got a few years back but it doesn’t fit in the lockers so I never bring it to the parks. This one is much more compact, plus it lights up!! (If you don’t know about popcorn buckets at either of my usual theme park haunts, refills are like only a little over $2 FOREVER if you bring your bucket in. It’s the cheapest snack in the park so don’t miss out on it!) Ricky was the designated carrier for the remainder of the trip, and it added to our experience with multiple photo opps for sure haha.

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“We, my friends, have dragons!”

Portal #3 – How to Train Your Dragon, Isle of Berk

Ricky and I made it a point to watch at least the first movie before we headed to Epic, so that we had some context. And this land did not disappoint! Second only to SMW, I think this was the next most immersive land. It was like walking into Berk, for sure. There are animated dragons, character experiences (including the cutest mini robots!), and so much detail! I definitely need to spend way more time here next visit, especially since I think we’ll make it a priority to watch the new live action movie that releases right before our trip!

Ride #3 – Fyre Drill
PACK A PONCHO. No, like for real. Beyond Dudley’s in IOA, this was the most soaked I’ve gotten on a ride EVER. And most of the drenching COMES FROM THE OTHER BOAT. So don’t piss off anyone in line 🤣 Thankfully we did this early, and of course there’s the aforementioned Florida sun…but just be prepared for wet underwear for awhile ya’ll. 😜

Ride #4 – Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
What better way to dry off than with another ride? I think this was the most surprising ride of the trip for me. Other visitors are aptly calling this one “Mini-Hagrid’s.” While I do agree that they missed the chance for a “flying on the back of a dragon” experience similar to that banshee ride at the other park (my personal fave, as you know)… it was super fun and I think enjoyable for every member of the group. This is one of those ones I could just ride over and over because it’s so cute and fun.

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“It’s alive! It’s alive!”

Portal #4 – Dark Universe

Dark purple, lightning strikes, ominous music, fog effects, lanterns… this portal is so freaking cool during both the day and at night, so I highly recommend experiencing it both ways. The weather was starting to turn a little bit while we were heading here, so the pictures look a little more on par with the expectation, which was awesome. Now I’ll be the first to admit that the original monsters are not really my thing. But I can obviously appreciate the characterization and stories behind them, with my background, and a lot of that fully came to life in this land. The only character we were able to come across was The Invisible Man and he was gone before we knew it! But I know we’ll spend way more time here in future visits, especially at night, and try to see/meet more. 

Drink #1 and Snack #2 – Burning Blade Tavern
This place is so cool. Similar to how you wait for the dragon to breathe fire in Diagon Alley, there’s a fun surprise every so often, so have your cameras ready if you like capturing that kind of thing! Inside the tavern though, there are tasty drink concoctions and some even come with a bonus experience. And boy are they delish…I got the Pure of Heart and Ricky got the Monocane Mocktail (without the souvenir beaker haha). The line for the bar inside was not too bad and we got our drinks pretty quickly.

And then we had our first and only real negative experience with the park… and I hope this is something that gets remedied before our next visit! We had heard great things about the Hunter’s Garlic Stake and were getting quite hungry, so we decided to mobile order. Now usually mobile ordering is pretty simple…you order the item, you get a notification when your pickup window opens, you show that notification to a TM at the line, you click “I’m here” on your app, then you wait in line until they say the order is ready to pick up at the window. But for some reason, they wouldn’t even let you in the line until it was the point where your order was showing ready. So everyone in line is waiting for food that’s “ready” and by the time you get to the front it’s been like 40 minutes. It was delicious and hit the spot, and thankfully everyone split up to maximize the experience, but it was a huge waste of time for the one or two people in line waiting for the food.

Ride #5 – Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
I purposely avoided any POV videos for as much of the park, rides, and experiences that I could before our visit, because I wanted it to be a genuine surprise for me once we were there. But for this ride I made an exception. Again, if you know me at all, you know I can’t handle jump scares. It’s not blood, guts, gore…and it doesn’t even need to be scary. I could be watching a comedy or romance show/movie and if something or someone creates a surprise…my heart is unhappy haha. I knew they had been saying this was similar to Forbidden Journey in the sense that they used basically the same ride system, but I didn’t know if that similarity extended to some of the things that make me want to jam my eyes shut during that ride (IYKYK, Dementors, ‘nuff said).

I ended up being pleasantly surprised that while there were a few moments that made me gasp a little bit, the theming and animatronics made up for those parts. Those that tend to get motion sickness during FJ or other 4D experiences shouldn’t have the same problem with this ride because there’s way more “in-person” style than screens, which will make more sense once you’ve done both. It was definitely a smoother ride, for sure, too.

Back to Celestial Park
Attempt at Ride #6 – Constellation Carousel
We were approaching the halfway point of our day (parks opened at 10 a.m. for us and were open until 9 p.m.), and we were making great time on our rides and experiences, so we decided to be a little more leisurely and head to the carousel. We had been super lucky with weather, ride delays and closures, plus crowd levels, up until this point, too! The ride was loaded and we were going to be part of the next group to load, when the carousel and music suddenly stopped. The TMs said they didn’t know what was going on, but they needed time to investigate. We could’ve waited in line, but since the wait time for this ride hadn’t exceeded 15 minutes up to this point, we figured we could come back later so we left. I will say, though we never made it back ☹️, the theming of this was BEAUTIFUL and ethereal and it’s something to look forward to next time! 

Back to Super Mario World
Ride #6 – Yoshi’s Adventure
What an adorable ride with an amazing view of SWM from above. This is similar to the Seuss Trolley ride in IOA. There is a way to get some extra goodies for your PowerUp band on this ride, too! I loved seeing more of the nostalgic characters and games we know and love “come to life.” This one isn’t a “must do every trip” ride in the future for me, especially since there isn’t a ton of shade, but is a fun shared experience for first-timers for sure.

Back to Dark Universe
Ride #7 – Curse of the Werewolf
Quickest. Ride. Ever. Haha, but in all seriousness, this really lacked for me. Any ride that has to mention the length in the description on the website (“over two minutes”) is at least setting you up for that haha. It was definitely cool and had great theming, but could’ve been a contender for sure with more length. I’m hoping it’s like that bike ride at the other park, where I was let down on my first ride but liked it more and more with more opportunities on it. We’ll see! Warning for those of you that don’t like things that go around in circles…this one spins while you’re propelled forward. So maybe skip lunch or drinks right beforehand if you’re sensitive to that kinda thing (Ricky skipped it!).

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“For in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own.”

Portal #5 – The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

Since our Virtual Line time for Battle at the Ministry wasn’t until much later in the day, we figured we would hold off on even visiting WWHPMoM until we were closer to that window. I won’t go into detail about the Virtual Line experience, because 1 – it no longer exists for guests arriving to the parks at this point, and 2 – if you’ve done any VL stuff at any of these Florida parks I frequent, you already know the frustration and joy that comes with that haha. 

Besides SWM, this was the land that I was most excited about. While I thoroughly enjoy the Harry Potter franchise (minus some of the drama that comes with it), I am definitely a Fantastic Beasts gal. I prefer backstories for most things, and much of this franchise occurs long before the Harry, Hermione, and Ron hijinx begin. (Plus Johnny Depp, Eddie Redmayne, AND Jude Law, yes please haha). The theming, as in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, is just fascinating and this land fully captures the essence of 1920s wizarding Paris. This was another time when I was just mouth-open gaping and staring for a good 15 minutes haha. 

Show #1 – Le Cirque Arcanus
Our longest wait of the day was for this show! But since we figured we wouldn’t make it over to HTTYD for the Untrainable Dragon show, we wanted to hit up at least one today. Again, another thing I hope they have remedied since… you wait in line for the larger room to open, then everyone is shoved in for a pre-show. But, even those with accommodations (as some in our party do), we weren’t warned of this happening and ended up in the dead center of the room with hundreds of people on all sides. When Shrek was still open in Studios, same for Poseiden’s Fury in IOA, there were areas to stand away from the larger crowd, but this wasn’t offered. Now we know and can inquire about it when our larger group is there in June, but that just started the experience a little more anxiety-ridden for some than it needed to be.

Aside from that, this show is SO AMAZING! I won’t spoil it with anything, and we couldn’t take pictures until the very end anyways, but from pre-show to release from the circus tent, the story, characters, and action were all mesmerizing. I heard so many oohs and aahs all around me, and everyone was fully immersed in the experience (which is rare with cell phones existing these days haha). I can’t wait to see it again, because I’m sure I missed so much the first time. If you’re a Fantastic Beasts fan at all, this is a MUST-DO, DON’T MISS experience for sure. (And I’ve heard the same for the other show, so can’t wait to see that!!)

Drink #2 – Bar Moonshine
We ended up with more Battle VL spots than we needed, so during the day we had offered our spares to others we met in various lines that chatted us up. (Did I mention Universal is a great place to make friends?!) And though we never expected anything in return for sharing the experience, the one couple wanted to buy us drinks to thank us. So I guess…while in… Paris? Ha! (We offered to share our Butterbeer crepe with them at the next stop, so at least we didn’t feel guilty about accepting this delish exchange haha.) Ricky got the coolest mocktail transforming drink, Beau Thé Bleu d’Occamy, and I got the Sherbet Lemon. Both were super good and mine had a Bar Moonshine souvenir cup you could keep if you wanted.

Snack #3 – Cafe L’Air De La Sirene
While those of us getting drinks were in line at Bar Moonshine, the rest of the crew headed to the Cafe to order some Butterbeer Crepes! Having tried every BB offering up until this point (including the cream puff on the last adventure haha), this was a must for comparison purposes duh 😛 Well, it certainly didn’t disappoint. Similar to the cream puff, it had a delicious filling that was super sugary, but this one being paired with egg helped cut the sweetness a lot. The strawberries were a nice touch, too. I will definitely be returning to this location, because the rest of the menu items (especially the onion soup, Quiche Lorraine, and other tasty drinks I see people sharing haha) sound/look so tasty.   

Ride #8 – Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
The time had arrived…the highly anticipated ride of the evening. And I’ll just rip off the bandaid, let the cat out of the bag, what have you, with this first statement… I ultimately preferred the queue over the ride.🤷 Now don’t get me wrong, there was nothing wrong with the ride. There was just so much hype, partnered with the fact that it was so difficult for so many to ride due to the Virtual Line experience (which can royally suck for so many, but thankfully we tend to have decent luck with them). The ride system is unique and feels like a mixture of some other fan favorites. And I’ll have to experience it again to fully flesh out my opinion, but I felt kinda meh once the ride stopped.

But that queue 😍 Holy shitballs, ya’ll. Yes, that’s an accurate reaction. First, you travel by MetroFloo into the main area. That’s an experience within itself! From the over 125k iconic Ministry tiles in five different colors throughout the various sections, to the golden Fountain of Magical Brethren as you proceed toward the line itself, the whole experience is BEYOND magical. And the fact that there are CATS, well you know that was just the icing on the cake 😻 I can’t wait to experience this again, and might just wander the queue for awhile before actually getting on the ride. We were rushing for sure, since we still had two more rides and snacks to enjoy before the park closed, so I know there was a lot I missed.

Back to HTTYD
Ride #9 – Dragon Racer’s Rally
This one was a pleasant surprise as well! I know there are other rides like these in various places, the Mall of America for one, but I had never been on one. You can control your experience slightly during this ride, and get a great view of the land during it. While it’s a quick experience, it’s just enough to enjoy it all without feeling like you want it to continue much longer haha. And it’s a great time for other members of your party to grab snacks while you wait and ride!

Snack #4 – Hooligan’s Grog & Gruel
Speaking of which… we had heard so much about the mac ‘n cheese cones, so our group decided to share two of them! We ended up with the PB&J – Pork, Bacon, and Jam and Dragon Fire Chicken Spire which was more Nashville Hot style. Both were super delicious and we would definitely get either one again. You always worry about prices of theme park food, but this one felt like a good value for us.

Back to SMW
Ride #10 – Mine-Cart Madness
Since most theme parks let you enter the queue for your final ride up until park close time, we had pushed this one quite long enough haha. We got in line around 8:46 p.m. and didn’t get to ride until closer to 9:30 (and that was in the Express line eesh!). Another good ride, but a little “jerky” for my taste. Still a unique experience and lots of great theming throughout, plus some fun little whips. Hold on tight haha. And walking out of a park where many people have left allows for GREAT photo opportunities so I highly recommend closing this park during your visit, at least once. (Just please be nice to TMs and thank them as you leave, because you’re keeping them there ya know haha)

Outside the Park
Drink #3 and Snacks #5 and 6 – Bar Helios
When reservations opened for Bar Helios, which is at the top of the Helios Grand Hotel overlooking Epic Universe, I knew we had to snag that opportunity to see the park from above at night. It reminded me a lot of Toledo at Coronado Springs, down to the tapas style offerings. We settled on the Wagyu Beef Sliders and Confit Pork Belly, along with a custom mocktail for Ricky. I honestly can’t remember the name of the drink that I got, but it was strong yet delicious haha. This isn’t a cheap option for sure, so be ready for the price tag, but everything we had was super yummy and we’ll definitely be back!

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“You wonder next which path to chart, the answer lies within your heart.”

We couldn’t re-enter the park after our bar reservations, so we didn’t get to exit out the front portal, but I had taken a picture earlier in the day. This quote really encapsulates the experience you just had in the five portals of Epic Universe, and hints to us that there’s even more to come (yay for expansion plots haha). Having another experience within Universal where something isn’t yet open to the general public is such a privilege and I felt honored to have been there to witness the hard work and dedication this opening team put into this amazing park. Congratulations to UOR on opening the first major theme park in Florida since 1999. The detail and immersion is absolutely brilliant and I can’t wait for others to experience this innovative new offering!

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