Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!

[Andrew C]

Not looking to dunk on Epic, but Frye drill is worse than Yoshi. A pointless exercise of very static props that for no reason ran me unpleasantly through a shower head.

Also too slow, too strangely low capacity and less accessible than it should be.

We thought Yoshi's adventure was cute/charming...but not worth more than a 15-20 minute wait.

 

[BrianLo]

We thought Yoshi's adventure was cute/charming...but not worth more than a 15-20 minute wait.

Ya I like it well enough too. Of the laundry list of secondary stuff it might be on the least offensive end for me as well. Its greatest sin is height requirements and sun exposure on unideal days.

I’ve only done the ride with 5 minute waits so that might be colouring my response.

 

[Andrew C]

Probably the worst thing about Epic is that only three of the rides are great: Monsters, Stardust, and Ministry. I wish something could be done to improve Ministry's capacity, because these three rides carry the park. Yes, the park is pretty, yes the food is good, yes one of the shows is really good, but at the end of the day, I think people need to experience at least three great rides to feel satisfied regardless of everything else.

Good, but shy of great: Hiccup's Wing Gliders. It would be great if there weren't so many blatant views of backstage on what is supposed to be an immersive coaster.

Everyone in my family had their own favorites, but wing gliders was probably near the top of everyone's list. The blatant views you mentioned never crossed my mind the 5-10 times we rode it.

Curse of the Werewolf is the type of coaster you would typically find in smaller, regional parks. We all know the story of this, why it's there, and why it doesn't fit. The show scene at the end really seals the deal though of it being below expectations.

Curse was way better than I thought it was going to be from reading people's opinions.

Prior to spending the week there, I thought you were being too harsh on this park. Now from our time spent there...my opinion is stronger that you are being too harsh. lol. That's the way she goes sometimes.

 

[Andrew C]

I rather like both and now I’m curious which one you don’t like? I’m trying to guess and at first figured maybe the Fantastics Beasts one, but there’s a preshow, well designed show building and way more stagecraft going on there. But HTTYD is so emotionally resonant.

I totally agree with the rest. They did a lot of novel stuff here in this park. A lot of it is first for them systems. They really misfired on the medium and small attractions.

I thought the untrainable dragon was good, but not has good as people were telling me it was. On the other hand, I thought people undersold Le Cirque Arcanus. Overall, I liked them about equally. Both solid IMO.

 

[BrianLo]

Everyone in my family had their own favorites, but wing gliders was probably near the top of everyone's list. The blatant views you mentioned never crossed my mind the 5-10 times we rode it.

I agree, you become way too focused on the task to really look around.

Curse was way better than I thought it was going to be from reading people's opinions.

It is fun! But it is low capacity, brings down the land structure/aesthetics and is very nice regional park coded. Probably on the short list of the things they should replace first when the park matures. Though that’s unfair since it’s also the substitution.

The Monsters land is the one I feel misfired the most from its potential. Even the burning blade and Monsters feel respectively misplaced in the land design.

 

[mkt]

I feel like Yoshi just shouldn’t have been built. I would’ve just saved the money, built like a spinner and swings ride in Celestial Park, add some theming up there in place at Nintendo, and add a bathroom in the second level of SNW.

Blame Nintendo.

 

[mkt]

It’s a direct clone of the USJ attraction that was planned in tandem. Parts ordered at the same time, etc. That is basically why it exists in Orlando.

You would think that with the much larger plot of land in Florida that Universal could have modified stuff in the land from USJ. Now they will be making tweaks for years to come that they may not have needed to do if they did it right the first time.

It's what happens when you deal with third party IP.

You give up some control.

 

[Pizza Moon]

Probably the worst thing about Epic is that only three of the rides are great: Monsters, Stardust, and Ministry. I wish something could be done to improve Ministry's capacity, because these three rides carry the park. Yes, the park is pretty, yes the food is good, yes one of the shows is really good, but at the end of the day, I think people need to experience at least three great rides to feel satisfied regardless of everything else.

Good, but shy of great: Hiccup's Wing Gliders. It would be great if there weren't so many blatant views of backstage on what is supposed to be an immersive coaster.

Ranging from okay to actually pretty bad: the rest

All three rides in Nintendo are missteps. Mario Kart is an okay dark ride but the interactive element is janky and it doesn't make up for the fact that it's not the type of experience people wanted from a Mario Kart ride. Mine Cart Madness needed to be about 30% longer, less rough, and a higher capacity. Yoshi is just not enough for the wait times it gets from low capacity on top of being weirdly restrictive.

Curse of the Werewolf is the type of coaster you would typically find in smaller, regional parks. We all know the story of this, why it's there, and why it doesn't fit. The show scene at the end really seals the deal though of it being below expectations.

Constellation Carousel is beautiful to look and beautiful at night, but just kind of awkward to ride. A traditional very grand carousel with a centerpiece on the ground that you travel around would have been better.

Dragon Racer Rally needs to do FIVE rotations to feel worth it (it only does 3) and they need to loosen the spinning. It is way too hard to accomplish a flip. The thing is, those who don't want to flip still wouldn't if they didn't govern the spinning.

Fyre Drill - another experience typically seen at more regional parks. This type of experience is meant for low waits for families with small kids to do as side activity. There is nothing fun about waiting an hour just to do this.

The thing is it’s easy to do repeat rides on both Monsters and Stardust because their waits are so low.

When I went to Shanghai Disneyland I did Battle for the Sunken Treasure 7 times, so that massively elevates the park experience!

 

[Pizza Moon]

It's what happens when you deal with third party IP.

You give up some control.

Makes you think how god tier a Galaxy’s Edge would’ve ended up if George Lucas just wrote the stories for 7, 8, 9 and was a creative consultant for the land, and just have Imagineers generally do the work like originally planned and other people direct and write the final screenplays for the new trilogy.

Insane I mean just mindblowing that he didn’t take this route.

He also didn’t have to remain CEO or whatever at Lucasfilms.

But ofc, never forget Bob Iger stabbing him in the back and ignoring their gentlemen’s agreement to basically to that, by ignoring his story treatment.

 

[eddie104]

I feel like Yoshi just shouldn’t have been built. I would’ve just saved the money, built like a spinner and swings ride in Celestial Park, add some theming up there in place at Nintendo, and add a bathroom in the second level of SNW.

Monsters and Stardust having high capacity, and thus low, waits, despite being my favorite two rides at the park (I’d put Ministry at #3) which actually helps the other ludicrous waits be more manageable IMO.

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Seriously ??

I don’t understand the logic of your post.

Are you saying it’s too popular or ???

 

[Andrew C]

One additional thing I will say about Super Nintendo World, while I liked the land a lot, it was my least favorite in Epic simply because it was so darn crowded compared to the other areas. Nintendo is just uber popular so everyone and their grandma wants to be there. After a while, the amount of people became overwhelming, which I never felt in other areas of the park. I absolutely get the urge to expand Nintendo due to demand, but I am glad the first expansion to Epic will be for Harry Potter and then I also hope the Lost Continent overhaul comes before anything Nintendo related in Epic. One might think just adding a Luigi's Mansion right away will help with crowds there, but honestly, I only think it will make that area worse without looking to other areas first. Other parts of Epic and Lost Continent first IMO before anything additional in Super Nintendo World.

 

[Stripes]

It's what happens when you deal with third party IP.

You give up some control.

On the whole, Potter Paris and SNW are the best themed lands at Epic. While Universal lost control, they were also held accountable as it relates to thematic integrity.

 

[mkt]

On the whole, Potter Paris and SNW are the best themed lands at Epic. While Universal lost control, they were also held accountable as it relates to thematic integrity.

Yes, but you're referring to different IP partners.

Corporate culture varies dramatically from company to company.

 

[flynnibus]

While Potter is of course highly intricate - I think Berk is more fun as a theme park land. Paris just doesn't have quite the same 'gotta see' elements like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. IMO

 

[Stripes]

While Potter is of course highly intricate - I think Berk is more fun as a theme park land. Paris just doesn't have quite the same 'gotta see' elements like Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley. IMO

Absolutely, and it’s quite thought provoking to compare the two. Potter Paris is beautiful, intricate, grand, and painstakingly detailed, but at the same time it’s also uninteresting, frustratingly unoriginal, and the attempt to replicate a Paris street, with its scale and architecture largely intact, makes it feel uncomfortable and uncanny for reasons that are quite complicated and esoteric.

Berk is nearly the exact opposite.

I’m far more impressed and inspired by Potter Paris than Berk. I’m a sucker for the level of attention to detail that Berk is lacking. But, Berk is undoubtedly the land I’d rather spend my time in. At least on a day when the aromas from the treatment plant are being carried in a different direction.

 

[LSLS]

One additional thing I will say about Super Nintendo World, while I liked the land a lot, it was my least favorite in Epic simply because it was so darn crowded compared to the other areas. Nintendo is just uber popular so everyone and their grandma wants to be there. After a while, the amount of people became overwhelming, which I never felt in other areas of the park. I absolutely get the urge to expand Nintendo due to demand, but I am glad the first expansion to Epic will be for Harry Potter and then I also hope the Lost Continent overhaul comes before anything Nintendo related in Epic. One might think just adding a Luigi's Mansion right away will help with crowds there, but honestly, I only think it will make that area worse without looking to other areas first. Other parts of Epic and Lost Continent first IMO before anything additional in Super Nintendo World.

Agree with it being my least favorite, but I don't think I liked it a lot. It just didn't feel themed to me if that makes sense. There's Nintendo stuff everywhere, but it just felt like a mishmash to me in the main area. Like, it's supposed to be Mario, but you have nothing to break up the areas. So you have Bowser's Keep right between two other random areas, and the areas right our front of them all kind of themed the same. I think how they broke up Donkey Kong was much better.

I will say, it's interesting that I was far and away most excited for Nintendo World (due to how much I played as a kid), and least excited for Berk as I knew nothing on How to Train Your Dragon, and in the end Berk was my favorite and Nintendo my least. Could be expectations were just too high for Nintendo and too low for Berk.

 

[rd805]

With proper expansions, all the lands will feel so much better & the rides that are currently MEH (Yoshi) will be enhanced as the waits will go down. **My absolute least favorite as Fyre Drill, but thankfully I had express so it was a 5 minute day. If i waited 30+ (or in a lot of cases 60+), I may have revolted. (Saying this as a proud Uni-fan lol).

This park desperately needs 3 new attractions: HP, Nintendo, and something very basic in Celestial Gardens. And I think that would still leave room for theactual "new land" expansion too...

Ugh, I hope they can fast track experiences, but I'm a little doubtful on that seeing that other plans are being built at the exact same time in other parks.

 

[Squishy]

They've ripped out and are replacing some of the wiring for the fountains, some of them have been broken since early summer last year so it's nice to see.

They're also going to be adding 11 moving heads into the lake that will sit slightly above the waterline, they compare closely but less bright to the elation proteus brutus heads that HEA got installed in 2024.

 

[Andrew25]

With proper expansions, all the lands will feel so much better & the rides that are currently MEH (Yoshi) will be enhanced as the waits will go down. **My absolute least favorite as Fyre Drill, but thankfully I had express so it was a 5 minute day. If i waited 30+ (or in a lot of cases 60+), I may have revolted. (Saying this as a proud Uni-fan lol).

This park desperately needs 3 new attractions: HP, Nintendo, and something very basic in Celestial Gardens. And I think that would still leave room for theactual "new land" expansion too...

Ugh, I hope they can fast track experiences, but I'm a little doubtful on that seeing that other plans are being built at the exact same time in other parks.

Universal can be quite ambitious when it comes to timeline and working on multiple projects. (e.g. Velocicoaster & Hagrid opening within 2 years of each other with aggressive construction timelines).

 

[Tom Morrow]

Absolutely, and it’s quite thought provoking to compare the two. Potter Paris is beautiful, intricate, grand, and painstakingly detailed, but at the same time it’s also uninteresting, frustratingly unoriginal, and the attempt to replicate a Paris street, with its scale and architecture largely intact, makes it feel uncomfortable and uncanny for reasons that are quite complicated and esoteric.

This is an interesting observation because I felt that too but couldn't articulate why. Uncanny is probably the right word. It emulates a real world city street so well that that only highlights its lack of actual life and interior spaces. Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley have never felt this way because of the fantasy design combined with the smaller scale making the things you can enter closer together.

I’m far more impressed and inspired by Potter Paris than Berk. I’m a sucker for the level of attention to detail that Berk is lacking. But, Berk is undoubtedly the land I’d rather spend my time in. At least on a day when the aromas from the treatment plant are being carried in a different direction.

I'm surprised this isn't talked about more - on the wrong day, all of Epic Universe smells like a sewer. I wonder if they could do more than they have to block or prevent the smells.