Even with all our prep, Universal’s newest park still found ways to initially surprise us.
Recently, members of our team were lucky enough to attend a friends and family preview of Universal’s highly-anticipated Epic Universe. We had a litany of thoughts on the park, as many elements delivered on our high expectations while others left a bit to be desired in this preview period. However, a few things we encountered caught us off guard.
The Sheer Size
We’ve known for ages how big Epic Universe is, both in hard numbers and visualized through concept art and the scale model that’s been on display at the preview center. However, there’s a difference between “knowing” something and experiencing it. Actually being inside the park, we were almost overwhelmed by the sheer size of it, to the point where we feel like it might be almost impossible to experience the whole park in one day, especially once full crowds and warm times arrive in May.
Potter Queue
Speaking of crowds, we were mesmerized by the queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. While the ride was not open during our preview — and likely won’t be until April — we were able to spend time in the highly-detailed queue, which recreates the lobby of the Ministry of Magic complete with fireplaces for Floo Powder transportation and statue-work. However, what REALLY caught us off guard was the revelation that the ride’s queue is large enough to accommodate 5-hour long waits. Clearly, Universal is anticipating this ride will follow in the footsteps of the resort’s previous three Potter E-Tickets and initially draw enormous crowds.
The Longest Wait
While it remains to be seen if the Potter attraction — or any of the rest of Epic Universe’s lineup of rides — will draw 5-hour lines when the park opens to the public on May 22nd, there was no doubt what had the consistently longest line during the preview we attended… and it wasn’t a ride at all. It was actually the impressive meet and greet with How To Train Your Dragon characters Hiccup and Toothless in the park’s Isle of Berk portal.
SURPRISE!
Speaking of characters, we were definitely caught off guard by the appearance of a certain Universal character during a key moment on Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. We won’t spoil the character here, but we’ll just say to keep your eyes peeled during a sequence when your ride vehicle abruptly pauses in front of Frankenstein during the ride.
Facial Recognition
The park is going to use a ticketless entry system that’s reliant on facial recognition. Universal will snap a photo of you, and not only use it for entry but also throughout the rest of the park for security and tracking. While that wasn’t a total surprise, we weren’t quite aware of how in-depth the system was, which may go too far for some guests.
We learned a ton from Epic Universe during our first visit during a friends and family preview, however, that’s just scratching the surface of this brand-new park, which will surely evolve throughout this preview period before opening to the public on May 22nd. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Epic Universe!
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What are you most excited for at Epic Universe? Let us know in the comments below!
Was there today with cast member friend .most advanced park ever built.all lands awesome star racers was great .ministry awesome the interactive wand cool as heck.
Of COURSE there’s no way to do it in one day! It’s ENORMOUS!
Not to mention the 5-hour queues for the most popular attractions. If my math’s right, you can see roughly 3% in one day. Plan on being there a minimum of 7 months to see it all.