“I Would Kiss Him on the Mouth!” Everything You Need to Know About the New Monsters Unchained Ride at Epic Universe

We stepped inside Universal Epic Universe and it was (dare I say it?!)…EPIC. (I totally said it and I’m so not sorry for making the world’s most obvious pun.)

There are five new lands in the park, but one that many longtime Universal Orlando fans were HYPED about is Dark Universe. This entire land is themed to the Universal Classic Monsters, and it’s home to an attraction that many people couldn’t wait to ride — Monsters Unchained. Universal has described it as their “most terrifying attraction yet,” and we got to ride it during our preview. Did it live up to the hype?!

Universal has described Monsters Unchained as a “state-of-the-art dark ride” that’ll take “guests deep into the catacombs of Frankenstein Manor, where Dr. Victoria Frankenstein conducts her twisted experiments.”

You get to meet Dr. Victoria Frankenstein in the preshow for the ride. Universal shares, “In a vain display of her genius, she invites guests into her laboratory to witness a demonstration of her ability to control monsters – but her plans go awry when her attempts to control the most dangerous of monsters, Dracula, fails, unleashing a horde of enraged monsters.”

With a storyline like that, we were pumped to step inside the manor! The queue for this attraction is absolutely fantastic, guiding you through the mansion with its eerie vibes and excessive stonework.

You even get to see the electricity pulsing through the mansion as Dr. Frankenstein works on her experiments. Spooky!

The first preshow for the ride features Ygor showing off the ride vehicle. You get a glimpse at a model of the seats, which are very similar to those on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. (Kind of your whole arm-with-bench-seats situation.) This preshow was great so that you would know what to expect when boarding the attraction.

From there, you go into the preshow with Dr. Frankenstein. She explains her plan to subdue Dracula, and brings out her monster. And our first impression? These animatronics were INCREDIBLE. They make the Dr. Frankenstein animatronic incredibly realistic with her facial features and motions, while the monster animatronic literally WALKS out toward you. We were already impressed and we hadn’t even boarded the ride.

Like many other Universal rides, you’ll need to put your belongings in lockers before you board, and they’re free while you ride. These lockers are a good bit bigger than many others at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

Boarding the ride can be a bit of a challenge because of the rotating platform, which how boarding differs from getting on Forbidden Journey. Other than that, the seats are very similar.

The plot of the ride is fairly simple — you’re there to see the experiment that Dr. Frankenstein intends to perform on Dracula, but then Dracula breaks free and starts wreaking havoc. He releases all the other monsters, including The Mummy, Wolfman, the brides, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. All of a sudden, they’re ALL coming after you!

The animatronics move with surprising speed and fluidity, and they are HUGE. We would estimate that some of them are 7 or 8 feet tall! As you attempt to escape, they’re reaching out to try and grab you, and the effects that Universal uses are SO realistic. The sheer number of animatronics in this ride is impressive by Universal standards.

As for the scare factor of this ride, we would put it about on par with DINOSAUR at Animal Kingdom. The monsters themselves and the premise of the ride are kinda scary, and your little kids may not like it, but it’s definitely not as terrifying as Halloween Horror Nights or as frightening as jump scares in horror movies.

As far as motion sickness goes, this one can be motion sickness-inducing. If you have trouble with the ride system for Forbidden Journey, you’ll probably have problems here, even though the technology is nearly flawless for this updated version. It’s just the way the ride vehicle moves.

And our lovely reporter Quincy did have something important to say about the Dracula animatronic. They made him fiiiiiineeee. She said, “I would kiss him on the mouth. I can’t get close enough, but I haven’t tried hard enough because I was taking in the ride.” And after seeing a picture of this guy that Universal shared? We might just agree with you, Quincy.

So that’s our take on Monsters Unchained! It’s absolutely incredible, and we think it’s going to be one of the most popular rides when Epic Universe opens in May. For more about our experiences in the park, check out the video below.

Stay tuned to AllEars for more updates from Epic Universe!

Click Here to See Our First Visit to Epic Universe!

Are you going to Epic Universe when it opens? Tell us in the comments!

Disclosure: We were invited by Universal Orlando to attend a preview of Epic Universe. This did not affect our reporting of the event — our opinions are our own.

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