If You Want to Ride the NEW Harry Potter Ride at Epic Universe, You NEED To Know These Tips!

Epic Universe officially opened on May 22nd, 2025. Before that, the park offered previews, and we scouted out every inch of it! We want to bring you the best tips and tricks, so you feel prepared to head to Epic Universe.

Please note: some of our experiences were during a preview period. Things may change after the park has been open for a little while. Of course, we will continue to bring you even more tips and tricks as we continue to visit Epic Universe. But today, we are talking all things virtual queue, and we have some tips.

One attraction at Epic Universe has sometimes utilized a virtual queue: Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. This attraction is located inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic. The attraction takes you on a chase through the Ministry of Magic as Dolores Umbridge makes an escape during her trial for her crimes.

IMPORTANT! During some of our visits during the preview period, a virtual line return time was required to experience this attraction. Later, Universal opened up the attraction with NO virtual line — only a standby line. On Epic Universe’s grand opening day, the ride had a delayed opening but ultimately opened without a virtual line. So, it’s possible that the ride may or may not be utilizing a virtual line system during your visit. Be sure to check the Universal app for updates during your trip.

IF a virtual queue is in use, you can join the virtual line on the Universal app. The virtual line opens at 11 AM, 3 PM, and 6 PM, although times are subject to availability, and the queue won’t always open at those times.

For example, if the attraction is delayed, the virtual line may not open at all at 11 AM. When we were in the park and no virtual line was offered at 11 AM, there wasn’t any sort of signage posted, and the app still said the virtual line would open at 11 AM, but a Team Member at Stardust Racers did notify us that the virtual line would not open at 11 AM. However, we’ve also been told incorrectly by Team Members that the line wouldn’t drop, and then it DID, but didn’t have times available until after 3 PM due to a delayed opening.

However, if the virtual line is opening as scheduled, we have some tips for you to snag a return time! We spoke with Team Members, and they gave us some good tips for having a better chance at getting a spot in the virtual line.

Before you even settle in to get the Virtual Queue, it’s important to know that there are sometimes ghost drops at 10:45 AM. This doesn’t happen often, but it is important to note that it can occur, so it’s not a bad idea to check from 10:45-10:50 AM.

Unlike Disney, the VQ often doesn’t drop RIGHT on the minute. In fact, we usually don’t see the VL button turn blue until about 00:01:30 after the drop time. You should NOT give up on a drop until about 5 minutes after the drop time — even when it’s told you they are unavailable a million times, something might pop up.

There are also LOTS of drops throughout the day that Universal doesn’t publicize, particularly towards the end of the day if the ride has been running well all day. They pop up whenever Universal decides to drop them and it could be 1 slot or 30 slots. It’s also important to note that you do NOT have to be inside the park to try to get the drop — you just have to be inside the geofence (which Helios Grand is part of, so as long as you’re there or inside the parking area, you’re good), AND you also don’t need to have your party’s tickets linked all to you. However, do make sure your personal Epic Universe admission is linked to your account at least the day before.

The rumor has been that you shouldn’t be on the wifi because it slows down the process. However, we’ve now found after trying it both ways that it doesn’t matter — you just have to be in a spot with GOOD connectivity, and you need to find this area BEFORE the drop. Many rides and restaurants don’t have good connectivity, so we recommend being somewhere out in the open instead.

You’re looking for the VL button to turn from grey saying “VL Unavailable” to blue on the Battle at the Ministry attraction page in the app. If it is prior to park open, that button may not be there at all. It will show up when the VL is ready. The best way to make sure you’re only seeing this one attraction is to go to the map page, filter to Epic Universe, pull up the list, then tap into Battle at the Ministry. To refresh, go back and forth between the list and the ride’s page, BUT we recently found that you can stay in the page and the button will just turn blue when it’s ready without needing to refresh! This can save you precious seconds, and that could make all the difference.

Once you get past the first screen, move as quickly as possible through the process. You will see party number at the top and time slots at the bottom. Just click one as quickly as possible and move on — there may be one slot or there may be six. Our tip is to go for one in the middle since most people will be working from the first time or from the last time so hopefully you have a higher chance of getting one in the middle. And while it’s dumb, the moment you take to change your party size could be the reason you don’t get the VQ. For the earlier drops, have as many people as possible going for your full party size but if you don’t get it, you can always look at doing a smaller party size if someone is willing to skip it. You can move fastest if you are going for 1 or 2.

Now this next part is VERY IMPORTANT! When you tap a time you will RARELY get a message that says you’re in (but if that does happen, amazing!). Most of the time you’ll get a message that VL slots are unavailable and to choose another slot. Move fast! Keep tapping all of the time slots until they disappear completely and when they do, change your party size to refresh the page. Eventually, you’ll see that they are all gone and that’s when you can give up…UNLESS!

If you’re absolutely 100% dedicated to getting a spot in this queue and are willing to waste a lot of time and phone battery on it, there are some advanced methods you can follow, and it all starts with STAYING IN THE VQ SCREEN! Do not click out of it, don’t click ANYWHERE else. Stay on the same screen that shows you party size and time slot availability. As we mentioned earlier, there are surprise time drops all the time, so if you can stay on that page in the app, changing the party size to refresh, you’ll have an advantage over everyone not on that page waiting for the VL button to turn blue. If a time drops, you’re already on that page. This is annoying and tedious, but we’ve seen times drop at 3:12 PM and even 4:42 PM before — it does happen!

However, this does mean potentially staying on that screen for HOURS, which isn’t viable for many of us. We also think it’s worth it to check the page every now and then and stay on for a minute or two each time to see if something drops — it’s happened for us before! Finally, check early and check often but also check LATE — particularly late in the day. If the ride has been running smoothly, you may see more drop randomly in the last two hours of the park day so this is a time for, as Mad Eye Moody would put it, constant vigilance.

Keep in mind though, having a virtual line doesn’t guarantee that you will be able to ride and the ride many close for technical difficulties. If you’re looking for the absolute best guarantee you’ll be able to ride, we recommend looking into a VIP Tour, even though they’re pricey.

If you don’t get the queue, know that it very likely wasn’t because of anything you did or didn’t do. This system is VERY wonky and you can do everything right and still not get it. Most of the time, you can walk up to the ride and ask to step through the Floo Powder and see the atrium of the Ministry with no issue, so even if you don’t get to ride, that’s an exciting place to explore. Plus, if the ride is delayed, they may even let you walk the queue all the way up to see Higgledy in Umbridge’s office! It’s always worth it to ask a Team Member.

It is always possible they will change which attractions utilize a virtual line or change aspects of the virtual line. Stay tuned to AllEars for all your Epic Universe news!

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Are you planning a trip to Epic Universe? Let us know in the comments!

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