It's Official. The Most Impressive Theme Park Pre-Show I've Ever Seen Is at Epic Universe

Something a lot of people may not know about me is that I consider myself somewhat of a theme park fanatic.

Getting to experience Epic Universe during previews was incredible!

For a long time, I had the dream of traveling around to all the different theme parks and amusement parks in the United States, just to say I’d experienced them all, but now, I usually just stick with Disney and Universal theme parks since they’re some of the easiest for me to get to. My favorite part about these parks is the rides, and for some of them, it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve been; I could ride them over and over again and never get tired. With that said, I can also be pretty critical of rides — not everything is sunshine, rainbows, and perfection — which is why I was truly shocked to realize just how much the pre-show of this Epic Universe ride impressed me.

When I stepped into Universal’s Epic Universe park for the first time, I knew I was most looking forward to experiencing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic and How To Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, but I was also really curious to see how a scaredy-cat like me would do with Dark Universe.

The idea of the land really intrigued me, as did the design from the concept art and the photos I’d seen so far, and as soon as I stepped inside, I was wowed by the level of immersiveness and detail — especially looking at the Darkmoor castle, which is where the main attraction in the land, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, is located.

I had been looking forward to this, but had also been very nervous — I knew there were going to be realistic-looking monster animatronics all over, as well as some jump scares, and I had purposefully kept myself in the dark about the queue, because I wanted to be surprised.

I was already extremely impressed from the moment I stepped into the building and looked at all the queue had to offer, but then I got to the pre-show and my jaw DROPPED. There are two different pre-show rooms, similar to Rise of the Resistance in Disney World. In the first one, you’re introduced to Ygor, who shows you the ride vehicle you’ll be traveling in and sets the tone. That already had me pumped for the rest of the experience (and yes, a little apprehensive), but then we stepped into the second pre-show room and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

The second pre-show room (spoilers ahead!) introduced Dr. Victoria Frankenstein herself as well as Frankenstein’s monster, and these animatronics took my breath away — ESPECIALLY Frankenstein’s monster. Now here’s the thing: I read Frankenstein in school and enjoyed it, but other than that, I have zero experience or knowledge about Universal monsters. And yet, I was SO intrigued by the story that was set up and couldn’t stop staring in awe at these animatronics and the way they moved.

Don’t believe me? Don’t worry, I have video proof — this is literally how I stood in the second pre-show room the entire time it happened.

Truly, if I, someone who is extremely unfamiliar with the lore of Universal monsters, was as impressed as I was, I can only imagine what it’s like for those who have loved this IP for many years! I truly do think this is the best pre-show I’ve personally ever seen.

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