Summers Family Travels Again - 2025: Day 5

16 December 2025

We first learnt about plans to expand Universal to include Epic Universal soon after our last trip to USA and Canada. The promise of even more Harry Potter and a world based on How to Train Your Dragon had everyone excited. So much so that when we first started planning this holiday, including Florida so that we could experience these new worlds felt like a no brainer.

Our expectations were set so high, and in hindsight, maybe it was a little too high. The day was filled with such mixed emotion, from the wow and amazing to fizzling disappointment. You really do wonder about the honesty in some of the blogs and YouTube videos, especially given how much of a role marketing plays.

I shall do my best to describe the day via the photo captions below.

We woke to a fog hanging over the park offering the promise of a fine day, for which it did not fail. The morning was cold, but the day gradually warmed up and was pleasantly warm. Because we were staying onsite at the Helios, we were granted 1hr early park entry, however, not all part of the park are open and you have to work out the best way to optimise this time. We spent the 15 minutes waiting to be allowed in debating on which path to follow when we entered.

From the park, this is the Helios Hotel.

We took the easy right into the portal of Dark Universe, based on the historic universal monsters such as Frankenstein, Werewolf and Vampires. These are movies that are either too old or too garish for me to have paid attention to. You will have to keep an eye out for the portal entry photo further down below. There was still about of fog lingering around so this actually helped with the dramatic theming in this part of the park. It certainly had the look of haunting and danger. The details were impressive.

We were actually on the second train for the first ride in this portal. It was a roller coaster where the carriages spinned on the track. It sounds nauseating and I think Steve was dreading this ride more than anyone, but actually, the ride itself was quite fun. It was just so so so short.

This is the dramatic castle of either Frankenstein or the Vampires at the end of the village.

Inside is a dark 3D ride. Visually this ride was really impressive, but from a thrill point of view, it was lacking. We very much felt like we ticked a box and were done. As with all the rides, the line was part of the entertainment and informing the ride story line.

There is only two rides in this part of the park. We were fortunate enough to have at least experienced them within 30 minutes of being in the park as both rides spent most of the day out of action. Steve actually walked out of this section with visible disappointment.

Next stop, the portal of Ministry of Magic. This world was visually spectacular and everything that we anticipated. Some of the characters even greet you in French.

The entrance portal to the Ministry of Magic which is themed from
Fantastic Beasts in Paris.

This is the cafe that sells the famous Bieraubeurre (or Butterbeer) Crepes. I opted for the Lemon crepes, but both Joshua and Isabelle relished the Butterbeer crepes. These of course were served with a very healthy breakfast drink of Butterbeer. The walls were inlayed with the most beautiful images made out of enamel tiles of magical beasts with presumably witches and wizards of significance.

Joshua at the exit of the Ministry of Magic Portal.

Spot the Niffler. Belle was able to use her wand to make the Niffler move.

Belle and I attempting a visit to the Ministry of Magic in Paris.

This is forms part of the queue for the only ride in this portal - the Ministry of Magic. This is another 3D ride. The queue was amazing and really made you feel as if you were in the Ministry. The gold framing at the bottom of the pillars is the chimneys for the flu network. The ride itself was entertaining. The 3D effects were clever and at times you could convince yourself that the ministry lift you were in was moving you across multiple planes. But as per other 3D rides, without the thrill, we didn't actively seek to repeat the experience. Just as well as this ride always had the longest queues. It is expected to wait upwards of 2hrs to experience this ride.

Belle and Joshua entering the flu network.

Next stop - How to Train Your Dragon. While I didn't quite feel like I was in the Isle of Berk, the use of the waterpoint colour theming used in the movies did bring back all the nostalgia. This part of the park is very youth and family orientated, but I would say anyone who has grown up with kids who love either the books or movie franchise is going to love this part of the park. Depending on the time of day that you visit, everything takes on a whole new look. Isabelle did take the opportunity to try one of the famed Mac and Cheese cones. I wouldn't say it rated highly.

There are two rides here. One is like a swinging arm, where if you are lucky you can roll your dragon. This ride really fell flat. Steve thought it would actually take quite a bit of weight to roll the dragon yourself, and the ride was pretty short. At this point I think Steve was gutted and about to give up on Epic all together. There are only two "real" roller coasters, one of them, Hiccups wing gliders, is in this part of the park. By this stage, this ride hasn't actually opened an is marked as delayed.

Eventually we get lucky. Hiccups Wing Gliders was not massive and it didn't give us the thrill of having your stomach lurch out of your mouth, but it was smooth, it wasn't boring and it did leave you with a nice feeling. Perhaps it was the musical soundtrack from the movie that gave you the remote sense of flying. It was definitely a do over if we could.

These photos dont really give this portal the justice it deserves.

At some point we managed to find our way to the Stardust Racers - the biggest & thrillest Roller Coaster in the park. We also managed to get Isabelle to jump on with us which is the most adventurist she had been in all of the parks we had attended. Our waiter at last nights dinner had said she had cried when she finished this ride for the first time. Not because she was terrified, but because it was just such a beautiful ride. Now we didnt cry, but we do know what she means. There was all the twists, turns, dives and rolls you would expect from a high thrill ride, but it was just so smooth, like you were moving as one with the track. It was really just delightful. I didn't get any pictures of it, but will share a link so you can see for yourself. It is a bit of a juxtaposition to describe a thriller roller coaster in such a way, but I'm not sure I can describe it in any other way.

And now for the last of the portals - Super Nintendo World. We were not particularly surprised by this section as it is modelled after Universal in Japan and LA. Epic was however bigger and more gaudi - triggering the auditory and visual sensor overload very quickly. All of us within minutes wanted to leave. There are three rides in this area. We managed to talk Belle out of going on Yoshi's adventure. The line was relatively short, but too long to be interested in riding on a slow Yoshi shaped cart. Belle was somewhat persistent in wanting try the new Donkey Kong Minecraft Racers, but this ride had been down for most of the day, so once it opened it triggered a massive influx and even the fast pass queue appeared to exceed 60 minutes. We passed. The line was short enough that we conceded and rode on Bowsers Challenge. We had ridden on this before in LA, and this ride was exactly the same. Steve came off with a headache. Its a short fun game, but none of us are really ever sure why it rates so highly. Perhaps you have to have grown up with Mario Cart.

Visually it really does look fun, but you need to combine those vibrant colours with people everywhere and really really load sounds of coins ching chinging and other random electronic game noises.