I’ve been thinking a lot about Epic Universe since the opening of the aptly named theme park at the end of May. I’ve been thinking about amazing queues, food and vibes, but also the 11 rides and additional other attractions populating the new park. The more I think about it, the more I must accept one truth: My CinemaBlend co-worker and I are just not on the same page about the best ride.
Our Theme Park Expert Dirk Libbey Was Shocked To Find Out He’s In Love With Harry Potter And The Ministry Of Magic
While Dirk Libbey and I agree on a wide swathe of things when it comes to theme parks, he is not a huge Harry Potter guy. He didn’t grow up with the books in the same way my millennial soul did, and I also went with him one time to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and (unlike Tom Felton) I couldn’t even get him hyper on board with a butterbeer. So, I was absolutely shocked when he ranked all the Epic Universe rides and Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic came up first.
feel sick every time I ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, so I was really nervous going in, but there’s a new thing to look at every single time I’ve been on the ride, and the cool thing about the practical effects is they are still eerie even if they aren’t moving quite how we expected or something is messed up.
The whole Dark Universe portal works. I wouldn’t have considered myself a Dark Universe girlie before I entered the land, but in a surprising turn of events, it wasn’t Harry Potter or How To Train Your Dragon that stuck with me in the days after I said goodbye to Epic Universe.
The Moral Of This Epic Universe Story?
Every year, we cover Halloween Horror Nights, and every year I bow out as my expertise tends more toward romance, serialized TV, or animated films. Now that I’ve been on Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, I feel I’ve been depriving myself of an awesome experience. Perhaps this year is the year to cut loose and try something new.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Epic Universe is not at all what I expected based on ride descriptions, ride types, and theming subject. Opening myself up to new experiences turned out to be the best thing I did in the parks.
Ultimately, neither Dirk nor I had the same experience, nor did we expect to like some of the attractions we loved the most as much as we did. But I think that’s the thing that is most attractive about Universal Orlando’s theme parks: it has something for everybody. In truth, something different may tug your own heartstrings, and that’s cool, too.