Universal Orlando Resort is opening a brand new theme park this month, and excitement is building as we approach the May 22nd grand opening. Universal Epic Universe is currently open to all guests during a “preview” period. We put “preview” in quotes because guests wishing to visit the park still have to pay full price, so it’s more like an early opening than a proper preview. Either way, the park is open, and guests are able to experience the first new major theme park in Orlando in decades! We have already published an early review of the park, but in this article, we wanted to cover the Epic Universe ride rankings of our favorite attractions!
Epic Universe Ride Rankings
The purpose of this article is not to have a comprehensive review of each ride, but simply to rank our favorites. As we continue to experience Epic Universe, we will continue to review each ride in standalone articles. We’ll link to those reviews for each ride as we publish them.
For our ride rankings, we tried to think holistically about each ride, noting our biases where possible. Of course, the very nature of a ride ranking article means that this is a subjective topic – written by a single person. Your ride rankings will likely differ. That said, the idea of this article is to give you an outline of what we would tell our friends and family to prioritize during a visit to Epic Universe, and what we think you should prioritize to feel like you’ve experienced the best of the best during your vacation.
Speaking of the best of the best, the two shows at Epic Universe are wonderful and should absolutely be a part of your day at Epic Universe. We’ll have a dedicated article to review each of the shows, which will fall outside of the scope of our ride rankings below.
Finally, unless you’re purchasing Universal Express or crowds are abnormally low, it will likely be difficult to get it all done in one day at Epic Universe. Here’s how we would prioritize our first visit to Epic Universe!
#1(a): Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
FULL REVIEW: A Thrilling Face-Off with Classic Monsters Falls Just Shy of Greatness
We’re going to make this list difficult right off the bat with a virtual tie for first place. Both Monsters Unchained and Battle at the Ministry are wonderful attractions. That said, we find ourselves gravitating to Monsters Unchained and will give it a slight, subjective, edge to Battle.
Unchained gets the edge over Battle due to an overload of animatronics and more physical sets. Unchained isn’t without its faults, in fact, I think it falls just shy of greatness, but I’m a sucker for physical sets and Universal deserves props for building out so many in Unchained, and then filling them with some wonderful Audio-Animatronics.
When you combine physical sets and a buffet of Audio-Animatronics, with a high-capacity (reliable) attraction that has an average wait time of less than 30 minutes in the afternoon and evenings, Monsters Unchained will absolutely be the attraction I experience the most at Epic Universe and it earns the top spot.
#1(b): Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
FULL REVIEW: Technological Wizardry & World-Class Immersive Theming
While Monsters Unchained is my favorite attraction at Epic Universe, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is the best attraction at Epic Universe. The queue is an attraction all its own, creating full-scale movie-accurate sets that are stunning for both Harry Potter fans and non-fans alike.
The ride is stunning. It blends digital and physical in an unbelievably realistic way. The Audio-Animatronics on the ride are the best we’ve ever seen, not only at Universal Orlando, but they’re better than anything we’ve seen at Walt Disney World as well.
Universal Orlando has dropped the (horrible) Virtual Line that it offered during previews, so be sure to pack your patience as your wait time will certainly be measured in multiple hours, and not minutes.
#3 – Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
This might be the first time in this list where my bias toward dark rides comes into play. Mario Kart takes guests through a variety of environments, immersing them in not only a wonderful series of physical sets but also adding a layer of gameplay thanks to augmented reality (AR) glasses.
The physical sets on Mario Kart are perhaps the best at any ride in Epic Universe, but it doesn’t start on the ride. The entire queue (and even Super Nintendo World as a whole), is wonderfully immersive – creating an environment that feels right out of the video games.
Some guests have had issues with the AR headsets, but they’ve always worked well for us, and they add a layer of interactivity to the ride that is second to none. We’re big fans of this ride – so much so that we’ve had no problem splitting the group and joining the Single Rider just to get an extra ride or two into our day.
#4 – Stardust Racers
Well, right after we talk about a bias toward dark rides, here comes a roller coaster that is so good that it blasts right through that bias. Stardust Racers is the real deal. This coaster is filled with screams and smiles from the moment it launches to the final race through the finish line.
Universal says that the ride experience is designed to feel like an old-school wooden roller coaster, with all of the benefits of being a smooth steel coaster. After having ridden Stardust Racers a number of times, I would put the actual coaster at the top of any Universal list, but the experience as a whole (queue theming + storytelling + ride experience) behind Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at #1 and Jurassic World VelociCoaster at #2.
The first thing that you’ll notice when watching Stardust Racers is that it is a dueling coaster. The dueling feature is, by far, my favorite part of the experience, with the trains coming within what feels like just feet from each other, twisting and dancing at a top speed of 62mph and a max height of 133 feet.
A two-speed launch, twisting “Celestial Spin” element, and racing along next to another roller coaster create moments that are as memorable as they are thrilling. Stardust Racers is a must-do for roller coaster fans, and a heck of a good time for any guests who are physically able to experience it.
#5 – Hiccups Wing Gliders
Back-to-back roller coasters, each with a well-deserved spot in the upper half of this list. Hiccups Wing Gliders is an unmistakable part of the How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk land. It’s interesting, the land has so much going on that nothing really steals the show, but Wing Gliders is as close to an anchor as you can get. The roller coaster twists through the land, flying low across the serene lake that welcomes guests into the land.
There are two show scenes on the ride, each wonderful in its own right, and each featuring animatronics – something that shows that Universal was willing to go the extra mile with this coaster – even if there are some sightline issues and parts of the ride where the landscaping is rather plain.
In terms of the roller coaster experience, you should expect something more intense than Slinky Dog Dash, but still staying in the family coaster category and not pushing too far into a high-thrill attraction. This is another coaster where you’ll have a smile on your face throughout, and it earns the elevated wait time that it usually experiences.
#6 – Mine-Cart Madness
We head back to Super Nintendo World for the next attraction on our list. Mine-Cart Madness is a roller coaster located in the Donkey Kong Country section of the land. Donkey Kong Country is a land within a land, and it works well on its own, while visually in lockstep with the Super Mario Land that guests enter through.
Mine-Cart Madness is just that – madness. The ride takes guests all around Donkey Kong Country on this mostly outdoor roller coaster. While the land acts as the visual theming for the outdoor portions of the ride, there are also some indoor scenes that add a little bit of a dark-ride element to the otherwise zany roller coaster.
A unique ride system is in play here, out of view in the photo above. Essentially, the track in view in the photo above is a faux roller coaster track, and the vehicle is actually mounted to a track that runs alongside the faux track. I’m not sure if it’s due to the rather innovative ride system or not, but Mine-Cart Madness is a rough ride. There were some fun, thrilling moments during the ride, but I spent most of it just in a little bit of discomfort.
I would say that the ride is also a little bit too short for the 45-90 minute wait time that it demands. If I was told I would only wait 15-20 minutes for Mine-Cart Madness, I’d jump in line, but with the second-highest average wait times behind the goliath that is Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, we’re going to skip Mine-Cart Madness far more than we ride it.
#7 – Constellation Carousel
Perhaps a bit higher on my list than other’s ride rankings, Constellation Carousel is charming through and through. As one of only two attractions in Celestial Park, Constellation Carousel excels as much as the visual centerpiece icon of the Central Park-style land as it does as a ride.
It’s hard to make a carousel feel fresh, but Universal has successfully done so with the Constellation Carousel. This carousel-style attraction has a little extra spin to it, with some arrays of ride vehicles sitting within smaller circles that also spin 360 degrees in addition to the standard carousel spin. For Disney fans, imagine something like Prince Charming Regal Carrousel with the additional, smaller spin found within the Alien Swirling Saucers ride platform.
While a daytime ride is enjoyable, a nighttime ride is going to be a quintessential experience at Epic Universe. In fact, as of publish time, Constellation Carousel is the only ride at Epic Universe where the average wait time increases throughout the day. That should show you just how much guests are enjoying riding it at night.
#8 – Curse of the Werewolf
Curse of the Werewolf earned our most scathing review during our first impression review of Epic Universe. Since then, the ride hasn’t really grown on us, but our opinion of it has become more indifferent. We’ve been able to experience it in recent previews with little or no wait around sunset, which has lowered our bar of expectation a bit.
In terms of logistics, Curse of the Werewolf is a free-spinning roller coaster that twists and turns through the woods of Darkmoor. The ride is relatively short, but it delivers on thrills thanks to the free-spinning vehicles and a multi-pass “swing launch”. There are two static werewolf figures within a mid-ride barn, and a static mannequin figure of Maleva, leader of The Guild of Mystics at the end of the ride. I can almost forgive the lack of movement for the werewolf(s) given the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it placement (wherewolf?), but the Maleva mannequin is rough. Universal should’ve strived for better here.
That said, our takeaway from our initial review remains the same – Curse of the Werewolf is a fun spinning coaster, but disappoints when it comes to the finishing touches. It’s kind of obvious that it was an afterthought, added after the initial concept art for Epic Universe was released, and I wouldn’t dedicate more than a 30-minute wait to ride. We’ll save the safety net discourse for our full review of the attraction.
#9 – Yoshi’s Adventure
Yoshi’s Adventure is cute, but certainly not worth waiting more than 15 minutes for. The ride is an omnimover, traversing a corner of the second floor of Super Mario Land. The ride is over before you know it, including a fun (super easy) scavenger hunt element where guests are asked to find different color eggs.
I’ve seen some comparisons to the Tomorrowland PeopleMover at Magic Kingdom, but the two rides are not even in the same league. Yoshi’s Adventure should’ve been about three times as long, traversing more of the landscape and with one more indoor scene to be worth the wait. It’s an easy skip if you don’t have the time.
Fyre Drill
I’m going to be honest, I’m not sure I’ll ever ride Fyre Drill. This looks like a ride that you’ll get SOAKED on, and you can see everything about the ride from within the Isle of Berk land. If you’re in the market for a midday cool down, this will certainly fit the bill. Anything other than that seems like it’ll lead to an uncomfortable hour or two afterward. We’re talking more soaked than Kali River Rapids – it just doesn’t look fun to me.
Because I haven’t ridden it, I can’t rank it, but I don’t think it’ll be very high on people’s lists. Right now, Fyre Drill has the second-lowest average wait time behind Constellation Carousel.
Dragon Racer’s Rally
Dragon Racer’s Rally is another attraction that we haven’t experienced yet. With other attractions higher on our TO-DO list, Dragon Racer’s Rally has either been closed due to weather, closed unexpectedly due to downtime, or with a posted wait time so high that we’ve balked at jumping in line (something that I think will be common).
Like Fyre Drill, you can see the entire ride experience from outside of the attraction, so there really isn’t much to add here beyond the thrill factor. We’ll get to it eventually, but for now, it remains unranked.
For our comprehensive review of Universal Epic Universe, check out our article below!
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