Who wants Epic Universe spoilers?

i dont want to do this but... MoM? if you can tell me when they'll release the pov i might reconsider if its within a week or two

Given that there's no way I'm going to experience these attractions for myself in the foreseeable future I'm dying to see some POV videos (which I know you can't provide) but also as much detail about each attraction as possible! My only way to experience them is virtually or via descriptions.

definitely monsters unchained tho, i saw a pov accidentally and the basic everything was spoiled, but it was so dark that details were missing.

A lot of this depends upon when Universal soft opens the park to the public. I have lobbied for official POVs, but Universal has not done those for non-coaster attractions in the past. Right now, on-ride POVs remain officially banned, which every media outlet that wants to attend the official park opening media event in May will respect. After that...? Yeah, YouTube will be flooded with these.

I must admit that I felt deep emotional pain riding in the front seat of Stardust Racers know that I had a perfectly safe chest-mounted GoPro sitting in my bag back at the hotel. My heavens, that POV would have been amazing. And it would have paid for my airfare to Orlando, too. Alas.

before everyone was like" i wish i could take pictures and videos of the land SO BAD!!" and now everyone's like" i wish i could take a POV of the ride SO BAD!!!" They will never be satiated until its All open to spoil.
@david even though you want to hear detailed descriptions, once the pov's come out it will slightly ruin it. would you like to wait a week and get bigger rewards or get it now slightly worse? im dying to know too but at the same time...ynow?

@Robert:

I would love to hear more detail on the Monsters attraction. While it’s obviously apples to oranges, how does the ride system flow in comparison to forbidden journey? what is the approximate ratio of screen to animatronics? How do you feel they work in concert with one another? Would you call the ride outright scary or more thrilling? Since you have couched this thread with a warning about spoilers, feel free to go into as much explicit detail as you like. Thanks so much!

1.) what's inside of the building on the swing launch on CotW?

2.) What's going on inside constellation carousel? Is it just a carousel? Edit: I now see video of the ride, but I still want to know the difference between it and a real carosel

3.) are there any annoying screens that you wish were animatronics anywhere in the park?

Here’s a question not a lot of people are asking about: urinal cakes. Are they in widespread use? And if so, on a scale of 1 to 10 how refreshing would you rate them?

Asking for a friend by the way (shifts eyes Frank Drebin style)

Is Mine Carter Madness as much of a kiddie rise as it, unfortunately, appears?

I found Monsters to be more comfortable than Forbidden Journey. There's less chaotic movement. It fells like you spend most of your time on your back, though, as the action takes place above and around you. There are no screen domes as on FJ. It's very much driven by practical sets, with animatronics and screens providing animated backgrounds.

That said, the Wolf Man does spit on you.

Inside the building on the swing launch of Werewolf is... a werewolf. What you saw in the concept art is what you see on the ride. That's it.

Mine Cart Madness is very much a front-row ride, due to the visuals. But it's just chance what you get, unless you are a group of four. In that case, you can fight internally who gets the good seats.

It's a bit rough for a family coaster, IMO. Some of the drops at the "track jump" points can be jarring, especially with the support on one side rather than underneath or above the track. I would need another ride to tell you if the left or right seat is worse.

I liked Mine Cart as a prototype of a new technology. So it's for coaster geeks or dedicated Donkey Kong fans. Everyone else can give it an easy pass.

Thanks Robert! That’s all I need to know about Monsters. Okay, same question about MoM in regards to FoP as a comparison. I’m more curious about the ride system and FX than story spoilers but i don’t mind any spoilers there either. Thanks for taking the time :)

How good is Potter mixing up the two eras? I know the rumor is it was always themed to Fantastic Beasts and they had to shift when those movies died out so curious how they link the two time periods.

1. Would you say Battle at the Ministry is more like Forbidden Journey (where you're continuously moving through a series of scenes) or more like Escape from Gringotts (where you're stopping for each scene to play out before moving to the next one)?

2. Does the park feel accessible to someone with minimal exposure to the IPs, or do the portals not really work without prerequisite knowledge?

3. Is there any real theming to Stardust Racers or is it just a basic roller coaster?

4. What's the level of theming like on Fyre Drill? I haven't heard much about this one, but have done a couple pretty decent Splash Battles over in Europe.

5. Not a spoiler, but assuming similar crowd levels to the other UOR parks, do you think it's reasonable to do everything at Epic Universe in one day?

Robert, did you get on the Sky Fly and if so, what tips do you have for making the rotations work? I remember having a bit of trouble with it at the Mall of America a couple of years ago.

I have some similar questions to AJ, because my biggest ongoing concern with Epic is how guests will visit this new park and how Universal will manage the flow of guests and attraction access. Hopefully Universal can get all the bugs worked out of Battle for the Ministry (though it was enlightening to hear that the queue can hold 8 HOURS of line inside), because if that attraction (and Monsters Unchained to a lesser extent since it has been operating more efficiently in previews) cannot achieve a reasonable throughput (at least 1,000 pph), guests are going to get really frustrated and annoyed that they cannot experience more than half the park in a single visit. That has been part of my criticism of the park from the start, because there aren't enough supporting attractions with decent capacity to spread crowds out which can help guests feel that they've accomplished something during their day even if they only ride 2-3 of the "big" rides. I think it's going to be next to impossible for most guests to ride Battle for the Ministry, Monsters Unchained, Hiccups Wing Gliders, Mine Cart Madness, and both sides of Stardust Racers in a single day. I don't think that would be such a big deal if there were some decent supporting rides that can allow guests to ride something with a 20-30 minute line, but there just aren't enough other rides to allow for that. The Wolfman coaster as noted, is going to have serious capacity issues, Fyre Drill is going to have limited appeal because it's a water ride, Dragon Racers Rally has a super short cycle time that will help its capacity, but will be frustrating because guests will struggle to figure out how to get their pod to flip (it took me 3 tries on the one at Mall of America, which had a 5 minute line, so if lines are 30-45 minutes, guests will probably not want to go back after being unsuccessful on their first go around), Mario Cart is a clone, Yoshi is a clone and looks pretty boring IMHO, and while the Constellation Carousel is GORGEOUS, the movement looks extremely underwhelming. I really think this park is lacking those C and D ticket attractions that guests really want to experience if they don't feel like standing in 60-120 (or 400) minute lines for the top rides. Similarly, while I've loved all the smaller entertainment flourishes around the park like the meet and greets, interactive activities, and "streetmosphere", guests are going to spend so much time in lines and jumping from big ride to big ride that the pathways and general guest areas will be lacking life and excitement.

I flew home yesterday, so my apologies for the delay in responses.

Ministry is more like FJ in narrative flow than Gringott's. It's pretty much non-stop action from the go. The blend of projections (including Pepper Ghost's style ones) and animatronics is impressive. We all were stunned to see animatronics of Imelda Staunton, Rupert Grint, and Daniel Radcliffe in the ride. And they all looked very convincing, too.

Everything in the park seems enjoyable without advance knowledge of the IPs, but obviously that knowledge amplifies your enjoyment. The trickiest one to go in cold might be the Ministry ride, because without knowledge of Potter, you are going to feel very confused as to why all the Potter fans around you are absolutely losing their sh-t.

There is no theming on Stardust - just well decorated trains, with flux capacitors on the back, though Universal makes no effort to explain them. Make up your own story there.

Fyre Drill is very aggressively decorated. I did not have time to go on it, but you can see bits of it in my Berk walkaround video.

And Epic is absolutely should be a one-day park unless they oversell it to an insane level that might not be possible in what appears to be a crashing economy. I do wish, however, that the park would stay open deep into the evening, as the park looks amazing at night and it should be much more comfortable without the sun. That said, ops needs to get better on Werewolf and Universal Creative needs to work out the timing reliability for Ministry to ensure that the park has the hourly capacity to keep wait times from getting crazy.

I did not go on Sky Fly. That one holds zero appeal for me.

Also, as an aside, I would hope anyone following TPI would have the willpower to scroll past any video depicting on-ride footage from Epic Universe attractions. Folks who are using clever technology (Meta glasses and the like) or deliberately whipping out cameras on-ride should not be rewarded with clicks or any attention for their deliberate rule breaking. If Universal wants to put POVs out there, they will either do it themselves or set up events to specifically allow on-ride filming. Until then, watching any on-ride videos is supporting these unscrupulous "content creators" that have no limits on the lengths they will go to lure eyeballs to their channels - it's as bad (or probably even worse) than the sites who use AI to create clickbait articles.

Hi Robert,

Thanks so much for your post and for your walkaround videos - they are super helpful! I am a musicologist and researcher in the UK, and I'm actually giving a paper at a conference in June on music and sound in Epic Universe, specifically in the Wizarding World area (at this for anyone who might be interested! https://themeparkmusicandsound.org/). Your videos are helpful in that there is no-one talking over the top - but I wondered if you had any further recollections or reflections on the uses of music and sound in the Ministry area/queue, on the ride, or elsewhere in the park? Thank you!

There's a good discussion of UEU music going on in the "Music helps make the magic in Universal Epic Universe" post on the front page now.

When I worked at WDW, I inadvertently trained myself to ignore BGM in theme parks. It helped me focus on what I needed to do while working, so I now have to consciously remind myself to pay attention to BGM in the parks if I am going to write about that. However, BGM was low on my reporting to-do list for our short day at Epic on Saturday, so I regret not being able to add any more thoughts on that.

Now since you were invited as a Media member - did you have to Pay for entry to the park - foods, ect?
Thx.

I paid for my flight to Orlando. All admission to Epic is complementary at this point since it’s only invited guests. As I noted, there was one free media buffet lunch, and restaurants were selling food at Team Member discounts, but I did not have time to order anything.

does MoM have bigger sets or smaller more close up sets

Both.

@Robert - You had mentioned that you had a chance to see the Untamable Dragon show and a few other entertainment offerings (character meets, streetmosphere, and animatronics), but I did not see anything about Le Cirque Arcanus or any fountain or other shows in Celestial Park.

I've seen elsewhere that the MoM show is still a work in progress. Did you have a chance to see it?

Also, in Celestial Park, does the main fountain perform regular shows (every 15/30 minutes) or are they intermittent and/or random? Did Universal confirm that a nighttime show would occur in Celestial Park and did they mention any of the other rumored entertainment like the dragon drones or alternative nighttime entertainment?

I believe Robert said that his showing of cirque arcanus was cancelled for technical difficulties, I would've liked to hear about that. . .

Here's a question: how's the dragon animatronics/drones/puppetry? Realistic? Cartoony?

The Le Cirque show opened with a screen depicting two house elves. They started talking, but there was no audio. That's when Universal dropped the "curtain" over the screen and stopped the show. Two "we're working on it" spiels later, and we bailed to go ride Stardust, as the park was closing in an hour.

I saw the fountain show from a distance and... it was a fountain show? It was daytime, so no there was no lighting effects or pyro to complement the fountains. Not worth going out of your way for, whether scheduled or not.

I was told that there is an area lighting effect show at sunset, when the sun god statue in front of Helios Grand Hotel "shoots" an arrow toward the moon goddess statue in front of the Chronos. The shot is a transition of lights shining across Celestial Park. This sounds like Universal's one-up of the Cars Land lighting at DCA, but no one is gonna see it until the park stays open past sunset.

You can see one of the area dragon animatronics in my Isle of Berk walk-around video, near the end. It's quite engaging. The Haddock Paddock dragons are great, too. I saw one smaller dragon walking the area early in the day, but did not get that on video. I want to spend more time in Berk with the dragons in May. But yes, there are a bit cartoony, since HTTYD was a cartoon. But they are very faithful to that design style.

why are people confused by the story so much in monsters unchained? (you asked me to ask so im asking.)

Wait while watching the pov video I realized:

The two skyfly attractions are made to look like they're fighting. Dueling if you will.

They're the dueling dragons.

@Russell-

The main fountain constantly runs in a loop during regular park operation. Its not so much a show but more an addition that adds some kinetic energy to the area. I overheard a Guest when passing by that summed it up pretty well: "Oh, it's like the Bellagio fountain"

There is a musical interlude to the fountains' normal operation, with enhanced movement to that musical accompaniment. But I do not know how often that happens. It reminds me of the fountains at The Grove and The Americana in LA, just on a larger scale.

And I love the Dueling Dragons catch on the SkyFly, BTW. Well done. Still not getting me on those, however.

rob don't mean to be rude but you didn't answer my question