Prior to our June 2026 trip, we had never really considered visiting Universal Orlando for a full-length trip, instead always opting for Disney World or other vacation options. But after having essentially lived in Epic Universe for a couple of days, we are left with no choice but to add Universal Studios to our vacation rotation. Now ranked firmly in our top 3 Orlando parks, Epic Universe truly puts the “theme” in theme park, with impeccable, next-level theming and detail that has now set the standard for amusement parks going forward.

Every inch of this park felt lovingly and purposefully crafted, with endless treats embedded for guests to enjoy: from the shimmering Mario coin fountain, to the Easter eggs of Pikmin hidden throughout Nintendo World, to a sleepy fire-breathing animatronic Grump in Isle of Berk, Mr. Invisible lurking in the shadows at Dark Universe, and Fantastic Beasts in a Harry Potter–themed Paris — there’s no shortage of tricks and treats. Epic Universe masters the art of transporting park-goers into each universe. Once you enter each “portal,” you are immediately immersed into that world, and the rest of the park temporarily fades away while you soak up everything that particular world has to offer.

Epic Universe helped us remember that while rides will always be the main attraction, they are only one piece of the amusement park puzzle. Theming, quality of animatronics, details, layout, sight lines, food, and more all play crucial roles in the overall experience. We genuinely enjoyed just chilling and immersing ourselves in the park at least as much, if not more so, than the rides — and that is an amazing achievement.

The layout of Epic Universe is brilliant, with Celestial Park serving as a home base of sorts. Centered directly in the middle of the park, with connections to every portal, astral-themed shops, restaurants, and pubs, an actual park to relax in surrounded by mini waterfalls, colorful fountains, and shining bronze statues of Greek gods, and one of the best roller coasters in all of Orlando, Celestial Park serves as its own world, separate and apart from the IP worlds throughout the park. It looks especially beautiful at night, with its fountains dancing in the luminescent light and neon lights shining brilliantly all around. There’s even a fireworks nightcap later in the evening which synchronizes the theme songs and colors of all the portals with rainbow-tinted jets of water.

There are little gems dotted throughout Celestial Park, like The Plastered Owl, with its fable-esque, enchanted-forest theming and its whimsical cocktails, to Pizza Moon, the best pizza you’ll ever have inside a theme park.

Pizza Moon deserves a special shout-out with its hilarious lunar pizza-themed decor and a variety of characters — like angels shaving Parmesan from the ceiling and pizza-adorned goddesses surrounded by toppings and tomato sauce. Their perfectly purple ube-crust white pie, complete with creamy sweet ricotta, Parmesan, caramelized garlic, and crispy pancetta, was a must-try, as was the margherita rendition with creamy fresh mozzarella and confit garlic.

Celestial Park is also home to impeccably themed restaurants, like The Blue Dragon, a neon-lit Japanese restaurant straight out of Cyberpunk 2077, serving up classic dim sum like soup dumplings and wontons in a spicy-sweet chili sauce. Don’t forget to sample the candy shops and stores, filled with galactic treats, then head over to your chosen portal.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

We began our journey with the third Harry Potter land, a brilliantly rendered Paris, home to the legendary and ultra-mysterious Ministry of Magic. Every inch of this world was teeming with magic and fantastic creatures, in every window display, storefront, shop, and restaurant. If you have a sweet tooth, stop by K. Rammels French Confectionery, bursting with neon colors, butterbeer caramels, chocolate frogs, and other delightful treats. Café L’air de la Sirène is a more traditional French restaurant, with unbelievably sweet yet immaculate butterbeer crepes, and a savory, rich and cheesy French onion soup. Le Goblet Noir feels like taking a portal back through Diagon Alley, as the concrete walls and darkly lit space create a gloomier atmosphere, with cauldrons and broomsticks enhancing the spooky vibe. Grab a bright green–tinted absinthe concoction at Bar Moonshine, an American-themed sports bar, then head to the wand boutique with park-exclusive themed wands.

Don’t miss the stores with an array of Nifflers swiping trinkets and coins. Almost every storefront has a magical effect that you can unlock with a flick of your wand and a specified spell — from cauldrons bubbling over with boiling water, to creatures hidden away in fountains and invisible closets, to chandelier-laden Nifflers shaken free of their loot.

However, the pièce de résistance — and the main attraction of this land — is the Ministry of Magic itself. A blast of green Floo powder permits entry into the Ministry, an idyllic, perfect replica that looks like they transported the actual set from the Harry Potter movies to Orlando. The queue is both beautiful and massive, similar in size and scale to Rise of the Resistance over at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios. Portraits of the Longbottom family and Mad-Eye Moody verbally spar at each other as you wait, and Professor Umbridge’s elf, Higgledy, keeps you company as you pass through her chaotic office. The ride itself feels enormous; each room cleverly executes the illusion that there are endless depths to the floor and ceiling, as your elevator takes a trip through space and time and the many secrets of the Ministry. The ride is strewn with the best animatronics you’ll ever see, and it really is epic, for lack of a better word. P.S. The magic show was closed while we were there — the only real bummer of our trip — but we hear it’s fantastic.

How to Train Your Dragon‘s Isle Of Berk

Isle of Berk may have been the most immersive of the four portals; it’s also the biggest, with a ton to explore. The centerpiece is a giant crystal-blue lake with massive Norse statues rising up to the sky. The Mead Hall feels like walking into an exact replica of the animated version, with giant ceilings, long wooden tables, dragon murals, real-life Vikings, and of course ample servings of mead. There are seemingly endless hidden details: from a bench carved into the likeness of Toothless and Hiccup, to a fully functional animatronic Toothless that smiles at you as you pet him, to a dry-ice-breathing dragon, dragons popping out of barrels, dragon-shaped treats and merch, dragon tails slipping out of dragon cages, Astrid strutting around, baby Toothless pups resting in hammocks, and much, much more.

Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, a less intense roller coaster that mimics the feeling of gliding low to the ground, is a great ride for all ages, as you float over clear waters and through exploding dinosaur eggs. The other two rides are very limited — fun but flawed. Dragon Racer’s Rally allows riders to soar above the park, but it’s only about 30 seconds long, and Fyre Drill is a nice water blaster, but the blaster hardly had enough pressure to impact the course targets. One of the stars of the show, literally, is the Untrainable Dragon show at the back of the park. A huge amphitheater reminiscent of a Broadway show houses a huge purple-hued “untrainable” dragon who yearns for her newborn; great choreography and a surprise flight over the crowd from Toothless himself make this a can’t-miss show. Make sure to go back at dusk for some incredible photos and to see the dragons in a whole new light.

Super Mario’s Nintendo World

Nintendo World was a massive sensory overload in the best possible way. You literally take a green pipe into the land, and you feel as if you’ve been dropped directly into a Mario platformer or fallen through a painting in Super Mario 64. Every inch of this world screams Nintendo: spinning gold coins, power-up boxes for punching, exploding Bob-ombs, sharp-toothed Piranha Plants, barking Chain Chomps, Koopas, jumping Yoshis, Shy Guys, green and red shells, a plethora of bananas, crushing Thwomps, and so many more Easter eggs from the lore of the gaming powerhouse. Stroll through a replica of Peach’s Castle, then jaunt over to Donkey Kong Country. Indulge in the addictive drumbeat of Donkey Kong tunes, sip a DK float in a collectible barrel mug, bang on some bongos, and get jump-scared by a cartoon rhino.

Beeline to Mine-Cart Madness, a fantastically themed roller coaster in the heart of this section of the park. The queue leaves something to be desired beyond an animatronic Cranky Kong, but the coaster itself is thrilling, maintaining the unique illusion that your cart is jumping over gaps in the track.

Grab lunch at the impeccably themed Toadstool Café, where there’s no shortage of mushroomy things. You dine in a literal giant mushroom while Chef Toad and his sous-toads whip up creamy mushroom soup, mushroom-shaped breadsticks, a mushroom-cap bread bowl over a creamy Italian dish, and a question-mark-box tiramisu for dessert.

After lunch, walk right upstairs to the other full-length ride in Nintendo World: Mario Kart. The queue takes riders through Bowser’s Castle, and the wait is as much the highlight here as the ride, if not more so. For Mario Kart fans who grew up with the franchise, there’s an endless bounty of riches as you wait, from Boos flickering on and off screen, to Bowser’s throne, to Bob-ombs and Bullet Bills being crafted deep in the factory, to real-life replicas of the Mario Kart cups. The ride itself is fairly mediocre. The AR glasses are a lot, with characters and shells darting everywhere in your periphery, but the set pieces were very well done, taking riders through desert sands, underwater, and through the fires of Bowser’s Castle. Make sure to come back to Nintendo World at night to see its bells and whistles in all their neon glory. The nighttime experience is best described as a ’90s trip through an arcade wonderland.

Epic’s Dark Universe

Unfortunately, the most underwhelming portal was Dark Universe. It simply isn’t big enough, the werewolf roller coaster is a total throwaway that belongs at Adventureland in Farmingdale, NY, there isn’t enough to do yet, and it has a very strange vibe in bright daylight. But there’s still some epicness hidden in this perhaps misunderstood slice of the universe. It looks and feels absolutely fantastic at night, when an eerie spookiness falls over the land like a blanket, the graveyard is dimly lit by the moon, and the monsters come out to play.

Das Steakhouse is themed to perfection. Diners are transported into the gloomy dungeons of Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, complete with red lighting, blood-red (and tangy) teriyaki chicken wings, and life-size vampires lining the walls. The steak tenderloin was overcooked so badly they killed the cow twice, but the steak sauce and chimichurri managed to hide this monstrosity. The Burning Blade Tavern, with a literal burning blade atop its hall, is a delightful hidden gem, serving beaker shots, test-tube drinks, and dark-themed snacks like charcoal-black pimento cheddar bites.

The pinnacle of Dark Universe, though, is the full-scale Frankenstein Manor, home of the Monsters Unchained ride. If you have Express Pass, wait in the regular line at least once so you can experience the Manor in all its glory. Every inch of this monstrous mansion is filled with spooky artifacts, scientific experiments, and monster Easter eggs. Full-size, unbelievably realistic animatronics greet you while you wait, like the big man himself, Frankenstein’s monster, and Victoria Frankenstein, descendant of the good doctor. The ride itself feels massive as riders plunge into the seemingly endless underground catacombs, and from there the chase is on. A robotic arm lifts, drops, and spins riders through the haunted grounds, where you encounter near-perfect versions of Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and even more surprises. We don’t know what’s in store for this land (our suggestion: move the whole section indoors with artificial darkness, like Knockturn Alley over at Universal Studios Florida), but the spooky snacks, drinks, and delightfully horrific Monsters Unchained ride make it worth a visit.

Even in its infancy, Epic Universe was absolutely epic, and it will almost certainly get even more epic, with inevitable massive franchise expansions and new portals for us to enjoy. For now, it’s squarely in our top 3 Orlando theme parks, and a new addition to our rolodex of repeat vacation destinations.