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Universal Orlando Resort is just three months away from opening a new theme park, Epic Universe. The park spans five separate lands across Universal-owned media, including the Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, Dark Universe and Celestial Park.
Opening in May, Epic Universe will be Universal Orlando’s fourth theme park, after Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure and water park Volcano Bay. The resort hopes to woo visitors into staying longer and becoming “a weeklong vacation destination.” Part of the expansion includes three new hotels: Universal Helios Grand Hotel, Universal Stella Nova Resort and Universal Terra Luna Resort, bringing its total to 11 hotels.
Due to its location, Universal competes with the nearby Walt Disney World, which is already a weeklong vacation spot with its six theme parks — Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, along with water parks Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon — and more than 20 Disney hotels.
Here’s everything you need to know about Epic Universe, including ticket prices, new rides and restaurants and opening dates.
When does Universal Orlando Epic Universe open?
The doors to Epic Universe open on May 22, 2025. Tickets are on sale already, but for now, you can only visit the new theme park as part of a three-, four- or five-day park ticket.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic land
Concept art of the atrium in the Battle at the Ministry ride.
This is the third Harry Potter location at Universal Orlando, after the Diagon Alley area in Universal Studios Florida and the Hogwarts/Hogsmeade area in Islands of Adventure. It’ll span both the Fantastic Beasts movies and the original Harry Potter series.
“Encounter fantastic beasts as you explore wizarding Paris in the 1920s, then take the Métro-Floo to the British Ministry in the 1990s for new thrills with Harry, Ron and Hermione,” the official description reads.
The main attraction will be the Battle at the Ministry ride, where you’ll help the trio fight Dolores Umbridge. From the concept art, it looks similar to the mechanics of the Hogwarts ride, except you’ll be in an elevator compartment at the Ministry of Magic.
There’s also Le Cirque Arcanus, which Universal says is a live show with performers, puppets and special effects, and is set in the Fantastic Beasts universe.
There’ll be plenty to explore in this new area, including a new wand store, called Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magique, more interactive wand locations and a French restaurant called Café L’air De La Sirène. It won’t be connected to the Hogwarts Express train ride that connects the other two Harry Potter lands in Orlando, however, due to the park’s distance from Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.
The third Super Nintendo World
Concept art of the Donkey Kong-themed roller coaster Mine Cart Madness.
Universal Orlando is finally joining Universal Studios Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood in opening a Mario-themed land. Much like in the Japan and Hollywood parks, the marquee ride is Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, where you hop inside a kart, collect coins and throw shells to try to win the cup.
There’s also Mine Cart Madness, a Donkey Kong-themed roller coaster, and Yoshi’s Adventure, where you board a Yoshi and go egg-spotting through the Mushroom Kingdom.
There’ll be meet and greets with Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad, and the Toadstool Cafe for your dining needs.
Buy a Power-Up Band and you’ll be able to collect coins throughout the land and rides on the wearable wristband. It works throughout all three Super Nintendo World locations.
How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk land
Concept art of Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, a new roller coaster.
How to Train Your Dragon is finally getting some space in a Universal theme park, 15 years after the original movie (which still has 99% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes) was released in 2010.
The much-loved DreamWorks movie, which featured Hiccup the teenage Viking and his quest to befriend rather than kill a dragon he names Toothless, spawned two sequels (both with over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes), as well as 10 seasons of two separate animated series and a live-action version of the first movie, which releases in 2025.
Now, you’ll be able to visit Berk (Florida’s version). It won’t be as cold, but it will be filled with Viking characters walking around the land and dragons flying over the colorful wooden buildings.
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is the main attraction, a roller coaster that simulates the experience of riding on a dragon. A second ride, Dragon Racer’s Rally, will see each rider strapped into an individual dragon-shaped seat attached to a pendulum arm, flipping upside down as the arm swings up and around.
There’s also a water ride called Fyre Drill, where you’ll board a Viking longboat and shoot water cannons at the dragon targets and other boats you sail past, while you in turn get soaked.
For the younger visitors, Viking Training Camp is an adventure playground where they can climb, run, slide and play with interactive elements.
Rounding out the land is a live show starring Hiccup, Toothless, Astrid and Gobber, and Mead Hall, a dining option serving Scandinavian offerings like fish, meat, ale and mead. An Orlando publication this week showed off the first video footage of a what looks to be a dragon animatronic, glimpsed from its chopper flying over the new park.
Dark Universe: land of monsters
Concept art showing the entrance to Darkmoor Village, inside Dark Universe.
This sinister-sounding land is dedicated to all the classic Universal monsters out there, with villains from Frankenstein’s monster to Dracula, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and the Creature from the Black Lagoon roaming Darkmoor Village.
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment is a ride inside a spooky Victorian manor, where you need to escape the experiments of Dr. Victoria Frankenstein. A second ride, Curse of the Werewolf, looks to be a coaster that soars through the forest as you escape a pack of werewolves.
You can also experience the wonders of theatrical makeup and be transformed into a werewolf, vampire or mummy with the Monster Makeup Experience.
There are also two dining locations in Dark Universe:
Celestial Park, a land for stargazers
Stardust Racers is a new roller coaster in Celestial Park.
Celestial Park is themed as a cosmic getaway, where you can ride a rocket at speeds of up to 62mph on the dual-launch roller coaster Stardust Racers — or if something slower-paced is more your thing, you can ride the Constellation Carousel.
There are also two restaurants — Atlantic and The Blue Dragon Pan-Asian Restaurant — as well as a shopping location called the Nintendo Super Star Store.
How much do Epic Universe tickets cost?
The entrance to Universal Epic Universe.
Ticket pricing depends on how many days you want to spend at Universal Studios Florida, as well as which parks you want to go to, and whether you want to visit more than one park each day. Here are the options and starting prices. Keep in mind that pricing will change depending on what day of the week and time of year you visit, too.
For now, you can only purchase multi-day park tickets to visit Epic Universe. In future, Universal will allow you to buy a single-day ticket only to visit the new park, but that option is not yet available.
3-day tickets:
- 3 day, 4-park hopper: $452/adult, $442/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other two days you can hop between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay).
- 3-day, 3-park hopper: $412/adult, $402/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other two days you can hop between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).
- 3-day, 3 parks, one park per day: $352/adult, $342/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, one day at Universal Studios and one day at Islands of Adventure).
4-day tickets:
- 4-day, 4-park hopper: $486/adult, $476/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other three days you can hop between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay).
- 4-day, 3-park hopper: $436/adult, $426/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other two days you can hop between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).
- 4-day, 4 parks, one park per day: $421/adult, $411/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, one day at Universal Studios, one day at Islands of Adventure and one day at Volcano Bay).
- 4-day, 3 parks, one park per day: $371/adult, $361/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, one day at Universal Studios and one day at Islands of Adventure).
5-day tickets:
- 5-day, 4-park hopper: $522/adult, $512/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other four days you can hop between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay).
- 5-day, 3-park hopper: $462/adult, $452/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, while on the other four days you can hop between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure).
- 5-day, 4 parks, one park per day: $452/adult, $442/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, and then choose between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay for your other one-day tickets).
- 5-day, 3 parks, one park per day: $392/adult, $382/child (note: you can only spend one day inside Epic Universe, and then choose between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for your other one-day tickets).
