Epic Universe
What to bring:
Handheld Fan: The handheld fan I brought saved me many times throughout the day. Bring one over everything else listed below if the heat gets to you.
Charging Sticks—Bring an extra battery for your phone. Between capturing videos and photos and using the Universal app to check wait times and place mobile orders, even the newest phone with the best battery life will drain. After putting my battery on the low battery setting, I left the park with about 27% battery. Other people in my party had their phones die, so if you want to be safe, bring a fully charged stick.
Sunscreen—While the queues for many rides are partially or even fully inside or shaded, the park itself is not, so a full day of walking around could leave you burnt or redder than you want. Bring a small tube to lather on throughout the day.
Small Umbrella—A small umbrella is beneficial for shade, if you get caught in a line in direct sun, or if it starts to rain.
Headphones/AirPods - If you are easily overstimulated, you might want to pack some headphones. Some areas of the park are chill and some are loud and so much is happening. Headphones regularly save my life.
Tips:
Buy a reusable cup that you can utilize at all Freestyle Coke machines. Considering how much single drinks are, having a vessel you can refill all day makes sense. You can buy a generic Universal cup or a themed cup. I purchased the Toad reusable cup at Nintendo World and used it all day. However, you can’t fill-chug-refill. While there aren't technically limits on refills, the chip on the cup detects each fill, so if you try to chug and refill immediately, it will tell you that you have to wait for your next refill. The only wait length I saw specified was eight minutes.
Do your best to stay in the moment and not be on your devices the whole time. I can’t tell you how many times I was walking, taking it all in, and saw crowds in front of me walking in my direction, every last of them walking with their phones up, recording. Absolutely take pictures and video, but simultaneously, you might miss some minor but beautiful details or amazing artwork within the park if you are concerned with capturing the big moments you want to share on social media.
Having the Universal app on your phone, linked with your credit card, is a must. Make sure this is all done before you go.
Lockers are free and easy to use. Don’t worry about where they are, they will be in each queue for the rides where they are necessary. They are also big. Our party of four fit all of our stuff in one locker.
Pros/Cons:
Pro - The park is not big, and it’s not one large loop like Islands of Adventure. If you are in one portal and see the wait time for a ride in another portal has gone down, you can easily make your way to another portal without walking the entire park.
Con—The whole park is on the Universal app, so when we noticed the wait time for Stardust Racers was low, we headed over there. We were met with throngs of people RUNNING to get in the line, which just made the wait time go back up. We left immediately and went elsewhere. Also, because this is America, yes, you will see grown adults running to get in a line at a theme park.
Pro - The food was good. That being said, I researched and questioned my food-loving, well-traveled friends who went before me, and I was extremely picky about what we ordered.
Con - The food adds up. We spent $76 on smaller bites and drinks around the park, and then our sit-down dinner (for four) was $160 before tip.
Pro - There are many places to sit. As someone who has a diagnosis within the POTS family, having a place to sit if I have a lapse quickly is so important. I found that the entire park had seating scattered everywhere, whether benches, ledges, or regular seating.
Con - If you have accessibility needs, I’m not sure how kind this park will be to you. Stairs are a part of almost every queue, and many of the paths are extremely narrow. Hopefully, they take good care of those with accessibility needs because I can see issues if they aren’t proactive and helpful.
Super Nintendo World
Brief Overview
I decided to buy the preview ticket because of the Super Nintendo World portal. Nintendo was my childhood, and I still play video games, almost exclusively Nintendo Switch games. We also collect retro games and consoles, so walking into an immersive world of video games is a dream. The first glimpse walking from the warp zone tunnel escalator, through Peach’s castle, into the park was an amazing, teary-eyed moment.
What we didn’t ride: Mario Kart is the only ride we didn’t enjoy in this portal. It was delayed in the morning hours, leading to the wait times never coming down throughout the day. Friends I was with said it wasn’t worth a 90-120 minute wait time, so I trusted their knowledge (even mentioning it gave them headaches). Hopefully next visit I will get a chance to ride it.
Stairs: It’s true, there are several stairs in this portal, but if you plan how you walk through it, you shouldn’t have to keep going up and down; alternatively, there are elevators.
Overstimulation: This is without a doubt the noisiest portal, so if you are adversely affected by overstimulation, be aware that, because of all the coin blocks and interactive elements around the portal, there is non-stop sound in the background that, after a while, can make you long for a break.
What we rode:
Mine Cart Madness
How long we waited - A full hour
This was the longest line we waited in all day. The queue starts outdoors with awnings, leading you into a fully covered line. As we waited in line, it started raining, and they did not delay the ride, so while there are rumors that rides shut down at the sight of rain, I guess that isn’t true. There wasn’t lightning, just rain, so maybe that is why. This ride is a lot of fun, as the track is designed to look broken, and you aren’t sure what curves or dips lie ahead. It is, as many people have stated a short ride, but worth it in my opinon. There has also been talk that if you have neck issues, you shouldn’t ride it. I didn’t find it to hurt or be overly jerky, as someone with both.
Yoshi’s Adventure
How long we waited: Thirty minutes
Is this a kiddie ride? Sure, but as a Yoshi enthusiast, I didn’t care. I love Yoshi, I play all the Yoshi games like Yoshi’s Woolly World, Yoshi’s Crafted World, Yoshi’s New Island, etc., so I didn’t care about it being slow and uneventful. It’s true that if you aren’t into it, it’s not worth waiting in a long line, but at this point of the day, nothing had a short wait, so we went ahead and entered the queue and waited longer than most people would have. If you love Yoshi, do it, but try to get on when the wait is as low as possible.
This queue goes outside if the line is longer, but it is covered.
Isle of Berk
Brief Overview
This portal is beautiful, but you need to watch at least the first How to Train Your Dragon movie to fully appreciate it.
What we didn’t ride: We didn’t ride Dragon Racer’s Rally or Fyre Drill. I didn’t want to get wet, and friends in our party told us Dragon’s Racer Rally wasn’t worth it, even if there was no wait. We also did not wait to meet Toothless as the line was very long and in direct sunlight.
Stairs: We only encountered stairs in the queue for Hiccup’s Wing Glider.
Overstimulation: This portal is pretty chill. If you need a moment, head to the water and sit and relax. There are a lot of cute animatronics and details in this park. Finding the different dragons and even sheep. Not to mention the beautiful hand-carved benches and other pieces. A lot of care and detail went into this portal if you pay attention to your surroundings.
What we rode:
Hiccup’s Wing Glider
How long we waited: 20 minutes
This is a fun ride on an easy coaster that doesn’t loop you or turn you upside down. The queue is mostly outside but partially shaded.
What we ate:
Hooligan's Grog & Gruel - PB&J - Pork, Bacon, and Jam . This well-portioned “snack” is filled with creamy mac & cheese with BBQ harissa pulled pork, peanut bacon jam, and parsley and served in a crunchy cone. My husband and I split this as a snack and thought it was a solid item for the price. The mac and cheese is really creamy, and the pulled pork was great, not overly sauced or salty. The only thing I would have liked is if the bread cone was served slightly softer for an easier bite, but it also needs to hold its contents without getting soggy (which it wasn’t), so I can see why it was heartier.
DARK UNIVERSE
Brief Overview
I had zero expectations for this portal, as I’m not into Monsters, and I wasn’t sure what they would do with this Classic Monster IP. After seeing the brilliant color and fantasy of Nintendo World, it’s a nice change of pace to enjoy an opposite ambiance in the Dark Universe. A little gothic and otherworldly, this portal is beautifully haunting.
What we didn’t ride: Curse of the Werewolf was closed.
Stairs: We only encountered stairs in the queue for Monsters Unchained.
Overstimulation: At least on my visit, this was a pretty quiet portal. It’s heavily character-driven, so if you are into that, you’ll see characters including Ygor, Frankenstein’s Monster and his Bride, The Invisible Man, among others, some of whom are playing instruments.
What we rode:
Monsters Unchained
Wait time: We barely waited in any line and we rode this twice.
The queue for this ride is fully air-conditioned and inside, giving you a nice break from the heat. Without giving away too much information, the ride has several classic monsters (Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon), and you sit in a four-seater capsule that will tilt you all around as you go through the ride. I didn’t get any motion sickness from this one, which surprised me.
What we ate:
Inside the Burning Blade Tavern, we grabbed a Hunter's Garlic Stake, a garlic pretzel. Seeing reviews talking about how garlicky it was concerned me since I can have a bit of an irritating reaction to too much garlic, but after the first bite, I realized either they changed the recipe or people don’t eat garlic much. It was only very light in garlic flavor. We also got the mocktail, The Monocane, served in a beaker that you can keep. This non-alcoholic drink is inspired by "The Invisible Man" and has a light tropical flavor. It’s just soda with some added citrus and fruit flavor.
Later in the day, we went back to Das Steakhouse just for dessert. We tried both the Labotocotta Greek yogurt vanilla panna cotta brain with raspberry sauce and the Red Velvet Death red velvet heart "beet" coffin cake with chocolate crumbs and puffed rice maggots. The cake was lovely and most, and the yogurt with the raspberry sauce was light and tangy. Both were great and shareable.
Harry Potter Ministry of Magic
I will be honest here, I’m not a Harry Potter fan, and truly had zero interest in this portal. We walked in just to see the recreation of Paris streets, but I think I spent a total of 10 minutes in here. I had planned originally to visit one of the restaurants to try the Quiche, but we just weren’t hungry enough to bother. With the main ride being completely closed until opening, unless you are a die-hard fan of Harry Potter, this portal isn’t going to keep you enthralled for very long.
We didn’t ride anything or eat anything.
Celestial Park
Brief Overview
I didn’t fully grasp what Celestial Park was until we arrived. I think what I like most about it is, as a local, if I got an annual pass I could enjoy a beautiful outdoor park to hang out and eat, drink, and be dazzled by evening light shows, enjoy live music, see different types of park performers and have a different kind of theme park experience. Seeing their investment in having several sit-down restaurants makes it feel like another City Walk, but calmer and prettier (and not free to enter), which is what, from a business standpoint, makes it a bit genius.
What we rode:
Stardust Racers
Wait time: 30 minutes
Truthfully, this ride messed me up. I usually have no problem with rollercoasters, I will ride them multiple times, and had planned to ride this one during the day and night when it’s lit up. However, I met my match. We did the yellow track, and it’s just so intense, with so many loops that it was really hard on my body. You honestly feel like you will fly out of your seat, and that lap bar isn’t keep you in it. It was amazing and thrilling, and I loved it, but I could barely walk or speak when I got off. Do with that what you will.
What we ate:
Blue Dragon Pan-Asian
We opted for the Blue Dragon over Pizza Moon for our sit-down dinner, mainly because I felt Pizza Moon is being overhyped. Most non-media people I’ve spoken to about their Pizza Moon experience have had varying things to say.
Blue Dragon Pan-Asian is a beautiful restaurant inside. There’s no denying the build-out and set-up, and I wish this restaurant wasn’t behind the paywall of a theme park. (But it's another reason to get an annual pass, I suppose.)
Our group ordered various dishes, including soup dumplings, smashed cucumbers, and snowflake potstickers. The food was better than many spots I’ve tried throughout Orlando, and the service was excellent, especially their attention to a food allergy in the group. I recently tried a newer dumpling spot in Orlando that left me underwhelmed, and this place was much better. I can’t speak to whether it’s better than the other sit-down restaurants in the park, but I loved it and would go again.
Star Sui Bao
One of the snack stands inside Celestial Park on my list was Star Sui Bao. I got the Kimchi Bao Buns and the Tteokbokki Skewer. Both were perfect, smaller snacks to share.
Overall, I enjoyed one full day at this park. I’ve always been partial to Universal over Disney, and this visit has made me seriously consider getting an annual pass again. I had them pre-COVID, but didn’t renew after that. This truly is a park that I think locals could enjoy at their leisure, with a pass and experience bits and pieces throughout the year without exhausting themselves and trying to cram it all into one day.
I’m not on Universal’s media list, and I didn’t get invited to the preview. I paid for everything and had a great time—also, a shout out to Captain Cacao, Universal’s new super cute creation.
