Universal’s brand new theme park, Epic Universe is now open in Orlando! The highly anticipated theme park opened in May 2025 and boy does it live up to the hype! The Orlando Resorts Rental team has been lucky enough to visit Universal’s Epic Universe twice now. We’ve had the best time exploring the themed portals, sampling the food, and of course… riding everything we possibly could. (Okay, everything except Donkey Kong’s Minecart Madness—but it’s at the top of our list for next time!)
Since we’ve now had the chance to experience pretty much every ride in the park, we thought it would be fun to rank them. Whether you’re into thrills, immersive stories, or just something light and fun, here’s our honest take on what to ride at Epic Universe.
1. Stardust Racers
This is hands-down our favorite ride in the park! It’s a dueling roller coaster, and both coasters launch at the same time and race against one another. It’s super fast, super thrilling, and even better at night when all the lights and sounds come to life.
2. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
This one totally surprised us as a favorite! Cool animatronics and lots of twists and turns in the ride vehicle. It also tells an original story with new characters, while also featuring the classic monsters that you know and (maybe) love!
3. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ve probably always dreamed of traveling by Floo Powder, and now is your chance! Travel with Harry, Ron and Hermione into the Ministry of Magic to stop Dolores Umbridge – that’s the only spoiler we’ll provide! Even if you can’t get to this ride on your Epic Universe day, the queue is an absolute must. As avid Harry Potter fans, it blew us away!
4. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
This coaster located in the Isle of Berk is a sleeper hit! It has a double launch that gives it some extra thrill, and the theming is really well done. It also travels through the land itself for some cool views of Berk!
5. Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge
If you or your family loves Mario Kart, this one’s for you. It’s interactive, competitive, and chaotic in the best way. Pros- you can use your Power-Up Band to track your points! Cons – we found the VR glasses to detract a bit from the scenes overall.
6. Curse of the Werewolf
We went into this Darkmoor coaster with no expectations, so it surprised us when the cars started to spin! Some cars seem to spin more than others so it’s been knocked down in the ranking, but it was a fun surprise. It’s also a bit short, but the second launch is a nice bonus.
7. Dragon Racers Rally
The concept for this one is really unique and cool, but it’s kind of tricky to figure out how to control the ride vehicle. Points for being a cool concept and if it was longer, it would rank higher!
8. Fyre Drill
The only water ride in the park! We loved that you get to see more characters from the How to Train Your Dragon world, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and you get to “compete” with the other side of the boat while shooting targets. Cons- it doesn’t seem to track your score very well, so the game part felt a little off.
9. Constellation Carousel
We almost skipped this one because it looked like a regular carousel—but we’re glad we didn’t! It actually moves in all directions—up, down, spinning, even backward and has different soundtracks. Ranks low as it’s ultimately a carousel, but we recommend riding this at night time to cap off your Epic day!
10. Yoshi’s Adventure
This one’s cute, super colorful, and you get a nice view of Super Nintendo World, but the ride itself is really slow and not very exciting. There’s a lot of outdoor space with no shade, so if it breaks down (like it did for us), you’re just stuck in the Florida sun. If it has a long wait, we’d say it’s a skip.
Next on our list to try? Donkey Kong’s Mine-Cart Madness! Unfortunately, the ride was down during most of our two trips to Epic Universe (due to weather or technical difficulties during our Annual Passholder preview), so we didn’t get a chance to ride it. We’ve heard great things, and think it will rank in our top 5 when we get a chance to ride it!
Epic Universe is located just across the street from Vista Cay! We hope you get a chance to visit the park during your next stay with us! Book your stay with us HERE and learn more about Epic Universe, Universal, and other Orlando theme parks HERE!
