Epic Universe is the newest theme park at Universal Orlando. The park opened in 2025 and features 5 lands (or worlds, in Epic Universe’s lingo) – Celestial Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. We typically stick to Disney theme parks in our attraction rankings but, after getting to experience the new theme park, it’s time to branch out. In this post, we’ll rank all of the rides at Epic Universe from worst to first!

Epic Universe hasn’t changed much since opening. An expansion being announced soon is likely but going to this park in the next few years means that you’ll likely experience it the way it opened. Thankfully, some of the attractions have become more dependable. There’s also a new fireworks show!

As for this post, we’ll stick to our usual attraction ranking rules:

• No Meet & Greets. These are impossible to rank as each experience is unique. If you want to know which character meet & greets I do like, they usually involve bears. That isn’t applicable at Epic Universe.
• No Live Shows. Nighttime shows are almost always better than rides, in my eyes, so it’s not a great comparison. Epic Universe has several big stage shows that are impressive and don’t fit the profile of a typical ride.
• No playgrounds or splash pads. This one’s for my own sake. The playground in Isle of Berk looks very cool but I don’t have kids and didn’t think it was advisable to crawl around in there with other people’s kids. Since I didn’t experience it, I won’t rank it.
• These are all my opinion. This list is completely subjective. I can’t account for other people’s memories in these rankings. With the park being new, there’s less built in nostalgia but ride experiences are built on who we ride with. You’ll likely disagree with these rankings even though I’m right 😉 Please let me know what you disagree with in the comments.

Not to step on our review of the park but Epic Universe opens with a strong attraction roster. There are 11 rides that I’m ranking in this post, which is a very respectable number for a park that’s less than a year old. Yes, capacity is still an issue but that should be addressed as the park expands. All 11 rides have something interesting about them and there’s not a straight up bad one out of the bunch. Let’s get to the rankings!

11. Fyre Drill

Fyre Drill is a water ride in the Isle of Berk where guests board small ships, shoot at targets with built in water cannons and then get absolutely soaked. As I mentioned, I don’t see any surefire last place attraction at Epic Universe and portions of Fyre Drill look really cool, better than other entries on this list. But the on-ride experience is a bit of a letdown. Maybe I shouldn’t admit to this but I wasn’t sure of what the targets did when we hit them. You do get soaked! That’s not bad on a hot day but we don’t advise going on this unless you’re already warm or you just really like having damp clothing on. This water gun fight cosplaying as a theme park attraction is still fun though.

10. Dragon Racer’s Rally

Another Isle of Berk attraction that maybe doesn’t work exactly how it’s devised. Guests board the vehicle which is supposed to be a training device for future dragon riders. Once you’re up and flying, the vehicles are meant to be able to barrel roll and perform acrobatic feats. Unfortunately, most guests have a difficult time making the ride flip around. My brother-in-law was attempting it the entire ride and only did a full flip twice. On the other hand, I was not interested in barrel rolling and instead just enjoyed the view offered by the high flying ride. This is a dressed up amusement park ride but it’s pleasant, with a quirk, and I really enjoyed watching people attempt to flip around.

9. Yoshi’s Adventure

This kiddie attraction in Super Nintendo World is cute and looks better than I thought it would. Guests ride on the back of Yoshi and then see a bunch of Yoshis throughout the ride. There are a few other characters to enjoy, including Baby Mario. The highlight of the ride is coming back outside, after an indoor portion of the attraction, and seeing all of Super Nintendo World below. This is a solid depth ride for Epic Universe, it won’t be a highlight for many but it’s a good attraction that will eventually have a lower wait time.

8. Curse of the Werewolf

This coaster in Dark Universe is under themed, without much in the way of details once actually on the ride. It’s really fun though! The vehicle does some spinning and moves fast enough to keep things interesting. I would have liked to see some more references to the Wolf Man and the portion where guests go through the shed goes so fast that it’s hard to see anything. Still, this is a decent ride!

7. Constellation Carousel

If we’re grouping attractions, 7-11 all belong together. Calling Constellation Carousel ‘the best of the bottom’ feels disrespectful because it’s an excellent ride. Again, there aren’t any bad rides here. If you ride this attraction during the day then it’s probably last place on the list. But at night, the ceiling lights up and the ride is quite beautiful. This is one of the best theme park carousels I’ve ever been on and is a nice embodiment of what Celestial Park hopes, and tries, to be.

6. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders

If attractions 7-11 (this is just me trying to convince you to get a Big Gulp) are all close together in our rankings then 4-6 are neck and neck. For now, I have this Isle of Berk family coaster in 6th place. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is a fantastic family coaster though, racing riders throughout the picturesque land while the triumphant score plays. The ride is extremely smooth and one of the best family thrill rides in all of Orlando.

5. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge is divisive. I have plenty of complaints with the ride, wishing that it moved faster and felt a little more seamless. That said, it continues to grow on me the more I ride it. The competition of collecting the coins within the car feel like an extension of those nights at home playing Mario Kart. I also find myself being won over by the technology used. The complaints are valid but perhaps overstated when it comes to Bowser’s Challenge, this is a wonderfully unique attraction.

4. Mine-Cart Madness

Like Mario Kart, I have fond memories of playing the Mine-Cart Donkey Kong level growing up. Recreating it as a theme park attraction was a no-brainer. Like the Mario Kart ride, this attraction also has some flaws. The hidden track ride system is less hidden than I’d like it to be and the dark ride moments aren’t memorable. But the highs are high here, as jumping over the broken track or skimming across the water is a joy. Mine-Cart Madness is ambitious and shoots to be higher than 4th place on this list but the ride isn’t fully realized.

3. Stardust Racers

I’m terrified of huge roller coasters. The day before we went to Epic Universe, I rode Velocicoaster for the first time. It might have been the last time. Stardust Racers is less intense than that and more enjoyable, for me at least. The dual launch coaster, sends off vehicles at the same time and they race around the elaborate track. If there’s a nit to pick with Stardust Racers it’s that the scenery from the coaster (yes, I had my eyes open for some of it!) is nothing to write home about. But the track is extremely exciting and the speed is unmatched by most roller coasters. It’s the clearest ride to rank on this list, easily above the 4th place finisher but being a step below the top 2.

2. Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment

As far as actual on ride experiences, this is probably my favorite attraction in the park. The ride system is essentially the same as Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Where The Frankenstein Experiment sets itself apart is with the animatronics! This ride is less reliant on screens, instead we see a gigantic Frankenstein, Dracula and more. For those worried about this being too scary, I wouldn’t. While some animatronics get close, we were never spooked. This is more focused on being an excellent theme park attraction than it is in trying to jump out and scare you. Monsters Unchained also has an excellent queue, one that makes a long wait feel relatively quick.

1. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

The scale of Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is jaw-dropping all the way through, to the point where no other ride in Epic Universe can really compete with it. That starts in the queue when guests go from the Metro Floo in Paris to the British Ministry of Magic. Walking into the atrium is one of the best moments in any theme park, full stop.

The actual ride is no slouch either. I don’t want to spoil anything but the system is innovative, the storytelling is clear (even as I have next to no knowledge on the subject) and the first moment where you see a Death Eater is astonishing. There may be a few too many screens but that complaint pales in comparison to what guests actually experience. I was blown away by the top 2 rides, but I have to rank Battle at the Ministry first simply because of that gigantic scale.

Overall, Epic Universe has my favorite attraction roster of any stateside Universal park. That’s 7 months after opening! I expect that roster to keep growing over the years and look forward to going back and enjoying these rides over and over again.

What do you think of the attractions at Epic Universe? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below. Looking for discounted tickets to Universal Orlando? Check out this site! Here are all of our travel guides to Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney Resort. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!