These are the best rides at Epic Universe at Universal Orlando based on my visit during the recent Epic Universe paid previews when I experienced almost all of them. The park has a diverse mix of attractions with different levels of thrill to appeal to all members of the family.

I have been to every domestic Disney and Universal theme park as well as many of the international resorts. I’ll try to bring in comparisons from these other resorts to inform this best rides rankings. At Mickey Visit, we work to bring you the latest Disney and Universal theme park news and reviews. I visited the park during the first paid Epic Universe preview day and shared a full recap. You can also see our rankings of the best Universal Studios Florida rides and the best Universal Islands of Adventure rides.

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Best Universal Epic Universe Rides

Before we dive into the ranking of the best Universal Epic Universe rides, a brief overview of the park. This is the third theme park at Universal Orlando (they will officially say fourth, but that is them counting the Volcano Bay water park) and it features lands themed to Super Nintendo, How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter, and the Universal classic monsters. These lands circle Celestial Park, the central hub and park area that features a couple of its own attractions.

This is far and away now my favorite Universal theme park. Of all the different Universal parks I have been to, this one does the best job at weaving together different immersive environments with the thrilling and family-friendly attractions. This park feels more like a classic Disney theme park than anything else that Universal has created.

As more details about Epic Universe have been released, many have claimed that this is a Disney-killer. I would not go that far. However, this park does push boundaries with the level of theming and immersive attractions in certain areas. Knowing that Disney is seeing this park makes me even more confident in their sense of need to deliver in the new Disney World rides planned. There is no room for complacency which at the end of the day drives both Disney and Universal to deliver the best possible experience for guests.

Though Epic Universe pushes boundaries in immersion in some areas, in others, it feels very sloppy and thrown together. Some of this will change as trees grow and additional work is done. I’ll heap praise on what they get right, but there are still things that feel like they shouldn’t have passed quality control.

The rides below are ranked based on the overall show, how they deliver an immersive experience, and how they compare to other great rides in their category. This will be a reverse ranking, counting down to the best rides at the new park.

11. Constellation Carousel

The Constellation Carousel is a beautiful centerpiece that’s a part of the Celestial Park central area of Epic Universe. The dome encompassing the carousel is massive and the ride is beautiful. This is a great placemaking offering and something that makes this park better for families. Interestingly, the carousel animals are not connected to the ceiling so the ride has a unique soaring dome effect that sets this apart. If you are going to make time for this ride, come over here at night to enjoy the stunning lighting used in and around the carousel.

That said, it doesn’t do anything to make it stand out on this list compared to the other new rides on this list.

10. Yoshi’s Adventure

This is a flat ride omnimover that slowly crawls along the top of the Super Nintendo World. The ride cars are Yoshi characters that two people can sit side-by-side in. There are three egg buttons below that you push and they make a sound. The team member briefly shared that these do something to capture points but it wasn’t clear and I didn’t see them do anything besides make a noise.

The ride moves in and out of outdoor spaces and one indoor room with some Nintendo characters. This part was pretty cute. If there’s a short wait here, it’s a fun ride to jump on.

One big downside that takes away from the relaxing nature of the attraction is the crazy level of restraint used. Unlike the PeopleMover in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom, this ride uses full lap bar restraints. It feels redundant and not nearly as relaxing as if you could stretch out.

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9. Dragon Racers Rally

This is an off the shelf carnival style ride where you are sitting in a seat with your feet dangling and then the seat is sent soaring into the air. On either side of you are two wings. When I rode, it was just a calm looping sensation. I found out later that you can flap these wings to make your seat move side to side and even go upside down if you get the technique correct.

The ride has a similar fun feeling of flying and dangling your feet as you get on the Silly Symphony Swings at Disney California Adventure. I would pick that ride any day because you are far less restrained, but this has a similar soaring feeling and shows off the entire land.

8. Fyre Drill

This is a cute water ride where riders are on a slow-moving Viking ship that moves through different set pieces with different water spraying out on you. You also have a water cannon in front of you to hit targets on the set pieces. Be warned that you will get wet on this ride. I overheard someone getting off saying it was the wettest they had ever been on a theme park ride.

I decided to skip it on this day where I didn’t have a change of clothes. I’ll get back here to ride this sooner than later to provide an updated ranking. I still believe it deserves a spot on this list higher than the others on here so far because of the intricate sets and reported fun of the attraction.

7. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

The Mario Kart Ride is the same as the attraction that has been open for multiple years at Universal Studios Hollywood. The ride utilizes physical sets and an augmented reality headset to create the feeling that you are riding in the classic Mario Kart game.

Using a controller on the vehicle, you can steer through iconic courses alongside Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach. The goal of the game is to collect digital coins and throw shells to try to defeat Team Bowser and win the Golden Cup. The experience is different with each ride. The end result of the combination of augmented reality and the sets is pretty impressive, though I find the display to be blurry for me when I ride.

This is a fun ride and one that we rank far higher in our Mickey Visit Universal Studios Hollywood best rides list. In that park it stands out as a must-do. Here, it is good in comparison but not in the top five. Many (likely even those on our Mickey Visit team) will disagree with me on the lower ranking of this. Have you ridden this ride yet?

6. Curse of the Werewolf

This coaster was a surprisingly fun time. I had avoided all spoilers for this ride and so had little idea all of the different tricks that we were going to experience here.

The coaster goes both forwards and backwards and also spins. After a relaxed departure from the station, the coaster immediately picks up steam and blasts off onto the track. The central part of the ride is a barn where there is a werewolf that howls down at you. The ride car goes forward and backward in this section, so you get to pass it multiple times.

The ride is super fun though there are elements that don’t feel completely finished. When your car is coming back into the station, there’s a stationary figure that has a speaker and light in front of it is that visibly plugged into a nearby outlet. The signage here also looks pretty amateurish. It really feels like a display you’d see at a Spirit Store more than this brand-new theme park. I hope they fix this area in the future.

The ride is also surrounded by netting. It’s an eyesore in the rest of the land. It’s another reason that Dark Universe looks best once the sun has begun to set. This coaster, though, is a super fun ride and one you shouldn’t skip.

5. Mine-Cart Madness

The Donkey Kong-themed Mine-Cart Madness coaster is located inside Super Nintendo World within the special Donkey Kong area. The gag of the ride is that during your ride the track keeps ending and your cart has to jump to the next section. The cart weaves up and around this section of the land in and out of show scenes.

I think the concept of the ride is very fun and one that holds up even when you are riding it. When I first rode the ride I was in the back row where you really can’t see how they are pulling off the track jumping which really made this experience cool. When I rode the ride later I sat in the front and had a better view which was also interesting to see how the cart worked. The ride is a bit jerky and jarring as the cart is so high above the actual ride track. The ride goes in and out of show buildings over the land.

The ride combined with the fun of this area makes this a member of our top five best rides at Epic Universe. It is iconic, unique to Universal Orlando within the domestic parks, and a must-ride as part of your day.

4. Stardust Racers

This is dueling coaster located within the Celestial Park central area of the theme park. The ride is exciting visually and delivers very real thrills. The ride goes upside down multiple times and has been compared by many to the Velocicoaster at Islands of Adventure.

The exciting aspect of this ride is that there are two tracks and the coasters on the tracks are dispatched at the same time. They dodge and weave around each other the entire time. There’s one moment where the two tracks are wrapping around each other going upside down in a kind of corkscrew, where it feels like you could reach out and touch the other train.

While Stardust Racers is a little bit intense for me personally, I definitely appreciate the coaster and the amazing thrills that come with it. I am so glad that I decided that it was worth riding. The onboard audio is also a fantastic touch that elevates this coaster. Be sure to also look at the end of the train where there’s an easter egg to the Back to the Future – a Flux Capacitor, the device that enables time travel in that movie.

Be warned that this thing does throw you around. I had heard that and tried to brace my head back against the headrest but on the first hill launch your head really gets thrown forward regardless of how it’s positioned. Generally, the coaster is smooth even as it tosses you.

This coaster is stunning to watch the way that the cars interact. Also, check it out at night. The cars are lit up with sparkling stars all along them and they really do look like comets glittering in the night. The stardust name is fitting.

3. Hiccup’s Wing Glider

I am very curious to see how people agree or disagree with this rating of Hiccup’s above Stardust Racers. Many would likely swap these two to rank Stardust as third.

The reason that I rank this as a top three best ride at Epic Universe is that the coaster is so much fun to ride and there are some very cute story moments here. Before the first lift hill, you are greeted by Hiccup and Toothless animatronics as they “attach” wings to your coaster car. You then shoot off into the land, weaving over and along the water before landing in another show scene where baby dragons appear. The ride also features the “Test Drive” song written by John Powell that appears in the movies. This coaster benefits from the amazingly themed environment of the land even though it also suffers from a lack of theming at the beginning of the ride.

The ride uses the same system as the Hagrid’s Magical Creatures coaster in Islands of Adventure. That is one of my favorite rides in the world so that already puts this at a high bar. It definitely falls short of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures, but it’s still very fun.

The reasons you might rank Hiccups lower on the list are that the queue here is endless switchbacks and completely boring and that there is a lot of opportunity for improved greenery along the roller coaster track. Right now, the first moments of the coaster shoot you out along some freshly cut grass with an open view towards a construction site. A bit weird and not in keep with the immersiveness of the rest of the land.

There’s story here (and baby dragons) where there isn’t for Stardust Racers. That makes this ride edge out the competition for me.

1.5 Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment

The top two best rides at Epic Universe are both superb. They deliver incredible stories in themed settings that transport you to other worlds. These are the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance or Pirates of the Caribbean of this park. The rides aren’t quite on that level but they are just about as close as you can get.

Monsters Unchained is the marquee attraction within Dark Universe, the land themed to the classic Universal monsters. The ride brings the characters forward to today which allows them to bring in a mix of new technology and the classic monster characters.

This ride uses the same system as the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction but delivers far more impressively than that ride system. While that ride utilizes screens as the main way that the key characters are shown, this ride prioritizes animatronics with screens as the support. The end result is stunning.

The pre-show here and the ride itself have some of the best Audio-Animatronics I have ever seen. Though the ride is themed to monsters it isn’t necessarily too scary. There’s something about knowing that you are in a ride vehicle and you can’t be touched or scared too badly. It’s nothing like Universal Halloween Horror Nights.

I have heard some people bemoan this, but I actually found it to be a great mix of these monsters classic characters with a story that had real stakes and motivation. Monsters have escaped and you need to hope you get out alive.

1. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

While I went back and forth between these two rides for the top best ride spot, the final decision maker was the story that the ride was based on. I am just more excited to step into the world of Harry Potter. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is an incredible setting and this ride takes full advantage. Though the overall land outside of the ride is themed to the Fantastic Beasts movies, which include a Paris setting, the ride is based on the original movies. A very smart move. The rumor is that this was a pivot during development after the newer movies did not perform as well.

The ride is set within the Ministry of Magic, where Dolores Umbridge, the evil professor from the fifth installment of the books and movies, is on trial for her crimes. You enter the Ministry of Magic through a Floo Powder gateway and pass through a blast of smoke. This moment on its own is the ultimate wish fulfillment. I would say it’s up there for Harry Potter fans with the moment on the Star Wars Millennium Falcon ride where you get to jump to light speed. Where the rest of that ride falls short (click here to see how they are about to fix that ride), the Ministry of Magic ride keeps delivering for the entire experience.

Once you’re through the Floo Powder gateway you’re then in the Ministry of Magic atrium. It feels straight out of the movies. I mean it’s incredible and impossible to capture in photos. From here, you weave through an opulent queue with lavish fixtures. You’re then face-to-face with a new house elf in the set of Dolores Umbridge’s old office.

Harry Potter Ride System and Description

After this, you are loaded into a ride vehicle that somewhat resembles the Tower of Terror in that it’s supposed to be one of the Ministry of Magic lift elevators. From here you head into a journey deep into the vaults of the Ministry of Magic. This ride functions on a massive scale that blew me away.

The ride is a fantastic mix of huge set pieces and screens perfectly integrated in a way that makes it feel as if there is no distinction. I counted fewer animatronics in this attraction than in Monsters Unchained, but this ride brought the entire package together better. The animatronics used here were generally very convincing. In one scene, a Death Eater Audio-Animatronic looks like it is a real person in the ride. There is one instance where there’s a figure with a projected face that doesn’t quite work because it breaks with the screen, but other than that the effects feel incredible.

Getting off this ride I couldn’t help but think about the quote from writer Arthur C. Clarke who talked about the power of good technology. He wrote that “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. This ride is the embodiment of this. Even though I know how the ride works and all of the different illusions used, it really does feel like you are in Harry Potter’s world during this experience.

Other Must-See Experiences at Epic Universe

Not included on this list because of their distinctions as entertainment are the Untrainable Dragon show in Isle of Berk and Le Cirque Arcanus in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The Untrained Dragon show was fantastic and a must-see during your day. It has a huge cast that features humans and dragons. I loved the live music element of this show and the different dragon Audio-Animatronics that were added in here.

I did not make it to the Le Cirque Arcanus show, but have heard that it’s based on the Fantastic Beasts movies and doesn’t really mean much for Harry Potter fans. Others have said that it is a great circus-type show that provides a good air conditioning break.

During your visit to Epic Universe, you should also make time to see the Burning Blade Tavern go up in flames (see photo in this article). This happens every 15 minutes in the evening. There are also plenty of other atmosphere entertainment offerings and the big fountain show that you shouldn’t miss.

We’ll continue to cover the park and share more from my experience at the park. Have you been to Epic Universe yet? Do you agree with my ranking of the best rides at this new Universal theme park?

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