{"id":198361,"date":"2026-03-19T22:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/198361\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T22:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T22:00:15","slug":"were-still-worried-about-these-4-epic-universe-rides","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/198361\/","title":{"rendered":"We’re Still Worried About These 4 Epic Universe Rides"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Universal\u2019s Epic Universe<\/a>\u00a0arrives at its one-year anniversary, the resort\u2019s newest theme park<\/a> remains popular with both critics and guests thanks to its intricate theming and some revolutionary rides.<\/p>\n

\"\"Monsters Unchained<\/p>\n

However, despite that popularity and acclaim, there are still some Epic attractions that we\u2019re a bit worried about.<\/p>\n

Stardust Racers<\/p>\n

We can\u2019t speak about Epic Universe rides without bringing up Stardust Racers. To say the Celestial Park roller coaster has had a tumultuous year would be an understatement. A series of incidents, including the unfortunate death of a guest, left the coaster mired in controversy. Following the aforementioned tragedy in September 2025, the coaster was closed for several weeks in the fall.<\/p>\n

\"\"Stardust Racers<\/p>\n

The ride was closed for refurbishment on February 19th, which was originally scheduled to end on February 22nd. Said refurbishment was extended to the 28th,\u00a0 then again into March. No official reason for the extensions has been given.<\/p>\n

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry<\/p>\n

Epic Universe\u2019s blockbuster Harry Potter attraction features a revolutionary ride system, a deft mixture of animatronics and screens, and a massively scaled queue that recreates the Ministry of Magic from the Harry Potter films from the largest to the smallest details. The issue with it? Wait Times.<\/p>\n

\"\"Battle at the Ministry Wait Time<\/p>\n

While any new, major E-Ticket attraction is going to have long waits, the queues for the latest Potter attractions have been especially astronomical. Into the spring of 2026, wait times for the attractions still hover around 100 minutes most days. That\u2019s a huge chunk of time for theme park guests to dedicate to any one attraction, no matter how good it is. On top of that, the ride often runs into technical issues and sometimes closes before the rest of the park.<\/p>\n

\"\"Queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
\nMine-Cart Madness<\/p>\n

Taken in a vacuum, the Donkey Kong-themed coaster in Super Nintendo Ride is a fun family coaster, with a fun faux-jump-the-tracks effect. However, it\u2019s sub-two minute runtime makes it hard to justify the usual waits, generally close to the 90-100 minute mark. Plus, the coaster\u2019s trains can be a bit\u2026 rough on the body.<\/p>\n

\"\"Mine Cart Madness
\nMonsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment<\/p>\n

This is a case of perception vs reality. Monsters Unchained is arguably the acclaimed ride in the park, thought of by many (including your writer) as not only the best ride in the park, but also one of the best dark rides in the world. The massive scale dark ride features a freewheeling Kuka Arm ride system, massive animatronics, and countless easter eggs to Universal\u2019s long history of monster films.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a9Universal<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the issue? Well, the ride\u2019s wait times are very low compared to the park\u2019s other heavy hitters, with times generally hovering under 30 minutes. Now, in reality, this is likely due more to the people-eating ride system that consistently cycles through riders. However, the perception that the ride has short wait times and \u201cdoesn\u2019t draw\u201d could harm its reputation, and perhaps even lead to changes.<\/p>\n

\"\"The ride vehicles<\/p>\n

While Epic Universe remains popular a year after its opening, we\u2019re a bit concerned about some of the park\u2019s popular attractions. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on Universal\u2019s newest park.<\/p>\n

The Best Food in Epic Universe for 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite Epic Universe ride? let us know in the comments below.<\/p>\n

Post a Comment <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Universal\u2019s Epic Universe\u00a0arrives at its one-year anniversary, the resort\u2019s newest theme park remains popular with both critics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190163,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-198361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}