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seek with curious heart Epic worlds to fill your dreams
Alright folks, here it is, time for something EPIC.
Since working at Universal, I was very privileged in getting to go all month long to team member preview of the newest Orlando theme park, Epic Universe.
Celestial Park is the central hub or Main Street type area when you first walk in, and it's stunning. It almost reminds me of Tokyo Disney Sea with it's blues and starry themes and beautiful water features.
Stardust Racers is a dual-launch coaster where two coasters race through the stars. Mike said this one is a really good, smooth coaster. It's comparable to Universal's Velocicoaster with great launches, and the coolest part is the coaster tracks intertwining with each other.
You will also find the Constellation Carousel in this area. This astronomy-comet theme is incredibly beautiful, and the ride moves in such a beautiful dance, and not just typical circle fashion. I heard it's even better at night.
The next land we venture off to is Super Nintendo World! First you have to go through my favorite part, the portal.
Next attraction is Yoshi's Adventure, which is a very kid friendly, slow ride, where you match the color of eggs you see to the buttons in your vehicle.
It was wild to me that almost everyone at Epic is sporting some kind of merchandise. I get it, cause it's all super cute, and most of these folks right now are connected to some kind of a discount, but still.
Boss mode reminded me of a Switch game where you have to duck or jump and do motions in real life that transfer on to what's happening on screen.
If you succeed, you find the golden mushroom!!
There are more band scanning objects to be collected here also.
I have waited such a long time to see Nintendo World, and it does not disappoint. It is truly just like you have stepped right into the video game world, and the sights, sounds, and smells will all keep you in the story.
The other land I personally was most eager to see was the Isle of Berk, or the How to Train Your Dragon area. You of course have to go through the portal to enter!
The architecture in this land is mind blowing. I feel like I have totally been transported.
Let's get this out of the way, I missed the show. I am very sad because I really wanted to see it after it debuted in Beijing, but it was down all day and thus far I have not seen it. I have heard amazing things though, so if you are lucky enough to find it up and running, go. The other entertainment offerings in this area though are one of a kind. The saying here is "we have dragons", and boy do they!! It was amazing to me that it wasn't just one dragon. You will find so many of them walking around, playing Toothless says, doing meet and greets, and all the statues come to life.
Don't miss the vikings roaming around either! They are hilariously delightful and will make your whole day.
The food in this area is great. The mac and cheese cones are a delight. They are portable, hearty, and tasty snacks.
Now in this land, there is also an amazing show...that I also missed...however, I have had family who saw it and marked it as a do not miss. The cirque and magic elements, combined with the cute creatures make it fantastic. Get in line early, the shows fill up fast.
The only attraction in this area is the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride. I was the only one allowed to ride it since it was team members only at this point. Wow, this cue is amazing. I often tell people the best day of my life was when we went to the Harry Potter studio tour, and walking into this cue, it was just like being back there on the actual set of the movie. Between travelling by floo powder, and being surrounded by house elves and ministry announcements, it was a really cool cue line. The ride itself did make me a little motion sick. The breakdown of the ride in my verbiage would be if you took the Tower of Terror car, put it on an arm like the Monsters ride and then watching screens and 3-D like action around you similar to Spider-Man, and mix in a whole lot of magic, you have this ride. Because you are in a car similar to Tower of Terror, and they're talking about you being in an elevator, the whole time I felt anxious we would drop, but you do not. Eager for more people to ride it and see their feedback.
Now since you're in a Harry Potter area, of course they have butterbeer, but I also have heard the magical moonshine potions are cool too. There are two bigger restaurants in this area, one with French cuisine and one with German. At Cafe L'air De La Sirene, we tried a couple things like the french onion soup, and butterbeer crepe. If I were to get the crepe again, I would ask for a little more butterscotch drizzle for without it, it's a little plain. The soup was incredible and what everyone else had at our table, there were no complaints.
Leaving Harry Potter, if you walk past the Grand Helios hotel, where the most beautiful statue is found, and the guests can stay basically right on property for a grand view of the park from their windows, the final portal to enter through is found. Dark Universe is based on the old school monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, etc.
The manor lights up, and at night it is electrifying.
The other attraction in this land is Curse of the Werewolf, which is a smaller thrill coaster that spins you as you follow along a track. It seems like a tamer-shorter version of Guardians of Galaxy coaster.
If you are like me and don't do coasters anymore, you could just go on the hunt to find my new favorite character, Igor. He is hilarious, and I highly recommend you seek him out.
The food in Dark Universe we have had on our list also, but didn't make it there other than for snacks. The Burning Blade Tavern offered some tasty snacks though. We liked the Hunter's Garlic Stake Pretzel, but I really liked the burning cheddar bites!
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