Epic Universe Holiday Adventure: Best Attractions & Tips

Intro

I was in the last leg of my trifecta of Holiday trips for 2025. I had been in Colombia for Thanksgiving, and now I was in Orlando, seeing the best that Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort could offer for the Christmas season. You can see all my adventures here:

A Thanksgiving Trip to Cartagena, Colombia

Discover Cartagena’s Aviario Nacional and Playa Blanca Beach

Exploring Holiday Fun at Universal Orlando Resort

Travel Guide: Hard Rock Hotel & Universal Orlando Trip

Holiday Adventures in Walt Disney World: A Day at 3 Parks

Exploring Epcot: A Guide to the International Festival of the Holidays

We were back at Universal Orlando Resort, this time in Stella Nova Resort, for a walk to Early Park Admission in Epic Universe. Let’s see what my favorite park in the world has for me in this Holiday season.

Arriving to Stella Nova Resort and Early Entry

If you have a day at Epic Universe in Universal Orlando Resort, the best hotel to stay at (after Helios) is Stella Nova Resort. Not only it is new and full of amenities (plus a more decent price), but it is extremely close to Epic Universe.

This morning we checked out from our previous hotel, and went very early to check in at Stella Nova in order to get early entry at Epic Universe. The Christmas decorations were really good, and surprising for a hotel that had just opened a few months ago.

Instead of waiting until after 3 PM to get a room, they gave us the option to get one right now, but with no view of the park. We chose this since we were not going to spend much time here. Our flight was the next morning and we would come late from Epic.

We dropped our suitcases and went down to start walking the 10-min path to Epic Universe. It is definitely really convenient. We arrived early at security. The line was dropping us a hint, and it seemed it was going to be a light day, but rope drop is always confusing because it can be crowded and all of the sudden everyone disperses.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic

I will be narrating my experience in each of the 5 lands, even though I visited them during the day multiple times from beginning to end, to make it more organized.

Rope drop was of course in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, to get into the line for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. One of my favorite rides in the world. This land is set in 1920s Paris but the main attraction is set in 90s London‘s Ministry of Magic, with the characters from the Harry Potter movies reprising their roles.

The team member really knew how to handle these crowds, preventing anyone from running,

Once inside of the ride, we went really fast into it, practically a walk on, compared to previous rope drops. We were in shock about this, and kind of got to the front real quick. It was my friend’s first time in Epic Universe, and he was about to have his mind blown up.

Amazing experience. We were positioned in the center of the elevator, and oh boy! Love the part where they are floating in the vacuum of space, like woah! I feel transported all the time.

After this, we continued to rope drop since Early Entry had not finished yet. Yes, the 1 hour advantage resort guests have, had not ended, since we did not spend much time in Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. Incredible. Reminded me of the time I waited 4 hours to even get on it.

Regardless, we went to Super Nintendo World to rope drop Mine Kart Madness, but you can read more about it below in the SNW section.

We came back to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, a few more times, since we are both big fans of this franchise, and for lunch I had to take him to eat to Café L’air De La Sirène. I got the Bièraubeurre Crepe, although I know it is a dessert, and my friend got the quiche, which he also liked a lot.

After lunch, the day had proven to be a very slow day in Epic. It was a Sunday but the crowds were mostly non-existent. First week of December can be tricky, but for us it was amazing. In all the parks we visited we did not encountered that many long waits. We took some pictures of the fog effect entering through the Metro-Floo. The visual of the Ministry of Magic in real scale is just astonishing.

We sneaked a second ride, although of course we had to wait like 40 min, which is really not that bad. We continued exploring the world this time.

After now had been to all of the other worlds, we came back for the show Le Cirque Arcanus, around 3:00 PM. My friend only saw the first Newt Scamander movie, but I think he liked the show. Contrary to the Untrainable Dragon show, I think that this one is a little more difficult to understand if you don’t speak English very well lol.

We really were exploring this world once again. No crowds in Epic is a miracle, and we were abusing of it. Since my friend did not want to ride Stardust Racers, we had time to do other things, like for example come to Le Gobelet Noir. This quick service is really underestimated, and it is gorgeous inside. And huge. It sits a lot of people.

This time we only ordered Bieraubeurres because why not lol. We sat here for a bit, and when we came out the storm was really storming.

We came back to our favorite land for a 4th and last time during the night. The Christmas decorations and the lights were amazing. The view of the sign for the Coupe de Quidditch reminded me of the rumors of the 2nd ride in this land, now in development, and that could be based off quidditch.

This park is just so beautiful at night. This really looks like the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur.

And we had checked on the app, but we had to see for ourselves. It seems like the heavy thunder storm from earlier had vanished the already low crowds we had, and now Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry was only 15 min wait. Practically a walk on, so we had to do it.

3 times in a day was very unexpected, but this time the group that was in the elevator with us had never experienced it. The energy and shock they had through the ride was amazing. I think it made me enjoy this last ride even more. But let’s explore my experience in the other 4 lands of this amazing park.

Super Nintendo World

Like I mentioned before, if you still have time during the Early Entry period, I would recommend to go to Mine-Cart Madness at Super Nintendo World. This ride is always breaking, or closing, and had very low capacity. The complete opposite to let’s say the Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment in Dark Universe.

So we did that. We got in line for this ride, and it was not long since regular guests had not arrived yet.

By 10 AM we were out, and went to do more rides, but the main crowds were already coming in. So we came back later to really appreciate this land, starting with the amazing portal. If there is an expansion, I really hope is Zelda.

This land is very chaotic, and that’s the point. It overstimulates you with all the sounds, kinetic energy, and colors. It’s also the land with the most staircases, so be aware of that. I mean they call this park Epic Staircase for a reason lol.

40 min wait for Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge did not sound bad, and after doing it myself in Hollywood and Japan, and of course here in Epic, I wanted to show my friend this mid tier ride.

Don’t get me wrong. The queue is cute, and once inside of the ride, with the augmented reality, and especially during the rainbow section, it is amazing. Also, the feel of competing is good, but for some people this is not worth 2 hours of wait, let’s say.

Also, just as this land is overstimulating, this game has a lot of variables too. You are basically playing a game while on it, so expect to do a lot, or just don’t.

At the end I got the highest points of my cart, and yes, we defeated Bowser. It is a cute game.

It had already started raining, but even though Yoshi’s Adventure had virtually no line, my friend did not want to do it lol. It seemed super lame for him.

But I convinced him to go back to Donkey Kong Country, and we got DK Crush Float from The Bubbly Barrel, because this is amazing. I would 100% recommend getting this treat while on Epic Universe. Also, the vibes back here are a little bit lower key, with just the Donkey Kong music sounding on the background.

After doing Harry Potter for the 3rd and last time, we came back to this land to see it at night. It is so different and looks gorgeous, but the rain did not let us continue exploring it properly. We would come back another time do more here, for now, let’s continue checking the other lands.

How to Train your Dragon – Isle of Berk

When they announced that How to Train your Dragon – Isle of Berk was going to be one of the lands, I had to go and see all of the movies and TV shows related to this franchise, and oh boy did I liked them. I particularly cried with the first one, and riding Hiccup’s Wing Gliders made me cry the first times I rode it, when Test Flight came at the end.

But now we were here, and after a successful rope drop with 2 heavy hitters already done (Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Mine-Cart Madness), we had to do one of my favorite rides in this park: Hiccup’s Wing Gliders.

After putting our stuff in the lockers, we got on this ride and it is really fun! Later in the day I was upset that because of the rain it shut down a few times, so we did not get to ride it again.

During the first showers, we came back to this land, to pass time in The Untrainable Dragon show, and even though we waited in the rain, the show was cancelled. Since we actually did not get inside of the building, they did not give us any express passes this time. But we still wasted time and got wet waiting outside. Oh well.

We continued in this land regardless, and saw that the Hiccup meet and greet was opened. The OG Hiccup that went viral was actually meeting and greeting this time. I thought he had gotten been fired by now. You know cause all of the fame lol.

It was time for another feeding, and since it was pouring we went to Spit Fyre Grill, and mobile ordered a Snoggletog Harvest, which was limited for during the holidays. It features creamy mac & cheese, maple-glazed turkey, roasted sweet potatoes, sage chimichurri, and stuffing crumbles. I liked it but I do not know if chimichurri is precisely a holiday flavor lol.

We came back later that night for a last treat in the park, another Holiday related one, and this time, we got the Frozen Yaknog from Mead Hall. It features a blended mix of malted chocolate and cinnamon, topped with whipped cream. It was good, but I think the Holiday treats menu could be improved for 2026.

Dark Universe

The 4th world we visited was Dark Universe. My friend really lacked interest in it, but I wanted to at least do the 2 rides in this land, even if we never came back. The first one was Curse of the Werewolf, just because the lines get crazy through the day due to the low capacity of the ride.

After that, we waited for the Burning Blade Tavern to actually go on flames, but it didn’t. It seemed they were out today.

And lastly in this land, since we would probably not come back, we did Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. For some, the best ride of the park, but I fully disagree on that. My friend was unimpressed with the whole land, although we kinda liked Curse of the Werewolf for its spinning.

This was the only land we did not come back to.

Celestial Park and Universal Helios Grand Hotel

We felt so accomplished that around 1 PM, we went to visit the Universal Helios Grand Hotel. Any guest can enter this hotel, explore it and even had drinks or food at their restaurants and lounges. We wanted the visit the rooftop bar, but unfortunately I was not opened yet. We still explored the lobby and the Christmas decorations.

Apollo aiming at the Chronos tower is always iconic, and you can see more in clear from the terrace in Helios Hotel.

If you have time in Epic, I would recommend exploring this hotel, and seeing the views from the rooftop as well.

Of course we were in Celestial Park multiple times today since it was the hub for all the lands, but we did not do much in it. We only got coffee at the Starbucks island at some point and enjoyed the midday fountain show. Other than that, my friend did not want to ride Stardust Racers, but after the rain was gone, and we had done basically the entire park, I insisted in doing it myself. With almost no line, I got on the first row, and was able to see my friend just standing there lol. It was an amazing experience as always.

Before we left, and again with all these showers, I wanted to take a few more night pictures, showing the beauty of this park at night. We left 1 hour and 30 minutes before they closed. The rain had forced some rides to close, and it was pouring so we just wanted to go to the hotel. Also, the flight was very early, so we had to go to bed soon.

Bye bye Epic, see you next time. Maybe during HHN season in 2026?

We left so happy. We rode everything we wanted to rode. We got in the Harry Potter ride 3 times with almost no line. Wow, amazing day. Even though it rained for most of the day, we were so lucky cause of the low crowds. I don’t think a day like this would ever happen again. It was pouring, so we took the 5 min bus to the hotel instead of walking and that was the best idea ever.

From MCO to JFK

Very early the next morning, we got ready and took an Uber to Terminal C of the MCO Orlando International Airport. The new terminal had decorations all over.

And it was so early that even the Universal Orlando Resort Store had not been yet opened. Go to the second floor of it. You’ll love it.

The Jetblue flight departed, and the sunrise was kissing us.

I made it to NYC, while my friend was on his way to Chicago, but we would get back together again later on this week. I had the best experience in Orlando. Definitely go the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend and you’ll have the best experience for sure. But the trifecta of Holiday trips had not ended. My annual Round The World Trip was coming soon. Stay tuned.