Here’s what we loved — and hated — at Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park

ORLANDO — Just a dozen miles or so separate Universal Studios Orlando and Walt Disney World, two theme parks with a longstanding rivalry that’s escalating as the former debuts its biggest expansion yet.But for as long as I’ve attended these two parks — about 15 years now — they’ve always been so different.Disney World sprawls for miles and miles. It has its own local government and bus system. Universal is packed near the denser International Drive, with the Orange County Convention Center down the road. Until now, its campus has been largely walkable, save for its water park, Volcano Bay.Epic Universe, a new park set to open May 22, has doubled the size of Universal’s footprint, making the longtime underdog feel a whole lot more like Disney World.This is good and bad. At Epic Universe, you park in a massive, sickeningly hot parking lot. There are miles of new roads and scrupulously trimmed greenery. For those with a lot of nostalgia for Universal, gone are the days when it seemed cute and approachable. It’s now a behemoth in its own right.But once you’re inside Epic Universe, it’s stunning. Universal stepped up its game with theming and production, which is especially clear in the massive, gleaming emerald model of Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic and in Super Nintendo World, which somehow makes a chomping animated Piranha plant and floating gold coins seem believable.We explored the park’s worlds and rides during its preview period. Preview tickets opened to all guests yesterday, with prices ranging from $144 to $154. If you’re visiting soon, here’s what we’d do again — and what we’d skip.Super Nintendo World measures up to the hype. It helps that the Mario franchises, with their rainbow color palette and gleaming gold coins, mesh perfectly with a beating Florida sun.You’re sucked into the world on an escalator made to look like a Super Mario green pipe, complete with the warp sound as you rise.Visitors can buy a band that allows you to really interact with this world, hitting bricks and one-up boxes galore.At Toadstool Cafe, an apron-clad Toad serves food themed after Mario characters. I got the Mario burger, which includes a red cap and an edible mustache.The merch is also undeniably cute, though expensive. A small keychain plushie costs $16. Stuffed Yoshi dinosaurs go for a whopping $37.Go to this world to sit in some air-conditioning and check out the merch. None of the rides struck me as must-do. My favorite was Mine Cart Madness, a coaster that propels you over missing patches of track with an arm-like device that simulates jumps common in Donkey Kong games. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge did nothing to sell me on virtual reality. The ride is a motion simulator with gorgeous set design of popular Mario Kart tracks, like a lava-filled Bowser’s Castle and gleaming rainbow road.But you’re also strapped to a heavy headset that obscures your vision with blurry characters and obstacles.I’d keep the VR headset off and just enjoy the ride design next time.The park also seriously lacks shade. The other Universal parks offer a fully covered parking garage and security zone, which keep the entrance experience (relatively) cool. Epic Universe requires a long, hot walk through the parking lot. The walk between portals also offers little protection from the sun. By the end of a seven-hour day, I had a sunburn and raging headache.Fortunately, more landscaping and coverage are likely to come before the park opens, said Len Testa, president of Touring Plans, a service that tracks theme park wait times.For now, prepare water bottles, sunscreen and fans. Wizarding Paris, the Harry Potter-themed portal, gets points for its urban facade, which casts more shade on the ground.The blinding sunlight was particularly off-putting in Dark Universe. It’s supposed to be spooky but comes off as ridiculous in the light of day, until you get into Frankenstein’s castle and can pretend you’re anywhere but Florida.Universal has long lacked a kid-friendly portion that also holds up in production value.The Isle of Berk changes that narrative. There’s an extensive play area, dragon animatronics, and three kid-friendly rides.While Disney World has long dominated in the small-to-medium coaster department, Universal didn’t miss with Hiccup’s Wing Gliders. It’s a quick kid coaster somewhere between Disney’s Slinky Dog Dash and Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure in intensity.A grinning animatronic Toothless greets riders before they’re hurtled across aqua blue waters. It’s a smooth tour of a beautiful world that I could ride again and again.Universal has released 3D attractions in recent years, themed after “Fast & Furious” and “King Kong,” that look impressive but feature little movement or thrill on the actual ride.It seems that Universal has tried to up the ante with Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, which functions a lot like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the Hogwarts castle ride in Islands of Adventure. A massive arm extends from a track on the floor and props up the ride vehicle, which tilts you left, right, downward and skyward.Prepare to get whacked against the headrest due to sheer momentum as a massive Dracula animatronic leers at you. Monsters Unchained is filled with abrupt jerks that can inspire nausea, but hey, at least it’s interesting.It’s also the kind of attraction — what Testa calls “scary-funny” — that Universal does best. The plot of this ride is a mess. I struggled to get on board with Victor Frankenstein’s great-granddaughter’s quest to ... control Dracula? Why? But if you’re willing to laugh that off, the set and screen effects of this ride were a big step up from Forbidden Journey. And the ride design extends the range of motion typical for simulators.The core of Epic’s Harry Potter-themed portal is wizarding Paris. But you can also visit the British Ministry of Magic via the “Floo Network,” or magical fireplaces. The effect as I walked in — a sudden bang and flash of green smoke — made me flinch in its realism.The ministry is a perfect movie lookalike: cavernous, ornate and imposing, with impressive golden statues and emerald green tile floors.If you don’t make it onto Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, don’t fear: I’m in no rush to board it again. The set design and screens are elaborate and cutting-edge, for sure, but the ride car is massive — similar to what you board on Disney’s Tower of Terror — and it makes its maneuvers feel sluggish.I was excited to see Universal adding Asian treats to their in-park dining roster. Star Sui Bao sells Korean hotdogs and vegetarian bao dyed a deep indigo. The bao buns, while needing a little more moisture, have a nice kick to them with scallions and oyster sauce and elevate the vegetarian options typically available to parkgoers.The roster of Harry Potter-themed cocktails has also expanded.Bar Moonshine, tucked in a quiet, shady corner of wizarding Paris, offers a few colorful concoctions, from the Sherbert Lemon — vodka sweetened with herbaceous liqueur, lemon butters and ginger beer — to Gigglewater, an amber-shimmering elderflower Prosecco spritz.I tried the Fraise, a nonalcoholic strawberry-mint iced tea. It was refreshing and mild, and nice to sip in the rare shade of the Paris replica.If I had to pick one theme park to attend for the rest of my life, Universal’s Islands of Adventure still takes the cake. More water rides and lush areas like Camp Jurassic make it easier to take a breather over there.The ride mechanics didn’t always feel polished at Epic Universe. Some rides, like Dragon Racer’s Rally, were startlingly short. Others, like the Battle at the Ministry and Stardust Racers, felt clunky or nauseating.But on set design and ambiance, Universal scores. Each of the portals genuinely pulled me into an immersive, believable world.During this preview period, it’s not uncommon for rides to be down for hours at a time. With limited capacity, that doesn’t pose much concern. But if the trend endures past opening day, the quality of the attractions may not matter. Visitors’ park experience may instead get bogged down with long waits, Testa said.“They’ve got a lot of very good rides in a very small park,” he said. “It’s going to come down to execution. Will the rides be reliable enough? And do they have enough ride capacity for how many people they want to put in the parks?”

Here’s what we loved — and hated — at Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park

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