The brand-new, insanely innovative, and thrilling Epic Universe park opens on May 22nd, but we’re reporting LIVE from the park a little early for an exclusive sneak peek! We are getting to explore what this park has to offer, and we are taking you all along with us. 

We have gotten to step through the portals, watch the new How to Train Your Dragon show, and now we are exploring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic. We are headed to the main attraction in this land, and we can’t wait!

We just got to experience the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, and we have SO much to share with you. While we aren’t allowed to take pictures or videos on the attraction itself, we have LOTS of queue photos and we are sharing all our thoughts on this attraction.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry has a minimum height requirement of 40″ or 102 cm. We also spotted signage for a Single Rider Line at this attraction. Also, if you don’t feel like riding the attraction but want to see the amazing queue, there is an exit right before boarding. As well as a large rider swap room! 

Before we get too far, if you don’t want spoilers from the queue or what happens inside of the attraction, now is your time to turn around. We won’t blame you one bit, but we are going to dive in deep and don’t want to ruin it for you. If you are still reading, it’s time to go inside Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. Eeekk!! Queue spoilers ahead!

In this attraction, you will travel by the Floo Network (via the the Métro-Floo) from wizarding Paris in the 1920s to the British Ministry of Magic set in the 1990s for the trial of Dolores Umbridge. When you first enter the attraction, you get an awesome experience of being transported by Floo Powder into the massive ministry room. 

We just traveled to the Ministry of Magic by floo powder!! ??@UniversalORL #epicuniverse #hosted pic.twitter.com/T3vMq2KWFm

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 5, 2025

We had some much fun, and the reveal at the end of the tunnel is absolutely spectacular! The ministry room is unbelievable, and we could have spent such a long time admiring all the details in here. We felt speechless walking into this space.

The queue is huge — this is going to be a POPULAR attraction — and there is so much detail. We felt like kids in a candy store trying to decide what to look at first.

You will spot the Fountain of Magical Brethren, and of course, the offices line the walls and go all the way up to the ceiling.

As you continue through the queue you will see the clerk’s office, long hallways, and a portrait room with a talking statue. 

Then you will make your way through Dolores Umbridge’s office. Now that we have explored the queue, it is time for the moment we have been waiting for: to ride the attraction! Attraction spoilers ahead!

Not a fan of Dolores Umbridge but a fan of her office ??? @UniversalORL #epicuniverse #hosted pic.twitter.com/USafPpewCQ

— Disney Food Blog (@DisneyFoodBlog) April 5, 2025

Like we said before, we weren’t able to take pictures during the ride, but we are still giving you all the details and sharing our thoughts! There will be spoilers! You start in the magic elevator, and you are seeing other wizards going to the trial of Dolores Umbridge.  You see Harry, Hermione, Ron, and a house-elf named Higgledy, and they are all going to the trial. Then you turn a corner to see Dolores Umbridge being transported to her trial.

However, things take a turn as a Death Eater helps free Dolores and she casts a spell at you, goes into her pink dress, and the ride really gets going! 

The elevator you are in starts falling, but then you are saved by Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Then you are taken through the ministry, and you see the Death Eaters fighting. While the Death Eaters are animatronics, we were AMAZED by how realistic they looked. We definitely did a double take a couple of times thinking they were real.

The Death Eaters are casting spells and fighting with Harry and Hermione. The graphics are fantastic, and you don’t even have to wear 3D glasses to feel like you are in the middle of it all. Everything blends seamlessly together, where it is hard to even distinguish what is a screen vs. an animatronic.

As the Death Eaters are fighting, your elevator ends up getting shot off into the Department of Magical Creatures. You come face to face with a huge Erumpent, and it starts chasing you. You continue making your way through the Department of Magical Creatures seeing various creatures.

You learn that Dolores Umbridge is heading to the time room to try to use a time turner to go back to the time of Voldemort. Next, you move into the time room and Umbridge is there with Higgledy who she has captured. As Umbridge is using the time turner, Higgledy asks her why she is using a broken time turner.

Umbridge casts the Reparo spell, and it explodes and all the glass in the room and breaks all the time turners. You end up in a time void that is full of magic swirling all around you, and you see Umbridge getting whisked off.

As you move into the next room, you see that Harry and Ron have  Umbridge at her trial. Of course, the story ends on a good note, as Kingsley Shacklebolt convicts Umbridge and justice is served!

Overall, we were super impressed with this ride. It is jaw-droppingly good and so immersive. We loved that it was a long ride, the seats you are in really get moving, and the graphics are super crisp. You feel like you are right in the middle of all the action without having to wear 3D glasses. While the ride does have a lot of screens, there is a good mix of screens and animatronics. You will spot lots of nods for Harry Potter fans as well. The story is an original story, but we felt like it fit into the world, and it was just a really enjoyable experience. 

Epic Universe is opening on May 22nd, and tickets are already on sale. From the new attractions, restaurants, meet-and-greets, snacks, and merch, we don’t know where to look, but we are so excited about all of it!

We can’t wait to try all of the new food at Epic! Stay up to date with Disney Food Blog for details on everything in Epic Universe.

Excited for Epic Universe like us? Check out everything we know about Epic Universe here!

What are you most excited to see at Epic Universe? Let us know in the comments!

Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Universal to attend their media preview of Epic Universe. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ