Universal Orlando Resort’s current status as a theme park giant can largely be traced back to the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The original land is one of the first fully immersive theme park lands, and the attractions there are still drawing in thousands of guests every day.
Naturally, Universal’s newest park, Epic Universe, will include a Harry Potter section as well. This land will be themed to 1920s wizarding Paris from the Fantastic Beasts films, but the attraction will be based on the original series of Potter films. 
From the land, you’ll enter the ride’s facade and step into the Ministry of Magic to witness the trial of Dolores Umbridge. The ride takes place after the final film, and expands the story. However, Umbridge won’t go down without a fight, so buckle up for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.
This review will contain full spoiler details about the queue, ride and story. Please do yourself a favor and come back after you’ve experienced the ride, you don’t want any of these details revealed until you’ve seen them for yourself.
The Queue
This queue alone is one of the most impressive things in the entire park. It’s not just a queue line, it’s a full-scale movie set recreation. You start your journey by entering through the subway station in Paris, and then passing through the MetroFloo, a magical fireplace transportation system.
I was curious how they would handle the time jump between 1920s Paris and 1990s London, and they really don’t address it, which is slightly disappointing, but it is very difficult to explain from a story perspective so I get it. Once you pass through the fireplace, you enter the Ministry.
This is probably the largest indoor queue I have ever seen, larger than Rise of the Resistance or Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. I’m not even talking about the vertical scale, although that is massive too. I mean distance-wise, there are so many winding switchbacks and rooms after rooms. I could not believe we were still walking, and there were sections of the queue that weren’t even open but had rows and rows of switchbacks waiting for when it is necessary. It’s estimated that the queue can hold up to eight hours worth of guests, and after seeing it in person I can understand how.
I was (pleasantly) surprised to see that all of the green marble tiles are actual, real marble. The quality of the queue is unbelievable, every inch has been meticulously crafted. The only minor disappointment with the interior of the Ministry is that the cloudy ceiling is a large screen. The concept art made it appear as physical clouds with maybe some projections or lighting incorporated. However, the giant Dolores Umbridge banner is amazing. I really can’t tell if this is a projection or some sort of LED tarp, I think it’s the latter because I looked around and could not see any projectors.
In this initial section, you will see rows of fireplaces and then Ministry offices that seem to stretch into infinity when you stare up at them. Every single office has something going on, whether it’s a spinning ceiling fan or some sort of moving magical device.
From here, there is room after room of incredible details. There is a reception area with bank teller-type windows, a magical map of the Ministry, a room of talking portraits of former Ministers, and another atrium area.
Finally, you’ll make your way into Umbridge’s office, where you’ll see boxes of Umbridge’s items that have been packed away. As expected, there’s a lot of pink, and a lot of cats. This is where you’ll meet Higgledy the house elf who formerly served Umbridge. This is a physical animatronic, and she will give a little more backstory about what’s going on.
There is no pre-show for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, after you exit Umbridge’s office it is time to board the ride vehicles. The loading station is extremely unique, it’s a circular loading area with four bays for guests to board. There is a fun vertical subway map, and the whole area feels very organic and part of the queue, it doesn’t feel like any other loading area I’ve ever been in.
The Ride Vehicles
After entering the loading atrium, you’ll board your vehicle. Much like everything else about this attraction, these vehicles are unlike anything I’ve seen before. There are two rows: a long back row with eight seats, and a front row consisting of three pairs of seats, for a total of 14 riders. If you have a choice, the back row is better because having seats in front of you helps to sell the illusion of depth better in the screen-based sections.
The motion of the ride vehicle is less of a dropping feeling, and more like bouncing. The closest thing I can compare it to is the motion of Spider-Man or Transformers. This ride is essentially a version of those ride vehicles on stilts, and can bounce up and down to different heights. There are only a few moments where the ride vehicle drops the full height of its capability. It’s not as intense as the drop on Rise of the Resistance, and doesn’t give you that feeling that your stomach jumped to your throat.
You’ll only have a seatbelt on the vehicle, and after a quick check, your lift is dispatched. Each lift has an overhead map of the Ministry, so you can track your journey as the ride goes on.
SERIOUS SPOILERS START HERE!
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Ride Experience
To address most people’s biggest question up front: yes, this is a primarily screen-based attraction. However, a big asterisk must be placed here because these screens are unlike anything on another attraction, both in scale and in quality.
This isn’t a simulator screen like Transformers or Star Tours, these are multi-story LED screens that are the crispest and clearest I have ever seen. The closest thing I can compare it to is the Bourne Stuntacular at Universal Studios Orlando, but these are even more massive. Most scenes will also have a physical prop in front of the screens, and the screens are used for depth.
I was blown away from the very first scene of the attraction. I am being completely serious when I say my mouth was gaping open for the first few minutes of this ride. The first scene is sort of an introduction to what the ride vehicles can do. Just like the movies, your lift will take you up, down, forwards and backwards. The illusion works instantly, and you’ll even see a smaller, free-moving lift in front of you carrying Harry, Ron, Hermione and Higgledy. These smaller lifts are used multiple times, and I can’t say enough just how effective they are.
After the first scene, the main story begins, and Delores Umbridge has broken out of her trial. Accompanied by a Death Eater on her own lift, she turns her Azkaban uniform back to her classic pink attire, and they take off to cause chaos throughout the Ministry. I may mess up the order or miss some details of what happens next because I was so enthralled with the ride, so this is all told to my best recollection.
The next scene is the one where I really saw the full scale of this attraction. It is an absolutely massive scene that takes place in the Magical Archives. There are projections on physical objects, moving props with animatronics on them, and screens that make the physical sets even larger. This is probably the largest physical room I have ever seen on a ride, rivaled only by the AT-AT scene on Rise of the Resistance.
And speaking of animatronics, this scene contains the most realistic animatronic I’ve seen on an attraction. The fluidity and range of motion can’t be captured in words, it must be seen to be believed. It is a Death Eater who is in the middle of a wand battle, but I swear I saw it pick up its foot and move freely. It’s also on top of a cabinet that shakes and moves on its own path as well.
After this battle, the ride vehicles veer off into the Department of Magical Creatures. This is the most screen-based simulator part of the attraction, where an Erumpent runs wild, destroying several rooms in the department. Then, the ride vehicle turns to see a full-scale massive animatronic of the creature who bumps the vehicle back on course.
Umbridge is back and has gotten her hands on a Time Turner, vowing to go back to the time of Lord Voldemort. Despite Higgledy’s warnings, Umbridge uses a broken Time Turner and temporal chaos ensues.
After passing some dissolving clock mechanics, the ride vehicle is thrown into a time void with a physical animatronic of Umbridge right in front of the lift, demanding order. Then, the scene transitions to another screen simulation as Umbridge (and riders) fall through the void, dodging clockwork debris as we fall back to the Ministry.
Back inside the courtroom, Umbridge is on trial in front of Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt, and is once again put back into prison uniform as she is sentenced to Azkaban for her continued crime spree. Some of the animatronics in this ride, primarily in this scene, use projected faces. They aren’t perfect, and can dip into the uncanny valley a bit. However, the scenes are brief and the physical animatronics are very well-done.
After another brief scene of the lift travelling back through the elevator shafts of the Ministry with the trio, riders are whisked into the exit station.
Something I really like is that you exit back into the main Ministry atrium, so you have a last chance to take it all in before you head out the exit fireplace, and back to 1920s Paris (through the gift shop of course).
Final Thoughts
Immediately after getting off the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride, I knew this was one of the greatest theme park attractions ever created. The whole experience put together between the land, MetroFloo, queue and ride experience feels so cohesive. The ride experience itself is mind-blowing and anyone who experiences it will be raving about it to anyone they know, much like I’m doing now. This ride just further cemented how I feel about Epic Universe as a whole: there has never been a better and more exciting time to be a theme park fan. The steps forward that this park and this ride have made will be studied by future enthusiasts and designers, and I am incredibly grateful I got to witness it.
Previews for Passholders and hotel guests are happening now at Epic Universe, and the park will open to the public on May 22nd. What are you most excited for at Epic Universe? Read our Stardust Racers review here and let us know what you are most looking forward to in the comments below!
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