Real Heroes are Sandwiches: January 2026

The original How to Train Your Dragon movie is a delightful family film with cute character design and a touching "boy and his dog" story. This spawned a franchise of successful sequels, TV shows, and remakes. But it definitely is a second tier intellectual property, closer in appeal to the Universal Monsters than Harry Potter or Nintendo. However, I think it has proven itself to be just as worthy of inclusion in the park as the other lands.

How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk ★★★★

In my review of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I suggested that a perfect themed land should have:

Distinctive settings where people want to go
Locations where appealing stores and restaurants would feel at home
A place for rides and attractions that people want to experience

Isle of Berk has all three of these characteristics. The world of How to Train Your Dragon is a cute blend of Scottish and Viking imagery; where shops and restaurants have plenty of options for appealing food and merchandise; and opportunities for rides that are the things you would want to do if the world of the movie was real.

My wife loves the chocolate eggs at the How to Treat Your Dragon shop.

This land has the strongest attraction program of any of the lands in EU—three rides and a show—plus some wonderful animatronic dragons throughout the land.

I can only think of two downsides to this land: Large portions of it will never be shaded, because a significant fraction of the walkways cross water features. And the attraction names are somewhat interchangeable (I spent the entirety of my first day at the park confusing Dragon Racer's Rally and Hiccup's Wing Gliders, since the attraction where the rider controls dragon wings is not the attraction with the word "wing" in the name).

But those are some minor criticisms for sure. Isle of Berk is a very strong theme park land.

Dragon Racer’s Rally ★★★½

The first attraction one arrives at in Isle of Berk is Dragon Racers Rally, a Sky Flys-model spinning ride from Gerstlauer. This attraction allows guests to control the wings of their "training dragon" with the possibility of flipping upside down so that (we are told) sheep will be thrown into a pile as a training exercise.

It looks great and it is very fun to ride. Unfortunately, it is a little difficult to actually get it to go upside down. I am told that other Gerstlauer Sky Flys are much easier to invert. On one of the times I rode this ride, a seven-year-old in my party was quite disappointed that he was unable to flip upside down, despite working on it pretty hard. The most I've managed in a single ride is three inversions.

The cycle time is also pretty short. This is a fun ride that is definitely worth checking out if the line is 20 minutes or less (first thing in the morning or late in the evenings have both been kind to me).

Hiccup’s Wing Gliders ★★★★

If Curse of the Werewolf is a rollercoaster that fails to be a representation of it's thematic reference, Hiccup's Wing Gliders is just the opposite. The track layout swoops and dives exactly like the dragons do in the film. When the ride stalls out at the midpoint, it feels like the dragon you are riding needs to get a running start.

This is an exceptional family coaster. It does everything that Slinky Dog Dash over at Disney's Hollywood Studios does, but it does it better. The finale sequence from the second launch to the end is satisfying and thrilling. And the onboard audio makes everything seem so grand.

This is my favorite rollercoaster in EU.

The queue is a little sparse, and it has some unfortunate sightlines to the back side of Mead Hall. But these are minor concerns that do not take away anything from this fabulous ride.

Fyre Drill ★☆☆☆

I rode this ride under unusual circumstances, I am not as confident in my rating for this ride as I am with the other ones in this park.

I believe that Fyre Drill is only Universal attractions made since Hogwarts Express without individual restraints. This boat ride features a door to keep guests in the vehicle for the duration of the experience. And it makes me wish that other Universal attractions did the same.

Like Dragon Racer's Rally, this ride is also themed to a training exercise. Here, guests float past beautiful wooden carvings with fire targets on them. Guests can aim their water cannons at the targets and... on my ride through, nothing happened.

It is my understanding that the true aim of this ride is to get its passengers soaking wet. But when I rode it, I was literally the only person on the entire ride. So, when I rode it, the only part that got wet was my pants (the seat was wet when I sat down, I swear!)

It was kind of slow, and even if there were other people on it, I don't think I would actually enjoy getting wet on a ride like this.

I'm glad it's here, but it's not for me. And given the relative lack of interest, I feel as though it may be the weakest offering in the park.

The Untrainable Dragon ★★★½

When the show begins, live drummers on each side of the stage set an appropriate viking mood. After some dancing and less-than-memorable songs, some great dragon puppets come on stage and really impress. This show is more than just an opportunity to sit in the air conditioning.

But the real reason to see the show happens a little later. About ten minutes into the show, a dragon ridden by a live actor flies over the audience.

The moment when they emerge from the fog is one of the most impressive things in the entire theme park. Who cares that the songs aren't particularly good, and that the story is thin? That moment is just so amazing.

Mead Hall [restaurant] ★★★½

On one of the visits to this park over the summer, my party got too hot in the afternoon and needed to stop to cool down. So we went inside the Mead Hall in search of air conditioning.

After about twenty minutes (when our brains returned to normal temperature), we became able to appreciate our surroundings. The central seating area was beautiful and grand. After a little while longer, we ordered some food, and it was good!

Final Thoughts on Epic Universe

Before I wrap up this series, I had a couple other thoughts about the park.

The text inscriptions on the portals are better on the west side of the park:

"Here we go!" (Super Nintendo World) and "It's alive! It's alive!" (Dark Universe) are brief and iconic.

On the east side of the park, the inscriptions are "For in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own" (Wizarding World of Harry Potter) and "We, my friends, have dragons!" (Isle of Berk). These are either too wordy or have strange punctuation for an inscription.

Universal's new theme park is very impressive. Out of the eleven rides in the park^[1], I gave seven of them three or more stars. That probably puts the number of high quality rides at EU as high as Islands of Adventure and above the likes of Universal Studios Florida and Disney's Animal Kingdom.

EU is not perfect. But so much of the park delivers on its promise. For a new park to come out at the gate with such a strong roster of attractions is extremely impressive. And it appears to be paying off! Universal has been able to fill the park without inviting annual passholders to pad their numbers.

Can you imagine what the per capita spending numbers must be for this place?

I hope Universal continues to invest in their parks with high quality attractions. Universal managed to get out of whatever funk was producing the likes of Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon and Fast & Furious Supercharged.

When it became clear that Universal was considering the possibility of building a third theme park in Orlando way back in 2015^[2], it was hard for this theme park fan to not be excited. But this park exceeded my expectations. And I think it will continue to influence theme park design for years to come.

Notes

Rides are defined as attractions in which the guest is physically moved via mechanical means throughout the experience.↩

It wasn't immediately clear that Universal was the entity purchasing land in the area that became Epic Universe until Universal started mounting opposition to the Skyplex that year.↩

Series Directory

Review of Epic Universe Part 1: South Campus, Terra Luna, and Main Entry

Review of Epic Universe Part 2: Celestial Park

Review of Epic Universe Part 3: Super Nintendo World

Review of Epic Universe Part 4: Dark Universe

Review of Epic Universe Part 5: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic

Review of Epic Universe Part 6: How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk

I would like to start this review with a well known parable as old as time itself:

There was once a literary and film franchise that was beloved by everyone, for it was the Holy Texts. And so it is written, the Righeous Executive of a theme park in the Kingdom of Swamplandia bought the rights to make a theme park land based on the Holy Texts for many gold coins.

After many years and hard work by the Wisest in the Land, the theme park land opened and specialty beverages poured liberally from every restaurant to the eager mouths of the people.

And it was good.

The Righteous Executive surveyed their work and decreed that the theme park in the Kingdom of Swamplandia would not be the only place to have this theme park land based on the Holy Texts, so they made a copy of the theme park land across the sea.

And because the love for the Holy Texts was found in the hearts of everyone everywhere, it too was beloved. And the Righteous Executives smiled, for they were bringing joy to the hearts of the people.

Because one was good and two was better, the Righteous Executives decreed that not one, but two more theme park lands would be built from the Holy Texts.

One would go at the theme park on the top of Mount Oluwood, and the other in their second theme park in the the Kingdom of Swamplandia.

And as it was written, so it was that the park on the top of Mount Oluwood would get the same theme park land that was originally built in the Kingdom of Swamplandia and was copied across the sea.

But in a stroke of genius, the Righteous Executive decreed that the other theme park in the Kingdom of Swamplandia would be something new. It would be based on the other part of the Holy Texts that everyone knew and wanted to see.

After many years and hard work, and many gold coins spent, the theme park land opened. And lo, it is written that it was bigger and more impressive than the ones that came before. And as it is written, the specialty beverages poured liberally from every restaurant to the eager mouths of the people.

And it was good.

The Righteous Executive came to believe that the theme park lands based on the Holy Texts were the key to their success. So when it came down from on high that a new theme park would be built in the Kingdom of Swamplandia, the Righteous Executives knew exactly what to do.

For at this time, the Prophet of the Holy Texts had received wisdom to create some New Holy Texts. These New Holy Texts included new places and things that surely would be as beloved as the places in the original theme park lands.

So the Righteous Executive decreed that the New Holy Texts would be a part of the new theme park. And the Wisest in the Land set about making it so for more gold coins than any of the lands before it.

But the Prophet made a mistake. The New Holy Texts were not universally loved, for they were not very good. What started as five new texts became three. And nobody's hearts were enchanted by the wisdom in these New Holy Texts.

But it was too late!

The Righteous Executive had already committed to building the land from the New Holy Texts. But a ride in the New Holy Texts would not bring joy to the people. So instead, the ride would need to be from the old Holy Texts.

But how?

* * *

Many years later, on the eve of the coronation of the new theme park, the Righteous Executive lay awake in bed, wondering if his solution would save the day.

How do you bring the people from the land of the New Holy Texts to the land of the old Holy Texts? A bead of sweat formed on his brow.

The solution was time travel.

And the new park opened.

And it was good.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic ★★★½

I've never met anyone who thinks the 2016 film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is great. But a lot of people liked it well enough. And the film included the wizarding version of 1920s Paris, which is certainly a compelling location for a theme park land.

So despite the tepid source material, as a location to spend time in, EU's Wizarding World of Harry Potter is pretty wonderful.

In my opinion, a perfect theme park land is a distinctive setting where people want to go, a location where appealing stores and restaurants would feel at home, and a base for rides that people want to ride.

Two out of three isn't bad!

So what if the headliner attraction is located over 200 miles and 70 years away?

The Harry Potter universe includes all the tools you need to solve this problem: the Floo Network can transport you instantly to London, and the Time Turner can bring you forward ~70 years to the timeline people actually care about! Slap a time turner motif on the portal into the land and Bob's your uncle!

This land is beautiful. It is grand. It is shaded. The restaurants are good. The stores are interesting. What's not to love?

On the other hand, will any future rides also need to use the Floo Network and a time turner?

Le Cirque Arcanus ★★★☆

Le Cirque Arcanus is probably the only in-universe story that anyone would have any interest in seeing that is set in 1920s Paris from the Harry Potter franchise.

The show has some really impressive effects, including an amazing set transformation midway through the show and some excellent puppets and costumed characters.

I have some reservations about the plot of the show. Why exactly is the circus guy bad? Is that just something from the movie I forgot about?

Surely, the creatures who live in the enchanted briefcase would return to the briefcase between shows. That would be a much better way to transport them than the old circus train system he previously used. So when Newt Scamander saves the day at the end, it was not clear to me why this was better for the animals than the alternative.

I also think the circus stuff in the first half of the show is a little strange. Are the other performers supposed to be magical? Is the aerialist performing with the broom supposed to be riding it? The way she moves in relation to the broom does not look like the broom is the source of her flight. In the universe of the show, is she just flying around the broom using magic unrelated to the broom? Or is she on wires in the world of the show too?

But overall, I find the show to be charming and definitely worth seeing at a day in EU.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ★★★½

Ok, so now that we've used the Floo Network and the Time Turner to get to magical London in 1998, was it worth it?

Yeah. It's worth it.

The Ministry of Magic queue area is very good. And with the ride operating reasonably reliably, the queue actually moves at a decent pace.

The ride vehicles are beautiful, although the placement of the two doors makes loading unintuitive. The doors are located about 1/3 of the way from the edge of the vehicle on each side. If they were placed at the edges of the ride vehicle, guests could file into the vehicle with single file lines. And I bet the process would be much less complicated.

Even after three rides, I am not entirely sure where I was supposed to sit based on my number. I was with a large enough group each time that it didn't matter. But it's got to be difficult for non-English speakers.

The ride itself has some amazing sequences with incredible scale. And the animatronics are very good. The projections and video walls are extremely crisp.

But some of the scenes where Harry Potter's elevator is in front of you are strange: on each side of the elevator, there are projections, but the space above and below the elevator is just a black void. For something with otherwise quite good sight lines, it looks impressionistic in an otherwise lifelike world.

The ride works, and although it doesn't quite reach the perfection of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, it is certainly a solid offering.