We are always eager to hear any news regarding the plans for the highly anticipated Epic Universe which is scheduled to open ready for summer 2025. This week, Screamscape has posted a detailed update of what we are likely to be able to experience from the third Wizarding World and its headline attraction based on the Ministry of Magic.
The Wizarding World at Epic Universe will be called “Place Cachée” which translates to “Hidden Place” and will be a french version of Diagon Alley which was briefly seen in the second Fantastic Beasts film. This may come as a surprise to many Harry Potter fans but makes sense for Universal as it opens up the possibility for a whole host of new merchandise and food offerings. Interactive wands will unsurprisingly be a major feature and alongside this Universal is rumored to be planning a major upgrade to the technology for interactive wands enabling further functions.
The planned VR broomstick ride which was originally intended as the secondary attraction for Epic Universe was canceled due to the realisation that it wasn’t going to cut it in terms of quality. It is now thought that there is scope for a new secondary attraction at a later stage and the land is likely to also house a show theater of some sort.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT
Here is a summary of what has been rumored for the main attraction which is thought to be called “The Battle for the Ministry of Magic”. Guests will enter through a giant public Floo Network station and into a large room full of fire places where you will be transported back to the Ministry of Magic to see the end of the trial of Dolores Umbridge. The attraction takes place after the end of Deathly Hallows Part 3 and before the events of The Cursed Child.
This area will be full of special effects and guests will then move to the queue area for the ride, heading through the iconic Ministry rotunda including the statue and then traveling through many hallways of the Ministry of Magic while heading past various departments including the office of Aurors (highly trained enforcement arm of Wizarding World).
Guests board the ride vehicles at the magical elevators which are described as using an updated Spider-Man style ride system with will add “heave” movement to the platform. This is vertical up and down movement which can produce lift and dropping sensations. The loading station is said to include a duel loading system like Revenge of the Mummy and Escape from Gringotts.
Guests are taken quickly to courtroom where Death eaters arrive to try to free Delores but do not fear as Harry, Ron and Hermione are quickly on hand to try to stop Delores escaping and getting her hands on a time travel device to enable her to open up a portal to bring back the dark days when Voldermort was all powerful to take over the Wizarding World.
We can expect special effects in abundance and the ride will include a combination of real-life animatronics and projections as guests travel further into the Ministry of Magic. It is rumored that Universal will use animatronic figures which have fully projection mapped faces and fluid human movements. It seems like Universal will be raising the bar with the animatronic offerings for this attraction.
At the end of the ride guests will exit through the gift shop and then transport back through the Floo Network to 20th Century Paris. In a recent aerial photo from bioreconstruct you can see the show building of the Ministry of Magic which is embedded below.
Aerial look at show building of Ministry of Magic. Zoom in, the recently added steel frame in front has an unusual and interesting shape. Possibly the attraction entrance to be at the 45-degree angled side.
In Epic Universe. pic.twitter.com/NuWuC8WdCj— bioreconstruct (@bioreconstruct) September 16, 2022
Although all the details have not been confirmed just yet we are certainly starting to build up a clearer picture of what guests will be able to expect from this highly anticipated attraction at Epic Universe. We will update you with further details regarding the Ministry of Magic and all things Epic Universe on our news and Facebook page.
