Universal Orlando Resort has shared a first look at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic land at Epic Universe, their third theme park in Florida that opens in 2025. This sneak peek shares concept art & info about rides, restaurants, retail and everything else in the upcoming Paris-meets-London, Fantastic Beasts-meets-Harry Potter area of the park.
Epic Universe is Universal Orlando Resort’s third theme park, just down the road from Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, as well as Volcano Bay Water Park. Once fully built out, the new theme park campus would essentially double Universal Orlando Resort’s existing footprint. It won’t be that big in 2025–that build out is years, if not decades, down the road.
Epic Universe will transport guests to expansive worlds featuring more than 50 experiences that include attractions, entertainment, dining and shopping to create an unforgettable adventure located at Universal Orlando Resort. For a big picture overview of the entire park, see our Universal’s Epic Universe Preview, which unveiled all of the lands and much more. Against that backdrop, let’s introduce the last land at Epic Universe: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic…
Your introduction to this new world comes in the form of a structure you spot from beautiful Celestial Park (the hub of Universal Epic Universe). You’ve been wandering through its astral-themed gardens when you notice a towering hand unmistakably holding a wand…this must be the portal you’ve been seeking.
Upon entering, it’s immediately clear you’re in a new place and time. Pass under the Phoenix Arch and you’ll find yourself in Place Cachée, a pocket of Paris catering to the witches and wizards of the 1920s! The bustling stone streets ahead are lined with shops, cafés and a series of banners advertising Le Cirque Arcanus — all beckoning you for a visit.
Here’s a video from Universal Orlando introducing the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic:
“It’s really a new look for the wizarding world,” explains Scott Verble, executive producer for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. “This is a more refined, Parisian take.”
To construct this full-scale thoroughfare, the team took inspiration directly from the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise and even visited the sets of the second film installment, “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” “We worked with the production designers of the films,” Scott continues. “For a film you’re designing for specific shots, but within a theme park — we have to be sure that it’s designed for any shot.”
Immersion truly is the name of the game. Scott and his team have been tirelessly working to make sure everything guests feel, see, taste and even hear is congruent not only with 1920s Paris, but with the experience of a witch or wizard. “We’ve recorded these little vignettes and stories to kind of populate our French city with French wizarding people. So if you’re stopping by a storefront, you might overhear the storekeeper talking to clients or you might overhear some gossip.”
Let’s take a look at everything the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic has to offer…
Le Cirque Arcanus Stage Show
You follow the banners to this first-of-its-kind live show, of course! Once the premiere showcase of magical creatures from around the globe, Le Cirque Arcanus has fallen out of favor. Ringmaster Skender seeks a reinstitution of the glory days, having finally accomplished his quest to obtain magizoologist Newt Scamander’s famed suitcase filled with the beings who would go on to inspire a seminal wizarding text (and required for Hogwarts students in Harry’s first year), “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
Walking into the theater, you instantly recognize that this show has no metaphorical fourth wall. You are a member of the wizarding community just like the people — and yes, beasts — who will soon populate the stage.
Universal Creative asked itself how to bring the guests to that circus and put on a spectacular production in a way that makes it feel like it’s real and happening in front of you? The answer includes a combination of live performers, puppets and special effects. The resulting production utilizes a variety of ‘invisible’ technology, including mixed media, physical props, and a combination of the two.
Fans of the franchise will recognize familiar faces: a Demiguise, Zouwu, Kelpie, Mooncalves, and even Scamander himself are all scheduled to appear. But the audience will also be endeared to a new character: protagonist Gwenlyn, a squib and assistant to Skender.
Ministry of Magic Character Interactions
The characters of the wizarding world aren’t contained to its shows and attractions. You might bump into fascinating witches and wizards on the streets. The entertainment program at Universal Epic Universe has been elevated across the board in terms of innovation, technology and diversity.
Magical creatures will have found their way into shop windows, nooks and crannies, ready to interact. Overall, the world contains some of the smallest animated figures Universal Creative has ever developed, as well as some of the largest.
Ministry of Magic Environmental Interactions
One of the wizarding world’s most charming qualities is the breadth of its vitality. The fact that inanimate objects seemingly come to life in the edges of nearly every frame never ceases to delight. That will be the case in Universal Epic Universe, as well.
For the first time, you will be able to speak to various talking portraits and receive real, personalized replies. And you’ll be able to sharpen your spell-casting skills with amazing new interactive wand experiences as you explore the streets of wizarding Paris, interacting with fantastic beasts and revealing hidden surprises.
Café L’air De La Sirène Restaurant
One of the more refined dining options, Café L’air De La Sirène will serve French-inspired cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The interior will be a feat of architecture, adorned with carved marble and art nouveau mosaics featuring stunning period interpretations of witches and wizards. Even the ceiling detail features thoughtful design of flora and fauna from the wizarding world. Improbably towering displays of croquembouches provide a glimpse of dessert while you dine on baked goods, sandwiches and plats du jour.
With two distinct outdoor seating areas, you can also get the full Parisian street café experience, which should be atmospheric for both dining guests and passers-by.
More Ministry of Magic Dining
Bièraubeurre Cart – No visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is complete without Butterbeer! Guests can stop by the Bièraubeurre cart during their visit to Place Cachée for a frosty, delicious mug of the fan-favorite beverage.
Bar Moonshine – American witches and wizards can enjoy a taste of home at Bar Moonshine, where they’ll find exclusive beers, wines and cocktails served amid U.S. Quidditch team pennants and other items of wizarding Americana.
Le Gobelet Noir – In the shadowy corners of Place Cachée is a mysterious timeworn auberge, where international Dark witches and wizards gather to escape the prying eyes of the Paris Ministry and have a hearty meal over hushed conversation. Menu offerings include starters such as soups and salads as well as a variety of entrées and desserts.
Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magiques Shopping
In Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magiques, you’ll find delicately crafted, exquisite wands designed by Acajor herself. You may be used to the haphazardly teetering piles at Ollivanders Wand Shop, but Acajor’s establishment has a more refined interior befitting of her own elegance.
Specializing in different wand cores than her British wand master counterparts, she considers her wands works of art and only sells product of the highest standard. Ornate wand arrangements seem to hover in the air, forming a centerpiece above the displays where her signature triangular packages are neatly stacked.
A quick note for Ollivanders fans: while Acajor’s exclusive line is the main feature here, you will also find plenty of British wand imports.
Entering the British Ministry of Magic
Experiencing the 1920s has been a dream, but it’s past time we caught up with some old friends, isn’t it? Let’s head into the Paris Métro-Floo station and travel to 1990s London.
Once inside, take in your Art Nouveau surroundings and follow the signs down hallways lined with white tile before you’re directed to step into a large Métro-Floo fireplace before you are engulfed in magical green flames. You will emerge at your destination and see that you’re no longer in Paris. A familiar and breathtaking grand atrium greets you and you know your journey has been a success.
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Ride
Much like with Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, the queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry will be an attraction unto itself. “When the guests walk into the Ministry for the first time, that sense of scale is established, and that scale is consistently held through the entire experience,” Scott illustrates.
Both the queue and attraction spaces for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry are covered by tiles. The Métro-Floo alone has over 80,000 subway tiles and the British Ministry of Magic spaces have over 125,000 of the iconic Ministry tiles in five colors!
The setup for the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is that shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts, order has been restored in the Ministry of Magic and Lord Voldemort’s followers are being held accountable for their crimes. One such accused is none other than Umbridge herself, and guests are here for the crucial day of her trial.
Upon arrival, guests will enter the Ministry’s jaw-dropping grand atrium and venture through other departments before boarding magical, omnidirectional lifts to watch the trial take place…until Umbridge attempts to escape. Guests then join Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and a house-elf named Higgledy in a thrilling chase that will propel them up, down, forward, backward, sideways and more throughout the Ministry as they try to capture Umbridge – all while dodging attacks from Death Eaters, rampaging creatures and more along the way.
Turning to commentary, I am admittedly the wrong person to offer thoughts when it comes to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. As previously mentioned, I’m beyond excited for Dark Universe because I was one of the couple dozen people hyped for Universal’s abandoned Dark Universe cinematic universe. Ditto Super Nintendo World, as I’m a big fan of the video games–even if we’ve already done the versions of the lands in Hollywood and Japan. I’m even looking forward to How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk despite never having seen the movies–because dragons and vikings are universal.
But I’m completely out of my element when it comes to Harry Potter, and there’s no faking it. Without Googling anything, I’m pretty sure this land itself revolves around the spin-off movies with Eddie Redmayne and Johnny Depp (until he became persona non grata). I saw about 20 minutes of the first Fantastic Beasts on an airplane once before falling asleep. Seemed fine.
When it comes to anything Harry Potter, my concessions of ignorance are always met with its many fans imploring me to read, watch, or play (there was a video game last year that a few friends loved). Please don’t do that. I’ve tried. I was born too early and missed the Harry Potter hype train, and I’ve come to terms with that. I can very much appreciate that others love it, and am not trying to deny there’s something special about Harry Potter.
To the contrary, I know that there must be. A legion of diehard fans who are this passionate about something doesn’t happen by accident or dumb luck. (It’s so played out to be dismissive of a fandom you don’t understand, pretending like they are the odd ones–I hate when critics do that to Disney, and I wouldn’t do it to another group.)
When it comes to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I long ago learned that I’m just along for the ride. I have absolutely no idea what’s going on, backstory-wise, in these lands. I still love them. You’ve got dragons and magic and owls and London…what’s not to love? I know others get so much more out of them, but I still find these to be among the most compelling theme park lands on the planet.
I also think that Diagon Alley iterated on and improved on the concept that debuted in Hogsmeade nicely, somehow surpassing its predecessor with the more iconic location. I have high hopes that’ll once again be true with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic despite my perception (misconception?) that it’s using the “table scraps” of the movie IP. I think what really matters is what Universal Creative has learned in the years since Diagon Alley, how they put that expertise to use, and how well the land is budgeted.
Even if the movies and characters aren’t as good, it doesn’t actually matter. Both Disney and Universal have proven time and time again that they can create compelling lands and attractions with unpopular or unknown intellectual property (or even none at all–imagine that!). Pandora is not a brilliant land because of Avatar, etc.
In this case, I think the Ministry of Magic land looks like it’ll be beautiful thanks because it uses 1920s Paris and a circus of mythical creatures (really hope there are griffins!), and not necessarily because of the Fantastic Beasts or Harry Potter. Fans of those franchises will get more out of it, sure, but Paris is a pretty iconic setting in its own right. Like dragons and vikings, Parisian architecture, magic and mythical creatures are fairly universal and have their own appeal irrespective of intellectual property.
Turning to the substance of the land, I love the way Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic looks. There’s a certain je ne sais quoi about Paris–a magic, if you will. You might’ve seen the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics; if so, you already know this. (If not, I’d recommend Midnight in Paris, a great movie set in 1920s Paris.) I’d hazard a guess that’s heightened in the 1920s and with the Fantastic Beasts franchise literally revolving around magic.
The atmosphere comes through even in the concept art–I have high hopes that Universal Creative will nail it. The only “problem” that I can think of is that I’ll want to spend time after dark in both Dark Universe and Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic…and it’ll be tough to choose which to do. (Safe to say that a land based on the City of Lights will look better at night.)
Even after reading the description of Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, I’m still not sure what to expect…but I’m excited for it. The concept art reminds me of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey meets Tower of Terror, which sounds awesome to me. None of the Harry Potter rides have ever let me down, and I assume this will be no different.
Just the setup of a Paris Métro station sounds amazing, and I’m a sucker for anything involving trials. This should be awesome. The Ministry of Magic ride wasn’t even on my radar before–probably should’ve been–but now it’s right behind Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment as my most-anticipated attraction in Epic Universe.
Yet again, the bottom line is that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic is yet another land reveal at Epic Universe that looks fantastic–so far, Universal Creative is batting 1.000 with these reveals, and although I still think Dark Universe looks like the land to beat, these have somehow gotten progressively better.
It’s like Universal was saving the best two for last, and then put Ministry of Magic in the final spot not because it’s necessarily #1 (although maybe it is!), but because of synergy with the Paris Summer Olympics. Either way, if Disney wasn’t ‘losing sleep’ over Epic Universe before…maybe that’s changed at least a little bit since the reveals of Dark Universe and Ministry of Magic? Epic Universe could very well open with a better set of headliners than Shanghai Disneyland, which is really saying something.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic? Impressed by the ride, stage show, restaurants, interactivity, etc. in this Epic Universe land reveal? Thoughts on the look and atmosphere of 1920s Paris? Excited most for Super Nintendo World, Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe/Classic Monsters, or the How to Train Your Dragon lands and/or attractions? Think Epic Universe will be a third gate that’s a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort…and potentially on par with Disney’s best lands? Expect Disney to “respond” with a big announcement of its own at the 2024 D23 Expo? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
