Universal’s Epic Universe has been the talk of the town since the new theme park opened to the public (okay, maybe even before that), and it’s easy to see why.

Epic Universe

Incredibly immersive theming, state-of-the-art attractions & animatronics, stellar food and drinks, and a whole lot more await you at this brand-new theme park. But, two of the most anticipated rides at Epic Universe have already undergone MAJOR changes.

Epic Universe is finally open to the public, and we’ve been doing our best to explore every bit of this new park so you’re prepared on your next visit. By now, we’ve become pretty familiar with the park itself, the food, the characters, the rides — you name it. And, because of that, we’ve already noticed that two of the most popular rides in the park have already changed.

Epic Universe

Over at Dark Universe, Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment seems to not be operating as it did during initial previews. In this ride, Dr. Victoria Frankenstein has captured the classic Universal monsters, and Dracula is her last target. The final Dracula animatronic in the ride used to drop down at you right before Victoria saves the day, pulling him back up into the ceiling.

Ride Vehicle

But now, he kind of just floats above you instead of dropping down and being pulled back up. It’s still an incredible animatronic that moves, but it’s just less impressive now. If you ask us, it’s probably just been put into “B Mode,” which is when an attraction operates in a backup mode different from its original.

Honestly, it kind of reminds us of what happened with the Yeti at Expedition Everest — it used to try to swipe at the ride vehicles going by, but that hasn’t happened for a while.

Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment

Another ride, Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, has also seen some changes. In this ride, you’ll follow Dolores Umbridge as she tries to escape on the day of her trial. The ride is known for its technological advancements, and its first big change came with the removal of its virtual line.

Virtual queue sign in Epic Universe

During park previews, Universal was using a virtual line system with three drops per day, which didn’t seem to work as consistently as fans hoped. Right before the official opening, the virtual line system was removed. While there are high wait times, at least everyone who wants to wait in those lines should be able to ride — assuming it’s functioning properly, which brings us to our next point.

Seats on Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

A huge drop has been removed from the ride! During our first handful of times riding Battle at the Ministry, there was a drop similar to Rise of the Resistance at Hollywood Studios, but now it’s gone. We’ve witnessed quite a bit of technical difficulty with this ride, and Team Members have begun giving safety rules about keeping your feet on the ground, due to sensors that can trigger the ride to stop.

It could be that the drop was causing riders to come out of their seats, which triggered these safety protocols, and stopping the attraction.

The wait time sign.

While we’re hopeful that these are just temporary issues that Universal will fix soon, we know that these are large, complicated ride systems that require lots of maintenance and care. With Epic Universe being so new, it’s a bummer to have these attractions in a less-than-fully operational state, so hopefully, these rides are fixed sooner rather than later!

It’s a popular ride

We’ll be on the lookout for more updates from Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to DFB for the latest theme park news!

Are you planning a trip to Epic Universe? Let us know in the comments.