Latest news with #TheWizardingWorldofHarryPotter:MinistryofMagic
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Major airline reveals more flights and holidays to theme-park capital of the world from Scotland
More Scots will be able to jet off direct thanks to an added 5,000 seats ORLAND-GO Major airline reveals more flights and holidays to theme-park capital of the world from Scotland Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) SCOTS looking to go on the holiday of a lifetime to the theme-park capital of the world are welcoming news that there will be more direct flights next year. Virgin Atlantic have announced they are extending their summer seasonal route from Edinburgh and Orlando for 2026. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 DOWNTOWN SKYLINE LAKE EOLA PARK ORLANDO Credit: Alamy 5 Virgin will increase its flights from Edinburgh to Orlando for summer 2026 Credit: Alamy The award-wining airline is adding an additional twelve return flights to Florida – the equivalent of almost 5,000 seats. Next summer Virgin will fly between the two cities up to three times a week from April to the end of October, instead of the two weekly services this summer. It further marks growth for Virgin Atlantic at Edinburgh Airport, its home in Scotland. And it comes just as Orlando's first new theme park in a quarter of a century Epic Universe opened at Universal Orlando resort. Universal's incredible new Epic Universe is home to five brand new hyper-immersive worlds themed on legendary franchises with rides, shows, and experiences. It features The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk, Dark Universe, and Celestial Park. The new Universal Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel, is right next door and features its own private entrance to the park. 5 Epic Universe's Nintendo world Credit: Supplied 5 The Stardust Racers dual-launch coaster at Universal's new Epic Universe theme park in Orlando, Credit: EPA 5 Epic Universe and the new Helios hotel Credit: Supplied Holidaymakers can also visit Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure, Universal Volcano Bay, Walt Disney World Resort, Legoland, Peppa Pig world and Seaworld and much, much more. Orlando has hundreds of hotels to choose from as well as thousands of villas, houses and condos. Gordon Dewar, Chief Executive of Edinburgh Airport said: 'We know Orlando is a bit of a bucket-list destination, so this is fantastic news for families in Scotland who have long wanted to experience everything Florida has to offer. I was one of the first people in the world to visit Universal's new mega theme park – one attraction took my breath away 'The additional frequencies offer more options to our passengers and makes it even easier to leave Edinburgh in the morning and be arguing with your family in a Florida rental car by dinner time! 'We're excited to see Virgin Atlantic grows its presence at Edinburgh Airport and is another show of confidence in the market and its home in Scotland.' Juha Jarvinen, Chief Commercial Officer, Virgin Atlantic, commented: 'Orlando has long been one of Virgin Atlantic's top destinations, with thousands of Brits flocking to Florida every year for the warming climates and thrilling attractions, including the recent opening of Epic Universe. 'I'm delighted that our Scottish guests can soak up even more of the action with the extension of our Orlando flying programme this summer.' Currently Virgin fly to Orlando on Wednesdays at 2.30pm and Saturdays at 1.05pm. Return flights leave Orlando on Wednesday;s at 8.50pm and at 7.35pm on Saturdays. The new flights will take off on Thursdays from June 4-July 9 and September 17-October 22 in 2026 at 3.35pm, returning from Orlando at 10.20pm, arriving back into Edinburgh at 11.25am the next day.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Epic Universe — Universal Orlando's newest theme park — opens this week. From rides to restaurants, here's what you can expect from the five new 'worlds.'
Universal Orlando is unveiling its first major amusement park in over 20 years. Known as Epic Universe, the new theme park opens to the public on May 22 and will allow guests to explore five distinct worlds that are each inspired by renowned franchises. Celestial Park, a world dedicated to the heavens, stars and constellations, serves as a gateway to the four other worlds: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. Universal's Epic Universe is the latest amusement park to join the Universal Orlando Resort's multiverse. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, followed by Universal Islands of Adventure in 1999. Construction for Epic Universe began in 2019, was paused in mid-2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and resumed in early 2021. The park took an estimated eight years and $7 billion to build. Here's what visitors can expect from each of Epic Universe's five worlds. Recognized as the central hub of Epic Universe, Celestial Park is filled with astrology-based motifs. Offering an in-depth exploration of constellations, stars and the heavens, the park connects the other four worlds together — and features its own two attractions. Constellation Carousel gives guests the opportunity to 'ride the constellations' themselves. The ceiling of the ride is a Star Tracker that features rotating celestial star patterns. Stardust Racers, the other ride in this world, is a dual-launch roller coaster that races across the cosmos. Guests board 'a comet' and travel at speeds reaching up to 62 mph along twin tracks that intersect and invert around each other. Celestial Park also features a nightly light and water show at the Cosmos Fountain, celebrating each of the five worlds. Dining options include Atlantic, an 'undersea' restaurant with glass walls that resembles a large Victorian aquarium. Filled with shops, restaurants and streets reminiscent of 1920s Paris, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic invites fans of the franchise to immerse themselves in the magical Parisian atmosphere of the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise. After encountering fantastic beasts, guests can then travel from Paris to the British Ministry of Magic in the 1990s via the Métro-Floo, to witness the trial of Dolores Umbridge. On the ride, known as Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, fans will embark on adventures with Harry, Ron and Hermione and will journey deep within the ministry's departments. 'This ride is an industry game changer,' one TikToker said. 'The scale of this ride will have your jaw on the floor from the moment you enter.' The Ministry of Magic, complete with its golden statues and stately elevators, is covered in more than 125,000 subway tiles in five colors. One Harry Potter fan revealed on TikTok that she waited over five hours to get on the ride. Guests can also devour some Paris-inspired eats at cafés like Café L'air De La Sirène, Le Gobelet Noir and Bar Moonshine. According to an early Epic Universe attendee, to enter Super Nintendo World guests must ride a green escalator, which will then lead them to two separate lands: Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong Country. Replete with mushrooms, pipes, coins and piranha plants, the vibrant scenery bears an uncanny resemblance to the whimsical, virtual landscape on which it's based. 'The way that it's built, you really can't see out of the area where you are,' a reporter told NPR upon visiting the park. 'It's like you're inside a game completely.' In Super Mario Land, guests can re-create the magic of Super Mario Kart by racing alongside their favorite franchise characters on Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, before taking a spin on Yoshi's Adventure to search for glowing eggs throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. With its tropical backdrop of majestic waterfalls and luscious foliage, guests are also welcome to ride Mine-Cart Madness, a roller coaster that careens through Donkey Kong Country and seemingly soars from one 'broken' track to another. To power up before venturing into another world, park attendees can visit Toadstool Cafe for burgers, soups, salads and desserts made by the one and only Chef Toad. Boasted by Universal Orlando as having 'fire-breathing fun' for all ages, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk immerses guests in the astounding village of Berk, where Vikings and dragons coexist with one another. Bringing the fictional world of How to Train Your Dragon to life, Isle of Berk features 30 animated and static dragons, representing 17 disparate dragon species from across the globe. 'It was important to have an even distribution of eye candy, so the dragons are tiered from complicated to simple to static,' Katy Pacitti, an executive producer of the Isle of Berk world, told Attractions Magazine. For some Epic Universe attendees who've yet to watch the How to Train Your Dragon films, the world's 'level of detail' has piqued their interest. Attractions here include the show The Untrainable Dragon, where a 1,100-pound Toothless with a wingspan of nearly 27 feet soars above the audience, a roller coaster known as Hiccup's Wing Gliders, a dragon racing trainer ride called Dragon Racer's Rally and a competitive water adventure known as Fyre Drill. Guests also have the option to eat like a Viking at Isle of Berk staples like Mead Hall, Spit Fyre Grill and Hooligan's Grog & Gruel. Dracula. Frankenstein's monster. The Bride of Frankenstein. The Invisible Man. A land made for 'the goths and horror freaks,' as one TikTok user put it, Universal's classic movie monsters roam free in Dark Universe's Village of Darkmoor. 'You are watching where the movies went. The land itself could be considered a sequel to the original films. We took everything from the original films and used that as the basis for all of the continued storytelling,' Patrick Braillard, a Universal Creative show writer, said at New York Comic Con. In addition to themed-dining experiences like Das Stakehaus, De Lacey's Cottage and the Burning Blade Tavern, where monster hunters hang out, guests can explore the catacombs that lie beneath Darkmoor by way of Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. The ride, which features some of Universal's 'most technically advanced animated figures' they've ever created, sees Dr. Victoria Frankenstein return to the Frankenstein Manor to continue her great-grandfather's ill-advised experiments. Dark Universe has also received praise for its subtle attention to narrative detail. Curse of the Werewolf, Dark Universe's second attraction, is a spinning roller coaster that ravages through a darkened forest at up to 37 mph, in an effort to escape from a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Epic Universe — Universal Orlando's newest theme park — opens this week. From rides to restaurants, here's what you can expect from the five new 'worlds.'
Universal Orlando is unveiling its first major amusement park in over 20 years. Known as Epic Universe, the new theme park opens to the public on May 22 and will allow guests to explore five distinct worlds that are each inspired by renowned franchises. Celestial Park, a world dedicated to the heavens, stars and constellations, serves as a gateway to the four other worlds: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk and Dark Universe. Universal's Epic Universe is the latest amusement park to join the Universal Orlando Resort's multiverse. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, followed by Universal Islands of Adventure in 1999. Construction for Epic Universe began in 2019, was paused in mid-2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and resumed in early 2021. The park took an estimated eight years and $7 billion to build. Here's what visitors can expect from each of Epic Universe's five worlds. Recognized as the central hub of Epic Universe, Celestial Park is filled with astrology-based motifs. Offering an in-depth exploration of constellations, stars and the heavens, the park connects the other four worlds together — and features its own two attractions. Constellation Carousel gives guests the opportunity to 'ride the constellations' themselves. The ceiling of the ride is a Star Tracker that features rotating celestial star patterns. Stardust Racers, the other ride in this world, is a dual-launch roller coaster that races across the cosmos. Guests board 'a comet' and travel at speeds reaching up to 62 mph along twin tracks that intersect and invert around each other. Celestial Park also features a nightly light and water show at the Cosmos Fountain, celebrating each of the five worlds. Dining options include Atlantic, an 'undersea' restaurant with glass walls that resembles a large Victorian aquarium. Filled with shops, restaurants and streets reminiscent of 1920s Paris, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic invites fans of the franchise to immerse themselves in the magical Parisian atmosphere of the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise. After encountering fantastic beasts, guests can then travel from Paris to the British Ministry of Magic in the 1990s via the Métro-Floo, to witness the trial of Dolores Umbridge. On the ride, known as Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, fans will embark on adventures with Harry, Ron and Hermione and will journey deep within the ministry's departments. 'This ride is an industry game changer,' one TikToker said. 'The scale of this ride will have your jaw on the floor from the moment you enter.' The Ministry of Magic, complete with its golden statues and stately elevators, is covered in more than 125,000 subway tiles in five colors. One Harry Potter fan revealed on TikTok that she waited over five hours to get on the ride. Guests can also devour some Paris-inspired eats at cafés like Café L'air De La Sirène, Le Gobelet Noir and Bar Moonshine. According to an early Epic Universe attendee, to enter Super Nintendo World guests must ride a green escalator, which will then lead them to two separate lands: Super Mario Land and Donkey Kong Country. Replete with mushrooms, pipes, coins and piranha plants, the vibrant scenery bears an uncanny resemblance to the whimsical, virtual landscape on which it's based. 'The way that it's built, you really can't see out of the area where you are,' a reporter told NPR upon visiting the park. 'It's like you're inside a game completely.' In Super Mario Land, guests can re-create the magic of Super Mario Kart by racing alongside their favorite franchise characters on Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, before taking a spin on Yoshi's Adventure to search for glowing eggs throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. With its tropical backdrop of majestic waterfalls and luscious foliage, guests are also welcome to ride Mine-Cart Madness, a roller coaster that careens through Donkey Kong Country and seemingly soars from one 'broken' track to another. To power up before venturing into another world, park attendees can visit Toadstool Cafe for burgers, soups, salads and desserts made by the one and only Chef Toad. Boasted by Universal Orlando as having 'fire-breathing fun' for all ages, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk immerses guests in the astounding village of Berk, where Vikings and dragons coexist with one another. Bringing the fictional world of How to Train Your Dragon to life, Isle of Berk features 30 animated and static dragons, representing 17 disparate dragon species from across the globe. 'It was important to have an even distribution of eye candy, so the dragons are tiered from complicated to simple to static,' Katy Pacitti, an executive producer of the Isle of Berk world, told Attractions Magazine. For some Epic Universe attendees who've yet to watch the How to Train Your Dragon films, the world's 'level of detail' has piqued their interest. Attractions here include the show The Untrainable Dragon, where a 1,100-pound Toothless with a wingspan of nearly 27 feet soars above the audience, a roller coaster known as Hiccup's Wing Gliders, a dragon racing trainer ride called Dragon Racer's Rally and a competitive water adventure known as Fyre Drill. Guests also have the option to eat like a Viking at Isle of Berk staples like Mead Hall, Spit Fyre Grill and Hooligan's Grog & Gruel. Dracula. Frankenstein's monster. The Bride of Frankenstein. The Invisible Man. A land made for 'the goths and horror freaks,' as one TikTok user put it, Universal's classic movie monsters roam free in Dark Universe's Village of Darkmoor. 'You are watching where the movies went. The land itself could be considered a sequel to the original films. We took everything from the original films and used that as the basis for all of the continued storytelling,' Patrick Braillard, a Universal Creative show writer, said at New York Comic Con. In addition to themed-dining experiences like Das Stakehaus, De Lacey's Cottage and the Burning Blade Tavern, where monster hunters hang out, guests can explore the catacombs that lie beneath Darkmoor by way of Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment. The ride, which features some of Universal's 'most technically advanced animated figures' they've ever created, sees Dr. Victoria Frankenstein return to the Frankenstein Manor to continue her great-grandfather's ill-advised experiments. Dark Universe has also received praise for its subtle attention to narrative detail. Curse of the Werewolf, Dark Universe's second attraction, is a spinning roller coaster that ravages through a darkened forest at up to 37 mph, in an effort to escape from a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves.
South China Morning Post
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Guide to Universal Epic Universe theme park in Florida, from rides and worlds to hotels
'It's alive! It's alive!' Advertisement That quote from the 1931 film adaptation of Frankenstein ushered in an era of classic monster films for the production company Universal Pictures. Now, almost 100 years later, it is helping Universal herald a new era of theme parks in the US state of Florida. Opening on May 22, Universal Epic Universe is the third theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort – fourth if you count Universal Volcano Bay water park – and the first major traditional park to open in the state since 1999's Universal Islands of Adventure. Located about 5 miles (8km) southeast of the existing Universal resort, the new complex includes Epic Universe , as well as three hotels. There is plenty of expansion space for future additions. In a media preview, five of Epic Universe's fantastic worlds – Celestial Park, Super Nintendo World, Dark Universe, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic and How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk – were open recently for exploration. Advertisement So, what can you expect to experience when the park officially opens? Here is an inside look.
