2024 has been a big year for new theme park attractions with everything from Universal Orlando’s new Dreamworks Land to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. However, 2025 is going to be even bigger as we’re getting entirely new theme parks for the first time in years, and the biggest of them is Epic Universe which will include an all-new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Everything we know about Epic Universe makes the park look amazing, but the new Harry Potter area may be among the most impressive. The marquee attraction of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic land will be a state-of-the-art new attraction called Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. Today Universal Orlando showed off a first look at elements of the queue, as well as a look at the ride vehicles, which have a lot of people apparently concerned as they seem to indicate the type of ride we’re getting.
Fans Think Harry Potter And The Battle At The Ministry Of Magic Could Be A Drop Ride
Scrolling through the Instagram post which includes a look at various parts of the queue as well as the ride vehicle you’ll see a couple of different types of comments. Many are drooling over what they see, because, and they are not wrong, the images of the attraction look incredible. However, others are more than a little wary, because the image of the ride vehicle (seen above) makes it look like an elevator car with seats, something akin to Disney World’s Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Comments include…
- Bro it better not be a drop ride
- Def a drop tower ride 🥹
- as long as it’s not like tower of terror 😂
- Getting tower of terror vibes 🤭
There are a couple of reasons why people might be less than excited about the new Harry Potter attraction, which I still think may see the Harry Potter cast reunite, being little more than a drop tower. One is that a lot of people, even those who like other thrill rides, have issues with drop towers, and thus won’t ride them. The other reason is that a drop tower, even one with additional storytelling elements, may be seen as too simple a ride for what is being presented as an E-ticket attraction, and thus is not as impressive as they hoped this ride would be.
Those are fair criticisms, but I think they're unfounded. There’s a lot more going on here than a drop ride, quite literally.
Battle At The Ministry Looks Like A Lot More Than A Drop Ride
The connection to an attraction like Tower of Terror is obvious considering that the ride vehicle in this image looks mostly enclosed, like a service elevator, although the seating looks a lot more comfortable. However, there does seem to be a lot more going on here.
Universal calls the ride vehicle “Omnidirectional Lifts.” The name alone clearly indicates they’ll be moving more than simply up and down like a simple drop tower. This could mean the attraction is something like the Disney Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror, which has two drop shafts that the ride vehicle moves between, but I’m pretty sure we’re getting more than that too.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is more than 30 years old and we’ve seen a lot of advancements in ride technology, specifically in trackless dark rides, in that time. This is where I suspect that Battle At The Ministry of Magic will separate itself from what has come before.
Concept art, as seen above, shows the ride vehicle moving likely horizontally while also at an angle to the action. While concept art should always be suspect, this is not being presented as a simple drop tower. This seems more like a dark ride on par with Rise of the Resistance, one that simply uses an elevator as its ride vehicle because the Ministry of Magic has elevators.
That’s not to say that Battle At The Ministry won’t have drop elements, or at least elements that feel like drops. However, I would expect an experience that feels more like Rise of the Resistance, where the ride vehicle propels you through a story and occasionally gives you the sensation of falling the way Rise does during the First Order escape at the end.
I for one cannot wait until next May when Epic Universe finally opens. This park looks to be pushing the envelope in every conceivable way. The new Wizarding World of Harry Potter looks quite exciting.
