I’ve been champing at the bit to get eyeballs on the upcoming Epic Universe, slated to open at Universal Orlando next May. While the theme park has done a great job of whetting my appetite with concept art and fun social content, not to mention the sweet to-scale model at Universal’s CityWalk, there are still so many questions I have about what’s coming. Many of those won’t be answered until the park opens – or possibly even later down the line – but the one I’ve been mulling has had to do with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic in particular.
Or rather, it has to do with transportation between parks and what fans have been saying about the Hogwarts Express.
Will The Hogwarts Express Go To Epic Universe?
If you’ve been to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, one of the best attractions is the Hogwarts Express, which allows visitors with a two-park ticket to shift between parks using a train rather than hoofing it through CityWalk. It’s fun, it’s superbly themed, it’s air-conditioned, it’s (typically) quick, and the whole experience is relaxing to boot.
Epic Universe, on the other hand, will be unlikely to ever connect to the Hogwarts Express. Not only is the theming – at the British Ministry of Magic – different, but also if you’ve been on the Hogwarts Express you know it hops between King’s Cross and Hogsmeade in the parks on one track rather than a loop, going front to back then back to front. Adding an additional stop would likely be implausible, particularly given where Epic Universe is situated.
One Other Big Difference About Epic Universe
In the video for the Fantastic Beasts-themed Ministry of Magic area of Epic Universe, fans did get to see a look at the floo network we’ve heard so much about in J.K. Rowlings’ novels and that will allow parkgoers to “travel” from London to Paris as part of the new Harry Potter attraction. I’d heard some wonder if that might be a way to connect between Epic Universe and the two other parks in some way or fashion.
The problem with this is that the new park will not be connected in the same ways as the other two parks. In fact, it’s on the other side of the Universal campus, with estimates putting it 10-15 minutes away from CityWalk. Both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios are connected by the walkable shopping and dining area, but the new park simply won’t.
It’s probable the theme park will just stick to buses, which already connect the parks to myriad excellent Loews hotels on property, in which case some fans have called out doing something like the Potter-centric Knight bus as an option for transport. (Though Universal already has its own buses.) I’ve seen some fans on Reddit and other places imagining other transportation that could be cool, like connecting the parks via a new train that could be Nintendo themed (another element of Epic Universe) such as they did for Super Nintendo World in Japan.
All are great ideas, but doubtless will not be happening by the time Epic Universe opens on May 22, 2025. Ultimately, there’s been a lot of speculation about The Battle at the Ministry of Magic and other stuff coming to Epic Universe, and while I would love for the new park to somehow magically connect to the others, there’s been no indication it will happen right away, though things could always change longterm.
