‘I visited Orlando's newest theme park and one new thing blew everyone away'
Universal Orlando Resort's Epic Universe in Florida has opened its doors – with five new worlds to explore within – so naturally I went along to sample the magical delights
Universal Orlando Resort's newest theme park, Epic Universe, has changed the face of the landscape and what it means to enjoy a holiday full of thrills and spills.
The £7 billion theme park is an immersive, multisensory experience with storytelling at its core. The resort's fourth theme park and the first to open in 25 years, it invites guests to 'explore vibrant worlds filled with extraordinary adventures that go beyond their wildest imaginations" – and it really is magical.
With 50 awe-inspiring attractions,entertainment, dining and shopping experiences in its new park, the Universal parks make up a 700-acre resort space.
But it's not just the stunning scenery, experiences and rides that blew me away - my entire group were wowed by the culinary experiences inside the park. Forget burgers, hotdogs and popcorn - although readily available if you fancy - I dined on exquisite seafood from scallops to King Oysters at Atlantic and freshly made Dim Sum and Ramen noodles at The Blue Dragon, both in Celestial Park.
I also found the best purple pizza called Pizza Lunare in Pizza Moon, complete with an Ube crust - the chunks of roasted garlic were to die for - and melt-in-the-mouth beef brisket at The Oak & Star Tavern.
Let's explore the worlds a little closer for when you plan your first visit...
Celestial Park
Step through the Chronos – the impressive first portal tower and entrance to the park that when 'powered' will align to open up five magical portals for visitors to explore.
I first enjoyed Celestial Park – the cosmic heart of Epic Universe and so much more than just a starting point. Local 'Celestians' who inhabit here tend to the lush, tree-lined walkways and I found myself whisked into a whimsical world of greenery, tropical flowers, fountains and ponds.
Everything here is connected heavily to astrology, from the first sight of Luna, goddess of the moon, who oversees the night's luminescence by her Neptune Pools, to the far side of the park where Apollo, god of the sun, rests. Even the rides are well themed – I enjoyed a gentle sway on the Constellation Carousel and zipped at 62mph on Stardust Racers, a dual racing rollercoaster across 5,000ft of track, which is the park's top thrill ride for speed and height.
Celestial Park interweaves the other worlds and acts as a calming decompression from the extremities of themes and music in each world. Grab a cocktail at Bar Zenith, watch the fountain show and marvel in the sheer beauty.
MUST DO Visit North Star Wintry Wonders, an all-year Christmas store where it really snows outside – even under the hot Florida sun.
Dark Universe
The storytelling continues as you move through this spooky portal and into monstrous Darkmoor Village. It makes sense – Universal is the pioneer of horror, after all.
Dr Victoria Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein's great great-granddaughter, is the proud owner of this world's central focus – Frankenstein Manor – and she has captured all the monsters but she's having some trouble with Dracula. Ride Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment as you navigate the catacombs of the manor to 'help' Victoria (you won't help – but you will scream).
The ride's technology is phenomenal and the animatronics are creative masterpieces. Fear not, it's suitable for all ages.
Take time to explore the details. Look out for a little girl statue of Maria (a character from the 1931 Frankenstein film, who accidentally drowns), listen to sounds from beneath the vampire well and head to the Blazing Blade Tavern for a fiery sight to behold.
MUST DO Grab a bite to eat at Das Stakehouse. The theming is almost better than the food – and the food is delicious.
Super Nintendo World
Everything moves, spins, jumps and wobbles in Super Nintendo World. It's a gaming world for everyone – even the big kids who are young at heart.
Providing one of the coolest portals (the walkway into each world), I entered via a Super Mario Warp Pipe and arrived inside Princess Peach's Castle before exiting into a world of jaw-dropping colour and musical joy. Glistening golden coins, stomping Koombas, sliding 1-Up mushrooms and snapping Piranha Plants were everywhere as I looked across to Bowser's Castle.
This is where I gave Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge a go and my dismal points were made up for by the fun and laughter I had hurtling turtle shells and banana peels at my friends (virtually, of course – the race car game, where we're up against all the usual Super Mario bad guys, is played via a headset).
The character meet and greets here are sweet for youngsters – Toad is a rotund delight for toddlers, Mario and Luigi are cool for pre-teens and even the too-cool-for-school teenagers won't be able to resist Donkey Kong.
Don't miss the fabulous rollercoaster Minecart Madness – it's a bumpy ride but the jumps over 'missing' sections of the track are thrilling.
MUST DO Buy a $45 Power-Up wristband. It's vital for playing the in-world mini games, collecting coins and banking some exclusive park stamps and badges, which connects to an app on your mobile phone and creates family friendly competition.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic
This world makes the Wizarding Worlds at Universal Orlando Resort a trio – also made up of Diagon Alley in Universal Studios and Hogsmeade in Islands Of Adventure.
Step inside the magical streets of 1920s Paris, where the likes of Newt Scamander hangs out. Known as Place Cachée, this world is a fan delight, merging the magic of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them in Paris, with the wonders of Harry Potter.
I hopped on the Métro-Floo to the British Ministry Of Magic for Dolores Umbridge's trial for her crimes against magic on the mesmerising dark ride, Battle At The Ministry. Expect magical creatures and spells galore – and make time for the show, Le Cirque Arcanus. The puppetry will leave you speechless.
MUST DO Try a Gigglewater in Le Gobelet Noir – a bar owned by Nicolas Flamel, the alchemist who created the Philosopher's Stone.
How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk
The largest of all the worlds at Epic Universe,the Viking village of Berk is breathtaking. On entry, I was faced with two 40ft carved wooden statues, guarding the village. This world is set after the second film, where there's peace and harmony between man and dragon.
Look out for The Untrainable Dragon live show, which has the most beautiful score, with singers and actors akin to the talent of a West End show. And be sure to try the mac and cheese cone at Hooligan's Grog & Gruel – it's the novelty dish I never knew I needed.
MUST DO Look to the skies. Here you'll find actual flying dragons – drones to us adults (don't tell the kids), but they are very realistic.
HOW TO BOOK
Universal Orlando Resort
All Parks tickets are available through British Airways Holidays from £439 per person.
British Airways Holidays offers seven nights at Universal Stella Nova Resort from £829 per person, travelling on selected dates in January 2026. Book by 9 June. For reservations visit britishairways.com/en-gb/destinations/orlando/holidays-inorlando
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Bewitched by cowboy lore as a teenager, I rode across the American deserts in search of the mythical west (admittedly on a motorcycle rather than horseback), seduced by the romance of life on the trail – billy cans boiling over campfires and a wide-open wilderness that promised a freedom unimaginable in fenced-off, old-world Europe. Joshua Tree national park in the Mojave desert became my go-to destination each time I found myself in California. But in recent years, I've been exploring Spain, scouting routes for the forthcoming Spaghetti Western Trail, and finding the same magic in the Desierto de Tabernas. The scale is of course smaller than the Mojave, but the silence, the stillness, the hint of sage on the warm air and the sense of exploration are as thrilling as my early US road trips. Leone was enthralled by American style and myth but always from a distance. 'I can't see the US any other way than with a European's eyes,' he said. 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Although you can no longer get a lobster roll at McDonald's in New England, the fast-food joint is one of the few places in the region where they're not on the menu. Cycling down the Atlantic coast last summer as part of research for a US travelogue, I rejoiced in the casual abundance on offer at the roadside – baskets of fried clams in Connecticut, oysters in Maine, crab benedict in Massachusetts … 3,000 miles and a world away from the grand silver fruits de mer platters of Europe. You don't have to fly across an ocean to get your shellfish fix, however. While you're unlikely to find yourself tempted by a lobster surf and turf burger in France, seafood can be surprisingly accessible if you swerve Parisian bistros and go straight to the source. La Cale, in Blainville-sur-Mer on Normandy's Cotentin peninsula, an easy drive (or a day's cycle) from Cherbourg, is typiquement français for its pride in local produce (oysters, whelks, clams etc, as well as galettes and spit-roast meat), but rather less so in its casual feet-in-the-sand ethos and informal service. Remi, the proprietor, is described online as 'eccentric' – his van is graffitied with the words 'Rosbeefs welcome … frogs too'. Do not pass up the moules frites, or the teurgoule, a traditional Normande spiced rice pudding. Further down the coast, in Brittany, I've earmarked Cancale, in the Bay of Mont Saint Michel, for a return visit, because if you ever wanted proof that the French can let their hair down, look no further than the people sitting on the sea wall with paper platters of oysters and plastic cups of cold sancerre. The oysters come from the seafront marché aux huîtres, which offers a bamboozling selection, all shucked to order, and the wine from an enterprising booze van parked nearby. The shells, once you've finished, are thrown on to the beach. One step up, in that there's table service, but with no more steps between sea and plate, is Maison Quintin, on the Atlantic coast near Saint-Philibert, where you can feast on the family's own oysters under the pines as the sun sets over the estuary, supplemented with skewers of plump prawns and langoustines, crab, grilled lobster, and their homemade seafood rillettes on toast. Reservations essential – laid-back vibes CloakePeach Street to Lobster Lane: Coast to Coast in Search of Real American Cuisine by Felicity Cloake is published by Mudlark (£16.99) It was on a slow journey through the extensive wetlands that border Italy's Adriatic that I first came upon the little-known Laguna di Marano, a carefully preserved eco-paradise, barely touched by tourism. This gossamer web of interlocking lagoons, canals and river deltas stretches from Venice all the way up to Trieste. Local legend has it that Ernest Hemingway called these wetlands and the adjoining sandy beach resort of Lignano 'piccola Florida', because it reminded him of the Everglades and the Florida Keys. The US author first came to this part of Italy as a volunteer at the end of the first world war. He returned in the 1950s to find inspiration for his book Across the River and Into the Trees while duck hunting and fishing on the Marano Lagoon – though for sea bream and mullet rather than marlin, his favourite quarry in the waters around Florida. At the bar of the rustic Trattoria Barcaneta in the bustling medieval port of Marano Lagunare, I order a glass of refosco dal peduncolo rosso, a rustic local red wine favoured by the writer. It may not be as glamorous as sipping a Hemingway martini in a Key West cocktail bar, but it was the perfect aperitivo before tasting chef Claudio Moretti's exquisite cuisine, a delicate carpaccio of sea bass and grilled eel from the nearby Stella River delta, both freshly caught by the port's many fishers. Marano Lagunare is the perfect base for exploring the surrounding wetlands. The tourism office can arrange activities from canoeing and kayaking to walking and horse riding. Renting a small boat with a guide is my choice, a retired pescatore (fisher) for the perfect insight into local life on the water. While the vast, open expanse of the lagoon is breathtaking, dotted along the edge of the water is something you will never see in Florida – traditional casoni thatched huts still used today by fishers. The landscape changes dramatically as we enter the protected reserve of the Stella delta. Here, the freshwater channels become narrower, bordered on both sides by tall golden reeds – definitely a feel of the Everglades – as we catch glimpses of pink flamingos, purple herons, egrets, cormorants swooping down and a neat squadron of geese flying past. It may be smaller than the Everglades (62 square miles as opposed to 2,357), but the one thing truly different from a Florida nature excursion is that there is no need to look out for Brunton My left foot shook on the clutch – not from tiredness, but from something resembling fear. Conor Pass had seemed like a good idea at breakfast. One of Ireland's highest and narrowest mountain roads? Why not? The car seemed to float as the road narrowed to a one-lane ledge between cliff and sky. No turning back now – just a slow crawl upwards with mist curling over the bonnet from the valley below. Still, this is the scenery the Wild Atlantic Way promises – and delivers. It's a 1,600-mile coastal drive from Malin Head, the country's most northerly point, in County Donegal, to Kinsale in County Cork in the south-west – and Ireland's answer to California's Highway 1, the 656-mile Pacific Coast route that skirts sea bluffs, redwood groves and epic coastal views. Big Sur's iconic Bixby Bridge resembles the Mizen Head footbridge in West Cork. Highway 1's 'million dollar view' is eclipsed by the Atlantic sweep from Slieve League, or the cliffs that tower above powder-white Keem beach on Achill Island. Connemara's Sky Road and the Burren's Atlantic Drive echo Big Sur's drama, winding between limestone and ocean. However, my favourite stretch – the Dingle peninsula – is hard to match. Its mountain-to-ocean setting is visual theatre dialled to max. Inch beach, a long curve of sand stretching three miles into Dingle Bay, is a gentle introduction before I turned north to hair-raising Conor Pass (optional and clearly marked) and descended into Dingle town. The road then turns otherworldly along the Slea Head Drive with Ventry beach's three miles of bone-white sand perfect for barefoot walking – somewhat like Highway 1's famous Moonstone beach. As I drove on I stopped at every layby I could, because there's always something around the corner; a hidden cove or early Christian monument. At Coumeenoole beach, I stepped out on the headland and watched the surf pound the shore ferociously as if it was punishing it for some ancient grievance. And then came Dunquin Pier – the lane zigzags down a steep slope like a spiral staircase that plunges into the ocean, which was enough of a reason to ditch the car on the roadside and walk down. This is where the boats leave for the Blaskets, and it feels like the edge of the world. Offshore, the Three Sisters – three jagged peaks rising from the ocean floor – remain in focus, their silhouettes a reminder of the sea stacks off Big Sur. About halfway along the Slea Head Drive, the magnificent Blasket Centre delivers staggering island views. Vic O'Sullivan
Evening Standard
a day ago
- Evening Standard
Ditte Reffstrup's guide to Copenhagen: how to see Denmark's capital like a local
Restaurant Maison is my favourite and you can always get a table — I don't understand how! It's a friend's restaurant and they have a very simple menu with just a few options, which are all super good. Then there's Hos Fischer, which is Danish, but the chef lived in Rome for many, many years, so it specialises in pasta and pizza. And Apollo if you're more in the city centre, and want a bit of a party vibe. It's quite a late-night place that is bustling with people having drinks and sometimes dancing. It has a courtyard for when the sun is out and it's a vibe!
