So I just want to start this off by saying that I was able to ride Battle at the Ministry today, and I still think it’s a good attraction, but I was pretty disappointed by it.

Everyone was hyping up this ride like it was one of the greatest rides ever created, better than Rise of the Resistance, and I was getting that vibe from the queue, truly one of the greatest queues ever, but the actual ride itself is just okay. It’s not even better than Monsters Unchained in my option, let alone the best of Disney. The main issue is that the ride is just so screen heavy. Even moreso than Forbidden Journey and Gringotts. Sure the screens areas crisp as you could hope for, but they still take you out of it. There are scenes with very advanced animatronics that are standing in front of screens, scenes where there are physical sets but the characters are on screen, and there are several scenes were you are only looking at a screen. In terms of thrills it’s on the Rise of the Resistance drop level and a little less than the Forbidden Journey movement but on the Tower of Terror ride system.

Like I said this was still a very good attraction but it was way overhyped, I don’t understand how people were calling this one of the greatest things ever created and defies what a theme park ride can be, it’s not even better than Unchained in my opinion and the queue is the best part of the experience since it’s actually a real physical giant set. I think that if the whole ride was like that like Rise of the Resistance and Unchained where it’s a high tech physical dark ride then it could be on that level, but as it stands, I would call it just good. Wouldn’t wait over an hour and a half for it.

Is it a long wait? Yea. But it’s crazy worth it! It’s genuinely so good. I love the tech used on this ride and it’s amazing

My only gripe comes in two areas that are easily fixable. 1) the music. It’s pretty loud and kinda overtakes the dialogue and action. 2) the final Umbridge animatronic has a funny look cuz the virtual face wasn’t lined up well with it.

It’s certainly not top 3 in the park for me, but it’s not a “massive” disappointment or anything

I’m not sure if this will be considered a spoiler for most so please scroll on if you don’t want to hear about the battle at the ministry ride! (I’m a bit newer to HP fandom so pls don’t judge if this is information already known lol)

So I was watching a sneak peak of the battle at the ministry and they had Daniel, Rupert, and Emma in it! I can’t t tell from the video but it sure looks like them. My question is, is it actually them? Is it cgi? Is it AI? (Which ew) I’m sure they wouldn’t want to reprise their roles (rightfully so!) so is universal just..allowed to use their faces? Very interesting

So I know the ride has harry ron and hermione in it. How is this done? Is it completely CGI and it looks weird? or some sort of deepfake? and same with the voices, is it all stuff taken from the movies or voice actiors, or some weird AI thing?

Im going with my sister for previews on Monday and I hear the queue is open, but I was wondering if anyone has heard anything about the ride opening recently?

Sorry if this has been addressed already, new to the sub!

I’m going to Epic Universe in a few days and I have a question about the wait times for a specific ride. I’ll be staying at Stella Nova, so I have Early Park Admission, but I’m confused about the actual opening time since I keep finding different answers. The first ride I want to do is The Battle at the Ministry because I’ve heard it’s a must-do, but I want to avoid the long lines. Could you please tell me the exact opening hour, how EPA works, the best route, and which entrance I should use? I’m new to this park and don’t really know how things work, so I’d appreciate any guidance.

Waited 100+ minutes am currently stuck in the middle of the ride. The ride jerked really hard and an emergency wall came up in our seat. Last ride of the day…. Just waiting to get going

Update: after letting the hype die down, I rank this behind RotR and Monsters

Edit: the drops approach 2/3 of weightlessness (never dipping below 0.3g)

Before I begin, I am sure I’m not the only person complaining about this experience, but as my whole group was completely unaware after doing a lot of research, I feel the need to make this post.

If you plan on riding the Battle at the Ministry at the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic, BE PREPARED to wait. We got in line when the stand by line said 180 minutes. We all know this is only an approximation, however, what we ended up waiting was legitimately around 5 HOURS. It is absolutely absurd that anybody would have that wait that long for a single ride.

And I get it, I did not have to wait that whole time if I felt it was getting to be too long, but at no point do they ever indicate how much longer you have to wait, having you think each new room you walk into while waiting is the boarding area just to be let down for another crowded and small room.

Another downside is if people are expected to wait that long you should at least have restrooms along the way, my sister nearly peed herself while waiting.

Also, the Delays we experienced while waiting did not help at all. Throughout waiting, the ride would shut down for technical issues of some sort for 20+ minutes. This probably happened 5-6 times in the 5 hours we were waiting. This means no one’s moving forward in line and you are just at a stand still. It is quite annoying and in my opinion the least Universal could do is have more things to make the wait more enjoyable and entertaining (characters walking around, interactive displays etc…)

And to finish it off, the ride after such a long wait was honestly not all that great… don’t get me wrong I had fun riding it, however after 5 hours of waiting I expected to be mind blown.

The only plus I could say was how cool the actual main hall of the “Ministry” was. It was grand and very real looking to the movies. But other than that, it left a lot to be desired.

I would not commit more than a half hour to this ride, the rest of the park is absolutely amazing in itself, and you may wait more than half your day, leaving little time for the rest of Epics epicness.

First of all this park exceeded expectations completely. I was expecting a full crowd on Memorial Day however remembered it was only at 25% capacity.

I was able to get on the Harry Potter and the battle at the ministry Ride. Totally worth the wait, however, I highly discourage the single rider line. The regular line was about 20 minutes faster. I disliked how the organization is for the single rider line. I had to ask two cast members where the line started and ended. The effects though are so neat while waiting in line.

The animatronics alone were astonishing. The way the ride is set up and reminds me of tower of terror at Hollywood Studios.

I know long wait times happen, especially at a new park or with new rides. Battle at the Ministry just isn’t worth it. The majority of the ride is spent looking at elevators that have a screen inside with a video of characters on it. Sure it was neat, but to me it wasn’t that great. The most amazing part of the experience for me was walking into the atrium of the ministry of magic with all of the offices and the big golden statues. As someone who grew up with Harry Potter, that felt really magical, and I could have done that without waiting in line. Monsters unchained was a much shorter wait and a much more amazing experience in my opinion. I know not everyone is into rollercoasters, but Stardust Racers was amazing, and a relatively short (1 hour) wait for me. I guess it’s just the Harry Potter IP that draws people in, and the ride is fine, and even fun. If I had known what it was going to be like, I would have just visited the Ministry of Magic and left without riding the ride. In my opinion there are other better attractions at Epic Universe that just have more to offer.

Without spoilers, when does this attraction take place? Is it even cannon?

We all have somewhat of an idea of how low of a throughput these more advanced rides have at Epic.

However, while I was in line for Ministry (sucks that the virtual queue still resulted in me waiting 1.5 hours), I was scouring the internet to see if I could find what the ride duration for Ministry was. Considering how slowly the queue moves, I wondered optimistically if maybe Universal finally took a crack at making a longer, more giving ride experience.

After finding NOTHING on the web, I asked one of the ride operators and, holy crap! Ministry of Magic has a 4-MINUTE duration!

Now, this duration isn't exactly groundbreaking at first glance. Gringotts at Studios has a five-minute ride time, for example. HOWEVER... Gringots relies on a lot of still sets, massive amounts of screen simulations, and loads of darkness. Other newer universal rides hang out in this 3-6 minute mark, employing 1-2 animatronics for the whole ride. Lots of filling the time with bells and whistles.

Now looking at ministry.. Considering its insanely complex layout, CONSTANT action, and several insanely realistic animatronics, with no breaks or 'filibuster' moments, this has got to be the best bang-for-your buck in terms of the highest quality ride experience PLUS an actually satisfying ride duration with NO BREAKS and NO LAPSES in action at all.

This is going to prove itself to be the best ride in the world to date as the public rides it more. No contest.

ASIDE: I know I write this as some sponsored Universal advocate as an ad or something.. I just went to Epic yesterday on an accidental whim when I found out that resort guests could buy tickets. As a long time theme park enjoyer, this ride really impacted me and filled me with so much excitement with how far universal has raised the bar in entertainment. I love this ride.

EDIT: Man, lots of hate for this ride. I had a splendid time, as I'm sure many did.. But I'm curious if some of the haters have actually ridden it, or if they've just watched videos online... Because the experience is not the same. Not even close.

EDIT 2: Clean up on some unrelated info. I don't defend its terrible queue management or capacity. It blows.

More photos here than already posted on this sub.

I’ve been looking at wait times in preparation for my upcoming trip, haven’t seen this before? Park closes at 9 PM, at what wait time does the ride change the status to at capacity?

I will have early entry, but wanted to know what tips and tricks you have for getting on battle at the ministry early to knock it out early?

For those wondering, “am I close?” You aren’t there until you see Umbridge’s office.

Just got here on 5/18 to Battle at the Ministry. We are currently sitting on the floor of the queue waiting for it to open. Today they actually let people go inside the queue and wait inside it before the ride opens which is awesome. It is 8:22 am

We had to get here around 6:45 to be one of the first people let into the park so we could be at the front of this line and I would say we’re still probably around the 300th people mark? Overall the experience has been great and they are telling us they will open at 9am. I will update to see if it’s true.