Universal’s Epic Universe Harry Potter Ride Has 5-Hour Line on Opening Day

Magic came with a 5-hour wait on Epic Universe’s opening day.

Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, the biggest attraction in the Wizarding World – Ministry of Magic land, posted a wait time of up to 300 minutes, or five hours, on May 22, the first day that Universal Orlando’s new theme park was open to the public.

Fans had been lining up as early as 3:30 a.m. waiting for just Epic Universe’s parking lot to open at 5:45. Many of those enthusiastic rope-droppers seemingly rushed right to the Ministry, because by 9 a.m., several outlets reported the wait time had hit its peak.

The Universal app showed the ride status as “Delayed” at one point during the day, indicating it had gone down for a period of time, something that’s not uncommon for the park’s most complex attractions.

Later in the day, wait times for Battle at the Ministry reportedly dropped to about two and a half hours.

One X user, @epicuniverseupd, recounted waiting “5.5 hours to start the day and not getting to ride” because of the “delayed” status. Typically, when a ride goes down for technical or weather-related issues, guests can stay in line or choose to exit. The user claims to have snagged an Express lane pass later on Thursday, but even that wait was two hours. “Another 2 hours with a chance of it failing again is just too much of a gamble,” they wrote.

As of Friday afternoon, the wait time is down to just 60 minutes, according to the Universal app.

Photos shared by the theme park blog allears.net showed crowds lining up through Epic’s central land, Celestial Park, seemingly waiting to enter Orlando’s third Wizarding World, after Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure, which opened in 2010, and Diagon Alley in Universal Studios, which opened in 2014.

Battle at the Ministry is a family-friendly thrill ride that invites guests to attend the trial of the treacherous former Hogwarts Headmistress Dolores Umbridge after the defeat of Voldemort. It has consistently seen the longest wait times during early previews of the park and has faced a fair few temporary technical difficulties.

Opening day attendees who didn’t storm the Ministry, however, were treated to shockingly short wait times, park-goers reported.

Even the other thrill rides like Monsters Unchained at Dark Universe, Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness at Super Nintendo World, and the family coaster Hiccup’s Wing Gliders at How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk saw lines that were only 5-20 minutes throughout much of the day.

PEOPLE got an early look at all of Epic Universe during a special press preview this week.

While Isle of Berk was the surprise hit with many of the media guests and Stardust Racers (the park’s major coaster, located in Celestial Park) was dubbed by many as the best ride, the Wizarding World was consistently the most crowded.

Attendees clamored to get a look at the magical streets of 1920s Paris, as seen in the Fantastic Beasts films, and step into a full-scale recreation of the Ministry of Magic lobby, accessed via a green flash of smoke on the Metrofloo.

Thankfully the line for Battle at the Ministry is an immaculately themed one. After passing through the soaring atrium and ogling the Fountain of Magical Brethren, guests snake through various areas seen in the films, including Umbridge’s cloyingly pink office complete with moving cat plate portraits and occupied by one of the ride’s original house elf characters, who helpfully expounds on the plot.

Epic Universe, Universal Orlando’s fourth park after Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and the Volcano Bay water park, was first announced in 2019. It’s construction was significantly delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, but the opening date of May 22, was finally announced in October 2024.

Universal has already announced its next theme park, but it’s not in Florida or California. A Universal resort will be coming to the U.K., the announced in April 2025. Details and an opening date are not Yet known