Universal Orlando Resort has unveiled details on the final of five Epic Universe lands, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, set to open in 2025.
The third installment of the Orlando parks’ popular Harry Potter-themed lands, Ministry of Magic will transport guests from a Muggle park in Paris into a 1920s hidden wizarding shopping district, Place Cachée. Among its offerings are state-of-the-art ride attractions like Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, the live, full-scale theater experience Le Cirque Arcanus, and themed-establishments like Café L’Air De La Sirène and Le Gobelet Noir.
With Haussmannian buildings, shops, sidewalk cafés, and historic Parisian domes rising in the distance, wizards and non-magiques alike will have the chance to experience the grandeur and ambiance of the French wizarding city. As they travel through magical streets, guests can interact with visitors, officials and residents such as exchange students from the Hogwarts and Ilvermorny Schools of Witchcraft and Wizardry or an Auror from the Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France.
As they move from storefront to restaurant, guests can cast spells using interactive, imported Ollivanders wands — that come purchasable with a list of locations for spellcasting around the city — from the artisan Parisian shop, Cosme Acajor Baguettes Magique. Through them, visitors can activate enchanted objects in storefront windows or interact with fantastic beasts including Nifflers, Bowtruckles and a Demiguise.
For those seeking something more thrilling, the park offers what it describes as its “most ambitious, groundbreaking ride” ever created. The Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry combines massive environments; appearances by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and a house-elf named Higgledy; and first-of-its-kind ride technology. Riders begin by using the Métro-Floo — a mode of wizarding transit inspired by the Floo Network — to travel from Paris across time and country to the British Ministry of Magic in the 1990s.
From there, they’ll navigate through the Ministry’s grand atrium and other departments before boarding magical, omnidirectional lifts to witness the trial of Dolores Umbridge, who in her attempt to escape, launches guests and the Harry Potter trio into a thrilling chase that propels them up, down, forward, backward, and sideways throughout the Ministry as they dodge attacks from Death Eaters and rampaging creatures on their way to capture Umbridge.
And in yet another brand new experience within the Wizarding World, guests can view a live, full-scale theater experience, Le Cirque Arcanus, which will feature a combination of live performers and aerialists, puppetry, and special effects. Centered around Ringmaster Skender, who stole Newt Scamander’s suitcase with creatures Demiguise, Diricawl, Mooncalves and more inside in an attempt to revive the failing Le Cirque Arcanus, circus employee Gwenlyn embarks on a rescue mission to save the creatures from Skender’s clutches.
Like the other four lands and its Wizarding World counterparts, the Ministry of Magic experience will feature a number of themed stores. That includes French confectionary K. Rammelle, Métro-Floo gift shop Tour En Floo, and Les Galeries Mirifiques for wizarding gear and memorabilia, alongside the city’s own signature butterbeer location, Bièraubeurre Cart. Bar Moonshine, adorned with U.S. Quidditch team pennants and other items of wizarding Americana, will offer exclusive beers, wines and cocktails.
Café L’Air De La Sirène will offer French sandwiches, plats du jour and desserts while guests are surrounded by French architecture, marble and details of fantastic beasts hidden in the tile and mosaic designs. Those looking for a dark experience can enter into the shadowy corners of Place Cachée’s Le Gobelet Noir, where guests can dine on starters such as soups and salads as well as a variety of entrées and desserts.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic will be accessible via a themed portal within Epic Universe’s Celestial Park, which also grants guests access to Super Nintendo World (which already opened at Universal Studios Hollywood), How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk, and Dark Universe, a land themed around existing and original characters from the Universal Classic Monsters universe. In all, the five Epic lands are expected to feature over 50 attractions, entertainment, dining and shopping experiences, and will help usher in the use of facial recognition technology at the Florida-based theme parks.
The land collaboration, from Universal Creative and Warner Bros. Discovery Global Themed Entertainment, follows the 2010 debut of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade at Universal Islands of Adventure and the 2014 launch of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida.