If you’re even a little like me – and odds are, if you’re reading this article on this website, you are – you enjoy behind the scenes theme park content, and we have a new contender for some of the best behind-the-scenes theme park content with the release of Epic Ride: The Story of Universal’s Theme Parks.
Whether it comes in the form of books, YouTube videos, random website deep dives on a subject, or even through official channels, behind the scenes storytelling is easily one of my favorite ways to learn all I can about theme parks. (Point of reference – I purchased a Disney+ subscription when the service first launched for two main reasons – mostly to watch The Imagineering Story, but also the 1994 film Heavyweights on a loop.)
Released via “official” Universal channels, Epic Ride is a three-part docuseries that tells the story of Universal’s theme parks, streaming exclusively on Peacock. (Coincidentally also owned by Universal’s parent company, Comcast.) After an original release date in July was pushed back to September and then again to November 2025, I finally got a chance to make my way through the nearly three hours of content during the first few weeks of December. For a “tl;dr” to start the article, if you are a fan of Universal, theme parks in general, or just a nerd who loves behind the scenes content – this series was an INCREDIBLE watch.
I will preface this review now. With a name like Epic Ride – you know there’s going to be discussion of the recently opened Universal’s Epic Universe. If you are like me, and wanted to remain as spoiler-free as possible before visiting Epic Universe for the first time, this documentary probably isn’t for you – nor is this review. (After six months of still being mostly spoiler-free post-Epic Universe opening, I finally caved.) However, what I will say is that the documentary does an excellent job of describing the “how” of Epic Universe coming to be rather than the “what” of the park actually in operation. It’s also been six months since the park opened – after watching this, I’m even more excited for my eventual first trip to Epic Universe. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in.
Steven Spielberg in Epic Ride. Photo: Attractions Magazine
For a docuseries about “the story of theme parks,” Epic Ride begins in a bit of an unconventional way – after a quick intro that sets the scene for the rest of the series – we’re not immediately joined by someone from Universal Creative – unless you count Creative Consultant Steven Spielberg – the first person interviewed by name in the docuseries. Spielberg, and actors Vin Diesel, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Michelle Yeoh begin the series with their respective thoughts on the importance of “storytelling” – which at its core, is how Epic Ride is presented, along with Epic Universe as a whole – the first Universal park built around “feature length immersive stories.” The actors/directors are interspersed throughout the presentation, and add commentary about the overall story arc of Epic Ride.
The docuseries begins in early 2025, 24 weeks to Epic Universe’s opening day, and takes the audience through the journey of what the last few months are like in getting a new theme park operational. In Episode 1, titled “The Build,” we get a top-level view of how the park developed from initial concepts, through the August 2019 announcement and early construction footage. However, it’s not a cut and dry land-by-land review. Epic Ride seamlessly intertwines the history of Universal’s theme parks (and Universal Pictures as a whole) with the modern-day timeline of bringing Epic Universe to life.
As someone who is mostly knowledgeable of the “modern” Universal Parks era, getting to see that Celestial Park takes its inspiration from the 1920s, just after Carl Laemmle founded what would become Universal Pictures, who were the first to bring the classic monsters to life, which then eventually was the inspiration for Dark Universe…like I said – seamless transitions! There’s also a good amount of information about the late Jay Stein, the expansion of the Universal Studios Hollywood backlot tour and the creation of Universal Studios Florida – and going head-to-head with Walt Disney World (and subsequent lawsuit) in the process. (There’s a lot out there about Disneyland’s opening day woes, but I was far less familiar about the opening weeks and months of discontent that were associated with the opening of Universal Studios Florida!)
However, for theme park fans, where Epic Ride truly shines is the behind the scenes content as Epic Universe prepared to open. We get a little bit of everything – the dialing in of effects on Monsters Unchained, the mechanics of how the Constellation Carousel works, how the “floo powder” illusion works to transport guests from the Paris Wizarding World back to London and the Ministry of Magic, looks into the costuming shops, and the commissioning process of Stardust Racers. We’re not going to spoil everything, but it’s some truly unprecedented behind-the-scenes access in the creation of a theme park. Showcasing moments throughout the entire process, from concepting, construction, the operational handoff, all the way through the preparations for team member previews and opening day was a great way to highlight the complete effort that went into Epic Universe.
Between candidly hearing from the minds behind Universal Creative – who are all fantastic interviews, by the way – getting a “true” glimpse behind the scenes where not everything is sunshine and rainbows while trying to get a theme park open, Epic Ride was a refreshing take on a traditional theme park documentary. While I really enjoyed that, I also thought there were a few things missing over the course of the docuseries that I would have loved more of an expansion on – including the history behind Islands of Adventure, which was mostly glossed over, as well as Universal’s international theme park properties. As far as Epic Universe is concerned, I’m not sure if it’s because the land was re-created from Japan and Universal Studios Hollywood (and therefore existed already in an external capacity) or was a licensing thing with Nintendo, but the first really “in-depth” look – such as it was – at Super Nintendo World didn’t come until well into the third episode, while Dark Universe, How to Train Your Dragon, Celestial Park, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, all received significantly more screen time. (Though, the interviews with Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the key properties inside Super Nintendo World, was a nice touch!)
Because it’s always Universal vs. Disney – hardcore theme park fans might wonder how Epic Ride compares to “The Imagineering Story” on Disney+. Honestly, I don’t think it’s an easy apples to apples comparison. In addition to finding a way to feature Michael Eisner, both The Imagineering Story and Epic Ride do fantastic jobs in covering their subject matter in a quick and succinct way. I think Disney has a head start on theme parks, as much of Universal Parks’ history (outside of the Hollywood Tram Tour) doesn’t begin much before the late 1980s/early 1990s. Epic Ride also has the benefit of being able to tell the story about a park in progress with a look toward the present and immediate future – with the idea of being able to actually take the audience behind the scenes, while The Imagineering Story focused much on the past and relied on the footage they had in order to make their narratives work. I think, as theme park fans, we’re lucky to have both of these docuseries available to stream.
My final thought about Epic Ride and how I know it’s a very well done piece of media that can appeal to both diehard theme park fans as well as those who aren’t as interested in the subject. (No, I will not use the term GP, because I hate that term.) I suggested to my wife that we watch this together – I am a big theme park nerd. She is quite the opposite – visited the Universal parks once or twice as a kid, but has no real affinity for theme parks or roller coasters other than supporting me in my Coaster101 endeavors. I figured worst case, we could “watch” it together – meaning I’d watch, and she’d be focused on literally anything else on her phone. Instead, she actually watched it, saw the stories, saw the lore, asked me questions about what was going on and remarked how Epic Ride was “really well done.” So, congratulations to the team at Universal and Peacock – you reached not only the Universal Park nerds, but the most casual of casual fans (if you can even classify my wife as a “fan” of anything related to a theme park.) For subject matter that could be pretty esoteric – it’s a great balance.
If you’ve got a collective three hours, and want to learn more about Epic Universe, the history of Universal theme parks in general, or just want to enjoy some behind the scenes content – I can’t recommend Epic Ride enough. It’s truly got a little bit of everything when it comes to Universal theme park history.
Epic Ride: The Story of Universal’s Theme Parks is now streaming on Peacock.
Have you watched Epic Ride yet? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!
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