All aboard the Hogwarts Express! It’s time to head back to Hogwarts.

Today, September 1st, is “Back to Hogwarts” day — the day Harry Potter heads back to Hogwarts for school each year. This marks a special day every year for Harry as he gets to return to the only place that has ever felt like home to him. The magnificent castle is a special place for Harry and all of us Harry Potter fans. While we can visit Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando, we’ll also soon be able to visit the awe-inspiring Ministry of Magic, and Universal just released brand-new details about the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter on this special day!

An all-new Wizarding World of Harry Potter will be opening in 2025 at Epic Universe in Orlando. The new theme park will take us to Wizarding Paris as well as the Ministry of Magic!

You’ll begin your journey in 1920s Wizarding Paris where you’ll find new shops and restaurants. You’ll be able to search for a wand at the new store Cosme Acajor.

And you can enjoy the first ever live stage show in the Wizarding World — Le Cirque Arcanus. While these details were known before, Universal did share a new look inside the streets of Paris as we’ll get to walk them!

Universal also released NEW details about the Ministry of Magic! We’ll enter the 1990s British Ministry through Floo passageways that will take us right into the atrium where the restored Fountain of Magical Brethren will be standing tall. There will be flying memos throughout the atrium and the beautiful enchanted weather ceiling above us.

Through the atrium, you’ll enter the new attraction Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. It’s Delores Umbridge’s trial day, and we’ll be taken on an epic journey through the Ministry. There will be scenes we’ve seen in the films as well as some we’ve never seen before. You’ll get to explore many locations of the Ministry as you walk through the queue including the locker room where there’s evidence that Harry, Ron, and Neville are in training to become Aurors.

You’ll get to see past Ministers in the Hall of Ministers. The ministers from the 1700s to the 1980s will be seen interacting with one another.

There’s also a map room, where a magical moving map of the Ministry can be seen!

Plus, we’ll get to walk through the Aurors’ headquarters! How cool is that?! Universal shared that we’ll find plenty of Easter eggs in this room including tributes to fallen Aurors.

And, we’ll even get to walk through Umbridge’s small pink and gold office where we’ll meet her former house elf who is packing it all up. Of course, there will be plenty of cat plates to be seen!

Past Umbridge’s office, you’ll enter the lift station where you’ll board the lifts that will take you to the courtroom for the trial. According to Universal, this ride will be incredibly thrilling as it’s so “technologically advanced.”

The lifts will start in the lift shafts but then careen off course and wind up moving through different parts of the ministry. You’ll be face-to-face with different creatures and Death Eaters in this wild thrill ride.

We’ll even explore many never-before-seen locations like the Ministry Archives and Department of Magical Creatures! Several characters from the books and movies will be featured for the first time in any Harry Potter attraction like Yaxley, Macnair, the Carrows, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

One of the neatest details about this ride is that Imelda Staunton, the actress who played Delores Umbridge in the films, has reprised her role as Umbridge for the ride!

After hearing all these new magical details, we CANNOT wait to experience the Ministry of Magic and this brand new ride! The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Ministry of Magic is one of five new lands coming to Epic Universe. The other lands include Super Nintendo World, Celestial Park, Dark Universe, and How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk. Epic Universe will open sometime in 2025.

The world of Harry Potter is getting bigger as this new land opens, but even more is yet to come including new gaming options, a new Harry Potter baking show on Food Network, new LEGO collections, and more! If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you don’t want to miss out on all the exciting happenings coming soon.

Happy Back to Hogwarts Day! Keep following DFB for more Epic Universe news.

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Are you excited for the new Harry Potter ride? Let us know in the comments!