SATURDAY SIX – 6 Reasons We Love ISLE OF BERK: Part 1 (Portal, Atmosphere, and DRAGONS)

This week’s SATURDAY SIX heads back into Epic Universe to check out the ISLE OF BERK, based on the popular How to Train Your Dragon franchise. It is fair to say the Isle of Berk is the most “Disney-like” of anything in Epic Universe. How so? Well, let’s start off by entering through…

# 6 – The Portal

Each world inside Epic Universe has a portal that acts as a magical gateway transporting guests from Celestial Park – the central hub of the park – into each particular world.

Each portal in Epic Universe pops with color at night.

All the portals at Epic Universe have a phrase on them to welcome the incoming guests. For the Isle Berk the phrase is, “We, My Friends, Have Dragons!” echoing the ending line in both the first two How to Train Your Dragon films.

The sphere at the center of the portal features a Night Fury dragon in flight.

The very top of the Portal features the How to Train Your Dragon logo featuring Toothless (along with his tail that has been “fixed” by Hiccup.)

While walking through the Portal, and getting closer to the Berk side, you’ll notice references to a world without electricity or modern day machinery. Themed elements are used in light fixtures throughout the land.

Once exiting the Portal, you’ll come across a large stone which tells the story of Berk, “the best kept secret this side of, well, anywhere.”

The backside of the stone features a minimalist drawing of Berk that includes several of the dragons you will see in the world.

# 5 – Welcome to Berk

The Portal and the large stone are there to give each guest that “wow” moment when Berk is revealed, and boy is it amazing! Right at the front we have two large statues in the bay; a Viking and a dragon.

There is so much to see  in the area, including Viking ships in the water.

The overall theming of the land combined with the multiple attractions you can see running gives the Berk the type of kinetic energy that is a rarity in today’s theme park environment.

Throughout Berk the over-the-top designs are just fantastic to admire, such as this statue of small Viking blowing into the tail of large dragon themed-horn.

The most iconic moment of the How to Train Your Dragon series is when Toothless and Hiccup became friends. Until this moment, Vikings and dragons had only been at odds for generations and it has been brilliantly been carved into a “fallen tree” in Berk.

One noticeable feature in Berk is Gothi’s Hut, which sits on top of the highest point of Berk.

I’ve often joked that Gothi’s Hut is one of the details that Universal and Disney have put into their parks solely for blogger-in-the-sky bioreconstruct to appreciate.

If you’re in a helicopter, or have a camera with a 5000x zoom,  you can see some pretty cool details, including the fact that Gothi’s Hut is actually the remnants of a Viking ship.

Thanks to Universal Executive Show Producer Kate Pacitti, we even got this incredible up close shot of Gothi in all her tiny glory.

Gothis’ hut, along with the mountain it sits on, also provide the opportunity for photographers like Bio to get some absolutely incredible shots.

Like all of Epic Universe, the Isle of Berk takes on new life once the sun goes down.

# 4 – Berk Benches

There are times when things are just serendipitous in the theme park world and end up really making things better for us theme park fans. For example, back in 2007 when Universal was preparing to replace Back to the Future – The Ride with The Simpsons Ride, there was a writer’s strike in Hollywood that allowed the writers for the Simpsons television show to spend time writing new material that we would see in the ride’s queue.

So, when Universal Creative was putting together the Isle of Berk, the animation side was working on the third installment of the How to Train Your Dragon film series. Because of this, Epic Universe benefitted in several ways, such as these next level benches that are seen throughout Berk. These benches were originally designed as concept art for the movie, but were never used. However guests in Berk get to enjoy them every day, as they were fully realized by Universal Creative and they are hands down the greatest theme park benches ever made.

Believe it or not, all the benches in Berk were carved out of real logs with a chainsaw. Now that’s someone we need to do an Artist Spotlight feature on!

How great are these?!!!

The benches are a great place to take a rest, but also make for some fun photo-ops!

There’s even sheep benches!

# 3 – Berk Restroom Signage

Over the years I have come to appreciate The Little Things at Universal and Disney, and one of those details I enjoy seeing are when the companies put a little effort into their restroom signage. Isle of Berk goes way above and beyond in this area.

Even better, the theming doesn’t stop there. NAY NAY. It continues into the bathrooms as well.

We don’t deserve this level of detail.

While we are in the bathrooms, we have to spend a minute admiring these murals. This might be the one thing that truly separates the Universal and Disney theme parks now. Both operate world class attractions, highly themed resorts, and incredibly restaurants, but only Universal will still go there when it comes to gags like this…

I don’t care who you are, that’s funny. But inside a bathroom? Even funnier!

Check out this bathroom mural. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!! A million stars.

When we do our Bathroom Mural Hall of Fame, we’ll start off with that cowboy one in Fort Wilderness and these two murals in Berk. Just incredible. Let’s close this section by looking at a couple more pieces of themed signage that help add to the ambiance of Berk…

…including a Stroller Parking side that not only has a Viking baby, but the stroller is themed like a dragon.

# 2 – The Forge

While Isle of Berk is loaded with great attractions, one area you should spend some time in is The Forge. It is located in the hub of Berk, directly across from Mead Hall.

Just like in the How To Train Your Dragon films, Gobber the Belch operates the forge.

Gobber can be seen throughout the day wandering through Berk interacting with guests, but will eventually make his way back to the forge for work.

Inside the forge, you’ll see the dragon Grump. This is one of my favorite audio animatronics in any theme park and he is actually found sleeping most of the day.

You just may see Grump waking up from a nap periodically to keep his eyes on some Hobgobblers nearby.

Grump is sleeping right next to a large stone fireplace.

Here’s when things get really great. When Gobber is back at the forge to work, he directs Grump to light a fire in the stone fireplace.

Here’s a video of this wonderful moment. Just fantastic.

# 1 – Yes, We Have DRAGONS!

Spoiler Alert: The end of the first How to Train Your Dragon movie involves dragons taking up residency on the Isle of Berk, and we can see their houses throughout Epic Universe.

These dragons are larger than life…

…and several are animated!

We also see that several dragons prefer to have their tails hanging outside…

…with some of those being animated as well! When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge was originally announced, it was all but promised that the land would be filled with wild creatures and a whole bunch of audio animatronics. Turns out it was actually Universal’s Isle of Berk that actually delivered on that promise.

Another dragon to keep an eye out for in Berk is the Snow Wraith on your way to The Untrainable Dragon show. The Snow Wraith made its first appearance in the Dragons: Race to the Edge series created for Netflix.

We mentioned earlier that the dragon themed benches in Berk were originally created for the How to Train Your Dragon films but never used, and so was this fantastic design of an outdoor dryer for the wet guests getting off the water based Fyre Drill attraction. As if the dragon is breathing fire onto the guests to dry them off. Straight up E-Ticket in my book.

One of the fun motifs in Berk is dragons battling for fish.

Sometimes they can even be seen humorously battling Vikings for that fish!

Honorable Mention – The Sheep of Berk

Sheep play an important part of the How to Train Your Dragon universe, and they are found all around the Isle of Berk as well.

The sheep’s wool is used to create the “itchy and uncomfortable” garments for the Vikings, however they do provide warmth. Reminder that the very first HTTYD movie starts off with a voiceover that says, “This is Berk. It’s twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death.”

While the majority of the sheep in Berk are white, there is the more rare black sheep as well.

You’ll see some sheep in Berk that have targets painted on them. These are the sheep that help the Dragon Racers in their training exercises.

My favorite sheep are the ones dressed up like dragons. These armored sheep were originally created for the Dragons: Titans Uprising video game.

So there you have it: The SAT SIX Looks at ISLE OF BERK Part 1! See you next weekend for the latest installment of the SATURDAY SIX, where we’ll look at something fun from the world of Disney and Universal. If you enjoyed yourself, be sure to check out the THEME PARK ENJOYMENT INDEX, giving a monthly recap of all the theme park news you need to know (and a lot more you don’t need to know, but we’re gonna tell you anyway). You can also follow Your Humble Author on BlueSky (@derekburgan).

If you enjoyed this article, you will surely like the following: 

6 Reasons We Love DARK UNIVERSE Part 1 – Darkmoor Village

6 Reasons We Love DARK UNIVERSE Part 2 – Dining and Characters

6 Reasons We Love DARK UNIVERSE Part 3 – Monsters Unchained

Our Favorite EASTER EGGS and Details in Universal’s Epic Universe

SATURDAY SIX Presents: Artist Inspired by Epic Universe

Special Thanks to The Elite Brandon Glover, Digital Maestro Scott Walker, the bio-est of all reconstructs @bioreconstruct, Captain Cruiseline Scott Sanders of the world famous Disney Cruise Line Blog, my personal protege Hunter “Elvey” Underwood, artist @SonderQuest, the mighty maven of merchandise Hedgehog’s Corner, the SAT SIX Fun Squad of Parkscope Joe and “the Dadalorian” Nick, hot shot Michael Carelli, charter member of the Universal Four @Nitro230, the permit princess Alicia Stella, master cartographer Tommy Hawkins, and Hermione Granger’s tutor Megan Stump for their invaluable assistance with this article. Absolutely no help was added by SeaWorld Influencer @SuperWeenieHtJr. The SAT SIX is inspired each week by goofballs Aengus Mackenzie and LitemAndHide and you Potterheads will enjoy Meg’s other blog work over at the Central Florida Slug Club.