1st Visit to Epic is coming soon & I have questions

[PantherPete]

I'm sure I can find the answers somewhere here, but I'm hoping that I can get answers in 1 concise post. Background: we are staying at the HRH the week of Thanksgiving and have express for Epic for the day we plan to visit (not Thanksgiving Day). Money, while certainly important, takes sort of a backseat here - we want to have the best Epic day possible. We plan to be there at early entry rope drop and stay until they tell us we have to leave.


1. I get early entry to Epic since I'm staying at the HRH, correct?
2. What rides/attractions will be open for early entry?
3. Express gives us 1 ride on everything - what should I target during early admission to do standby? I'm thinking I will want to ride MarioKart and/or DK mine a couple of times and maybe Starlight Racers so we can try each side, so I'm leaning towards those. Good idea?
4. Does taking Uber over to the parks give us any advantage over the resort bus? Don't care about the $20/$30 cost of Uber.
5. Can I get in through the Helios hotel? If so, is there any advantage to do that vs the main park entrance? Or do I have to actually have a room at Helios to be able to do that? (in this case, money does matter, I won't try to book a throw away room just to use their entrance).

I'm keeping an eye on wait times throughout the day to try to understand which attractions I'll be able to ride once I use up my express pass. But I'm thinking all bets are off Thanksgiving week.

Any other tips/tricks to ensure we have a great day? My main interests are Nintendo, Classic Monsters, Ministry of Magic and Starlight Racers. Pretty much in that order. I'll go to Berk to see it, but its not a passion of mine or anyone that I'm going with.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

1. Yes
2. Normally it's Mario Kart, Yoshi, Stardust Racers, Constellation Carousel, Monsters Unchained, and Curse of the Werewolf.
https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/early-park-admission
3. I'd suggest Mario Kart or Stardust Racers. Mario Kart will put you in position to slide back to Donkey Kong when it opens at normal entry time. DK has consistently long waits, and I understand it's primarily an outside queue, and it has reliability issues. That's normally the most consistently crummy wait w/o Express. Mario Kart also has long waits (not as bad as DK usually) but at least it's an inside, air conditioned queue and it stays open in storms.
4. No, I think the bus is more advantageous for early entry - get to the bus stop early enough to be on the first bus.
5. No. Unless you are a Helios guest, I believe you can only use Helios to re-enter after you've already entered the park through the front entrance (since you could go to the restaurants or bars or whatever) but the perk of Helios entry is otherwise limited to their guests. You definitely can't do it during early entry. Regardless, it's a disadvantage for Nintendo anyways.

Generally the Monsters Untamed ride is quite reliable and as such has pretty short waits (often 10min in the middle of the day). Don't waste your early entry time on this ride.

If you can, I would avoid the Monday. Mondays have generally been the busiest. Sundays have generally been the best. Sunday after Thanksgiving may be an exception? Or it might be great, who knows.

 

[PantherPete]

1. Yes
2. Normally it's Mario Kart, Yoshi, Stardust Racers, Constellation Carousel, Monsters Unchained, and Curse of the Werewolf.
https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/early-park-admission
3. I'd suggest Mario Kart or Stardust Racers. Mario Kart will put you in position to slide back to Donkey Kong when it opens at normal entry time. DK has consistently long waits, and I understand it's primarily an outside queue, and it has reliability issues. That's normally the most consistently crummy wait w/o Express. Mario Kart also has long waits (not as bad as DK usually) but at least it's an inside, air conditioned queue and it stays open in storms.
4. No, I think the bus is more advantageous for early entry - get to the bus stop early enough to be on the first bus.
5. No. Unless you are a Helios guest, I believe you can only use Helios to re-enter after you've already entered the park through the front entrance (since you could go to the restaurants or bars or whatever) but the perk of Helios entry is otherwise limited to their guests. You definitely can't do it during early entry. Regardless, it's a disadvantage for Nintendo anyways.

Generally the Monsters Untamed ride is quite reliable and as such has pretty short waits (often 10min in the middle of the day). Don't waste your early entry time on this ride.

If you can, I would avoid the Monday. Mondays have generally been the busiest. Sundays have generally been the best. Sunday after Thanksgiving may be an exception? Or it might be great, who knows.

Thanks.

So, what I'm thinking is that we will get to the parks on the first bus out. Will it be possible to ride both Mario Kart and Stardust Racers during early entry without using my express? That would set us up to ride them a second time with my express passes. I would ride Mario Kart first, then Stardust. Then we'd explore each land one by one using our express passes. Probably starting with Nintendo, then Harry Potter, then Berk, a second ride on Stardust using express and then as it is getting dark, classic monsters. Is that a reasonable plan? Or am I crazy? We do plan on eating and have reservations at the Pan Asian place, but I don't have a problem skipping a sit down dinner if we are falling behind schedule.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

That sounds like a good plan - you should have time for both Mario Kart & Stardust during early entry. Backtracking to Stardust would just mean a longer wait at DK and/or only riding once using your EP. And also assuming that it opens on time, it's a finicky bugger.

Regardless I think Nintendo is the area that gets busiest and by design is also very hectic (think a big outdoor arcade/casino vibe, lots of minigames, stimulation, colors, noises). Doing that first before crowds build is a good idea.

The vibe in the classic monsters is noticeably better either really early in the morning or once dusk starts to set in. Seeing it in the bright sunshine does not impart the right mood.

What time is your reservation? An afternoon reservation is better than an evening since evening and beyond is the best time for rides. I would definitely plan on some sort of sit down and rest meal, so you are recharged until close.