Epic & Volcano Bay Early Entry Worth It?

[jwalk03]

Spending a week at Universal in September to do all 4 parks there. I have never been to Epic or Volcano Bay (and haven't been to Studios or IOA in ~25 years)

We are staying off site at a timeshare for the week, but I was considering booking a throwaway night at Cabana Bay for $135 Total to gain early entry at Epic and Volcano Bay for our 2 days there. The days are back to back so I gain early entry for both with just one hotel night)

I already booked a throw away night at Royal Pacific to get Express Passes for the 2 days we will spend at Studios & IOA.

So my questions are what is open for Early entry at Epic & Volcano Bay? And is it worth $135 to gain early entry for these 2 parks for my family of 4?

 

[georgina]

Spending a week at Universal in September to do all 4 parks there. I have never been to Epic or Volcano Bay (and haven't been to Studios or IOA in ~25 years)

We are staying off site at a timeshare for the week, but I was considering booking a throwaway night at Cabana Bay for $135 Total to gain early entry at Epic and Volcano Bay for our 2 days there. The days are back to back so I gain early entry for both with just one hotel night)

I already booked a throw away night at Royal Pacific to get Express Passes for the 2 days we will spend at Studios & IOA.

So my questions are what is open for Early entry at Epic & Volcano Bay? And is it worth $135 to gain early entry for these 2 parks for my family of 4?

Here is the complete list of what is open for early entry at each park -

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/gb/early-park-admission

I haven't been to Epic yet so can't weigh in on that. Look at the personal experiences reported in the Epic thread. EE is only a half hour at VB. I have taken advantage of it to ride Krakatau multiple times in the morning, which gets the longest lines. Is it worth it in September? Probably not for VB.

 

[Minnie1222]

Celestial Park, Dark Universe, and Nintendo World are all open during early entry. We've had luck riding Mine Cart with a shortish wait during this time.

 

[titojackson84]

It may have just been a bad day, but a couple of years ago, I went to VB for early entry and every time I went up to a slide they said it wasn’t open yet. I walked around the park twice and every time was the same answer. I figured I would wait in the wave pool since that was open. The drums and the horns started and when the waves started, they were barely a ripple. I ended up leaving. Spent $20-25 for a locker to walk in a circle. Haven’t gone since.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

What are your priorities at Epic? If you want to go to Battle at the Ministry first thing, early entry is not relevant. It's best for Mario Kart, or Minecart Madness but Minecart Madness is unreliable in the mornings and isn't technically an early entry ride - if it opens early, you got lucky. I would agree with @georgina to check out the Epic experiences thread. Dark Universe is open however Monsters Untamed consistently holds the shortest lines all day. Curse of the Werewolf might be a good use of the early entry time, or Stardust (if it opens on time). Rope dropping Mario Kart will be your biggest time savings with early entry.

It's been a few years, but the drop slides at Volcano Bay are great to hit early - those lines move painfully slowly. Not sure how much better it is to do EE vs just arriving at park open - is 30min worth $135 to you?

Also, is Dockside/Surfside not cheaper, since it's a throwaway anyway? Or did you plan to park at Cabana Bay and use their private Volcano Bay entrance?

 

[jwalk03]

What are your priorities at Epic? If you want to go to Battle at the Ministry first thing, early entry is not relevant. It's best for Mario Kart, or Minecart Madness but Minecart Madness is unreliable in the mornings and isn't technically an early entry ride - if it opens early, you got lucky. I would agree with @georgina to check out the Epic experiences thread. Dark Universe is open however Monsters Untamed consistently holds the shortest lines all day. Curse of the Werewolf might be a good use of the early entry time, or Stardust (if it opens on time). Rope dropping Mario Kart will be your biggest time savings with early entry.

It's been a few years, but the drop slides at Volcano Bay are great to hit early - those lines move painfully slowly. Not sure how much better it is to do EE vs just arriving at park open - is 30min worth $135 to you?

Also, is Dockside/Surfside not cheaper, since it's a throwaway anyway? Or did you plan to park at Cabana Bay and use their private Volcano Bay entrance?

I would like to do all of the rides at Epic. We are big Nintendo fans for sure. That said we have already ridden Mario Kart at Hollywood when it opened there. But will certainly ride it again at Epic as well. We are not big Harry Potter fans- but again I would like to get through all the rides if at all possible.

Love roller coasters so Stardust racers and Donkey Kong are must dos for sure. I am also very excited for Dark Universe. I have never seen any of the How to Train your Dragon movies but have heard good things about that portal.

Cabana Bay is currently the cheapest option I saw for the date we are going.

$135 is not worth just the 30 minutes at VB for sure. But is it worth the hour at Epic AND the 30 minutes at VB since I can book 1-night and get early entry for both?