How long will you wait before visiting Epic Universe?

[Jennkneefir]

Hello all!

Im curious when folks might consider planning a trip to Epic Universe after it opens. I've never following a new park opening before so i'm not super aware of how busy things might be right at the beginning.

Assuming it is open by summer 2025, how soon after would you plan to visit?
When will you start looking at booking flights/hotels/etc.
Will you wait until the park is open before booking a trip, or will you start booking/planning once opening dates are announced?

I noticed on the website that Stella Nova is bookable starting in January 2025. Having to book international flights, etc makes it a pretty significant trip.

 

[damo]

I would like to go the following spring.

 

[tx911]

I'll wait a couple of years at least. Might visit the other 2 Universal parks if attendance there drops.

 

[Jennkneefir]

I'll wait a couple of years at least. Might visit the other 2 Universal parks if attendance there drops.

I was wondering about that too. Curious if Epic will be packed to the gills resulting in a drop at the other two or if an increase in Universal trips will lead to all of them being busier

 

[tx911]

I was wondering about that too. Curious if Epic will be packed to the gills resulting in a drop at the other two or if an increase in Universal trips will lead to all of them being busier

Yeah, good point. I guess time will tell.

If they're all busier I'll go to Disney

 

[youngdeb12]

We wouldn't travel to Orlando specifically to be there around when it debuts, but would monitor crowd levels (assuming they are going to be insane) and make it part of an already scheduled trip to UO and WDW, likely in early 2026 as that's when we are planning to go anyway. It's definitely been a factor in our decision to visit DL next year instead of WDW.

 

[c3h3a3r]

Hoping to come over from the UK end of Oct/beginning Nov 2026. Hoping it will be less busy then....

 

[disney-inspired]

We're going Sept 2025.

 

[Genie+]

We usually take a trip to Orlando in the fall and likely will buy a 1 day ticket unless it’s absolutely bonkers crowded.

 

[CdnCarrie]

We plan on going fall 2025.

 

[I Run Long]

We're planning on going Sept 2026. We only go to Orlando/Disney World every other year and since we are going this year, it will have to wait. Hopefully that means the rush will have worn off. Admittedly we're not really Universal fans but we do love Harry Potter and we haven't been back since the first Harry Potter portion opened, so we are due. Also the "monster" themed area including some of the old school characters (Dracula, Frankenstein, Creature from the black lagoon), really have me interested. The rest incl. Super Mario World I couldn't care less about but then it isn't my demographic. But I could certainly see others who grew up playing video games absolutely loving it.

 

[Jennkneefir]

We're going Sept 2025.

Have you already started booking anything? I was curious about september-november 2025 and im trying to gauge when i should start booking stuff

 

[mort1331]

In no rush at all. My teens were not overly excited about the other lands when we went last year for the 1st time to try out. They have said they are in no rush to goto this park either. They both much prefer WDW and DL.
That being said, they and us are not big coaster fans anyway. We live near Canadians Wonderland and havent been to that in a few years either.

 

[disney-inspired]

Have you already started booking anything? I was curious about september-november 2025 and im trying to gauge when i should start booking stuff

It's way too early. I'll probably have my TA book us when we're a year out as I'm hoping they'll have the Epic tickets for sale by then. She'll probably let me know as soon as she gets word of when the tickets are being released.

Originally I thought we'd want to stay at the new resort attached to EU but we're only going one day, so I'd rather stay at the other premier resorts to be closer to USF/IOA and VB.

 

[Susan2771]

December 2026, after Christmas.

 

[Jennkneefir]

It's way too early. I'll probably have my TA book us when we're a year out as I'm hoping they'll have the Epic tickets for sale by then. She'll probably let me know as soon as she gets word of when the tickets are being released.

Originally I thought we'd want to stay at the new resort attached to EU but we're only going one day, so I'd rather stay at the other premier resorts to be closer to USF/IOA and VB.

Very fair. Thanks for the input! I'm a wee bit excited and discussing with friends/fam to decide when we might want to go and fit it in with other trips we want to do.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

We are planning a trip for early February 2026, booking our hotel in February 2025 and start to look at flight around that time as well. We are going to do a full UOR trip, all three land parks and Volcano Bay.

I plan on using air miles for park tickets, hotel, and hopefully flights. I have already starting savings PC Optimum points to be cashed out for US money. My parents aren't getting any younger (mid 70s) and they love Universal and want to experience Epic Universe.

 

[bwr827]

We’re planning either early December 2025 or April/May 2026. The latter might be a better bet for overall crowd levels in Orlando, but that’s such a long wait and we’ve always been curious about experiencing the Xmas vibe at WDW and Universal.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

We’re planning either early December 2025 or April/May 2026. The latter might be a better bet for overall crowd levels in Orlando, but that’s such a long wait and we’ve always been curious about experiencing the Xmas vibe at WDW and Universal.

We did WDW in 2022 traveled the weekend AFTER the US Thanksgiving and into the first week of December. Crowds were very manageable, weather was perfect. April/May will be hot!

The Christmas Party was amazing. We didn't visit UOR that trip, so cannot comment on their Christmas theme.

 

[bwr827]

We did WDW in 2022 traveled the weekend AFTER the US Thanksgiving and into the first week of December. Crowds were very manageable, weather was perfect. April/May will be hot!

The Christmas Party was amazing. We didn't visit UOR that trip, so cannot comment on their Christmas theme.

Great to hear about weekend after US Thanksgiving — that’s exactly when we would go.

Our last trip was late April/early May 2023. It was definitely hot, but we loved the trip and we offset the heat with a pool break every afternoon (except the day at Animal Kingdom).