Two days at Epic?

[Megan138]

Hi everyone! I'm planning a December trip to Universal and am looking at 3-day one park per day tickets. We did 2-day park to park tickets back in 2024 before Epic opened and had fun at the parks, however this trip we want to do everything at Epic. Do you think 2 days would be too much? I don't plan on getting express pass so I realize we'd be waiting in lines and may need the two days anyway. I just wanted to hear recommendations from people who have been there before. Thanks!

 

[chad_1138]

Hi everyone! I'm planning a December trip to Universal and am looking at 3-day one park per day tickets. We did 2-day park to park tickets back in 2024 before Epic opened and had fun at the parks, however this trip we want to do everything at Epic. Do you think 2 days would be too much? I don't plan on getting express pass so I realize we'd be waiting in lines and may need the two days anyway. I just wanted to hear recommendations from people who have been there before. Thanks!

We did 2 days at Epic last July and it was perfect. No express pass. Rode everything, most rides multiple times. We put a rest day between the 2 park days, we did early entry to close both park days. Couple of tips:

Save Mario Kart and Yoshi for the end of the day, lines will be super short.

Use Early Entry!! Since you are doing 2 days, you could do 1 land each day.

Have back up plans! Stardust was our early entry plan the first day, but it was closed, so we pivoted to Dark Universe.

Speaking of Dark Universe, if you are interested in Curse of the Werewolf, early is best. It's fun, but not worth more than a 5 minutes wait.

Also, we stayed at Stella Nova, so we were able to walk right over each morning.

 

[Skippyboo]

I did 2 days last September a Tuesday and Thursday when I was done for HHN. I did early entry both days. Second day stayed until park close. Didn’t do Starlight because it opened late first day and then it started raining. Second day it was closed because the guest died . Did not get to show in HP or really explore that area. I did wait 3 hrs for Battle of the Ministry. I think next time will just do single rider.

I thought the food in the park was excellent.

 

[Megan138]

We did 2 days at Epic last July and it was perfect. No express pass. Rode everything, most rides multiple times. We put a rest day between the 2 park days, we did early entry to close both park days. Couple of tips:

Save Mario Kart and Yoshi for the end of the day, lines will be super short.

Use Early Entry!! Since you are doing 2 days, you could do 1 land each day.

Have back up plans! Stardust was our early entry plan the first day, but it was closed, so we pivoted to Dark Universe.

Speaking of Dark Universe, if you are interested in Curse of the Werewolf, early is best. It's fun, but not worth more than a 5 minutes wait.

Also, we stayed at Stella Nova, so we were able to walk right over each morning.

Thanks so much! I appreciate all the details. This makes me feel better about not having express pass. When we went in 2024 we had it for both days.

Can I ask what you mean by "you could do 1 land each day" in regards to early entry? I'm not too familiar with Universal and how that works.

Good to hear about Stella Nova - that was also the hotel we were considering.

 

[Megan138]

I did 2 days last September a Tuesday and Thursday when I was done for HHN. I did early entry both days. Second day stayed until park close. Didn’t do Starlight because it opened late first day and then it started raining. Second day it was closed because the guest died . Did not get to show in HP or really explore that area. I did wait 3 hrs for Battle of the Ministry. I think next time will just do single rider.

I thought the food in the park was excellent.

Awesome - thanks! For the single rider line at the Battle of the Ministry do you skip most of the queue? Do you know how old you have to be to do single rider? My youngest will be 11 when we go. I like that strategy.

I'm looking forward to the food so I'm glad you liked it!

 

[boomer775]

following as interested in going to epic this summer

 

[chad_1138]

Thanks so much! I appreciate all the details. This makes me feel better about not having express pass. When we went in 2024 we had it for both days.

Can I ask what you mean by "you could do 1 land each day" in regards to early entry? I'm not too familiar with Universal and how that works.

Good to hear about Stella Nova - that was also the hotel we were considering.

Yeah, the 1 land was the early entry thought I had. Here is the link to my trip report:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/2-absolutely-epic-days-july-21-july-23.3970861/

Hit me up with any questions!!

 

[ItsOnlyMoney]

That's what I'm planning on doing next year

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I would plan to stay late both days if possible, but especially your first day. The lines drop so much in the evening, you can get a lot accomplished with short lines. If rides were running well during the day, you will get short waits on everything including Ministry, Mine Cart, Mario Kart during the last 1-2 hours. Except for the carousel, with a wait time that increases as soon as it gets dark. So if you don't get to something during the day that first day, or the lines are long, just wait until the evening. Having the second day means you aren't screwed if the ride goes down after you waited until the end of the day, you still have an opportunity to get on it the next day.

Usually the hours are late enough that a mid-day break works great for a recharge. No need to fight through the crowds in the middle of the day, either do things other than rides or just head back to the hotel for a few hours. Regardless, make sure that you are prepared to get to the end of the day with the glorious low crowds.

If you do your first day and you got to do everything you wanted, you can obviously decide not to go back to Epic a 2nd day.

 

[disneyseniors]

I would plan to stay late both days if possible, but especially your first day. The lines drop so much in the evening, you can get a lot accomplished with short lines. If rides were running well during the day, you will get short waits on everything including Ministry, Mine Cart, Mario Kart during the last 1-2 hours. Except for the carousel, with a wait time that increases as soon as it gets dark. So if you don't get to something during the day that first day, or the lines are long, just wait until the evening. Having the second day means you aren't screwed if the ride goes down after you waited until the end of the day, you still have an opportunity to get on it the next day.

Usually the hours are late enough that a mid-day break works great for a recharge. No need to fight through the crowds in the middle of the day, either do things other than rides or just head back to the hotel for a few hours. Regardless, make sure that you are prepared to get to the end of the day with the glorious low crowds.

If you do your first day and you got to do everything you wanted, you can obviously decide not to go back to Epic a 2nd day.

We are going to Epic for the first time in a few weeks with 2 day passes. We are doing the same as you did - that is: get there early and have a mid day break and go back to close it down. That seems like the best option for Epic to me.

 

[Minnie1222]

We went 5.5 days over three trips, including 4 days with Express Passes.

Maybe it was a combination of bad luck and poor timing, but we actually didn't get to see the Dragon show until our third visit. Unfortunately, the dragon was not flying during the performance, so we will need to return in the near future.

Two days wouldn't be enough for us, but we also like to have long relaxing meals as often as necessary.

 

[Skippyboo]

Awesome - thanks! For the single rider line at the Battle of the Ministry do you skip most of the queue? Do you know how old you have to be to do single rider? My youngest will be 11 when we go. I like that strategy.

I'm looking forward to the food so I'm glad you liked it!

I didn’t actually do single rider since it was my first time. I did watch a YouTube video recently of Molly from Mammoth Family do it. You see the Ministry atrium but miss the rest of the queue stuff like Auror’s locker room, the office with the house elf animatronic

 

[wabbott]

We were there last week and did Epic for the first time. Early entry both days and no express pass.

We got to do everything, plus had lunch.

The Untrainable Dragon: Do not miss, great show. And we've not seen the movies.
Battle of the Ministry: Another don't miss. A bit intense.
Stardust Racers: Quite intense, almost too much for me.
Monster's Unchained: Another don't miss. I grew up in the 50s and 60s on monster movies.
Atlantic Restaurant: Great food, but spendy. But then, what ain't @ UOR or WDW?

 

[Megan138]

I would plan to stay late both days if possible, but especially your first day. The lines drop so much in the evening, you can get a lot accomplished with short lines. If rides were running well during the day, you will get short waits on everything including Ministry, Mine Cart, Mario Kart during the last 1-2 hours. Except for the carousel, with a wait time that increases as soon as it gets dark. So if you don't get to something during the day that first day, or the lines are long, just wait until the evening. Having the second day means you aren't screwed if the ride goes down after you waited until the end of the day, you still have an opportunity to get on it the next day.

Usually the hours are late enough that a mid-day break works great for a recharge. No need to fight through the crowds in the middle of the day, either do things other than rides or just head back to the hotel for a few hours. Regardless, make sure that you are prepared to get to the end of the day with the glorious low crowds.

If you do your first day and you got to do everything you wanted, you can obviously decide not to go back to Epic a 2nd day.

Thanks - we are definitely night owls so this shouldn't be a problem for us. The December weather also makes it easier for us to last longer in the parks. The heat would do me in. I'll definitely keep all these things in mind!

We are going to Epic for the first time in a few weeks with 2 day passes. We are doing the same as you did - that is: get there early and have a mid day break and go back to close it down. That seems like the best option for Epic to me.

Please let me know how it goes. Have fun!

We went 5.5 days over three trips, including 4 days with Express Passes.

Maybe it was a combination of bad luck and poor timing, but we actually didn't get to see the Dragon show until our third visit. Unfortunately, the dragon was not flying during the performance, so we will need to return in the near future.

Two days wouldn't be enough for us, but we also like to have long relaxing meals as often as necessary.

Were you not able to see the Dragon show your first two visits because it wasn't running or too crowded? That's a bummer about the dragon not working while you were there but a good excuse to go back. I can't wait to try the food. Let me know what your favorites were please.

 

[Megan138]

We were there last week and did Epic for the first time. Early entry both days and no express pass.

We got to do everything, plus had lunch.

The Untrainable Dragon: Do not miss, great show. And we've not seen the movies.
Battle of the Ministry: Another don't miss. A bit intense.
Stardust Racers: Quite intense, almost too much for me.
Monster's Unchained: Another don't miss. I grew up on the 50s and 60s on monster movies.
Atlantic Restaurant: Great food, but spendy. But then, what ain't @ UOR or WDW?

Thanks! Sounds like a great trip! I'm definitely getting excited reading these replies. Now I just have to wait 8 months lol