Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[tony67]

Haha I preferred our stay at Surfside and chose it over Dockside because it was smaller and got picked up first on the bus so I would chose it over Dockside again. I agree about a split stay between Helios and other hotels and the new Nova hotels. I think Universal understands the limitations of their location. In the future when tickets are more flexible I'm sure people will opt to just go to Epic much like they choose to only go to the Harry Potter areas buying tickets just to see them and the hotels right by Epic will be what makes the most sense.

They each have their own bus now - so no longer shared. The buses for Dockside pretty much run continuously - there was always a bus waiting - did not see the same for Surfside. Im sure the buses are fine - but they are just not as frequent.

I have been tempted by the smaller size of Surfside - but I though Id miss the lobby bar - but in the end even though I was at the hotel for a lot of nights this year - it was too far to walk back to the lobby bar from the room after a long day

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They each have their own bus now - so no longer shared. The buses for Dockside pretty much run continuously - there was always a bus waiting - did not see the same for Surfside. Im sure the buses are fine - but they are just not as frequent.

I have been tempted by the smaller size of Surfside - but I though Id miss the lobby bar - but in the end even though I was at the hotel for a lot of nights this year - it was too far to walk back to the lobby bar from the room after a long day

Way different experiences as we did not wait at Surfside either for buses and I wrote about that multiple times after our 2022 trip. I doubt they reduced the bus frequency to the point of what you're saying given that it bypassed Dockside more than once because the bus was full in 2022. Anyways..

Regardless I'm perfectly content with Surfside and don't see it as somehow lesser. I didn't find it a long walk either to the room and that wouldn't in the least deter me talking about a lobby bar, that's not even on my radar for criteria of what I look for in a hotel. Truthfully it's a strange conversation to be had here. I'm not trying to convince you to stay at Surfside it was just ironic with your comment because I had stayed at Surfside, you don't need to post the merits of Dockside. It's okay really They are resorts designed to be extremely similar to each other and I'm sure don't have an IRL competition over which one is better

 

[tony67]

Way different experiences as we did not wait at Surfside either for buses and I wrote about that multiple times after our 2022 trip. I doubt they reduced the bus frequency to the point of what you're saying given that it bypassed Dockside more than once because the bus was full in 2022. Anyways..

Its a regularly scheduled bus now - and that is quite regular - so not an issue really - the difference with Dockside was the bus goes once its filled and there is usually another bus there immediately - sometimes just waiting in the next berth. There were a handful of times mid day where this was not the case - but that was the exception not the rule.

Regardless I'm perfectly content with Surfside and don't see it as somehow lesser. I didn't find it a long walk either to the room and that wouldn't in the least deter me talking about a lobby bar, that's not even on my radar for criteria of what I look for in a hotel. Truthfully it's a strange conversation to be had here. I'm not trying to convince you to stay at Surfside it was just ironic with your comment because I had stayed at Surfside, you don't need to post the merits of Dockside. It's okay really They are resorts designed to be extremely similar to each other and I'm sure don't have an IRL competition over which one is better

Just discussing really and not trying to deter anyone from anything.
I had multiple multilight stays in 2023-2024 (10 - 15 nights each trip - so at the hotel for a long time each trip)

Like I said - the idea of it being smaller is attractive. Dockside is too big if you are stuck far out - and I was once.
The elevators are also very slow in the wings as there are only two - the main elevators have 4 - so I always try to stay near the main elevators now. Elevators can still be very packed when its busy. Because of the size and price you also get lots of very large tour groups so also a disadvantage IMO. To be fair even though there are an extremely large number of teens for a dance competition, a bunch of band competitions and also an extremely large group of Brazilian students - they did not seem to affect things as much as I expected - other than the breakfast area was very busy in the morning.

Having a lobby bar is an advantage too many if choosing two hotels next to each other that cost the same and you really cant walk between easily. Its why I chose Dockside the first time I stayed there. Considering how busy the bar can be I don't think I am the only one. And since you cant just walk over to Citywalk - you have to get a bust and go through the hub - it is a plus for me,

 

[tony67]

For those the have a Bank of America credit card or account (Not sure how you access it as I don't use BOA) - they have a pretty good deal on Universal Epic tickets - the 3 day with epic was around $60 cheaper than buying direct from Universal.

 

[Keladry84]

Its a regularly scheduled bus now - and that is quite regular - so not an issue really - the difference with Dockside was the bus goes once its filled and there is usually another bus there immediately - sometimes just waiting in the next berth. There were a handful of times mid day where this was not the case - but that was the exception not the rule.

Just discussing really and not trying to deter anyone from anything.
I had multiple multilight stays in 2023-2024 (10 - 15 nights each trip - so at the hotel for a long time each trip)

Like I said - the idea of it being smaller is attractive. Dockside is too big if you are stuck far out - and I was once.
The elevators are also very slow in the wings as there are only two - the main elevators have 4 - so I always try to stay near the main elevators now. Elevators can still be very packed when its busy. Because of the size and price you also get lots of very large tour groups so also a disadvantage IMO. To be fair even though there are an extremely large number of teens for a dance competition, a bunch of band competitions and also an extremely large group of Brazilian students - they did not seem to affect things as much as I expected - other than the breakfast area was very busy in the morning.

Having a lobby bar is an advantage too many if choosing two hotels next to each other that cost the same and you really cant walk between easily. Its why I chose Dockside the first time I stayed there. Considering how busy the bar can be I don't think I am the only one. And since you cant just walk over to Citywalk - you have to get a bust and go through the hub - it is a plus for me,

I’ve stayed at both. The dockside buses as you said were always present, but surfside wasn’t bad and max time I waited for a new bus to show up was five to ten minutes with five being the norm. I always was able to get on the first bus for surfside, dockside a couple of times had to wait for the next because the first was full, negating the advantage of it being there on arrival. Surfside buses tended to always take off quickly, dockside buses sat and waited longer sometimes more than ten minutes. So altogether pretty much the same as the differences in waiting equaled out.

I also found the food court at surfside better for my tastes, and had some options missing when I stayed at dockside.

Both hotels have excellent customer service! Dockside has been excellent in finding solutions both proactively and retroactively for people with noise sensitivities, surfside probably would have been too but I didn’t notify them of anything during my stay. Surfside gave me a refund the day of a reservation beginning when my airline cancelled my flight even though I was already checked in online.

I don’t really drink so the lobby bar doesn’t come into play for me.

I love the smaller footprint and quieter atmosphere of surfside, and it is my preference of the two to book and will do so if the same cost as dockside. But the two hotels are so close in experience that if dockside is cheaper, I book there.

In your case, if you find surfside is cheaper for a trip, I wouldn’t totally dismiss is unless the lobby bar is a complete dealbreaker for you. It’s worth try.

 

[fatmanatee]

Not going to post links in case anyone doesn’t want to be spoiled but Universal just posted a preview vid of the Monsters animatronics to their social accounts. 14 of them!

 

[Minnie1222]

Not going to post links in case anyone doesn’t want to be spoiled but Universal just posted a preview vid of the Monsters animatronics to their social accounts. 14 of them!

Dracula is terrifying! I don't think I want to go on this ride anymore.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Not going to post links in case anyone doesn’t want to be spoiled but Universal just posted a preview vid of the Monsters animatronics to their social accounts. 14 of them!

Looks like the Frankenstein one is the most complex with the widest range of motion. This is still the ride I'm most looking forward to

 

[Lewisc]

Not going to post links in case anyone doesn’t want to be spoiled but Universal just posted a preview vid of the Monsters animatronics to their social accounts. 14 of them!

This thread isn't listed as spoiler free. DIS has a couple of Instagram photos on this page, scroll down past the dreams banner ad

 

[tony67]

Not going to post links in case anyone doesn’t want to be spoiled but Universal just posted a preview vid of the Monsters animatronics to their social accounts. 14 of them!

Wow - they are pretty impressive to say the least

Dracula is terrifying! I don't think I want to go on this ride anymore.

Although it looks good - I was more expecting the classic Universal Dracula (Bela Lugosi) - seems more like Boy Band Dracula to me - we will see - regardless its impressive

 

[Minnie1222]

Speaking of Monsters Unchained, do we know what kind of ride it is? Rollercoaster with inversions? Is it similar to any of the current rides? I'm trying to talk myself into riding it.

Thanks.

 

[Minnie1222]

Looks like the Frankenstein one is the most complex with the widest range of motion. This is still the ride I'm most looking forward to

How wide is the range of motion?

 

[Dznefreek]

Wow just WOW!!!!

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Wow just WOW!!!!

Yup, the Frankenstein one is definitely the most advanced out of the ones they showed. Makes sense given the backstory of the ride

 

[fatmanatee]

Speaking of Monsters Unchained, do we know what kind of ride it is? Rollercoaster with inversions? Is it similar to any of the current rides? I'm trying to talk myself into riding it.

Thanks.

Not a rollercoaster, the ride system is similar to HP and the Forbidden Journey. I don’t think we have any sense of how intense it’ll be though, we’re just working with the previews Universal has provided.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yup, the Frankenstein one is definitely the most advanced out of the ones they showed. Makes sense given the backstory of the ride

I'm also in awe of the dracula one dang that looks impressive

 

[ShyMiss]

Any guesses as to when single day tickets will go public? DH & I are current AP but kids are not. lol. They will be mortified if we don't bring them. teehee (Not planning to attend until late fall.)

PS I am one who isn't looking into too many spoiler details but I am still SO excited. Love the classic monsters & HP. Nintendo is sure to be fun too.

 

[wabbott]

Gill-man from The Creature From the Black Lagoon? More teeth than in the original.

 

[wabbott]

@wabbott frightened senseless by the Gill-man at Wakulla Springs, FL, filming location of the movie's underwater scenes.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

I'm also in awe of the dracula one dang that looks impressive

I think they all look cool! My point was about range of motion, the Dracula one might just do that one motion shown. But that's all it's gotta do to scare me anyway!