Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[rnorwo1]

I just booked flights for 4 days/5 nights in October. I'm in analysis paralysis on hotels due to uncertainty with express pass and allowed Epic days. Epic is the primary reason we want to go, so I want to wait on tickets until we can get more than one day and wait on hotels until we know for sure if express pass will be accepted in Epic, but I'm afraid of waiting too long in case they sell out or prices skyrocket. I've read a dozen articles on speculations and vague dates (e.g., express will be offered "at some point "in the future) but not everything in this thread, so forgive me if this has been discussed with definitive answers already.

Here's my ticket ruminations: Does anyone have any suggestions on split stays and/or split ticket packages to get us at least 2 days at Epic? I'd love 3. Or, is it definite that we can book tickets more flexibly before our October dates (and won't be at risk at the parks being full), so we should just wait?

And the hotel ruminations: If we will be allowed 3 days at Epic, and we spend just 1 day between the other two parks, would it make sense to do a split hotel stay at RPR and Helios for the express pass for that one day? Or is it pretty definite that Epic will accept express before October, and we should just stay at one of the premium hotels the entire time? Family of 5, so it's usually cheaper to do the premium hotels than buy passes individually (although if Epic won't accept it, then that may not be the case this time).

Would love any direction to get me out of my head!! Thanks!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I haven't seen any indication that they intend to offer included EP with any hotel hotel rooms for Epic, ever. Like Volcano Bay. I would plan your hotel under the assumption that you will not get Epic EP included regardless of where you stay. But if it were me, I would book your most likely hotel plan now. It's easy enough to cancel or modify later.

They have said that EP will be available and that single day tickets will be available. I haven't heard dates for either of those things.

In 2026, they will offer multi-day tickets with unrestricted Epic access, per tickets that are already available overseas. Not sure when those will be announced or offered domestically.

 

[Minnie1222]

I'm 99.9% leaning towards Epic NOT providing EP for any hotel in the next 10 years. I also don't think Helios Grand would ever get EP for UO and IOA either. For our next two trips, we'll be staying at Helios to be close to Epic. But after that we will be going back to the other three premier hotels.

 

[DisneyMom93]

When Helios bookings were first available I booked 4 nights for Nov 14-18 with plans to spend a day at the resort and hopefully 2 to 3 days at Epic, depending on what ticket options are available. We have APs and are not sure what our options will be for Epic tix only. I guess we shall see... But we did get a really good rate for Helios. Rates are much higher now.

I also booked PB (modified a few times for the lower AP rates since I first booked) for Nov 18-23 to visit the other two parks, so we do have a split stay.

 

[rnorwo1]

I haven't seen any indication that they intend to offer included EP with any hotel hotel rooms for Epic, ever. Like Volcano Bay. I would plan your hotel under the assumption that you will not get Epic EP included regardless of where you stay. But if it were me, I would book your most likely hotel plan now. It's easy enough to cancel or modify later.

They have said that EP will be available and that single day tickets will be available. I haven't heard dates for either of those things.

In 2026, they will offer multi-day tickets with unrestricted Epic access, per tickets that are already available overseas. Not sure when those will be announced or offered domestically.

I'm 99.9% leaning towards Epic NOT providing EP for any hotel in the next 10 years. I also don't think Helios Grand would ever get EP for UO and IOA either. For our next two trips, we'll be staying at Helios to be close to Epic. But after that we will be going back to the other three premier hotels.

When Helios bookings were first available I booked 4 nights for Nov 14-18 with plans to spend a day at the resort and hopefully 2 to 3 days at Epic, depending on what ticket options are available. We have APs and are not sure what our options will be for Epic tix only. I guess we shall see... But we did get a really good rate for Helios. Rates are much higher now.

I also booked PB (modified a few times for the lower AP rates since I first booked) for Nov 18-23 to visit the other two parks, so we do have a split stay.

Sorry, I thought I had managed the chaos in my head a bit better! I wasn't waiting to see if Helios would offer EP; my research led me to believe that was not going to happen as well. I guess what I was saying is that if Epic wouldn't accept passes, then perhaps it would be worth staying there for proximity and then just move for the one night to get EP for the other two parks on our 4th, non-Epic day. I guess I'll go ahead and book RPR just to be safe, but now I'm thinking that we may just do Disney instead and save Universal for 2026 when so much is not up in the air!

 

[Minnie1222]

We have APs and are not sure what our options will be for Epic tix only.

If you have an activated AP, you can buy single-day Epic tickets now.

 

[DisneyMom93]

If you have an activated AP, you can buy single-day Epic tickets now.

Yeah, unfortunately we have not used our APs yet so they are not activated. We bought the ones with the three extra months so we are planning to use them November 2025 and November 2026. We can’t activate them yet.

So we are waiting to see what the availability for Epic tickets will be. Hoping for 2-day ticket option.

But thanks for the info!

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

We booked Helios but are only planning to stay there the two days we go to Epic, presuming we are able to buy another single day ticket. I haven't booked our other hotel yet but planning on RPR or Port for the other days for EP and convenient access to IOA and US. I don't anticipate that they will ever offer EP to Epic with any of the hotels including Helios, or that they will offer EP to IOA and US with Helios, with the terms of their agreement with Loews, they don't have to do so with the new hotels, so they won't. As for when we'll be able to buy EP for Epic, who knows, but I'll certainly pony up when it's offered. As it is I'm considering booking a VIP tour for the first time ever. We did UO Hollywood just to experience Nintendo World and even with the paid early entry it was intense. A whole brand new gate? I bet it's going to be absolutely bonkers that first year.

 

[Minnie1222]

Does anyone have any suggestions on split stays and/or split ticket packages to get us at least 2 days at Epic? I'd love 3.

If you're willing to spend, you can buy multiple 3-day/3-park packages. Each package is good for six days. You can buy three packages with the identical starting date if you want. Each package comes with its own QR code to avoid a mix up.

Or, is it definite that we can book tickets more flexibly before our October dates (and won't be at risk at the parks being full), so we should just wait?

No one knows when the single-day tickets will be sold, or how fast they'll sell out. The system crashed for hours during the AP tickets event.

 

[macraven]

pretty sure the tickets will sell fast so don’t lag to make your decision.

All new events will entice peeps to check it out

 

[NeutralNovice]

Hi all, ok so I am officially booked... for opening week!

Am I a fool for this? Probably. I already have the week off and am going to the Universal Fan Fest Night on May 18. Figured I might as well go to Epic and to a coast-to-coast!

I booked a room at the Cabana Bay Resort. I know I'll at least have 1-hour early entry to Epic but I am a bit apprehensive about how much of a ####show it'll even be to get to the front gate from my hotel. Like how early should I expect to even head to the park to begin with?

I haven't picked which day I am gonna try Epic but I am leaning toward the 23rd.

Can anyone out there convince me, one way or the other, if I should even do this trip? After watching it grow over the years, I really want to be there and experience a park opening but at the same time, I am betting it might be a bit miserable with the crowds lol.

I am hoping that one of Universal's tactics, to start, would be to limit the number of guests in the park then gradually ease into full capacity as they figure out their processes and best practices.

I will be going again in January 2026 for my 40th so this trip would be a great pre-gamer to get the feel of the park so I'm more knowledgeable for the big trip. (who am I kidding, I just want to experience the park ASAP).

 

[Keladry84]

Hi all, ok so I am officially booked... for opening week!

Am I a fool for this? Probably. I already have the week off and am going to the Universal Fan Fest Night on May 18. Figured I might as well go to Epic and to a coast-to-coast!

I booked a room at the Cabana Bay Resort. I know I'll at least have 1-hour early entry to Epic but I am a bit apprehensive about how much of a ####show it'll even be to get to the front gate from my hotel. Like how early should I expect to even head to the park to begin with?

I haven't picked which day I am gonna try Epic but I am leaning toward the 23rd.

Can anyone out there convince me, one way or the other, if I should even do this trip? After watching it grow over the years, I really want to be there and experience a park opening but at the same time, I am betting it might be a bit miserable with the crowds lol.

I am hoping that one of Universal's tactics, to start, would be to limit the number of guests in the park then gradually ease into full capacity as they figure out their processes and best practices.

I will be going again in January 2026 for my 40th so this trip would be a great pre-gamer to get the feel of the park so I'm more knowledgeable for the big trip. (who am I kidding, I just want to experience the park ASAP).

I think you should still do the trip - how many times in life can you attend a brand new major theme park during the first week? If you go by the last park opening in Orlando, you'll be 60 for the next one.

BUT - go in with realistic expectations. You won't be able to experience everything. You're going for the experience of being there during opening, not to have a normal themepark day. You'll get that on your 40th bday trip.

 

[NeutralNovice]

I think you should still do the trip - how many times in life can you attend a brand new major theme park during the first week? If you go by the last park opening in Orlando, you'll be 60 for the next one.

BUT - go in with realistic expectations. You won't be able to experience everything. You're going for the experience of being there during opening, not to have a normal themepark day. You'll get that on your 40th bday trip.

I like your thinking!

One thing I am hoping is that the other two parks will be ghost towns.

I'm really hoping that VIP tours are available come Jan 2026. I've done the non-private VIP tours at USO and they were fantastic!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Can anyone out there convince me, one way or the other, if I should even do this trip? After watching it grow over the years, I really want to be there and experience a park opening but at the same time, I am betting it might be a bit miserable with the crowds lol.

Yes! Because you are a grown-a$$ adult - one of the best parts of that is getting to choose what to do and not have to justify it to anyone else. Agree with @Keladry84 to plan to enjoy it as an experience, pick a few must dos, and just enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime day!

Like how early should I expect to even head to the park to begin with?

I would find out when the first bus is in the morning, and plan to be on that bus (maybe be at the bus stop up to 30min early).

 

[GhostHost24]

I think you should still do the trip - how many times in life can you attend a brand new major theme park during the first week? If you go by the last park opening in Orlando, you'll be 60 for the next one.

BUT - go in with realistic expectations. You won't be able to experience everything. You're going for the experience of being there during opening, not to have a normal themepark day. You'll get that on your 40th bday trip.

This is basically the answer.

Itll be a great experience to be there opening week.... But don't expect to do every ride.

I'm going on day 3 (Saturday) and I have about 2 rides I hope to ride and that's all.. Anything else will be a bonus.. My main thing for this one is just to experience each land.

 

[Minnie1222]

Hi all, ok so I am officially booked... for opening week!

Am I a fool for this? Probably. I already have the week off and am going to the Universal Fan Fest Night on May 18. Figured I might as well go to Epic and to a coast-to-coast!

We will be at Epic on May 23, 24, and 25. Very excited about being among the first 100,000 guests to enter the park.

 

[fatmanatee]

Don't have a link but they had an event yesterday where they showcased food offerings and looks like the website is being updated to promote those items, names of a lot of the new venues are included. Some tasty offerings, and some that seem to use a lot of food coloring lol.

 

[Minnie1222]

There are a lot of food pictures on the website of Attractions Magazine and WDW News Today. These two are my favorites,


Bièr Au Beurre Crêpe.



Stormfly's Catch of The Day (a chocolate mousse fish).

 

[wdwrule]

Also here’s a new upcoming food blog that UO tweeted out.
https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/...-offerings-coming-to-universal-epic-universe/

https://twitter.com/x/status/1889399303166128559

 

[GhostHost24]

I'm gonna need that butterbeer crepe like now