Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Looks like on May 9th, opening switches to 10am. May 15th it switches to 9am.

We switched up our plans (DH and I are taking a quick 4 night trip to WDW) once previews opened up to everyone and are attending the final preview on May 19. The park opens at 9 that day, so I'm also very interested as to when the VL will open up. Guess we'll find out!

Super excited to get to go to Epic this year during the last preview, since we had no plans on going until at least next year!!

 

[Charade67]

I’m going to Epic tomorrow. For those who managed to get the VQ, is it better to use WiFi or my cellular service?

 

[GhostHost24]

Cellular.. UOs wifi is super unreliable

 

[Charade67]

Thank you.

 

[LoveToDisney]

I’m going to Epic tomorrow. For those who managed to get the VQ, is it better to use WiFi or my cellular service?

Let us know how you do with getting VQ.

 

[Minnie1222]

I’m going to Epic tomorrow. For those who managed to get the VQ, is it better to use WiFi or my cellular service?

Good luck tomorrow! We didn't get to ride Ministry today. My cousin was in charge of getting the VQ but she said the ride was down.

How do you get the VQ by the way?

 

[AustinTink]

Very, very late to the game here. We just decided to go check out Epic late fall of this year. As I’m pricing out packages I see that they are limited to one day of Epic with my multi-day three park pass. Am I reading this correctly? Will we need to buy individual Epic one-day tickets for the duration of our trip? Planning to stay at Helios and would like to enter Epic daily.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Will we need to buy individual Epic one-day tickets for the duration of our trip? Planning to stay at Helios and would like to enter Epic daily.

Yes, you need a new ticket for each day you want to enter Epic. No multi-day Epic tickets are being sold in2025.

 

[tony67]

Cellular.. UOs wifi is super unreliable

This always boggles my mind - isn't that a big part of their business? As a comcast customer I am not all that surprised though.

 

[PrincessV]

FWIW, I had better reception via UO’s WiFi than via cell service in almost all of Epic. My carrier uses Verizon’s cellular. A TM at Ministry also told me NOT to try for a VQ within Potterland: “we’re basically in a concrete box here. You’ll get much better reception in Celestial Park.” I got right through in the app at 3 and 6 from Celestial using WiFI - just didn’t manage to score a VQ time.

 

[AustinTink]

We haven’t been to Universal in a decade. There’s an app now? And VQ? Ugh. I have a lot of reading to do.

 

[AustinTink]

Yes, you need a new ticket for each day you want to enter Epic. No multi-day Epic tickets are being sold in2025.

So, staying at Helios the big draw is entrance to Epic directly into the park. I can’t imagine not having a ticket for Epic for every day we are at the hotel. I’m going to have to go in and buy them individually for 5 days. I know it’s in the name of crowd control but it’s just weird and makes me almost want to switch back to RPH.

 

[fatmanatee]

We haven’t been to Universal in a decade. There’s an app now? And VQ? Ugh. I have a lot of reading to do.

Unclear if they're going to continue doing VQ (and it's *only* for the HP ride at the moment) once the park officially opens. There's a lot of frustration with it, getting way more complaints than Disney does with theirs.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Unclear if they're going to continue doing VQ (and it's *only* for the HP ride at the moment) once the park officially opens. There's a lot of frustration with it, getting way more complaints than Disney does with theirs.

I think there's reasons for that though. The attraction for riding doesn't open until 3pm. There's going to be more people that probably won't get it than Disney's system purely based on that. What I do think rankles people more is that some people are able to get VQs multiple times for it, if that wasn't happening you'd have the more normal capacity/timing of opening rationale. I totally get people's frustration to hear that some are going multiple times and others can't get it for the life of them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So, staying at Helios the big draw is entrance to Epic directly into the park. I can’t imagine not having a ticket for Epic for every day we are at the hotel. I’m going to have to go in and buy them individually for 5 days. I know it’s in the name of crowd control but it’s just weird and makes me almost want to switch back to RPH.

If you're planning on going to the Studios and Islands of Adventure (IOA) you may consider a split stay with Royal Pacific and Helios. Do Helios for the days you're going to be at Epic and Royal Pacific for the days you'll be at Studios and IOA. Note that staying at Helios will not get you Express Pass included for Epic nor Studios or IOA, Royal Pacific would get you Express Pass included for Studios and IOA for the days you'd be touring those parks.

If you're only planning on doing Epic you might just stay at Helios or consider a split stay with Helios and Stella Nova or Terra Luna which are the other two Universal hotels right by Epic. I would consider that option if you're looking at it from a cost perspective.

 

[fatmanatee]

I'll add that I've seen multiple reports now that one of the reasons HP is so unreliable is that they have sensors near everyone's feet for some reason and if the sensors aren't triggered by occupants then the ride stops. It's bad enough that they've apparently had to warn people against crossing their legs. I'm sure they meant well with this (probably to detect if someone is out of their seat?), but it's causing problems.

Anyway, if you manage to get in, feet straight down!

 

[tony67]

Unclear if they're going to continue doing VQ (and it's *only* for the HP ride at the moment) once the park officially opens. There's a lot of frustration with it, getting way more complaints than Disney does with theirs.

Yeah - sounds like folks are really unhappy with the VQ.

My only issues is that its not linked to a ticket and limited to once per day. So some folks are not getting it at all and others are getting multiples. That need to sort that out IMO.

Adding on general ticket availability on top of this is making AP holders even more angry.

The recommendation I heard was to not use the WIFI and walk around the park and figure out where you get the best 5G signal for you mobile provider.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My only issues is that its not linked to a ticket and limited to once per day. So some folks are not getting it at all and others are getting multiples. That need to sort that out IMO.

While I'm with the people frustrated at not being able to get it as I would be frustrated too if I were there right now I also want them to run the attraction under enough stress meaning enough people are riding it once it is open for the day. If people are riding it but it's operating half full or less than enough capacity it's going because there wasn't enough people at a given time who put in for a VQ that I would have an issue with. So if limiting it to one time per person means you're not getting enough capacity going through on enough hourly basis you may not be able to really stress the ride to know what kinks to work out.

At the same time I also grapple with really not wanting them to be like Disney, I want the opportunity to ride something more than once but VQ itself is not a method I prefer regardless because I would rather have standby and VQ used every now and then. I just worry that the more people want restrictions the more it becomes like so many part of Disney I don't want nor like.

And then there's how will this work when it's open for the full day will putting a 1 per person per day be needed or will the natural operating time help spread out people's return time enough that not having a restriction isn't as detrimental as it seems at this exact moment. Which brings up the question you've got to assume Universal is gaining knowledge on this and learning if they feel the need to put restrictions on or not once the park is opened to the public in a few weeks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'll add that I've seen multiple reports now that one of the reasons HP is so unreliable is that they have sensors near everyone's feet for some reason and if the sensors aren't triggered by occupants then the ride stops. It's bad enough that they've apparently had to warn people against crossing their legs. I'm sure they meant well with this (probably to detect if someone is out of their seat?), but it's causing problems.

Anyway, if you manage to get in, feet straight down!

It's a good point to bring up about sensors. I could be totally off base but I wonder if the lawsuit for Forbidden Journey had anything to do with it where the person was told to get out of her seat due to the restraint not locking fully and in the midst of stepping onto the moving walkway she slipped and injured herself. I'm sure they've got sensors for Forbidden Journey but something from that incident makes me think they are really trying to keep track of where people are not just ride vehicles and in a way where they can deploy any safety measures (in this case it seems if it's bad enough the ride just stops) immediately. That said a sensor that is set to be too sensitive could cause unintended issues as well especially if the ride stops so abruptly that it may cause injuries in that way.

Sensors are like the love/hate of theme and amusement park world though just because we know how a small act usually unintentional causes a stoppage of the ride or other action.

 

[PrincessV]

I don’t have an objection to them using a VQ - it’s just that the execution of their VQ is pretty terrible. Disney’s has been pretty cut and dry: give it a spin, hope for the best, and either you make it or you don’t. With UO, the needing to keep changing your party size and select different time slots back and forth stuff was annoying. And then to hear people getting multiple times per day, often with a party size larger than they actually have, while others get nothing leaves a bad taste. I was genuinely happy to just be in the park and I imagine I’ll have many years of opportunity to ride it, so it didn’t bother me that much… but the system could definitely use some tweaking.