Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[SkyGuy]

Purchased two days worth of Epic preview tickets for next week. Like you said, expecting the same experience as the reviews posted two weeks ago. Watching the wait times on the app this week...pretty disappointed with my choice.

We’re going next week as well. We’re honestly not expecting to get on anything. We’re planning on casually walking through the different areas and exploring. I just hope we don’t encounter the mega-lines at all the food places. If we get on something, we’ll consider that a bonus, which is pretty sad given it’s a theme park preview.

 

[SkyGuy]

Double post

 

[PrincessV]

Gleaning off what comments I've seen (that I take with a grain of salt) people are saying sensors are a big thing. We talked about sensors on this thread very recently but with the ride closing for the last part of the preview it makes me think it's possible they are wanting to tweak with those sensors. Obviously I don't actually know that's what they are doing but it does seem to be brought up enough that it makes me think design on paper and real life action didn't match here that a safety feature didn't pan out the way they expected. Whatever it is I hope that doesn't translate to it being an issue at actual opening so keeping fingers crossed there.

That was my thought, too, that they’re going to re-work the sensor thing. It’s just not realistic to expect that no Guest will ever move their feet off the floor on a ride that moves around so much! I also read in a couple places that it’s only been running a few of its many cars each day during previews - also not realistic once fully opened, so hopefully they get it closer to fully operational with the extended shut down.

We’re going next week as well. We’re honestly not expecting to get on anything. We’re planning on casually walking through the different areas and exploring. I just hope we don’t encounter the mega-lines at all the food places. If we get on something, we’ll consider that a bonus, which is pretty sad given it’s a theme park preview.

The restaurant lines talk was very surprising to me. I haven’t gotten the impression that Epic increased park capacity enough for that to happen: I’d think if crowds were that heavy, we’d also be hearing about congestion all over. It makes me wonder if it was a few eateries having technical and/or staffing issues, and/or problems with mobile ordering. In any case, I hope it gets ironed out quickly!

 

[VeronicaZS]

Ugh, I was ready to pull the trigger on a completely spontaneous trip with my husband for 2 days at Epic on May 17 & 18 and now I’m wondering if we should just skip it and go with the kids in the summer or Jersey week (first week of November). I would be okay with some disruptions but crazy lines everywhere and multiple closures would be disappointing. Thoughts?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Ugh, I was ready to pull the trigger on a completely spontaneous trip with my husband for 2 days at Epic on May 17 & 18

Would you stay onsite? The preview tickets are sold out for those 2 dates otherwise. Although, they were sold out for several other dates as of this morning which are now available again, so who knows.

The AP preview tickets for this current week were sold out or nearly sold out too, and not nearly as many AP tickets sold for next week. Hopefully that means next week might be better again? Either way, when are you going to get another chance to go to a brand new park preview?!

I continue to think that bookings will be "slow" for non-holiday weeks in Nov/Dec 2025, too. I hope that holds true, but not so true that Universal changes their ticketing structure for late 2025.

 

[PlutoNotPlanet]

Reports the last two days have been pretty terrible - constant ride shut downs and delays, hour waits just to eat. That’s SO different from what I experienced 10 days ago! Ministry clearly needs major fixes, so I’m glad they’re taking the time to do that… but I feel for folks who bought preview tickets expecting what I and others experienced and are getting something else. I’m glad I opted not to do another preview, and I’m second guessing my early June ticket.

The number of people definitely doubled than 10 days ago. It’s also possible that they are trying to fix things before the grand opening leading to even longer down time.

 

[SaraSpringsIsHome]

Hoping for the best for the final preview on the 19th. Fingers crossed for Ministry of Magic, but DH and I super excited for all of Super Nintendo World and Dark Universe, so those are our priorities this trip. Everything else will be the icing on the cake!

 

[PrincessV]

Ugh, I was ready to pull the trigger on a completely spontaneous trip with my husband for 2 days at Epic on May 17 & 18 and now I’m wondering if we should just skip it and go with the kids in the summer or Jersey week (first week of November). I would be okay with some disruptions but crazy lines everywhere and multiple closures would be disappointing. Thoughts?

I say this as someone who enjoyed the preview VERY much and think Epic is fantastic… I’d wait. Here’s why:

1. I do not think the previews are worth the expense and effort of traveling. I’m local, so my total cost was just the ticket price (I opted to stay the night, but didn’t need to), and I happened to have a day with little to no closures: I’d feel very differently if I’d paid for travel, hotel, and tickets only to have most of the park closed.

2. The heat. I cannot express adequately how bad the heat is in Epic. And I’m saying that as a heat-acclimated Floridian who chooses to vacation at WDW in summer! The combination of little shade, a ton of pavement, and a design that limits airflow makes much of the park feel like an oven. Fall seems like a better option.

2a. Weather. All but 2 rides and 2 shows close when lightning is in the area. May is dicey: it’s not peak summer storm season, but we’ve got some fronts moving through and weather could be an issue… or not. It’s a gamble.

3. I’m actually pretty stunned that ticket prices are as high as they are for what folks are getting this week, and seemingly the next week+. On my day, a slightly discounted price felt appropriate because it truly felt like a fully operational park. I would not be happy to have paid the same for what I’ve been seeing this week.

 

[Jessem1133]

Anyone had any luck with refunds being issued? Was planning on calling today to cancel one of my tickets for next week.

 

[Minnie1222]

Anyone had any luck with refunds being issued? Was planning on calling today to cancel one of my tickets for next week.

I believe they don't refund under normal circumstances. You can only apply the credit towards another ticket.

 

[VeronicaZS]

I say this as someone who enjoyed the preview VERY much and think Epic is fantastic… I’d wait. Here’s why:

1. I do not think the previews are worth the expense and effort of traveling. I’m local, so my total cost was just the ticket price (I opted to stay the night, but didn’t need to), and I happened to have a day with little to no closures: I’d feel very differently if I’d paid for travel, hotel, and tickets only to have most of the park closed.

2. The heat. I cannot express adequately how bad the heat is in Epic. And I’m saying that as a heat-acclimated Floridian who chooses to vacation at WDW in summer! The combination of little shade, a ton of pavement, and a design that limits airflow makes much of the park feel like an oven. Fall seems like a better option.

2a. Weather. All but 2 rides and 2 shows close when lightning is in the area. May is dicey: it’s not peak summer storm season, but we’ve got some fronts moving through and weather could be an issue… or not. It’s a gamble.

3. I’m actually pretty stunned that ticket prices are as high as they are for what folks are getting this week, and seemingly the next week+. On my day, a slightly discounted price felt appropriate because it truly felt like a fully operational park. I would not be happy to have paid the same for what I’ve been seeing this week.

Thanks for the the detailed thoughts. We are yearly Disney visitors who have traveled in various different months and they do all have pros and cons. Just looked at the 10-day forecast and 95 on the 17th, yikes!!!
The recent reports got me so hyped but now I’m doubting. First world problems!

Would you stay onsite? The preview tickets are sold out for those 2 dates otherwise. Although, they were sold out for several other dates as of this morning which are now available again, so who knows.

The AP preview tickets for this current week were sold out or nearly sold out too, and not nearly as many AP tickets sold for next week. Hopefully that means next week might be better again? Either way, when are you going to get another chance to go to a brand new park preview?!

I continue to think that bookings will be "slow" for non-holiday weeks in Nov/Dec 2025, too. I hope that holds true, but not so true that Universal changes their ticketing structure for late 2025.

2 days ago weekend dates were sold out but yesterday I was able to put Stella Nova in my cart along with tickets for Saturday and Sunday. The airline tickets are also very reasonable. I almost wish they are sold out today so I don’t have to decide!

 

[SkyGuy]

So do the Universal tickets work like Disney’s? As in, the weather looks poor for our date next week (yes, I used to live in FL, so I know any forecast is basically a crapshoot), so if the tickets aren’t activated, I’d have a credit toward future tickets. Is that automatic or would I need to call someone?

 

[Minnie1222]

so if the tickets aren’t activated, I’d have a credit toward future tickets. Is that automatic or would I need to call someone?

No answer on whether it's an automatic process. I've only called to change the dates and had no issues.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

1. I do not think the previews are worth the expense and effort of traveling. I’m local, so my total cost was just the ticket price (I opted to stay the night, but didn’t need to), and I happened to have a day with little to no closures: I’d feel very differently if I’d paid for travel, hotel, and tickets only to have most of the park closed.

I still think people are misunderstanding what a preview is. Many comments that I've seen are just saying to themselves how great it would be to be to be in a park that has reduced capacity forgetting what is actually going on right now and has been going on since previews started in March.

No one should equate costs right now to experience. It's not a park that is intended to actually be operational in a meaningful capacity yet so if you're flying down or even a local popping on by you need to really stop looking at the cost ratios. You (general you) are actively choosing to go to a park that is trying to get up and running and working on what needs to be worked on, they know people want to be in the parks (speaking to the costs) but don't confuse capped capacity to experience with costs associated with a trip.

This is more a general comment but IMO instead of focusing on what all the negatives might be or what someone's experience was at preview this day compared to another day when advising people we should be instead just being straight up like you need to consider do you want to be in the parks when it's not intended to be xyz.

As for the shade, which is a fair observation, it's going to be quite a while before trees fill in and unless they put a bunch of shade umbrellas that aspect with the heat isn't going to change for years. It's a bit like when people were talking about crowds, my suggestion was you're going to need to wait for multiple years for it to die down to what someone is wanting, the poster you quoted was talking about crazy lines everywhere...it's a brand new theme park we know how lines can get with just one new ride opening and here we are talking about a new theme park of course the lines will probably be long. I could tell a person here's xyz that may help you similar to how there are countless other posts discussing how to tour the parks in the heat and humidity but the heat and humidity isn't going to go away and shade by means of trees is going to take a long time. Don't get me wrong lack of shade is a big criticism I have with lands like Toy Story over at Disney but I've been to Orlando multiple times in September and multiple times in May, there's just large chunks of the year I'm going to be battling the elements so outside of avoiding those months, if a person is going in those months advice on what might be helpful to them is good.

I've been questioning personally since early April if the May opening date was a bit too ambitious but I'm hoping it's not. That said everyone needs to temper their expectations even after opening. If you are even slightly thinking about cost to value ratio my advice would be you need to wait, you need to wait until you have detailed reports of just which rides have issues and what time of day are they at their worst, you need to wait until you have a good understanding of crowd patterns, you need to wait to see how does weather affect the parks long term, you need to wait and by wait I mean several years. If you cannot use delayed gratification here everything needs to be taken into consideration.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

2 days ago weekend dates were sold out but yesterday I was able to put Stella Nova in my cart along with tickets for Saturday and Sunday. The airline tickets are also very reasonable. I almost wish they are sold out today so I don’t have to decide!

If you're going for the ambience of Epic it could be fun. If you're going for the rides and attractions I would wait. This is coming from someone who rides not too many rides at Universal due to the type they are but finds just as much fun being there at IOA and the Studios as riding the relatively few rides I do ride. My husband on the other hand does ride majority of the rides and I'm more than content occupying myself with other things while he rides (people watching, listening for his laughter, watching streetmophere, window shopping, etc). This will be the same at Epic given the type of rides they have and that's okay, the ambience looks to be amazing at Epic

 

[HopperFan]

Saw it reported this morning from several sources that they are ...

... closing HP Ministry of Magic May 10 - May 16th!!!

Discussion is assuming they are going to fix the sensors that keep shutting ride down.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Saw it reported this morning from several sources that they are ...

... closing HP Ministry of Magic May 10 - May 16th!!!

Discussion is assuming they are going to fix the sensors that keep shutting ride down.

Yes that was reported yesterday

 

[PrincessV]

FWIW: lots of talk elsewhere about yesterday being SO bad, Epic’s Guest Services was issuing refunds and EPs en masse with apologies. Yes, it’s a technical rehearsal, but apparently yesterday was a level of bad that Universal considered unacceptable, even under the caveat of being a preview. Some TM chatter sheds light on an “everything, everywhere, all at once” situation in which individual ride problems + a massive power outage + technical issues + inebriated and hostile guests converged at once and for an extended period of time. They’re learning as they go, not just about fixes required for operations, but also how to handle a variety of guest situations, from how to feed a hungry crowd when mobile order is down, restaurants close early due to issues, and the reminding ones run out of food, to getting security/LE into an area ASAP to handle altercations. Oof. I feel for the poor TMs.

A takeaway that’s helpful to me and maybe for others: it sounds like Universal is very aware of what’s happening and Guest Services is offering some measure of remedy when things are particularly atrocious, but you have to be proactive and ask (politely!!!) for that.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

FWIW: lots of talk elsewhere about yesterday being SO bad, Epic’s Guest Services was issuing refunds and EPs en masse with apologies. Yes, it’s a technical rehearsal, but apparently yesterday was a level of bad that Universal considered unacceptable, even under the caveat of being a preview. Some TM chatter sheds light on an “everything, everywhere, all at once” situation in which individual ride problems + a massive power outage + technical issues + inebriated and hostile guests converged at once and for an extended period of time. They’re learning as they go, not just about fixes required for operations, but also how to handle a variety of guest situations, from how to feed a hungry crowd when mobile order is down, restaurants close early due to issues, and the reminding ones run out of food, to getting security/LE into an area ASAP to handle altercations. Oof. I feel for the poor TMs.

A takeaway that’s helpful to me and maybe for others: it sounds like Universal is very aware of what’s happening and Guest Services is offering some measure of remedy when things are particularly atrocious, but you have to be proactive and ask (politely!!!) for that.

That's great to be able to have knowledge of (guest recovery is a pretty important operations need) it's just the constant complaining about this or that when it's being spoken about previews when people mention things like costs and time spent to be down there, shade, etc. FWIW I think one of the best advices someone could give for shade and/or heat issues is if someone has noticed what places and where someone could go to get out of that if there are places, are there rides they've noticed that provide some breeze or ones to avoid (like Yoshi's) because of exposure, are there water refilling stations that seem plentiful, are there shows that seem great to get a/c, etc all of course with the understanding things could change but really good information for people who have been that can be helpful instead of just the lack of shade is a problem (as it's not something that is going to go away soon).

Our CM friend is now also a TM (he is still working at Disney for the moment as well) and his first day was yesterday at Epic, I'll have to loop back with him and see how it went.

Our local to Orlando DISers went on Monday and mentioned Stardust Racers only had one side running she really liked the ride though (it was her first time on it). I think this was her 3rd time going to Epic.

 

[Philsfan77]

Reports the last two days have been pretty terrible - constant ride shut downs and delays, hour waits just to eat. That’s SO different from what I experienced 10 days ago! Ministry clearly needs major fixes, so I’m glad they’re taking the time to do that… but I feel for folks who bought preview tickets expecting what I and others experienced and are getting something else. I’m glad I opted not to do another preview, and I’m second guessing my early June ticket.

Same...I have two days set for Mid June, and I'm on the fence now.