Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I do want to point that out that the poster you are replying to has been having quite a bit of bad luck re Epic.

I know That's exactly why I said I think they might be in an Epic trip funk. It's easy to keep posting the bad you hear after you've experienced it. Plus they were having issues with their AP before which soured them.

My point really was to say this is the main thread, it's not about not wanting to not hear anyone's opinions but to keep a balance going as well. When people look to the main thread and you read post after post of people talking about certain things it drags the whole thread down and eventually some of it is going to come off like you're actively looking for someone to commisserate in your feelings...I get that..but again it's the main thread, hard to keep engagement of things to look forward to when even the smallest of details like the appearance of TMs when the park isn't even open yet..just a point of focus that....

I would love for people to share details, that's literally what I was trying to get out of people other than just the negatives because let's be real it's a debbie downer when that's primarily what people are sharing. Give me merch details, get me food details, give me things you found fascinating in the queues, random nooks and crannies Give me excitement cuz whew after this it's like dang peeps give some happy stuff will ya!

it beats sitting around doing nothing in the middle-of-nowhere Kansas.

I know you're from KS but so am I and I love it out here #sorrynotsorry

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Speaking of TMs our friend is only in their orientation training at the moment so they don't have much of a feel yet for the park's operation but I hope to give at least some information down the road of what I can share. I'm especially interested in their experience because they are starting at Epic rather than being an existing TM, they are going to be a busy person with still working at WDW at the moment but I know they'll share things here and there with us.

I'd love to get information on things like guest recovery as they have the park opening to the main public as well as if there are any insights they might be able to provide on things like touring the park and if they have a grasp of what they might think works well, especially these stormy days that might be helpful to plan for. I do know they will be on attractions but not which one.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Has someone made it up into the bar on top of Helios yet?

 

[tony67]

Has someone made it up into the bar on top of Helios yet?

Yes - but you might not want to hear what I have to say about it...

I had two reservations and ended up canceling the second one. Go up have a look enjoy a beer and the view.
I wont be back - and I am friendly with a lot of the folks there who used to work at strongwater.

I would love for people to share details, that's literally what I was trying to get out of people

I suspect one reason there is not more of this is there isn't the time for it when you are there unless that is your focus.
A fair amount of time is spent trying to get a coffee, find somewhere to eat and waiting in line. Most people are only there the one day so can't do that. My intention was to do a lot more of that but it did not work out that way.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I suspect one reason there is not more of this is there isn't the time for it when you are there unless that is your focus.

Absolutely was my going thought, part of why I was mentioning in the past few days about these things. I already know my DISer friend focuses on character meet and greets and she loves merch just different kind of merch than I would (especially as she goes to the parks much more frequently) but she's done multiple days as well. Everyone has their focus when they go to parks I was vetting out variety is all

I think people here leaped at going to Epic previews for the rides which has been mostly good so I know what I can do for some things and what I know my husband will want to do but then the rest kinda dropped off on sharing (like food, stores, resting spots, people watching spots, etc). I also would love if over time people share in what places they went to to wait out their traveling party riding rides because that's going to be a fair bit of what I'll be doing.

Hmmm I think this was maybe a month ago I was watching a random person's video of merch within the stores for Epic but then hadn't saw much beyond that aside from some photos of souvenir drink cups mostly.

Yes - but you might not want to hear what I have to say about it...

well I was more looking for is this an Oga's situation like what was mentioned about the types of drinks throughout the parks. When the menu was posted the pricing for the food seemed way too high for what it was but the drinks not as bad as I was expecting. So my going thought was is this a place to take in the views and ambience and be that splurge for the trip or is it genuinely worth going to but also hadn't run across yet a person (rather than vloggers/bloggers) who had gone yet.

My husband and I aren't opposed to going and enjoying the ambience of places (we do that a lot when we go to Vegas and that $25+ drink still makes one cringe there) but unless it was amazing to a lot of people I wouldn't want to take park time out to visit it and would have to be like we're already staying there. But then that brings up the another question has anyone heard or done it themselves Uber'd to Helios? Obviously the parking charge at Helios itself is outrageous but done for a reason but is rideshare having any issues like you can over at the Disney resorts? Going to be watching out for that as the park opens and time gets going. I've seen that with the brand new roads there could be some issues there.

 

[tony67]

Absolutely was my going thought, part of why I was mentioning in the past few days about these things. I already know my DISer friend focuses on character meet and greets and she loves merch just different kind of merch than I would (especially as she goes to the parks much more frequently) but she's done multiple days as well. Everyone has their focus when they go to parks I was vetting out variety is all

I think people here leaped at going to Epic previews for the rides which has been mostly good so I know what I can do for some things and what I know my husband will want to do but then the rest kinda dropped off on sharing (like food, stores, resting spots, people watching spots, etc). I also would love if over time people share in what places they went to to wait out their traveling party riding rides because that's going to be a fair bit of what I'll be doing.

Hmmm I think this was maybe a month ago I was watching a random person's video of merch within the stores for Epic but then hadn't saw much beyond that aside from some photos of souvenir drink cups mostly.

well I was more looking for is this an Oga's situation like what was mentioned about the types of drinks throughout the parks. When the menu was posted the pricing for the food seemed way too high for what it was but the drinks not as bad as I was expecting. So my going thought was is this a place to take in the views and ambience and be that splurge for the trip or is it genuinely worth going to but also hadn't run across yet a person (rather than vloggers/bloggers) who had gone yet.

My husband and I aren't opposed to going and enjoying the ambience of places (we do that a lot when we go to Vegas and that $25+ drink still makes one cringe there) but unless it was amazing to a lot of people I wouldn't want to take park time out to visit it and would have to be like we're already staying there. But then that brings up the another question has anyone heard or done it themselves Uber'd to Helios? Obviously the parking charge at Helios itself is outrageous but done for a reason but is rideshare having any issues like you can over at the Disney resorts? Going to be watching out for that as the park opens and time gets going. I've seen that with the brand new roads there could be some issues there.

So Just to say it - I ordered the $26 drink - twice - and I really liked it. It takes 72 hours to make it so I get the price. Its also probably not something Ill get elsewhere. Also since its a Loews hotel one of the guys that works the bar also created all the drinks - its not a central person who just adds bitters and syrups to everything. The are making well balanced and thought out cocktails.
The other mixed drinks are priced reasonably and I did not have a bad drink.
I was talked out of the one with feta and fresh cracked pepper - its coming off the menu from what I was told - I had been looking forward to it.

The food is overpriced - and if I though it was worth the price that would be fine- its an upscale location. The things I posted photos in the other thread just were not worth the price.

I did not get them but $24 from 6 wings is criminal IMO - they would have to be the most amazing wings on the face of the earth - and the woman next to me that I was chatting with did get them and she was not impressed. They were just OK and she likes the wings from Toothsomes better

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So Just to say it - I ordered the $26 drink - twice - and I really liked it. It takes 72 hours to make it so I get the price. Its also probably not something Ill get elsewhere. Also since its a Loews hotel one of the guys that works the bar also created all the drinks - its not a central person who just adds bitters and syrups to everything. The are making well balanced and thought out cocktails.
The other mixed drinks are priced reasonably and I did not have a bad drink.
I was talked out of the one with feta and fresh cracked pepper - its coming of the menu from what I was told - I had been looking forward to it.

The food is overpriced - and if I though it was worth the price that would be fine- its an upscale location. The things I posted photos in the other thread just were not worth the price.

I did not get them but $24 from 6 wings is criminal IMO - they would have to be the most amazing wings on the face of the earth - and the woman next to me that I was chatting with did get them and she was not impressed. They were just OK and she likes the wings from Toothsomes better

I'll go check out your photos on the other thread but yeah I'm with you that even just glancing at the menu the food was not priced well, chicken wings priced the same as seafood doesn't compute in my mind. The drink taking that long to make certainly adds a flare to the place, that's a detail I know my husband would like.

So takeaway is it might for now be more of a drink place, maybe do once maybe twice if you have excess time, kind of place but not the food and drink place combo. I do like that they are already looking at what may be working and what may not be working for the menu, that's pretty quick turnaround on getting feedback and adjusting from it (assuming it's not a supply issue of the ingredients).

 

[bobbie68]

Hi I just wanted to say I have done two AP previews. One was April 27th and the other yesterday. I won't go into a full report but I noticed that the ride ops are doing good. There seems to be a groove between them, they aren't fumbling around and genuinely want to be there. I believe once they get all the mechanical issues worked out with the rides, the ride times and delays will get much better. It is a new park with new rides. We were lucky I guess we had two great visits and I am thankful for that. We did stay onsite and use early entry which I liked. We were lucky the Blue Dragon openend yesterday and go to eat their great food.

I did have tickets for June but switched them to yesterday, and so glad I did. My only concern with this park opening is the capacity issues. I think if they go highcapacity which will be could be around 25,000 to 30,000 it is going to be tough. I think Celestial park can handle overflow but those worlds are on the smaller side. My concern with going after the grand opening for awhile is that they use a virtual queue.

fingers crossed that all goes smoothly and if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

DISer friend just did her Ministry of Magic land review

• I'm still kind of unclear on how we merge 1920s Paris with the 90s Ministry (time turners??), but I'm in love with this land.
• This was one of the lands I was least excited for but it blew me away. Everything is gorgeous from the art design to the window displays and all the fantastic details.
• Let's discuss the ride. The VQ system sucks, but my group was lucky and able to ride. I won't give away any spoilers but the ride was not what I expected and I was surprised and blown away (again. What's up with these strong winds).
• The queue is arguably better than the ride itself. I just couldn't believe the space given over to make this look straight from the movies.
• Next up is the food. I was very confused and thought that le goblet noire was a bar. It's definitely a sit down counter service. I just got a butter beer here, so can't really comment on the food. However, we did eat outside at the Cafe L'air de la Sirene and it's my new favorite place. The food did take a while to get to us but it was really good and the lavender lemonade also didn't disappoint. Notwithstanding the food... The vibes alone from sitting on the heavily flowered patio and drinking in all the details around and people watching is enough to sell it.
• My new favorite bar is also located here: Bar Moonshine. My drink was good and very strong and the bartender was excellent.
• My absolute favorite: Le Cirque Arcanus. I'm so enchanted by it. I love the time period and the lights and the art and the mystery. I really enjoy cirque du Soleil shows and the first part of the show gives that vibe.
• Next up is something very important to me: the live, immersive entertainment. I was lucky to be able to have encounters with most of the walk around characters. Cosme is lovely and enchanting and I immediately wanted to buy a baguette, maybe next time I'll see if she wants to pick one out for me. The inspector was mysterious and the students were engaging.
• I feel like I haven't scratched the surface with the detail of this land, especially at night. I gotta go back

***Wanted to add a quick note to her commenting about theming. My husband and I last spring did the Harry Potter Studios Tour in London and my thoughts were Universal did an amazing and even better job designing the lands in Orlando than even the sets were! Like the bank set was more opulent feeling and more IDK just felt more intricately detailed in the Orlando parks. Loved seeing the sets, loved that whole experience but can say that Universal knew the assignment and got much more than an A+ on it when they did the lands. We, as a group, had talked about how we weren't the most thrilled with Paris being the theming for the new land in Epic but I'm so glad to hear she's really feeling it and she feels the attention to detail was done very well.

 

[bobbie68]

DISer friend just did her Ministry of Magic land review

• I'm still kind of unclear on how we merge 1920s Paris with the 90s Ministry (time turners??), but I'm in love with this land.
• This was one of the lands I was least excited for but it blew me away. Everything is gorgeous from the art design to the window displays and all the fantastic details.
• Let's discuss the ride. The VQ system sucks, but my group was lucky and able to ride. I won't give away any spoilers but the ride was not what I expected and I was surprised and blown away (again. What's up with these strong winds).
• The queue is arguably better than the ride itself. I just couldn't believe the space given over to make this look straight from the movies.
• Next up is the food. I was very confused and thought that le goblet noire was a bar. It's definitely a sit down counter service. I just got a butter beer here, so can't really comment on the food. However, we did eat outside at the Cafe L'air de la Sirene and it's my new favorite place. The food did take a while to get to us but it was really good and the lavender lemonade also didn't disappoint. Notwithstanding the food... The vibes alone from sitting on the heavily flowered patio and drinking in all the details around and people watching is enough to sell it.
• My new favorite bar is also located here: Bar Moonshine. My drink was good and very strong and the bartender was excellent.
• My absolute favorite: Le Cirque Arcanus. I'm so enchanted by it. I love the time period and the lights and the art and the mystery. I really enjoy cirque du Soleil shows and the first part of the show gives that vibe.
• Next up is something very important to me: the live, immersive entertainment. I was lucky to be able to have encounters with most of the walk around characters. Cosme is lovely and enchanting and I immediately wanted to buy a baguette, maybe next time I'll see if she wants to pick one out for me. The inspector was mysterious and the students were engaging.
• I feel like I haven't scratched the surface with the detail of this land, especially at night. I gotta go back

We ate at Le Goblet Noire and the food was amazing. It is on our list to go back too. I have an allergy and the chef was really good about accommodating it.

This is a nice write up about the world. We enjoyed it very much, it is a different twist then the other parks but cool in it's own way.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We ate at Le Goblet Noire and the food was amazing. It is on our list to go back too. I have an allergy and the chef was really good about accommodating it.

This is a nice write up about the world. We enjoyed it very much, it is a different twist then the other parks but cool in it's own way.

While I don't have food allergies that's good to hear they were, at least for you, good about accommodating it.

Dark Universe is the land I'm most excited for but close behind that is Ministry of Magic. Your way of putting it, that it's a different twist than the other parks, sounds promising

 

[GhostHost24]

I ate at the café in HP.. I'm not gonna try to spell it out lol. I had their turkey and brie sandwich and thought it was pretty good

 

[Minnie1222]

I need help from the HP/Fantastic Beasts experts! When we enter Place Cachée at Epic Universe, are we in 1990's or 1920's? How are we able to attend Umbridge's trial if we were in a different timeline? Obviously no one in our traveling party got to ride Ministry so we're just debating among ourselves.

 

[GhostHost24]

I need help from the HP/Fantastic Beasts experts! When we enter Place Cachée at Epic Universe, are we in 1990's or 1920's? How are we able to attend Umbridge's trial if we were in a different timeline? Obviously no one in our traveling party got to ride Ministry so we're just debating among ourselves.

The land is in the 1920s...without giving away too much, you travel to the 90s to see the trial

At. Least that's how I understand it

 

[georgina]

Yeah - I am that way about the Harry Potter stuff - its its really cool to look and see the details etc.. One of these days I'll buy a wand just to try the stuff out but not anytime soon. Same for Nintendo - I was tempted to buy a power up band - but was not pushed.
The land itself is great details and overall impressive.

I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan - I took my DD who was 15 at the time when Hogsmeade opened in 2010, and we went back several years later when Diagon Alley opened, but we never bought a wand. I think when my 3 year old grandson is old enough, we will probably get one then. I spend a lot of time in the HP areas of the 2 other parks when I go, have 2 days of Epic tickets in December so I hope to be there a lot - I will visit Mario and Berk and Monsters areas, but none of them really excite me much. I'm sure the theming will be good in all the areas, and many of the rides.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

We were on vacation at UO last week & went to EPIC one day. I, too, expected the HP portal to be my fav but Dark Universe is incredibly well done - we were surprised that we both liked it so much - at least as much as the HP area!

 

[Philsfan77]

We ate at Le Goblet Noire and the food was amazing. It is on our list to go back too. I have an allergy and the chef was really good about accommodating it.

This is a nice write up about the world. We enjoyed it very much, it is a different twist then the other parks but cool in it's own way.

Would you say it's pointless to Mobile order with food allergies? This was 2 of my friends biggest gripe (continued gripe with Universal). With their push to mobile order, they were really hoping they would make better allergy friendly menus in the app, but it's still the same and most things aren't notated (for instance gluten free or not). You click the Icon that says you have an allergy, but you can't notate or explain the allergy, so you still have to go to the restaurant, get sent to a special line and then wait to speak to the chef and then basically re-order/or the chef confirms what you ordered is ok for your allergy, and then your food starts getting prepared at that time. They both felt it's rather inefficient. Loved the food, they just felt the process could be simplified. Day 2, they just went right to the restaurant, explained what was going on and spoke to the chef before ordering, because they didn't want to risk ordering something that couldn't be accommodated.

She ate at Cafe L'air De La Sirene and Spit Fyre Grill for reference...one with a Gluten Allergy and one with a Mango Allergy.

 

[GhostHost24]

We were on vacation at UO last week & went to EPIC one day. I, too, expected the HP portal to be my fav but Dark Universe is incredibly well done - we were surprised that we both liked it so much - at least as much as the HP area!

I honestly think I'd put hp as my least favorite land.

Doesn't mean it's bad. I just really enjoy all the others more. Everything is so well done

 

[keishashadow]

We personally thought Atlantic was good. Nothing super stellar but the atmosphere was nice and views were great

Good to hear. TBH due to heat, usually not especially hungry mid day. Did see a child’s bento box. Not sure what the policy is @ U allowing adults to order from the child’s menu. The few times I’ve asked @ WDW, never an issue. Could be as we tend to order an appetizer(s) & at least one entree for the two of us.

So yes there are elevators but I am not going to take elevators when there are people who truly need to take the elevators.

I was attempting to determine if Mario was entirely accessible (as a need, not a want) due to the reports of the stairs. Thanks for verifying

So this sign is everywhere and they lean on it heavily.

Good to set expectations for those onsite at least.

Guest services were great but they are just beaten down - people yelling at them and just very unhappy - there was always a long line at guest services - again I think a lot of this is opening it up to the general public. Yes passholders can be entitled. But they also charged pretty much the cost of a full ticket so people expect to get a somewhat full experience.
A very common complaint was they charged too much for the tickets. Had they charged say $89 they probably would have far less complaining and people would have been far more understanding. Universal would have reduced stress on the TMs and got a lot less complaints.

And good they are working with people who didn’t fully realize what they purchased.

It’s disturbing to hear people think berating a TM is the way, no matter how much $ they spent on the day. SMH

She then told me it would be $24 for the comp day - well not how a comp works - but I was like sure no problem and paid. She then asked if I had done the ministry and I just said no - it’s impossible. She gave me a fast pass for it without and asking or demanding and being rude. So treat them nice and they will do what they can for you.

Mummy dust is real.

That is very interesting to read. I’d venture a heavily discounted return tix would be satisfactory to many

My biggest concern around all of this is all the Disney streamers and Disney Media are watching this closely and probably looking forward to Universal struggling with the opening.

Tale as old as time lol. FB is full of people complaining they can’t get excited for upcoming disney trips as the bloggers are all about U & Epic. Huh? Makes my head hurt. As a guest, it doesn’t have to be a them against us, especially when it comes to amusement parks.

In the end though, the experience that we each get is going to be dependent on the circumstances on the day we visit and our own outlook/perspective vs. expectations.

Ding-ding! Thing is two different people can have nearly the exact same experience and one will be happy, the other will pan it.

Has someone made it up into the bar on top of Helios yet?

@schumigirl has a live TR going here. She’s been several times, it sounds absolutely lovely.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

@schumigirl has a live TR going here. She’s been several times, it sounds absolutely lovely.

Good to know! I'll add that to my list of threads to follow where people are getting into the details a lot.