Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[GhostHost24]

I got the mudslide from there.. Didn't care for it at all

 

[tony67]

When I saw "sloshy row" (you can see them in my pic), I

yeah my thoughts exactly - but I sort of expect that for frozen drinks in a theme park.

I never say any seats there over the 5 days - it was not an option - just those small tables

 

[Robo56]

I did see online that the wait for MOM ride was 300 minutes at one time yesterday. Five hours is a long time to wait for a ride.

I know Universal was getting a lot of complaints about the VQ system so they took it down. I think there were a number of reasons it did not work. The computer system, the ride going down and old people like me with slow fingers on the phone key board.

Also it was not fun feeling like you had to stop what you were dong three times a day and tap away on your phone to try and get a VQ time slot. I think that was frustrating for a lot of people. So here goes my idea

I think they need to set a couple of kiosks which are manned by TM’s to streamline the process.

Have people come to the kiosk which can be inside or outside the MOM Potter world. Scan their tickets to get a return time for the ride.

If you have a family then one family member can scan the family members tickets.

The tickets should have a QR and the return time on it.

When people return to the ride when their time has arrived their return ticket can be scanned as well as themselves. This would stop people from trying to sell their return time ticket to others.

This would allow people to enjoy the other Worlds, dining at the themed restaurants or shopping until their return time arrives.

Also would allow those staying at Helios Grand to return to the hotel until return time.

Would be a win win for everyone.

This beats standing in line for 5 hours.

 

[tony67]

I got the mudslide from there.. Didn't care for it at all

Yeah - in general a premade drink is not going to be good.

They are also requiring all the bartenders to use jiggers for all drinks - which was really annoying several of them - it really slows them down

 

[tony67]

I did see online that the wait for MOM ride was 300 minutes at one time yesterday. Five hours is a long time to wait for a ride.

I know Universal was getting a lot of complaints about the VQ system so they took it down. I think there were a number of reasons it did not work. The computer system, the ride going down and old people like me with slow fingers on the phone key board.

Also it was not fun feeling like you had to stop what you were dong three times a day and tap away on your phone to try and get a VQ time slot. I think that was frustrating for a lot of people. So here goes my idea

I think they need to set a couple of kiosks which are manned by TM’s to streamline the process.

Have people come to the kiosk which can be inside or outside the MOM Potter world. Scan their tickets to get a return time for the ride.

If you have a family then one family member can scan the family members tickets.

The tickets should have a QR and the return time on it.

When people return to the ride when their time has arrived their return ticket can be scanned as well as themselves. This would stop people from trying to sell their return time ticket to others.

This would allow people to enjoy the other Worlds, dining at the themed restaurants or shopping until their return time arrives.

Also would allow those staying at Helios Grand to return to the hotel until return time.

Would be a win win for everyone.


This beats standing in line for 5 hours.

That sounds just like the classic fast pass system at Disney. But yeah much better.

One guy that was in line 4 hours yesterday before the finally emptied the queue said it was basically down to waiting them out.
IF you leave you will get nothing - so he just waited and got some sort of compensation - not sure what that was - I had heard they were not giving express passes - so IDK.

It was around 180 minutes last night and seemed to be running "fine" from what little I saw.

 

[hertamaniac]

yeah my thoughts exactly - but I sort of expect that for frozen drinks in a theme park.

I never say any seats there over the 5 days - it was not an option - just those small tables

There were very few seats with built-in tables/ledges on the side closest to Helios (right side of my pic). I used it as a temporary shelter from the rain. So, they weren't really on/at the actual bar top.

 

[Robo56]

That sounds just like the classic fast pass system at Disney. But yeah might be better.

Yes, Disney had the fast pass system many years ago minus the scanning technology. I think trying this is worth it.

Having to pay out compensation to those that have waited for hours and the loss of revenue that they could be taking in through dining and merch sales to those that are locked in line for hours, it just makes sense.

 

[tony67]

Nintendo def seems busier to start the day than yesterday. Wonder if more people went there for early entry first this time rather than Harry Potter or the merch shops

Yeah - with early entry its Nintendo or Stardust - I found early entry to be a bust in general - could not even get a coffee at Starbucks without a ridiculous wait.

 

[Robo56]

No one wants to be in line for hours at theme park.

Epic Universe is a beautiful Park. Unlike anything thing that has ever been built in the past.

I’am sure Universal wants people to walk away from their experience at Epic wowed and wanting to return.

It is a phenomenal place. I look forward to returning.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No one wants to be in line for hours at theme park.

The Japanese not withstanding because they have zero issues doing that. If anyone is ever planning on going to Tokyo Disneyland just make sure you know you will need to either fork over the money for Disney Premier Pass (DPA) or the vacation packages that come with it (which are not the easiest to purchase as their website makes Disney's look like the best thing out there plus they are also expensive). The plus being their DPA is moderately priced even if you consider exchange rates it's not going to be as much as you'd spend at the U.S. parks. The ride there that gets several hours wait on the norm is Beauty and the Beast (a high-tech ride that is IMO quite amazing).

 

[Minnie1222]

I would like to see FP for the rides not included with the EP.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The tickets should have a QR and the return time on it.

Can't have a static return time if the ride is being this glitchy. You can't give someone return time for 11am if the ride ends up being down from 9am-Noon. Hence why Disney did boarding groups - call a new slew of people every 10min or whatever if it's functional, or stop calling people until the ride is back up and running.

Would be a win win for everyone.

This beats standing in line for 5 hours.

Not a win for those standing in every other longer line... particularly those who have no desire to ride Ministry or who were unable to get a return time.
If you decide to stand in a 5hr line, that's a personal choice. I wouldn't.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

One guy that was in line 4 hours yesterday before the finally emptied the queue said it was basically down to waiting them out.
IF you leave you will get nothing - so he just waited and got some sort of compensation - not sure what that was - I had heard they were not giving express passes - so IDK.

Not even surprised. If you have 100min of people waiting and they give every one of those people an EP for when the ride comes back up.... guess what, only EP people are riding that ride today. Especially when it keeps going up and down. Of course they want the line to self-empty.

I thought they were giving EP for compensation for lines going down? Saw that posted somewhere. For Universal, it doesn't physically cost them anything to offer an EP so it's their usual go-to.

Now, if a ride goes down 15min after it opened - hopefully they'd just empty the queue right then and no one gets anything. No one could have been queueing longer than 15min, regardless of how many people swarmed the line at once.

 

[PrincessV]

So far, wait times feel closer to what I’d expect today… excepting Wing Gliders. Are they running more trains? Loading more efficiently than during previews? 5 minutes for something I assumed would nearly always be an hour or more, when others are running at an hour or more, is intriguing.

A 10am snapshot:
5 mins: Carousel, Fyre, Gliders
10 mins: Dragon Racer’s, Monsters, Yoshi
15 mins: Werewolf
35 mins: Mine Cart
60 mins: Stardust
75 mins: Mario Kart
195 mins: BatM

I wont go into detail since it’s a paid subscription, but TP’s estimates are mostly lower than the official times, too. Some by a LOT: like, a quarter of what’s posted.

 

[GhostHost24]

So far, wait times feel closer to what I’d expect today… excepting Wing Gliders. Are they running more trains? Loading more efficiently than during previews? 5 minutes for something I assumed would nearly always be an hour or more, when others are running at an hour or more, is intriguing.

A 10am snapshot:
5 mins: Carousel, Fyre, Gliders
10 mins: Dragon Racer’s, Monsters, Yoshi
15 mins: Werewolf
35 mins: Mine Cart
60 mins: Stardust
75 mins: Mario Kart
195 mins: BatM

I wont go into detail since it’s a paid subscription, but TP’s estimates are mostly lower than the official times, too. Some by a LOT: like, a quarter of what’s posted.

Ya it's interesting seeing the times so far. I think it was estimated to be same capacity

 

[DCLMP]

The Japanese not withstanding because they have zero issues doing that. If anyone is ever planning on going to Tokyo Disneyland just make sure you know you will need to either fork over the money for Disney Premier Pass (DPA) or the vacation packages that come with it (which are not the easiest to purchase as their website makes Disney's look like the best thing out there plus they are also expensive). The plus being their DPA is moderately priced even if you consider exchange rates it's not going to be as much as you'd spend at the U.S. parks. The ride there that gets several hours wait on the norm is Beauty and the Beast (a high-tech ride that is IMO quite amazing).

This is so true. We bought the vacation package and it was the best money ever spent. Every ride was a 2-3 hour wait and this was the slow season. The Japanese people don't seem to mind. Heck they'll wait an hour to buy popcorn. That was a one and done experience for us.

 

[Robo56]

Can't have a static return time if the ride is being this glitchy. You can't give someone return time for 11am if the ride ends up being down from 9am-Noon. Hence why Disney did boarding groups - call a new slew of people every 10min or whatever if it's functional, or stop calling people until the ride is back up and running.

In the age of computer intelligence there would be a way for them to input ride issues into the data they have already collected. They would have to factor in whatever data they have been able to collect so far.

Like number of people per hour that the ride can handle.

If there is a particular time of the day the ride tends to have issues.

The time it takes to fix any issues the ride etc..

issue the number of tickets they can hourly take on the ride given the above information and more.

Not a win for those standing in every other longer line... particularly those who have no desire to ride Ministry or who were unable to get a return time.
If you decide to stand in a 5hr line, that's a personal choice. I wouldn't.

I think it would be fair to say that when you buy a park ticket it is for the enjoyment of all the worlds in the park.

I think a lot of people have a particular world that speaks to them whether it be Super Nintendo, MOM, Dark Universe or Isle of Berk.

Shifting the ride time structure to allow people to return would have some effect on the other Worlds, but yesterday the themed restaurants appeared almost empty as did the shops. It would be nice to have those other areas of the park be utilized then not.

Also having people standing out in that heat that have not made it into the queue that is in airconditioning is an issue.

While I wouldn’t not stand 5 hours in a line either having some ideas on how to fix the problem would help a lot.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

This is so true. We bought the vacation package and it was the best money ever spent. Every ride was a 2-3 hour wait and this was the slow season. The Japanese people don't seem to mind. Heck they'll wait an hour to buy popcorn. That was a one and done experience for us.

I swear the popcorn lines were the longest but also the people who would enter the park and then get their spots for the parade and just sit there waiting for hours and hours like well at least they weren't in line for something else

 

[Robo56]

Just wanted to share a thought.

Epic Universe does have a number of guest service locations and I did see people stopping and sharing their thoughts as did I while I was there.

Make sure to stop and share some feedback on your experience while you are there.

All the employees wear badges. If a TM has made your day. Stop and share their name and let them know about your positve experience.

Universal does listen to the feedback they receive in the parks and on the emails they send out for your feedback on the Park and Resorts.

 

[Keladry84]

This is so true. We bought the vacation package and it was the best money ever spent. Every ride was a 2-3 hour wait and this was the slow season. The Japanese people don't seem to mind. Heck they'll wait an hour to buy popcorn. That was a one and done experience for us.

When the standby by was appx. 2-3 hours wait, about how long did you wait in the express lines? (I have a package with unlimited express this summer and am trying to get an idea of what to expect)