Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[CAPSLOCK]

I think check in day can be useful not only to know how did check in process go but also what people may be doing on those days.

I would agree with this, however once they asked which park(s) I went to, and I said none, the survey immediately ended.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ya.. I said something about knowing your capping attendance for low crowds but selling express that high amount with people thinking it's gonna be packed. And then I was turned away asking for a refund.

That's fair especially with once through vs unlimited.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would agree with this, however once they asked which park(s) I went to, and I said none, the survey immediately ended.

Ahh so they may have been trying to figure out if people were using check in days to go to the parks or not.

 

[Pdollar88]

I see EU listed as having early entry. What is open during early park admission?

 

[hertamaniac]

This is just me, and the way we do the Orlando theme parks, but I am no longer interested in obtaining an AP to Epic based on a projected price. For us, it's a great addition to Orlando, but didn't appeal, long-term, in it's current state. Another day or multi-day pass? Sure!

But I think another Pixie Dust pass is well worth it due to our travel/park preferences.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I see EU listed as having early entry. What is open during early park admission?

Nintendo World & Stardust Racers. And everyone can wander Celestial Park.

 

[Minnie1222]

At around 9-ish last night.


Monsters Unchained had a 10 minute wait time for 2-3 hours before park closing.

 

[Greg36]

For anyone who has had experience with the 2 day express (including epic), can you use both days at epic or is it limited to one day at epic and one day at either studios or islands? Thanks…

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[disneyseniors]

Ahh so they may have been trying to figure out if people were using check in days to go to the parks or not.

That sounds reasonable. We always use check in days to visit the parks. We get an early flight and usually arrive around 12 noon or 1PM. We are always in a hurry to get to the parks, so this works out for us. I've been getting a few surveys lately but not exactly like yours.

 

[PrincessV]

Wait times were appreciably higher yesterday than the first 3 days, but still within what I’d consider to be low for a brand-new park: there were still periods of almost everything being 10-15 minutes, but Mario and Mine-Cart stayed around 45-60 mins for some long spells, and Wing Gliders was up to 45 at one point. BatM had a rough day and/or a lot more people were eager to ride it, because it was around 90-100 mins most of the day. It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of this week goes - Thrill Data’s ticket sales estimates look about the same for the next couple of weeks.

I (a Floridian) have been hiding indoors all weekend because the heat indexes have been so high… so my air conditioned brain keeps thinking dumb things like, “maybe instead of our plan to arrive at Epic later in the day, we should get there shortly after opening to hit the outdoor rides before any storms come through, and also stay until closing!” It’ll probably be a game-day decision, but it’s got me thinking about spots to take long breaks to hide from lightning and/or soak up some AC…

The two shows, of course. I guess the indoor queues for Monsters and Mario would be better than getting stuck outside. Restaurants - though if one isn’t ordering anything, I’m not sure that would work. I don’t imagine they want lots of people hanging out in shops, not shopping. There just aren’t many good spots for extended indoor periods, nor are things positioned close enough together that you could quickly get from one indoor attraction to another. In comparison, at EPCOT, you can hang out in The Land pavilion for a big chunk of time, or bounce to the Seas pretty quickly for another long spell. At MK, you can quickly get from one short attraction to another. Maybe it’s just that I don’t have decades of familiarity to pull from at Epic, but it feels more challenging to navigate with heat and storms in the mix.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The Mead Hall in Berk was good for an afternoon A/C break. There were plenty of empty tables. Coke freestyle machines inside to refill water, too. We sat there waiting for the next Untrainable Dragon show.

If you're early enough in the line for the Untrainable Dragon, you are under the doorway of the show building with the A/C wafting out. I was able to sit on the ground against the wall; it was pleasant enough, if you don't mind the cement ground. For people further back, the wait was outside with shading along the edges but the center of the walkway in full sun.

The Ministry of Magic is fully inside / A/C will hold lots of people. It looked like anyone could go into the Ministry "lobby" area though, with the ride line starting further inside. On our day, the ride was closed but the queue was open to explore, so not fully sure.

 

[Minnie1222]

Confirming that there are no nightly fireworks, only the fountain shows.

 

[Sith]

For anyone who has had experience with the 2 day express (including epic), can you use both days at epic or is it limited to one day at epic and one day at either studios or islands? Thanks…

​

I had the same question, so I called and asked. I was told it can be used in all three parks both days. So, yes it can be used at Epic both days, but each ride only once per day.

 

[marmentrout85]

For Early Entry are they letting people line up outside of the Wizarding World portal? If so, should I just use the most direct route from Helios (as we'll be staying there) or does the park have certain pathways blocked off in Celestial Park during early entry?

 

[zavandor]

For Early Entry are they letting people line up outside of the Wizarding World portal? If so, should I just use the most direct route from Helios (as we'll be staying there) or does the park have certain pathways blocked off in Celestial Park during early entry?

I think the best strategy is not to line up during Early entry. IF you are among the first to get in the line and you'll wait 1 hour and forego the opportunity to ride three other attractions with shorter lines. This is easily a 2-3 hours cost. If you're not among the very first, add the time needed to ride. Consider that offside guests, I believe, can get in the line as well, they can enter Celestial park with onsite guests and line up for portals not open during EE.
And if it's delayed, then those 2-3 hours are completely wasted.

I plan to avoid it early on and get in line in the afternoon, when lines everywhere are long and a line in the A/C isn't the worst of things.

 

[marmentrout85]

I think the best strategy is not to line up during Early entry. IF you are among the first to get in the line and you'll wait 1 hour and forego the opportunity to ride three other attractions with shorter lines. This is easily a 2-3 hours cost. If you're not among the very first, add the time needed to ride. Consider that offside guests, I believe, can get in the line as well, they can enter Celestial park with onsite guests and line up for portals not open during EE.
And if it's delayed, then those 2-3 hours are completely wasted.

I plan to avoid it early on and get in line in the afternoon, when lines everywhere are long and a line in the A/C isn't the worst of things.

Totally hear that. The good news is we'll be at the park 2 days in a row so I figured we might rope drop it/forego that hour on one of our days. We also have Express for one of our days so I don't think we'll have any trouble really getting on everything we want to go on except for maybe BatM. Not sure if our toddler can hang too long in line later on in the day so I was thinking she'd be much more likely to wait in a longer line in the AM.

 

[PrincessV]

This may be helpful to others: it was to me! Yesterday gave a snapshot of how things pan out with a typical summer weather delay (typical = an hour or two of afternoon storms that move off quickly)…

Once lightning became an issue, all but Mario, BatM, Monsters, and the two shows went down. Mario’s wait went up to 80 mins and BatM to 110 during this time; Monsters hit 40. By an hour or so after the storm passed and things came back online, those all dropped significantly and everything else was in the 5-15 min range. BatM went down to 45 around 7:30pm. It would have paid to wait it out and hit things after the storm passed, unless you specifically wanted to use a queue to ride out the weather.

Epic is likely to see late-day storms again the next few days, so it might be useful to see if this becomes a typical pattern.

 

[georgina]

Totally hear that. The good news is we'll be at the park 2 days in a row so I figured we might rope drop it/forego that hour on one of our days. We also have Express for one of our days so I don't think we'll have any trouble really getting on everything we want to go on except for maybe BatM. Not sure if our toddler can hang too long in line later on in the day so I was thinking she'd be much more likely to wait in a longer line in the AM.

I was thinking of a similar plan, as I will have 2 days and express. I have a while until my trip, so will continue to watch reports before I decide for sure.

 

[zavandor]

Best time to get in line for BatM (sounds like a DC attraction ) is 15 minutes before it stts raining. Keep an eye on local weather forecasts!

 

[Skywalker3]

Oh my goodness, talk about you snooze, you lose. This past weekend, had been browsing tickets/hotels for mid-June, and lots of Epic tickets there. Didn't feel ready to pick a date, since it'll just be me and kids going, me driving all the way there and back
Today, zilch! nothing! No dates after early June at all for single day tickets. I'll keep checking, as maybe that'll change, if they change capacity, but ugh we might now be looking at very late July, early August. We've only made one Orlando trip at that time of year....it was so hot, and rainy.
Maybe it's a sign.....but geez, I gotta stop this procrastination! It's rarely ever a good thing to put off making decisions!