Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[GhostHost24]

I don't know if they raised capacity or not, but lines really have picked up this week.

 

[Philsfan77]

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.

This is my plan as well. I have 2 days back to back with express on one of the days. My plan for the express day is to not rush for early entry, head right to Harry Potter Land and roll the dice on Battle at the Ministry. The other day, I plan to do stardust racers and then head into Super Mario Land. I will hit Battle at the Ministry after lunch this day and enjoy the AC while waiting it out.

This is a Recon trip for me and rolling solo, so plan to wait traditional standby, do different entry strategies in the morning on my days, and also single rider. I know things aren't at capacity levels yet, but the goal is to get a feel for how each of these things is working, and the need for them to some extent.

 

[Minnie1222]

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 had a park-view room and I saw multiple Helios guests heading towards the WW portal during early entry. No barricades were seen.

 

[PrincessV]

I allowed myself a little bit of hope during those few days of super low wait times, but that’s gone: time to reset my expectations again because watching wait times yesterday was sobering and Thrill Data has massively increased its capacity estimate for my day - they’ve added an additional 4000+ and now my day has the highest cap yet at 18K+. Oof. I’m hoping that Epic is staffed and ready to handle that increased capacity, but I’m also assuming I won’t get to ride half of what I was thinking I might.

 

[Minnie1222]

I just looked at my photos and found this taken at 7:49. It looks like Helios guests are allowed to line up near the portal before the 8:00 Early Entry.

 

[PrincessV]

Wild how much a couple of major people-eating rides down impacts everything else. BatM was having a rough day yesterday with some extended delays and not operating at full capacity and wait times everywhere jumped. Today, both BatM and Monsters are closed so far and Stardust is up to 60 mins, Mario at 190, Hiccup’s and Mine Cart at 90. The only good news in this is that TP has most of these estimated at half the posted wait times.

I had 45 minutes planned on my day for roaming Wizarding Paris and spell casting, but I may need more because no way will I be in any queues that long lol!

 

[GhostHost24]

Ya unfortunately just enough attractions.. They really need another show

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Wild how much a couple of major people-eating rides down impacts everything else. BatM was having a rough day yesterday with some extended delays and not operating at full capacity and wait times everywhere jumped. Today, both BatM and Monsters are closed so far and Stardust is up to 60 mins, Mario at 190, Hiccup’s and Mine Cart at 90. The only good news in this is that TP has most of these estimated at half the posted wait times.

I had 45 minutes planned on my day for roaming Wizarding Paris and spell casting, but I may need more because no way will I be in any queues that long lol!

That's why I have issues over at DHS because they don't have something else really outside of Indiana Jones that can absorb people so then you're left with high waits for the attractions left.

But it is a bit ironic I find people complaining about the waits of Ministry exclaiming oh no who is going to wait in that, Universal is awful for having that, I want VQ or I should be able to pay for it, but when there's issues with the ride then it's complaining that the wait times at the other attractions are now too high not enough stuff to do, etc.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Ya unfortunately just enough attractions.. They really need another show

I would hope that an expansion area in the future includes another show not sure what other land themes they've been looking at lately. It feels like the Zelda rumor is fairly strong but I have no idea if a show would thematically work with that as I kinda feel rides are better showcased there, like how Nintendo theming at this point in time (who knows what the future holds) isn't as conducive for a show like Cirque Arcanus like compared to just taking games and making them into attractions.

 

[Minnie1222]

That's why I have issues over at DHS because they don't have something else really outside of Indiana Jones that can absorb people so then you're left with high waits for the attractions left.

HS always has Indy, Frozen, Muppets, Beauty & Beast. As of yesterday, they also added two new shows Villains and Mermaid. We went to see them and they both ran smoothly. Unlike Cirque Arcanus, where we were ushered out  three times due to delays and cancelations. After 3.5 days at Epic, we are still unable to watch the Dragon show.

 

[neverlandsky]

Purchased our tickets right before 60 days. Noticed prices did jumped for express @ $10.01 each. Just a heads up if anyone is on the fence with planning on getting express tickets.

 

[Philsfan77]

HS always has Indy, Frozen, Muppets, Beauty & Beast. As of yesterday, they also added two new shows Villains and Mermaid. We went to see them and they both ran smoothly. Unlike Cirque Arcanus, where we were ushered out  three times due to delays and cancelations. After 3.5 days at Epic, we are still unable to watch the Dragon show.

I was going to say Frozen and Beauty and the Beast definitely eat some crowds up there.

 

[Minnie1222]

A minor issue that bothered me was the pronunciation of Cirque Arcanus by the actors. I understand that we're in an English-speaking country, but if the circus is based in Paris then please pronounce it the French way. It's not that hard to change the pronunciation. Arcanus is also a Latin word, not French. So either saying it the French way, or what we think the Romans may have said.

"Serk-Arcanoo" is neither French nor Latin, lol.

 

[Philsfan77]

I would hope that an expansion area in the future includes another show not sure what other land themes they've been looking at lately. It feels like the Zelda rumor is fairly strong but I have no idea if a show would thematically work with that as I kinda feel rides are better showcased there, like how Nintendo theming at this point in time (who knows what the future holds) isn't as conducive for a show like Cirque Arcanus like compared to just taking games and making them into attractions.

They need to do a real dreamworks area with some decent dark rides for the younger kids...not the nonsense they threw together at Studios. Zelda would make sense though...especially with the new movie coming out in 2027. Maybe after they see the returns on that, and how it does, they will build off of that momentum.

 

[GhostHost24]

Personally would rather see Zelda take place of lost continent in IoA

 

[GhostHost24]

I see the universal subreddit has swayed back to the other side of the pendlum and epic sucks now.

 

[Jessem1133]

A minor issue that bothered me was the pronunciation of Cirque Arcanus by the actors. I understand that we're in an English-speaking country, but if the circus is based in Paris then please pronounce it the French way. It's not that hard to change the pronunciation. Arcanus is also a Latin word, not French. So either saying it the French way, or what we think the Romans may have said.

"Serk-Arcanoo" is neither French nor Latin, lol.

I would have just preferred a circus that didn't have "anus" written everywhere lol

 

[Minnie1222]

I would have just preferred a circus that didn't have "anus" written everywhere lol

OMG, I honestly did not see that until you pointed out.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

HS always has Indy, Frozen, Muppets, Beauty & Beast. As of yesterday, they also added two new shows Villains and Mermaid. We went to see them and they both ran smoothly. Unlike Cirque Arcanus, where we were ushered out  three times due to delays and cancelations. After 3.5 days at Epic, we are still unable to watch the Dragon show.

lol methinks you're trying too hard here.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I was going to say Frozen and Beauty and the Beast definitely eat some crowds up there.

But not the same as Indiana Jones. It would take approximately both of those shows running at full capacity at the same time to absorb roughly the same as full capacity of Indiana Jones. The comparison being made in my prior comment to what the long length of a queue such as Ministry can do to absorb the people to ease off the other attractions.