Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[Philsfan77]

We're going to Epic on Wednesday - we know it's going to be busy so we're really just focusing on a few rides for the kids - anything/everything in SNW and Isle of Berk.

Have a great time. Berk was my favorite land, I'm sure you will love it!

 

[Raya]

Is the Express Pass worth it for Epic? We're going for a 5 day trip, with one day at Epic. The phone operator convinced me to get the Express Pass for Epic, but I just realized the pass costs more than our ticket! Our plan is to focus on Dark Universe, Berk, and Ministry of Magic, seeing/riding anything else would be a bonus. Did I just waste a bunch of money? Can anyone direct me to info about the Express Pass in Epic?

 

[keishashadow]

It may have just been a glitch. It happens a lot with UO. I've been waiting for a buddy who's coming to buy theirs and been keeping an eye. Never saw dates on sept sold out.

experienced it after deciding to
revisit in early September. multiple, random AP dates sold out

thot maybe a glitch, until no change after over a week of watching

wound up calling in, long hold and 2 tix were found. It was described as being near capacity issues

strongly think since many dates now available again, they have since opened the flood gates a bit & bumped up to a higher guest capacity level

IMO they have to stress test with higher guest numbers before they consider selling even limited APs to the park

 

[MIChessGuy]

I'd like to offer a few comments about Epic after my visit today.

I went to the Dockside bus stop pretty early and boarded the bus around 7:30am for today's early entry official start time of 9:00am. This bus was one of those articulated buses, of which I have not seen many at Universal Orlando.

I made it to the security queues shortly before 8:00am--failed to note the exact time, maybe 7:50 or thereabouts. There were a total of 16 walk-through metal detectors, starting from 1 at the far right. I went all the way over to the far left and there were about 14 people in front of me. A few minutes later, a security TM told us to split our queue in half, between stations 15 and 16, so that sped things up when security opened up around 8:15 am. I forget the wait at the ticket scanners, perhaps another 10-15 minutes. All guests were allowed into the front plaza of Celestial Park when the scanners got going, whether or not they had early entry. The Super Nintendo people went to a rope barrier on the left, and the people interested in BatM and/or Stardust Racers went to a rope barrier on the right. (Early entry is not really worthwhile for MU or Yoshi or the carousel, in my opinion, although Yoshi might be a close call.) I believe some people gambled and lost by queueing up for Mine Cart, which had operational problems and did not open until later in the morning, and when it did open it was 125 minutes or something....d'oh. Note that Mine Cart is not an early entry ride, but people seem to queue there anyway, same as BatM. Speaking of...

After waiting at the right-hand rope barrier until a little before 9:00am, TMs walked us up to MoM. Some guests split away to Stardust Racers. My plan to do BatM first thing went perfecto. We went straight through the MoM portal and into Battle at the Ministry and essentially walked all the way through to the boarding area. So far as I could tell, everything was working fine, and I was off the ride by about 9:40 am. Ultimately I ended up doing BatM twice and MU three times. The other stuff wasn't that important to me, but I did go on Yoshi, the carousel, and Mario Kart. This approach to early entry could easily have been a crash-and-burn if BatM had been delayed at beginning of day, but it all came together nicely.

A few quick tips--
(1) The invisible man razzes people in Darkmoor, so make sure to talk to him and take a picture. Also saw the roaming violinist in the evening; I think she also does pictures.
(2) The shortcut that used to be available just inside the Super Nintendo portal, to the right before the escalators, now has TMs stationed there pretty much all the time. I think they are limiting that alternate route to exit-only unless you obviously cannot use escalators.
(3) Saw meet-and-greets in Super Nintendo for both Princess Peach and Luigi/Mario. Not sure what the schedule was, probably some way to look it up or you can ask a TM when you get there.
(4) At the Cosme Acajor wand shop in the Wizarding World, I did see the proprietor herself appear and talk to people about her wand offerings. Again, not sure if she appears on any set schedule, but anyone (esp. kids) in the market for a wand might want to look into it.

 

[tony67]

You truly are only paying for the view, and you can get that same view for free if you go up to the bar area. I did a theme park view room at Tokyo Disney Sea Miracosta and felt it was worth the money. The windows opened slightly, which allowed you to truly soak in the park atmosphere. You can't do that at Helios, so it is literally just the view. That may sound like a trivial difference, but it really did make a difference. We took more breaks in our room there and I think it was because we could still enjoy the park atmosphere while taking a break.

Yes - I can see the value of that no doubt - really just making sure folks truly understand it so they are not disappointed.
Taking a break, even at the other two Epic hotels is just not as convenient.
In most cases I will pay the extra for a view, its nice no doubt, but I just don't see myself doing that for Helios.

 

[Philsfan77]

Is the Express Pass worth it for Epic? We're going for a 5 day trip, with one day at Epic. The phone operator convinced me to get the Express Pass for Epic, but I just realized the pass costs more than our ticket! Our plan is to focus on Dark Universe, Berk, and Ministry of Magic, seeing/riding anything else would be a bonus. Did I just waste a bunch of money? Can anyone direct me to info about the Express Pass in Epic?

Personally - I would say yes, now that they added the 2 toughest rides to get (Battle at the Ministry and Mine-Cart to the offerings). We did one day with express and one day without prior to the change, and on the day with it, we had pretty much everything done except mine-cart by 4PM. With everything included now, I imagine we would be done earlier than that (we waited 2.5 hours for Battle at the Ministry). It really gives you flexibility and takes the guesswork out of hoping everything is running smoothly (it never seems to be at this park) to get everything done without it. It will give you time to actually explore the park as well, while still doing all of the attractions. Now if you were doing 2 days at Epic, I'd say skip paying for it and just balance your days with a few things each day, to be able to take in the rest of the park.

 

[tony67]

Personally - I would say yes, now that they added the 2 toughest rides to get (Battle at the Ministry and Mine-Cart to the offerings). We did one day with express and one day without prior to the change, and on the day with it, we had pretty much everything done except mine-cart by 4PM. With everything included now, I imagine we would be done earlier than that (we waited 2.5 hours for Battle at the Ministry). It really gives you flexibility and takes the guesswork out of hoping everything is running smoothly (it never seems to be at this park) to get everything done without it. It will give you time to actually explore the park as well, while still doing all of the attractions. Now if you were doing 2 days at Epic, I'd say skip paying for it and just balance your days with a few things each day, to be able to take in the rest of the park.

Yeah adding those 2 makes a very big difference IMO - no way would I bother without those two at the price point

 

[lisam70]

Went to Epic last Friday ( no EP) and Saturday (with EP)
Friday got off to a rough start. Our plane was delayed over 3 hours due to bad storms in Orlando so we did not get to Stella Nova until about 3:15 and then Epic at 4pm. We made the best of it and it helped that the park did not seem overly crowded. Had fun exploring Darkmoor, had a snack at Das Steakhouse and rode Monsters twice. Spent time just really taking in Wizarding Paris, saw the Le Cirque show and had a drink at bar Moonshine. We rode Stardust 4 times and saw the fountain show at park close. Also had my birthday dinner at Atlantic.
Saturday we did everything we wanted with EP. My biggest complaint was how much of our day was wasted waiting for Minecart. They really need to get that ride running more efficiently. It was down all morning and then shut down due to rain and did not start until after 3pm. We got in line at 4:45 and never rode it. The express line was almost all the way back to the entrance and moved so slowly then when we were close to getting on they told us it was going down briefly to add more cars to make the line go quicker. 40 minutes later at 6:10 we finally bailed because we were starving and pretty mad. Got in line again at 8:15 and did not get on until 9pm so that ruined our plan for a last race on Stardust.
We did ride BaTM twice, first time with EP and second time around 7:30 with only about a 20 min wait.
Because of the delays, either technical or weather related we spent a lot of time criss-crossing the park which is exhausting!
Meals on Saturday:
A very disappointing $50 breakfast at Cafe le sirene. Maybe lunch is better but would not recommend we were hungry like 2 hours later.
Lunch at Mead hall which was much better in both quality and quantity
Dinner at Blue dragon was not as bad as some of the reviews we were pleasantly surprised but then again we were really hungry!
2 drinks a piece at Bar Helios was the cost of another dinner plus had to pay for an Uber back to Stella Nova.
Overall we had a great trip with a few bumps as to be expected. Will definately return the park is gorgeous and the theming is so incredible its impossible to take it all in in such a short time. Very thankful that we got to go 2 days with our AP.

 

[georgina]

BATM you will not miss anything. I just did the EP and regular line over the weekend. Also did DK using special EP, the line starts where the other lines do at the entrance and is just a straight shot in between the last part of the main line and the entire single rider line. Single Rider and EP are parallel next to each other. You will still see Cranky Kong, you just will not be right next to him.

Thanks. Honestly have no idea what Cranky Kong even is, not a Nintendo or Mario person in any way. I will still go there and ride and look around, but I am blissfully clueless about that land.

 

[CoachBeard]

Is there a date or any info for when single day tickets for January 2026 will be available? I’m booked for 2 weeks at WDW and would like to plan for a day at EU but they only seem to be selling hotel/ticket packages for 2026 so far.

 

[zavandor]

I had an exceptional day at Epic today.
I did:
Battle at the ministry x5
Mario cart x2
Mine cart x1
Yoshi x1
Wing gliders x3
Fire drill x1
Monsters unchained x3
Both shows
Collected the 3 keys and defeated Bowser JR.
(All without express)

Everything I didn't is because I didn't want to (could have ridden stardust racers multiple times or Curse of the werewolf at the end of the night, but didn't care to).

I did everything once during the day, until bad weather shut down almost everything for 3 hours in the afternoon. I had a long break, having early dinner at Das steakhouse + dessert at Toadstool cafè (lunch was the mac and cheese cone), after that, in the last 2,5 hours I did all the repeats. The last two hours were GLORIOUS. You MUST outlast the crowds and stay late. Even better than arriving early.

The park is beautiful, it fights with Tokyo Disney Sea for the most beautiful park. All attractions I did were exceptional (even the much maligned Yoshi, as a supporting ride is good). The shows were great.
The weather was miserable, nearly unbearable hot and rainy for hours, but I worked around that.
I had a wonderful day, much better than I dared to hope. I'm exhausted but happy.

 

[Philsfan77]

I had an exceptional day at Epic today.
I did:
Battle at the ministry x5
Mario cart x2
Mine cart x1
Yoshi x1
Wing gliders x3
Fire drill x1
Monsters unchained x3
Both shows
Collected the 3 keys and defeated Bowser JR.
(All without express)

Everything I didn't is because I didn't want to (could have ridden stardust racers multiple times or Curse of the werewolf at the end of the night, but didn't care to).

I did everything once during the day, until bad weather shut down almost everything for 3 hours in the afternoon. I had a long break, having early dinner at Das steakhouse + dessert at Toadstool cafè (lunch was the mac and cheese cone), after that, in the last 2,5 hours I did all the repeats. The last two hours were GLORIOUS. You MUST outlast the crowds and stay late. Even better than arriving early.

The park is beautiful, it fights with Tokyo Disney Sea for the most beautiful park. All attractions I did were exceptional (even the much maligned Yoshi, as a supporting ride is good). The shows were great.
The weather was miserable, nearly unbearable hot and rainy for hours, but I worked around that.
I had a wonderful day, much better than I dared to hope. I'm exhausted but happy.

I am jealous of the people going right now. I noticed a pretty sharp drop in average wait times in the last week or so (similar to whats happening at Disney as well with low end of August/early September crowds). Great time to go to a theme park in Florida if you can.

 

[zavandor]

I am jealous of the people going right now. I noticed a pretty sharp drop in average wait times in the last week or so (similar to whats happening at Disney as well with low end of August/early September crowds). Great time to go to a theme park in Florida if you can.

On the other side, I got drenched during HHN and luckily it stopped raining around 12, so managed to do all houses, otherwise I would have wasted the money spent on EP

 

[serendipityaey]

Heading to Epic in about 2 weeks, no express pass, no early entry. Anyone have thoughts on heading to Battle of the Ministry first or Mine Cart Madness first?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

With no early entry, go to Ministry first. You are on even footing with the early entry peeps for Ministry. Might open early, might not, but everyone is in the same line.

For Mine Cart, the ride doesn't open for early entry but the rest of Nintendo World does, so you will be held outside the portal while all the early entry peeps can go in, which puts you behind them.

 

[serendipityaey]

With no early entry, go to Ministry first. You are on even footing with the early entry peeps for Ministry. Might open early, might not, but everyone is in the same line.

For Mine Cart, the ride doesn't open for early entry but the rest of Nintendo World does, so you will be held outside the portal while all the early entry peeps can go in, which puts you behind them.

That is a great point I didn’t know. Thank you for your input!

 

[zavandor]

During my visit Mario cart was delayed, so I tried for Mine cart and it was open for early entry. I don't know if it's the new normal or they opened early only because Mario was delayed.

I would suggest to do neither, go for Isle of Berk first, do Windglider, then Rally (if desired), then if Curse of the werewolf has a short line run for it.
At the end of the night (last hour) BatM was a walk-on. It seems they have much improved capacity and reliability. If you don't want to risk it, during the day it was under 1 hour most of the time. Get in line for Mine cart just before close.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

During my visit Mario cart was delayed, so I tried for Mine cart and it was open for early entry. I don't know if it's the new normal or they opened early only because Mario was delayed.

But either way, without early entry this is not an option. They will check credentials at the Nintendo World portal entrance.

 

[zavandor]

But either way, without early entry this is not an option. They will check credentials at the Nintendo World portal entrance.

Of course, but if it starts opening for early entry, then it'll have 1+ hours line already at 10. For someone without EE won't be an option, like ministry is.
And if they have resolved the problems with BatM, it won't be long before it joins the EE lineup too.

 

[MIChessGuy]

I note anecdotally that last August 26, I arrived at the security queue a bit after 7:30am and once security and tapstiles got going, it was a smooth process all the way out to BatM which appeared to start operations first thing. I did have early entry; however, as noted above, this doesn't matter at BatM because it is not an early entry attraction. As long as this does not change, BatM would be my recommendation as well. If and when this does change, non-early entry guests presumably will be in a Super Nintendo type situation with a massive queue by the time those guests reach the ride.