Okay, here is a more detailed
Epic one-day trip report from 10/24! Skipping pictures as I'm lazy right now and y'all have probably seen everything anyways.
I booked my non-private VIP tour at the end of May for $473 through
Undercover Tourist. I wasn't sure if they were refundable when booking direct, which is why I booked through
UT (95% refundable). I believe they are refundable booking direct, as long as you cancel more than 48 hours ahead of time? Don't quote me! It was $511 at the lowest I saw when booked direct, and the cheapest Express I saw was $200. Express jumped to $300 closer to the tour once Ministry/Mine Cart were added. The one day ticket to Epic was about $200.
I took a Lyft from Disney's All Star Movies to Epic which took 25 minutes and arrived at about 9am. $21 with tip and no traffic. Definitely cheaper to get to Universal than I remember. Drop off is close to entrance which is nice compared to the other Universal parks. Head to far right for VIP security and entrance which is well marked and a short wait. They had our names on a print out.
Checked in and used bathrooms in VIP lounge, they had water, banana boat sunscreen mini tubes, nature valley granola bars, pretzels, and nutrigrain bars. There is a Starbucks close by apparently but I didn’t have time to stop.
My 9:30 tour actually left without me, oops, but they had only just left and realized I was missing and didn’t get far. It started early around 9:20. Our group of 12 had one other solo guy, two couples, and a few female duos. Olivia was our tour guide and she was awesome! All adults which I was happy about! Not sure what I missed when I was in bathroom lol, maybe they discussed plans, I have no idea. Olivia offered to take photos for everyone at every portal.
I did not watch any videos or do any research on Epic so everything was new to me!
Ride 1:
We did Mario Kart first, entering the queue at 9:34, standby was 60 minutes. I believe this was still early entry as the park opened at 10. We were off the ride by 9:48. I'm not a Nintendo fan but I really enjoyed this ride, it was a lot of fun and a good length. I'm not sure how those with motion sickness would do since it does use AR and is pretty overstimulating, but I was amazed at how high quality and large the screens are on these new rides overall. I scored 101, whatever that means!
Next up was a bathroom stop outside of Donkey Kong area.
We got to DK and it was delayed, and found out so was Harry Potter. So Dark Universe was next!
Ride 2:
Curse of the Werewolf was up next, we got in "line" at 10:11 but it was definitely a walk on. Standby was listed at 5. This was so short, we were all like it's over? It was very smooth though. Seemed like it'd be more fun at night.
Ministry opened shortly after this and DK was still closed.
Ride 3:
Next we did Monsters Unchained which had a 10 minute standby wait. We did the lockers at 10:22 and were off by 10:44. Lots of cool animatronics, and a very long ride. I don't get motion sick easily so can't say if it's less troublesome than Forbidden Journey, but like FJ I'm not sure I'd want to ride it back to back. I'm a scaredy cat and this was fine!
Ride 4:
Next up was Harry Potter around 11 AM. Standby was 150. Olivia took videos for all of us going through the floos. We were into the Atrium by 11:05 and off the ride by 11:19. This is where front of the line really is awesome. You feel very VIP indeed. The regular line looks absolutely brutal
Another bathroom break in the Ministry area.
Apparently the ride briefly went down right after we rode, good timing! It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze. I didn't think we spent too much time in the sun since we were always in ride queues and never standing outside much.
Ride 5:
Next up, Stardust at 11:33. Standby was 35 and we were onto the ride at 11:45. Wow, this was fast! I loved it, I don't think it comes close to dethroning Velocicoaster for me in terms of thrill/comfort, but still a great coaster. Always feels like I need goggles on these coasters though! We did the yellow side. I was in front row, we always got to pick amongst the group and the guy I was with was happy to head to front row with me since no one else in the group seemed to care
I felt like I was going to fly out of my seat in the front row! Definitely was excited to ride again at night. I couldn't really see the other coaster in the front row.
Ride 6:
Onto Berk, we did Dragon Racers Rally at 12 and were onto the ride by 12:05. This was SO short and I had no idea what I was doing. Not worth a long wait at all to me! Standby was 70 minutes and does not have express.
Donkey Kong went back up briefly, but we missed it I think.
Ride 7:
Next was Hiccups at 12:15, standby was 80. We were onto the coaster by 12:27. I LOVED this one. It's like a mini Hagrid's, but maybe more like Slinky Dog or 7DMT. The leg restraints were horrible though, my thighs felt so bruised by them, so painful.
The Face ID lockers were great overall, never any issues. Just wish there were more of the scanners as you always had to wait behind a few people.
Another bathroom break!
At 12:35 DK was still down. We had done 7 rides, so that was already over the 6 ride guarantee. Olivia gave us the option of Fyre Drill or the other side of Stardust, or people could depart. Only 4 of us voted to do Stardust again, everyone else went on their way. Apparently you can get very wet on Fyre Drill which was a no from me!
Ride 8 (fail!):
At 12:45 we got into the Stardust standby which was only 15 minutes. Ministry was at 180 at that point. We bailed at 1:00 because the ride went down and they were clearing the queue. A bummer. There were no alternative rides offered since the tour only guarantees 6. This was slightly disappointing to me, since Donkey Kong is such a big ride and there was really nothing to make up for it. I know we get an Express Pass after the tour, but I think they should have offered an additional pass good for any ride. But I'm not one to complain and really there's only so much time in a day, so I didn't give that feedback outside of the survey I got.
VIP tour thoughts:
Overall our tour lasted just over 3 hours, so we were extremely efficient. If we had done Donkey Kong it probably would have been 3.5 hours. There was no stopping for food/drink so definitely eat more than I did or bring snacks. Plenty of bathroom breaks which were quick since we didn't have any kids. Since the tour is supposed to be 4 hours, again, I wish we could have done an extra re-ride to make up for it, but I get that they don't want to disrupt the queues even further.
I think it was worth it in my situation, which is that I was only spending one day at Epic and don't plan to return for a few years. I got on just about everything and still had a majority of the day left. Being led around the park helped me learn how to navigate it and it was so amazing to be walked to the front of the queue! Olivia was great to talk to and if you had a lot of questions, I'm sure she'd be able to answer them. If you're doing multiple days, I would say I'd do two days of Express over a VIP tour. I personally would not attempt full days at Epic without Express. That said, if you're strategic, I think you could hit everything in two days with minimal waits if you just did early mornings and evenings. Everything had minimal wait times by dinner time except for Ministry/DK. And Ministry and DK you probably just need to be strategic about, and catch the line at just the right time. Ministry never had a short wait on my day (I think the lowest I saw was 100 minutes) and with DK's down time, it remained over 2 hours all day.
My group was really pleasant and I'm sure that isn't always the case, but I appreciated having other adults to talk to since I was solo. Once we parted ways, I definitely missed the conversation! I rode most rides with the other solo guy and he was really friendly and we got along well! If you're shy, maybe that would be awkward, but we had plenty to talk about with our shared interest in Universal/Disney!
Post tour:
At 1:12 I got in line for the cafe in Harry Potter and placed a mobile order. Stardust opened while I was in line. I was seated by 1:20 and got my food at 1:28. I had the baguette sandwich and butter beer crepe, both of which I highly recommend! Definitely share the crepe if you can.
At 1:57, the Cirque show was already full for the 2:15 showing. They said to come 25-30 minutes early.
I decided to do my express for Ministry in case there was downtime, I wouldn't want to miss it. I got in line at 2:04 and it was listed 150. Single Rider was closed. Overall I waited about 25 minutes in Express, which felt like forever compared to the VIP tour wait
When I was done, Cirque had an issue, so no 3:05 showing. Sigh. Lots of going back and forth was going to be in my future.
They were filming someone in the HP area, no idea who.
Headed to Mario Kart and it said brief delay, but I lingered and it went right back up and said 100 minutes. Got in line at 3:16 and they announced the wait was going up to 135 minutes.
At 3:25, I got the alert that DK reopened. Sigh!!! If only I had walked around a bit slower! It started at 35 minutes, yeah right!
Got my hat at 3:36 and was REALLY missing the VIP tour at this point.
Finally onto the ride at 3:45, so about a 30 minute wait in express. Off at 3:54. I was front row again, yay! It was less fun the 2nd time but I got 108 and beat the guy next to me while knowing nothing!
I headed to DK but the express line was all the way to the bathrooms, that's a nope from me. Standby was listed 180 minutes, yikes.
Got a Yoshi apple melon smoothie which was good.
I got to the Cirque much earlier, using my express at 4:14 for the 4:45 show. I sat down in the line because I was tired! You can bring drinks in which was nice. We started filling the reshow area at 4:29, the express line is let in at the same time so you have a better chance at a closer spot. There were maybe 30 people ahead of me in express.
The preshow was so long I thought the whole show was going to be standing in the tent
We were seated and the show started at 4:58. Unfortunately, it went down at 5:10, and could not go on. The audio cut off and the actors hustled off stage. Bummer. We got single use express passes good through 12/1 (but not on Ministry/DK).
I headed back to DK since it was closing early (I assume to ensure the queue didn't last hours after park close). The express queue was no longer outside, thankfully. Standby was down to only 150 minutes!
Into the DK queue at 5:30. It was a bit slow, but I talked to some girls next to me in the regular queue and they asked me how long I had waited. I guess I was pretty close to the front at this point. I said 20 minutes, and they gasped and showed me their timer which was over 2 hours already. And they probably had another hour to go compared to me! Yeah, no thanks! The line said 75 minutes when they got in line, so they must have gotten there right after it reopened. Yikes!!!!
I was ahead of 3 teenage boys and we were grouped into one car. I was ahead of them, but one asked me if it was okay if they could sit in the front and I'd sit with their friend in the back. Ugh sure, whatever dudes. I'm not a Nintendo fan so I'll allow it. Brave of him to ask I guess, I'll give him that.
I talked to the poor boy who was demoted to sitting in the back with me, he was nice lol. We were on at 5:56, so it was less than a 20 minute wait. Still feels like forever when you're alone and used to Disney's lightning lanes! Off the ride at 5:59, it was so short and jerky. Reminded me of those mouse trap coasters but less thrilling. It looks way cooler than it feels...cannot believe how long people wait! The theming looks cooler off the ride than on it, honestly. Not worth a long wait at all, Mario Kart was way cooler!
Next I did Yoshi's adventure, into line at 6:03 with a 25 minute standby. It didn't look that long to me. Ministry was down to 100 minutes at this point. I was onto Yoshi by 6:08. Uhh, definitely a kids ride. Like, for babies. Cool seeing the land from that perspective though, but I wouldn't wait for it more than 10-15 minutes.
I headed back to Berk as I wanted to wait to to Stardust when it was dark. Into hiccups at 6:21, standby was 25 minutes. They’re serious about scanning express passes multiple times, I loved that. Onto hiccups at 6:29, the odd number party line was nice and short. Again, loved this one, but those restraints HURT.
Next up was Curse of the Werewolf, into line at 6:46 and somehow standby was 50 minutes. It was getting dark at this point. On at 6:57 and much cooler at night. Maybe not 50 minutes cool though, with how short it is.
I had a the charred loaded potato at Burning Blade via mobile order which was AMAZING. I don't usually eat the skin on a baked potato but I ate every last bite of that thing.
At this point, Battle was 100 minutes, Mine Cart 150, Mario Kart 60, almost everything else was like 30 or lower.
I decided to check out the Ministry area at night, and the fountain show was going. Very cool though it definitely sprays mist! I didn't have time to really enjoy the park at night because I was running the runDisney 10k the next morning and knew I had to set an alarm for 2:30AM. I wish I had the time to close out the park! My goal had been to leave around 7...didn't quite happen. YOLO!
Got into line for Stardust at 7:42, standby was 25. I think it was almost a walk on though. I was onto green by 7:55. It was so cool at night, and I was in row 8 and it was much easier to see the other train going when it was lit up. I didn't feel like I was going to fly out like I did in the front. Honestly no idea the difference between yellow/green. Once more was enough for me, so I did not use my single paper express ticket.
I was tired and decided against doing the carousel since I was short on time. I'd have done it if I didn't have to get up at 2:30AM
The rideshare pick up was easy to find and felt very safe (lots of other people there), I wanted about 10 minutes for one. It was $23 before tip to go back to All Star Movies. I left around 8:30 PM and got back to Disney a little after 9PM since my driver got a little lost.
Overall I got 22k steps for the day. Definitely less steps since I didn't have to walk through so many queues. I had a great day and while I don't have any urge to rush back to Epic any time soon, I'll definitely head back when they expand.
I can see how the day would go very south if even one or two attractions are down. I didn't even have a chance to try the Dragon show since I only had so much time and you have to get there early for the shows, so you do sort of have to plan ahead. I think two days would be necessary to enjoy the park more and try more eating options. But those standby waits can climb so fast, not sure I'd want to do it without express. Early entry seems very valuable with how low the wait times were initially. I was lucky and overall the day went very smoothly, with minimal issues. A little bummed I didn't see the full HP show but next time. I did use this as a test run to see if it would be worth bringing my mom who loves HP but can't do any screen rides or coasters, and most definitely it would not be worth it. The Ministry area is very cool but doesn't feel nostalgic. The Wand experiences seem fun but definitely costly!
