Thank you for pushing me to make horrible financial decisions. I will do it
News Universal Epic Universe Debuting in 2025
- Thread starter GrandpaD
- Start date
Thrilldata is reporting that Universal has completely lifted their artificial capacity cap for the park. Note the more than 3x jump in ticket capacity from 5/29 to 5/30.
Wait times look to have spiked the last few days as well, and that was with the ~15k cap still in place. I would not want to be anywhere near this place the first time it hits 40k+, though I doubt that's likely to happen until the holidays, or when they start letting passholders in.
Above graph pulled from the historical wait times data page on Thrilldata. Tons of interesting information but crowds are going to be too volatile to recognize any really useful patterns for a while.
Almost all of the added availability appears to be through multi-day tickets, of which there were still a lot of even before the capacity lift, so I wouldn't expect this change to move the attendance needle much in the short term. There's still very few single day ticket options through the next month or so, but that may change.
Hope not too many people saw the blissfully quiet opening weekend and impulse booked a trip because they may be in for a vibe check.
Last edited:
12/32/25
For the past 6 months I kept telling myself: "be strong", don't give in to all the Epic Universe news. Sit it out till the fall when the weather is nicer; maybe make it a combo trip to see the latest houses at this year's HHN; wait till all the rides (looking at you Battle at the Ministry) have worked out their operational kinks.
Did I listen - "nope", definitely not
.
It was three weeks to the day I made my single-day visit to the park (followed by 8 additional days at other FL parks). The park was packed. Battle at the Ministry was down for a combined 5 hours that day, which didn't help the lines throughout the rest of the park; where my family and I generally waited 60 to 90+ minutes for most attractions.
Line waits aside (something most of us here are likely all too familiar with), the park is incredible. There are just so many details to find and appreciate throughout each land, where I'm looking forward to many (many) visits for years to come - where I just may have to make that trip in the fall to get on all the attractions I could not get on here in this trip.
But time now for a few (err 15) of my favorite photos - where a late afternoon thunderstorm that day helped greatly to clear some of the pathways (placing the crowds in the few remaining operating attractions and shows).
Of note: no photo spoilers here; just exterior views of each land, likely seen by all at this point.
Did I listen - "nope", definitely not
.It was three weeks to the day I made my single-day visit to the park (followed by 8 additional days at other FL parks). The park was packed. Battle at the Ministry was down for a combined 5 hours that day, which didn't help the lines throughout the rest of the park; where my family and I generally waited 60 to 90+ minutes for most attractions.
Line waits aside (something most of us here are likely all too familiar with), the park is incredible. There are just so many details to find and appreciate throughout each land, where I'm looking forward to many (many) visits for years to come - where I just may have to make that trip in the fall to get on all the attractions I could not get on here in this trip.
But time now for a few (err 15) of my favorite photos - where a late afternoon thunderstorm that day helped greatly to clear some of the pathways (placing the crowds in the few remaining operating attractions and shows).
Of note: no photo spoilers here; just exterior views of each land, likely seen by all at this point.
The first three tracks from Celestial Park are now streaming, with the rest coming soon and soundtrack on vinyl sometime next year:
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Direct Link to Embedded Media Source
Majestic Rising (Reprise of Apollo) is the final song to the Cosmos Fountain Show, in case anyone was curious where that one came from.
There's a special coming to NBC and Peacock August 20th:
www.nbc.com
This is not the "making of documentary" which was supposed to be on Peacock but has been delayed:
www.nbc.com
NBC to Air a New Worlds of Epic Universe Special Hosted by Joe Manganiello (DETAILS)
Everything to know about NBC's new special "Inside the Worlds of Epic Universe," a must-watch for all movie and theme park lovers.
This is not the "making of documentary" which was supposed to be on Peacock but has been delayed:
Peacock is Giving Epic Universe Fans a 3-Part Documentary about Universal Parks
Go inside the making of Epic Universe and the history of Universal Parks with Peacock's new 3-part documentary series.
Not sure where to post this, figure this might be the right place. I'm going next week with my best friend and I honestly haven't spoiled myself at all. Are there anything you'd recommend we do, get buy or whatever. We are staying at the Rock and Roll hotel. Three days for all parks, then the horror nights on Thursday. Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!
If I posted this in the wrong area, please let me know! Thank you!!
If I posted this in the wrong area, please let me know! Thank you!!
If you can afford it, Express. A top-teir hotel like Hard Rock doesn't get you Horror Nights or Epic Universe Express and it is EXTREMELY valuable for both experiences.
Go into Epic expecting operational frustrations. The bugs definitely aren't all worked out yet. Downtime and reduced capacity operations are still super common if my recent experience is anything to go on.
Is this your first HHN or are you familiar with navigating that event?
Go into Epic expecting operational frustrations. The bugs definitely aren't all worked out yet. Downtime and reduced capacity operations are still super common if my recent experience is anything to go on.
Is this your first HHN or are you familiar with navigating that event?
Also, if you can, go on a Sunday. Reports have been that it’s uncrowded and you should be able to do everything.
Thank you for the tip! I'll look into getting both express passes.
This is my first time going to HHN. I've been to Halloween events in other parks before, but not HHN.
Sunday is 100% the way to go right now (until Annual Passes get access). Per Thrill Data, Sunday has the lowest average queue times.
Anecdotally, on Sunday Sept 7th without Express and a short period of weather closures:
- 7x Stardust (several single rider)
- 2x Werewolf
- 2x Hiccup
- 1x Mine Cart (single rider - this may have been a mistake)
- 4x Monsters (1 single rider)
- 2x Ministry
- 1x Mario Kart (single rider)
- 1x Dragon Racers Rally
- 1x Le Cirque Arcanus
Plus time for Mac and Cheese cone, Butterbeer Crepe, Crossbow at Burning Blade, and an afternoon reservation at Bar Helios.
If you do not have early hotel access, still recommend arriving early. They will let you enter the park early regardless, room keys are only being checked at specific portal entrances and rides with early access. On the right side rope drop, you can head straight to Ministry and enter the queue without a room key. It has routinely opened early even though the published opening time is 10am (it opened at 9:10am for us and we rode in 5 mins being near the front of the queue). Afterwards, heading to the HTTYD portal for its rope drop can be helpful for getting on the attractions there quickly.
Anecdotally, on Sunday Sept 7th without Express and a short period of weather closures:
- 7x Stardust (several single rider)
- 2x Werewolf
- 2x Hiccup
- 1x Mine Cart (single rider - this may have been a mistake)
- 4x Monsters (1 single rider)
- 2x Ministry
- 1x Mario Kart (single rider)
- 1x Dragon Racers Rally
- 1x Le Cirque Arcanus
Plus time for Mac and Cheese cone, Butterbeer Crepe, Crossbow at Burning Blade, and an afternoon reservation at Bar Helios.
If you do not have early hotel access, still recommend arriving early. They will let you enter the park early regardless, room keys are only being checked at specific portal entrances and rides with early access. On the right side rope drop, you can head straight to Ministry and enter the queue without a room key. It has routinely opened early even though the published opening time is 10am (it opened at 9:10am for us and we rode in 5 mins being near the front of the queue). Afterwards, heading to the HTTYD portal for its rope drop can be helpful for getting on the attractions there quickly.
For those not in the know, we now have the lore for all of Celestial Park. Read up below:
Complete Guide to the Lore & Stories of Celestial Park
Complete Guide to the Lore & Stories of Celestial Park
Got my first visit to Epic under my belt Wednesday last week. Park #39 and rode credit #300 with the green side of Stardust Racers. My favorite park for quite some time has been Islands of Adventure and now I feel confident when I say I have a “1 and 1A.”
Epic truly is epic. It’s the most immersive theme park I’ve ever visited the portals are really cool to walk through to suck you into the section you’re walking into. Each section is a sensory overload especially Super Nintendo World. As somebody who’s played Nintendo games since I was 3 (I am 34 now) I was hit like a truck with feels walking out of Peaches castle. There is so much movement in this place and I love the interactivity you can at least hit the ? blocks without the $45 upcharge for the armband. It also has a portal within a portal with the DK Country section in the back or Super Nintendo World. I could honestly see this portal itself becoming a mini park in and of itself. For the rides I skipped Yoshis Adventure as I was solo and an Omni mover with a 45+ minute wait wasn’t something I was feeling. I REALLY enjoyed Mario Kart but it was kind of weird how often we stopped for sustained periods and part of me wants to ride without the glasses on to appreciate the sets more. The rainbow road sequence was a sensory overload with the AR glasses on. I got stuck in line for 70 minutes on this one and admittedly it felt quite slow. DK Mine Cart Madness okay so I really like this ride and the uniqueness of the ride system along with theme as Donkey Kong is a fun video game character with cool music. The ride is rather short and I will say in terms of line this ride is the “DarKoaster” of Epic Universe. Very long very slow line often hovering around 2 hours most the day, I finally made a break for it when it dropped to 95 minutes and the switchback inside before the long hallway leading to the loading area if full, is painfully slow. I will also note if you’re in the back of the car it’s hard to see the gimmicks of the track jumping sections. DK is a cool ride and very much worth riding just be mindful it can go to the “hours buffet” on your day if you time your line entry poorly.
I spent the least time in the Harry Potter section which was mostly because it had 1 ride and I didn’t get to the circus show (or any show unfortunately) in time. I’ve done the other two wizarding world sections so I wasn’t particularly excited for the France area from Fantastic Beasts 2. I will say without spoiling, Battle at the Ministry is wild, truly one of the BEST dark rides I’ve done (along with a certain other attraction here I’ll address shortly) and if you go to Epic I stress HOLD on riding until the last 2-3 hours of the operating day the line was a sustained 2-3 hours all day until then when it dropped to 50 minutes for me.
I was largely unfamiliar with the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, the first film released the year I graduated High School and was focused on college, so it didn’t really come up on my radar but I was aware it was a largely successful franchise. I watched all 3 animated films prior to the visit which the first one made me tear up and feel stuff inside way too many times much like the Toy Story films. Feelings about children’s movies aside, Isle of Berk is incredible. I rode Hiccups Wing Gliders once after a 70 minute line. The launches are rather punchy which I appreciated. I really like the theming especially with how Toothless initiates your initial launch. Determining whether this or Big Bear Mountain are the best family coasters I’ve ridden. I’d lean hiccups for theming personally. The rest of the land has dragon animatronics and character interactions everywhere, I did not ride the Gerstlauer Sky Flies they appeared to have a very short cycle and a 55 minute line and I noticed while in line for Hiccups it had roughly 4 rotations at full speed and people have noted the flipping aspect is rough as they have bumpers on the wings. I also skipped Fyre Drill it had an hour wait while I was checking out Berk and a splash battle has limited appeal for me. Overall, Berk is the largest portal in terms of things to do, it has 3 attractions, a show, a playground, several food venues and character interactions. If you have kids that love the dragon franchise they will be in heaven here.
My personal favorite portal was Dark Universe from an atmosphere standpoint. Sadly, the burning blade taverns windmill was missing its blades so I was not able to take that feature in but the bar underneath was open and has cool character interactions. I lucked out with Curse of the Werewolf the single rider line had 3 people in it when I went to ride it. The ride itself is the weakest coaster in the park. It’s fun but very short and we didn’t spin much on the ride. I absolutely wish this was an Xtreme Spinner on a larger scale instead but alas we have what we have. The star of this area is absolutely Monsters Unchained, personally I really love Forbidden Journey over at Islands and this is a more advanced take on that concept without some screens. It also has so so many animatronics, it is rather chaotic and easy to lose track of what’s going on. The queue is one of my favorite queues I’ve ever done theming wise with the flashing blue wires everywhere. The manor itself looks incredible, stunning even. I rode monsters twice due to it not holding a line most of the day that was pervasive it hovered around 15-45 minutes throughout the day.
Stardust Racers is a set of two of the best coasters I’ve ever ridden I’ve ever ridden I placed them both just under Iron Gwazi my #1 and I’d argue there’s a debate there but I still lean towards the gator for now. I only rode the yellow side of Stardust 3 times and the green side once. The onboard audio really elevates the sense of (*sigh….) epicness to this ride. It’s a GREAT ride and experience. The station and queue is interestingly like a subway, art deco station with a space vibe. The launches are very powerful and you are getting airtime constantly. Watching the other train zip around you both during the day and night along with this ride being incredibly fun and full of ejector airtime really impressed me overall. It also doesn’t get a line longer than 45 minutes. So it’s easy to ride 2 of the best rides in the park between this beast Monsters Unchained.
I will say I did feel like the park needs more rides but it did take all of one day to hit every ride besides Yoshi, the sky flies, Constellation Carousel and Fyre Drill. The worst lines endured ended up being both Nintendo rides, Hiccups, and Stardust Racers single riders line was rather slow.
I had food from Oak & Star Tavern which was very good and had live music on before I came in. The BBQ and Mac and cheese were very good. I had dinner from Pizza Moon which was good and the place was cool but honestly, I wish I tried somewhere else in the park. There are also bars everywhere except Super Nintendo World. I really liked Celestial Park, while the portals were dead ends in the end, this hub area was very well done, lots of gardens and bridges crossing over so you don’t have to loop around everything to go to the portals. The park looks incredible at night as well. Overall Epic Universe is delightful and fantastic and you should go yesterday. One of the best theme park experiences I’ve had and I’ve been doing this theme park enthusiast thing since 2001.
Epic truly is epic. It’s the most immersive theme park I’ve ever visited the portals are really cool to walk through to suck you into the section you’re walking into. Each section is a sensory overload especially Super Nintendo World. As somebody who’s played Nintendo games since I was 3 (I am 34 now) I was hit like a truck with feels walking out of Peaches castle. There is so much movement in this place and I love the interactivity you can at least hit the ? blocks without the $45 upcharge for the armband. It also has a portal within a portal with the DK Country section in the back or Super Nintendo World. I could honestly see this portal itself becoming a mini park in and of itself. For the rides I skipped Yoshis Adventure as I was solo and an Omni mover with a 45+ minute wait wasn’t something I was feeling. I REALLY enjoyed Mario Kart but it was kind of weird how often we stopped for sustained periods and part of me wants to ride without the glasses on to appreciate the sets more. The rainbow road sequence was a sensory overload with the AR glasses on. I got stuck in line for 70 minutes on this one and admittedly it felt quite slow. DK Mine Cart Madness okay so I really like this ride and the uniqueness of the ride system along with theme as Donkey Kong is a fun video game character with cool music. The ride is rather short and I will say in terms of line this ride is the “DarKoaster” of Epic Universe. Very long very slow line often hovering around 2 hours most the day, I finally made a break for it when it dropped to 95 minutes and the switchback inside before the long hallway leading to the loading area if full, is painfully slow. I will also note if you’re in the back of the car it’s hard to see the gimmicks of the track jumping sections. DK is a cool ride and very much worth riding just be mindful it can go to the “hours buffet” on your day if you time your line entry poorly.
I spent the least time in the Harry Potter section which was mostly because it had 1 ride and I didn’t get to the circus show (or any show unfortunately) in time. I’ve done the other two wizarding world sections so I wasn’t particularly excited for the France area from Fantastic Beasts 2. I will say without spoiling, Battle at the Ministry is wild, truly one of the BEST dark rides I’ve done (along with a certain other attraction here I’ll address shortly) and if you go to Epic I stress HOLD on riding until the last 2-3 hours of the operating day the line was a sustained 2-3 hours all day until then when it dropped to 50 minutes for me.
I was largely unfamiliar with the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, the first film released the year I graduated High School and was focused on college, so it didn’t really come up on my radar but I was aware it was a largely successful franchise. I watched all 3 animated films prior to the visit which the first one made me tear up and feel stuff inside way too many times much like the Toy Story films. Feelings about children’s movies aside, Isle of Berk is incredible. I rode Hiccups Wing Gliders once after a 70 minute line. The launches are rather punchy which I appreciated. I really like the theming especially with how Toothless initiates your initial launch. Determining whether this or Big Bear Mountain are the best family coasters I’ve ridden. I’d lean hiccups for theming personally. The rest of the land has dragon animatronics and character interactions everywhere, I did not ride the Gerstlauer Sky Flies they appeared to have a very short cycle and a 55 minute line and I noticed while in line for Hiccups it had roughly 4 rotations at full speed and people have noted the flipping aspect is rough as they have bumpers on the wings. I also skipped Fyre Drill it had an hour wait while I was checking out Berk and a splash battle has limited appeal for me. Overall, Berk is the largest portal in terms of things to do, it has 3 attractions, a show, a playground, several food venues and character interactions. If you have kids that love the dragon franchise they will be in heaven here.
My personal favorite portal was Dark Universe from an atmosphere standpoint. Sadly, the burning blade taverns windmill was missing its blades so I was not able to take that feature in but the bar underneath was open and has cool character interactions. I lucked out with Curse of the Werewolf the single rider line had 3 people in it when I went to ride it. The ride itself is the weakest coaster in the park. It’s fun but very short and we didn’t spin much on the ride. I absolutely wish this was an Xtreme Spinner on a larger scale instead but alas we have what we have. The star of this area is absolutely Monsters Unchained, personally I really love Forbidden Journey over at Islands and this is a more advanced take on that concept without some screens. It also has so so many animatronics, it is rather chaotic and easy to lose track of what’s going on. The queue is one of my favorite queues I’ve ever done theming wise with the flashing blue wires everywhere. The manor itself looks incredible, stunning even. I rode monsters twice due to it not holding a line most of the day that was pervasive it hovered around 15-45 minutes throughout the day.
Stardust Racers is a set of two of the best coasters I’ve ever ridden I’ve ever ridden I placed them both just under Iron Gwazi my #1 and I’d argue there’s a debate there but I still lean towards the gator for now. I only rode the yellow side of Stardust 3 times and the green side once. The onboard audio really elevates the sense of (*sigh….) epicness to this ride. It’s a GREAT ride and experience. The station and queue is interestingly like a subway, art deco station with a space vibe. The launches are very powerful and you are getting airtime constantly. Watching the other train zip around you both during the day and night along with this ride being incredibly fun and full of ejector airtime really impressed me overall. It also doesn’t get a line longer than 45 minutes. So it’s easy to ride 2 of the best rides in the park between this beast Monsters Unchained.
I will say I did feel like the park needs more rides but it did take all of one day to hit every ride besides Yoshi, the sky flies, Constellation Carousel and Fyre Drill. The worst lines endured ended up being both Nintendo rides, Hiccups, and Stardust Racers single riders line was rather slow.
I had food from Oak & Star Tavern which was very good and had live music on before I came in. The BBQ and Mac and cheese were very good. I had dinner from Pizza Moon which was good and the place was cool but honestly, I wish I tried somewhere else in the park. There are also bars everywhere except Super Nintendo World. I really liked Celestial Park, while the portals were dead ends in the end, this hub area was very well done, lots of gardens and bridges crossing over so you don’t have to loop around everything to go to the portals. The park looks incredible at night as well. Overall Epic Universe is delightful and fantastic and you should go yesterday. One of the best theme park experiences I’ve had and I’ve been doing this theme park enthusiast thing since 2001.
To those of you visiting epic universe, I work within… one of the portals that happens to have dragons and I’m here to tell you some fun easter eggs to look out for mostly dueling dragons ones !
The trash cans near dragon racer rally are red and blue (yes on purpose)
The dragons above the wing glider station are red and blue
The wait time and former single rider sign at wing gliders is red and blue
There’s so so many more, but you’ll have to find those yourself
The trash cans near dragon racer rally are red and blue (yes on purpose)
The dragons above the wing glider station are red and blue
The wait time and former single rider sign at wing gliders is red and blue
There’s so so many more, but you’ll have to find those yourself
