Epic Universe Ticketing Info, Advice, & Speculation

[Mad Dog]

We always stay on site at the main campus. Being able to walk to the parks via beautiful landscaped walkways, is a plus. Or take the scenic water taxi. For us, this elevates the Universal experience above the WDW experience. I've always considered the Universal & WDW parks just about equal. But Universal wins on the leisurely vacation aspect. We drive to Universal from Pittsburgh, but we've rarely ever used our car once it's parked at the hotels.

 

[belloq87]

For me and the people I tend to travel with, we just put a premium on being able to have a few hours of privacy away from each other at night!

I totally get the appeal of staying onsite, and if I ever traveled solo, I'd do it!

 

[Sithina]

For us, it's on-site at UOR all the way. The amenities offered and the proximity to the parks and CityWalk can't be beat, and it's so relaxing to not have to worry about anything. I agree with the @Mad Dog on the "leisurely vacation" feeling--UOR is such a different vibe from Disney, and everything is so close, it's very easy to switch plans or just spend half the day lazing in bed or by the pool. I need my vacations to be as relaxing as possible, even when I'm going to theme parks.

We only go to Universal, so it makes little sense for us to stay off-site and have to drive in and park. And the caliber of hotels across all price points, at much more reasonable prices than on-site offerings elsewhere, is unmatched for our needs.

As for AirBnB-type services, we made a conscious decision to never use them many years ago, even if it means spending more money at a hotel. For us, the cost-savings isn't worth knowing (first hand) what this business model does to communities and the people who live and work in them.

And, well, I don't want to go on vacation just to have to cook and clean up after myself and others for the entire trip. Hotel amenities and services, please; I'm not here to work.

 

[Mad Dog]

For us, it's on-site at UOR all the way. The amenities offered and the proximity to the parks and CityWalk can't be beat, and it's so relaxing to not have to worry about anything. I agree with the @Mad Dog on the "leisurely vacation" feeling--UOR is such a different vibe from Disney, and everything is so close, it's very easy to switch plans or just spend half the day lazing in bed or by the pool. I need my vacations to be as relaxing as possible, even when I'm going to theme parks.

We only go to Universal, so it makes little sense for us to stay off-site and have to drive in and park. And the caliber of hotels across all price points, at much more reasonable prices than on-site offerings elsewhere, is unmatched for our needs.

As for AirBnB-type services, we made a conscious decision to never use them many years ago, even if it means spending more money at a hotel. For us, the cost-savings isn't worth knowing (first hand) what this business model does to communities and the people who live and work in them.

And, well, I don't want to go on vacation just to have to cook and clean up after myself and others for the entire trip. Hotel amenities and services, please; I'm not here to work.

Yes, big time...to all those thoughts....As I've stated in a few past forum comments, I'm wondering how Epic will fit in for me. For one, I'm certain I'll just stay in the main campus hotels. In fact, my next two vacations, in November 2025 and June 2026 are already booked. I'll be splitting time between Portofino and CBBR for both. Epic is kind of a WDW outlier. The park looks beautiful, but due to the off campus location, even though it's a fairly short bus ride, just won't have the same leisurely appeal to my vacation. So, I'm sure my wife and I will spend most of our time at IOA and USF. I've been doing long Universal vacations since 2011, even back when very few guests stayed for more than a handful of days. The Portofino staff always expressed amazement when they saw I was booked for 10 to 14 nights, and they said hardly no one does that. Of course that was before Diagon Alley turned even more people into Universal fans, and solidified what Hogsmeade had started. We don't commando the Universal parks. In fact, our theme park days are generally a couple hours in the morning, afternoons back at the hotel pool, and nights back at the parks and CityWalk. It's the walking distance and boats that allow us to do that leisurely. And like you, I change my agenda a few times every day. So much more fun than that heavy Disney planning. Soooo, I'm going to treat Epic more like a Disney park, due to it's location. So a day at Epic going to be like a day at Disney, namely 8 to 12 hours tour, and less leisure. There's really not enough to do at the Epic campus to get me to book one of their three hotels. Heck, I won't even stay at Dockside or Surfside, since it's not a comfortable walk from those hotels to the parks. I have to admit, Universal main campus layout has me spoiled silly.