Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[Fire & Ice]

I wanted to share a slightly different perspective, since I know a lot of people have been having lacklustre days. We visited on Friday 26th and had a really successful first experience.

We didn’t have early entry but arrived at 8:30. Once inside, we headed straight to Ministry, which luckily opened at 9 (though it did have about 30 minutes of downtime).

Here’s what we managed to do:
(All standard queue, no express or single rider)
• Ministry ×2
• Donkey Kong ×3
• Mario ×1
• Yoshi ×1
• Monsters ×2
• Werewolf ×1
• Hiccup’s ×2
• Wing Gliders ×1
• Fire Drill ×1
• Carousel ×1
• Untrainable Dragon ×1

We definitely encountered downtime, but usually no longer than 30 minutes. By staying focused and making good use of our time (with plenty of stops at the freestyle machines and lunch at Spitfire), we gave it our all and ended up with a great run.

Going in, we honestly thought the day would be rough and that we wouldn’t want to return this trip, but it was so good that we’ve already booked to come back next week.

We went in three times in the first two weeks of September and honestly had three different experiences. One day seemed very busy and if it had been the only day we visited I might have had a completely different view. As it was, the Sunday we visited was really quite and we got a ton of rides done (with no express) which turned around my view so I’ll be looking forward to coming back in a year or two.

Just hope by then there is a better/more consistent view on low crowd days, other than “usually on a Sunday but not always“

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I'm curious to see how/if crowds change after HHN season ends. We're going down to Universal for a long weekend in December, and we're debating if we want to spend one of our 3 days at Epic.

(Should certainly be cooler in Celestial Park, lol)

 

[Mad Dog]

We went in three times in the first two weeks of September and honestly had three different experiences. One day seemed very busy and if it had been the only day we visited I might have had a completely different view. As it was, the Sunday we visited was really quite and we got a ton of rides done (with no express) which turned around my view so I’ll be looking forward to coming back in a year or two.

Just hope by then there is a better/more consistent view on low crowd days, other than “usually on a Sunday but not always“

I had to laugh when you used my previous comments of 'usually on a Sunday, but not always'. Unfortunately, it's so
true. That observation is still holding up, though,every now and then you get a lucky weekday that has little ride downtime.
Myself, for my long Nov. vacation, I'm trying to decide on one or two Sundays, definitely no weekdays or Saturdays. I was
going to definitely drop to one day, but my good friend @Disneyhead persuaded me to give it another consideration. He
says the park is so beautiful and interesting that you can still have a good time even if there's a lot of ride downtime. I always
trust his opinion since he's the most knowledgeable theme park expert I've known, including our late friend @Teebin. And
when he worked for the Orlando TV station, he was a super accurate insider, especially about pre greenlit plans.
That said, Ministry has been more problematic lately though. They must be experiencing some new issues, or they're experimenting
with the ride profile.
I study the stand by ride times, and attraction breakdowns, numerous times every day. The BEST ADVICE I can give is to be in the
park the last three hours of operation. Most of the attractions generally have very acceptable stand by lines, with the caveat that
any attraction that had significant downtime during the day, will remain high line times. Guessing the daily attendance profile is like Animal
Kingdom. Most everyone gets to the park in the first couple hours and after 6 to 8 hours in the parks, they're worn out and ready to leave,
Even with early closing, and early openings, AK is basically deserted the last couple of hours.
And the DK ride rarely ever has decent ride times. Best to avoid it since even if it has a less than super long line time, chances are it
will break down while you're in line. This very low capacity ride, in a super popular land, was probably a mistake to build in a park with the
added issue of numerous storm downtime due to Florida's climate..

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I was
going to definitely drop to one day, but my good friend @Disneyhead persuaded me to give it another consideration. He
says the park is so beautiful and interesting that you can still have a good time even if there's a lot of ride downtime. I always
trust his opinion since he's the most knowledgeable theme park expert I've known, including our late friend @Teebin. And
when he worked for the Orlando TV station, he was a super accurate insider, especially about pre greenlit plans.

For what it's worth - I agree with Disneyhead. We had 2 days at Epic - the first we had Express and rode everything in the park with several hours to spare.

Our second day - we only rode Unchained. (Not because everything was down, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves not in lines).

We walked around, interacted with characters, ate a lot of food and had a great time!

 

[Mad Dog]

For what it's worth - I agree with Disneyhead. We had 2 days at Epic - the first we had Express and rode everything in the park with several hours to spare.

Our second day - we only rode Unchained. (Not because everything was down, we just wanted to enjoy ourselves not in lines).

We walked around, interacted with characters, ate a lot of food and had a great time!

Yes, your second day is what he was talking about when we had the conversation. He said there's a really lot to see and do besides the rides.
.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Yes, your second day is what he was talking about when we had the conversation. He said there's a really lot to see and do besides the rides.
.

For sure! And a day without rides is a good day to hit the shows as well.

 

[Mad Dog]

For sure! And a day without rides is a good day to hit the shows as well.

We've had little feedback about the shows so far. What did you think of the shows and the street entertainment?

 

[TheCodeMan95]

We've had little feedback about the shows so far. What did you think of the shows and the street entertainment?

We absolutely loved the shows - my wife teared up during Le Cirque Arcanus, lol.

The street band in Paris was great, and the character interactions throughout Dark Universe and Berk were fantastic as well!

 

[Mad Dog]

We absolutely loved the shows - my wife teared up during Le Cirque Arcanus, lol.

The street band in Paris was great, and the character interactions throughout Dark Universe and Berk were fantastic as well!

I can get by in a park with mostly watching shows. One reason we like DHS so much.....though we loved it more when the
Citizens of Hollywood were at their peak. And, though most fans are down on USF, we enjoy it for their street shows and other shows.
Live entertainment elevates theme parks. BGW died since they got rid of most of the shows and street shows that made it entertaining.

 

[OrlLover]

I hate use this excuse but Covid probably had a major effect on planning for this park.

Some more ambitious things were probably cut during this time period just because Uni was limited some resources.

I’m sure several compromises were made for certain elements due to a time crunch and design specifications.

Overall a lot lessons were learned during this whole process.

 

[Timchat2]

We love the jazz trio at Ministry. Hopefully the park (and guests) value the streetmosphere entertainment enough to keep acts like these around for a long time.

Le Cirque Arcanus, even with its cutting-edge stage tech, feels like it could have come from the 90s (in the best possible way) with its sincerity and sense of wonder. Again, I hope audiences respond well to it.

Untrainable is a solid production. The story might be slight but the show looks amazing, the performers give their all, and the sight of Toothless and Hiccup descending from the clouds is one of the top theme park moments anywhere.

 

[Jake S]

The street musicians in Wizarding Paris and Dark Universe are excellent. The stuff they’ve got in Celestial Park is (imo) terrible. Covers of a bad selection of contemporary music that feels out of place in the area.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

The Epcot Forces of Nature street show (I think) could fit with a Celestial Theme.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Friend and I were walking around and found ourselves inside of an almost completely empty Potter Noir restaurant, and took a moment to sit down and enjoy some of the AC.

It immediately hit us just how physically demanding this park is. Constant walking across Celestial Park from portal to portal, constant standing in queues, near constant harsh sun or rain.

I really wish this park had a few easy quick rides to pop into, or really any that act as a way to sit down for awhile. EPCOT is a gigantic beast of a park with lots and lots of walking, but it's considerably more manageable with rides like Fiesta Tour, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Soarin, and Living with the Land. Indoor, air-conditioned attractions that allow you to just sit and relax for awhile; while also usually having no more than a 20 minute wait.

The closest we have to that is Yoshi's Adventure: A singular outdoor, 5 minute-long peoplemover with rather cramped seating, which usually queues for about 45 to 75 minutes at a time before 6pm. Obviously, Yoshi cannot pick up this burden alone.

If someone needs to sit down at Epic Universe; a common occurance; they must either watch one of two live shows on offer, stop to eat at one of the restaurants, or sit at an unshaded bench "wasting time" when they could be in a queue for another attraction.

Obviously, this is good for Universal. Guests either have to pay money for food and beverage, or they need a second day ticket to comfortably experience the rides they couldn't on their first day, because every queue line is over 40+ minutes long. I feel like I also shouldn't have to explain why this is fairly anti-guest design, and should be fixed with future expansions. People should be able to relax while riding something at Epic Universe, and that is currently just not possible.

 

[Timchat2]

The ill-fitting band speaks to how Celestial Park has a bit of an identity issue between being a food/retail environment like Disney Springs rooted in the "real world" and a transportive theme park space with otherworldly scenery and vibes. Until that gets sorted out, and perhaps as more of the trees grow in, the center of Epic Universe might always feel a bit off outside of the nighttime hours.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

The street musicians in Wizarding Paris and Dark Universe are excellent. The stuff they’ve got in Celestial Park is (imo) terrible. Covers of a bad selection of contemporary music that feels out of place in the area.

I recall hearing one song while walking through Celestial. I don't remember what it was but I remember saying "this is the most random song to be playing here"

 

[Jake S]

I recall hearing one song while walking through Celestial. I don't remember what it was but I remember saying "this is the most random song to be playing here"

I have now heard both the three-piece on Celestial Stage and the two-piece in Plastered Owl play Drops of Jupiter. In 2025. In earnest.

 

[GA-MBIT]

The stuff they’ve got in Celestial Park is (imo) terrible. Covers of a bad selection of contemporary music that feels out of place in the area.

That almost wasn't an issue. I'm still rather upset about how the Celestial Entertainment was treated.

I understand that Epic was overbudget, but I really do think it was a mistake cutting all of the entertainment so soon after previews began. If there was any crowd you could've sold those original characters and shows to, it was Team Members and the hyperfans able to pop into Epic as early as March. Look at Cacao or Ygor. The fans can form some incredible social media marketing, with basically zero cost outside of hiring solid artists in the first place.

But alas, basically no attempt to promote the offerings was made, and because everyone there for the first week or two were trying to ride an entire park's worth of attractions in a day, no one had time to watch the Celestial shows. By the time anyone had a chance to watch them, they were already fired or shuffled to other venues. What a shame.

 

[LPCaptainDeath]

I really wish this park had a few easy quick rides to pop into, or really any that act as a way to sit down for awhile. EPCOT is a gigantic beast of a park with lots and lots of walking, but it's considerably more manageable with rides like Fiesta Tour, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Soarin, and Living with the Land. Indoor, air-conditioned attractions that allow you to just sit and relax for awhile; while also usually having no more than a 20 minute wait.

GAMBIT over here wanting to rename the park EPIC I ACCIDENTALLY FELL ASLEEP UNIVERSE with those ride selections!

I jest because it's true. This park is in dire need of some 'simple-but-long' rides that are low on thrills and easy for anyone to ride both in wait time and duration. Just imagine if this park had been built with a Captain Cacao universal-train-of-sorts (A PEOPLE MOVER, one could say) that traveled through all portals in the back of each land, not stopping at any of them but showing individual little scenes in between each portal as a snippet for something not found inside... A 'duna-duna-duna' segment of Mario land showing Luigi lost in the underground, an extra look at Ygor in the catacombs preparing the experiments for riders about to come in, the background of some ministry offices trying to ignore the muggle onlookers, some dragons nesting in caves under berk, etc. This is where screens would be welcome because it's not about advanced levels of immersion, it's about simplicity for the rides' sake!
ahhhh... to dream