Epic Universe is the lowest rated theme park in Orlando

[Disstevefan1]

You're talking about a Tom Corless video and he's anything but honest.

I like Tom and his team but since he got back on Disney's media list, he is as real as his new hair..

 

[Tom Morrow]

Will also add that for whatever reason, they are slow at dispatch, it's baffling. I can't understand why Space Mountain at Disneyland can dispatch a train of 12 every 30 seconds or Incredicoaster at DCA can dispatch a train of 24 every 36 seconds, but it takes Hiccup's Wing Gliders closer to 1:30 for a train of 20.

This entirely depends on the design of the coaster and how many block zones there are on the track. Space Mountain has enough block zones that a 30 second dispatch is possible. Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain has so many, and such small trains, that the dispatch interval is even smaller. I'm not sure what it is.

But they should have known that any coaster will be a big draw, and built only high capacity coasters. For example, apparently a lot of people enter Dark Universe and see the Curse of the Werewolf track and assume that that is the main attraction, simply because it is a coaster. In reality, it is a significantly less impressive experience than Monsters Unchained and has a much lower capacity as well.

 

[waltography]

This entirely depends on the design of the coaster and how many block zones there are on the track. Space Mountain has enough block zones that a 30 second dispatch is possible. Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain has so many, and such small trains, that the dispatch interval is even smaller. I'm not sure what it is.

But they should have known that any coaster will be a big draw, and built only high capacity coasters. For example, apparently a lot of people enter Dark Universe and see the Curse of the Werewolf track and assume that that is the main attraction, simply because it is a coaster. In reality, it is a significantly less impressive experience than Monsters Unchained and has a much lower capacity as well.

Incredicoaster and Hiccup's Wing Gliders are comparable then; from what I can gather online, they both have 7 block zones, both have dual load stations, and are capable of running up to 5 trains on the track at a time. It seems though that Hiccup's only using one load station at the moment, which I'm sure is part of what's making the line move interminably. Even so, the grouping and boarding procedures at Universal aren't nearly at the level they should be too.

Definitely agree with capacity concerns; Mine Cart Madness is a B-ticket themed like a E-ticket and that gap in experience will forever make that dead end in the park slammed unless they decide to start building paths between portals.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

This is the week I would have been going to Epic, but word of mouth amongst my traveling companions has it put off at least until next year. (A friend's sister went early on and her take convinced them the park is more ordeal than ideal at this time).

That's too bad.

I went this summer and had a great day! Mind, the day I went Stardust was down most of the day, so I didn't get to ride it.
While I agree the park has some growing pains, I also remember how horribly unreliable many other major rides have been. Test Track was horribly unreliable for a long time after it opened. How long was Rise unreliable? Hagrid's also had reliability issues for quite a while, that's just to naming a few of many.

Parkgoers generally need to come mentally prepared for breakdowns, especially if the attractions are headliner-type attractions or coasters, and especially when they are new. Then again, I can't tell you how many times I've been at WDW when established coasters/attractions have gone down during my visits over 50+ years, but it is just the nature of theme parks.

IMO, what makes a new theme park space thrilling is the ability to discover it for the first time. There's a kind of energy that is hard to describe. Earlier this year, I was at Stella Nova the day it opened, and even though that was merely a hotel, everyone there was excited to be there, excited to see it for the first time.

As much as I enjoyed the new rides in Epic, part of the fun, for me, was just seeing all the new details. One thing that impressed me was the landscaping in Darkmoor. Whoever landscaped that part of the park did an absolutely amazing job. It is1000 times better than the landscaping in Galaxy's Edge. GE looks a little better now than it originally did, but it was very sad when it was new. The new park is especially attractive at dusk.

On the other hand, I would not advise anyone to visit any theme park if they didn't feel excited to be going there. If waiting a bit helps anyone to feel more enthusiastic, then wait a bit.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Biggest problem is just how little capacity this park realistically has. I would love to see some ride capacity numbers but it seems its a little too new to get accurate ones but for reference, AK doesn't have a single ride with a capacity under 1000 people per hour (except maybe planet watch, not sure how often trains dispatch) With only 6 rides, the park can get through over 10k people in an hour in just rides, not counting shows/animal interactions/etc

 

[CoastalElite64]

It's mind boggling how they designed a park with some great lands on one hand but with severe flaws on the other.

 

[Andrew C]

It's mind boggling how they designed a park with some great lands on one hand but with severe flaws on the other.

It's the way she goes....sometimes she goes...sometimes she doesn't.

 

[earlthesquirrellover23]

It's mind boggling how they designed a park with some great lands on one hand but with severe flaws on the other.

Really? I feel like no park has opened with lands that are 100% of equal quality. I mean even Animal Kingdom opened with camp minnie mickey, which was pretty much just meet and greets and a show. Asia on opening day was also just the bird show and thats it. I would say that Epic is probably the best park at opening in terms of the quality of the lands that we have gotten in Orlando so far though, the park only gets better from here.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Really? I feel like no park has opened with lands that are 100% of equal quality. I mean even Animal Kingdom opened with camp minnie mickey, which was pretty much just meet and greets and a show. Asia on opening day was also just the bird show and thats it. I would say that Epic is probably the best park at opening in terms of the quality of the lands that we have gotten in Orlando so far though, the park only gets better from here.

Yes, but they are definitely allowing too many guests. I do not recall any other park opening with lines as long as Epic sees. Part of it is they built too many attractions with inadequate capacity. They should also consider opening earlier. If EPA started at 7 am or 8 am, there would be fewer guests early in the day since many won't wake up that early. Disney certainly utilizes this strategy during peak weeks. MK at 7 am Christmas week is delightful.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

Really? I feel like no park has opened with lands that are 100% of equal quality. I mean even Animal Kingdom opened with camp minnie mickey, which was pretty much just meet and greets and a show. Asia on opening day was also just the bird show and thats it. I would say that Epic is probably the best park at opening in terms of the quality of the lands that we have gotten in Orlando so far though, the park only gets better from here.

What about MK?

 

[Andrew C]

They should also consider opening earlier.

This is a great idea that can be done in the short term. Although it may make sense to stay open later rather than open earlier given that this park looks amazing at night. Yes, I do get there is a cost associated with this, but I am hoping this can still occur by Christmas.

 

[ToTBellHop]

This is a great idea that can be done in the short term. Although it may make sense to stay open later rather than open earlier given that this park looks amazing at night. Yes, I do get there is a cost associated with this, but I am hoping this can still occur by Christmas.

It should really be open 8 am to 11 pm Christmas Week.

The park is slammed all the time, so they should be making enough money to fund extra hours. I’d imagine staffing is hard. Hopefully, they’re actively recruiting new TMs.

 

[mergatroid]

It should really be open 8 am to 11 pm Christmas Week.

The park is slammed all the time, so they should be making enough money to fund extra hours. I’d imagine staffing is hard. Hopefully, they’re actively recruiting new TMs.

I genuinely have no idea about how hard staffing would be but was thinking with the park being so new that getting new TM's would be quite easy? Or are you more referring to Christmas week specifically being hard?

 

[wdwfan4ver]

What about MK?

I looked at list of opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom and what attraction were available when my mom first went Walt Disney World in 1974. I mentioned my mom because of changes from opening day in 1971 to the year my mom went in 1974.

Magic Kingdom was not perfect when it opened in 1971. Tomorrowland was incomplete when Magic Kingdom first opened October 1st, 1971. When I mean by incomplete is Tomorrowland only had Skyway and Tomorrowland Speedway on opening day in 1971.

When my mom first went to Magic Kingdom in 1974, Tomorrowland was more completed, but Space Mountain was still under construction.

Magic Kingdom did have a good amount of attractions on opening day, but there was some lands more completed than others. What I mean by that is the Fantasyland people remembered from 1971 to 2009 was almost completed WDW's opening day except for 20,000 league under the sea was opening 13 days later in 1971.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

I looked at list of opening day attraction at Magic Kingdom and what attraction were available when my mom first went Walt Disney World in 1974. I mentioned my mom because of changes from opening day in 1971 to the year my mom went in 1974.

Magic Kingdom was not perfect when it opened in 1971. Tomorrowland was incomplete when Magic Kingdom first opened October 1st, 1971. When I mean by incomplete is Tomorrowland only had Skyway and Tomorrowland Speedway on opening day in 1971.

When my mom first went to Magic Kingdom in 1974, Tomorrowland was more completed, but Space Mountain was still under construction.

Magic Kingdom did have a good amount of attractions on opening day, but there was some lands more completed than others. What I mean by that is the Fantasyland people remembered from 1971 to 2009 was almost completed WDW's opening day except for 20,000 league under the sea was opening 13 days later in 1971.

While true, TL still had 2 attractions which is the same as Celestial park, Harry potter, and monsters.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I genuinely have no idea about how hard staffing would be but was thinking with the park being so new that getting new TM's would be quite easy? Or are you more referring to Christmas week specifically being hard?

I imagine it’s hard to staff their entire, newly expanded property.