Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Opens May 22 2025

[Disneyhead'71]

I think the short hours are because they are still doing overnight construction and ride fine tuning. The rides are still having a lot of downtimes, and I am sure they are working hard to fix that.

I am a little surprised that they are not doing 10pm closings after the park officially opens on May 22nd.

And @hopemax I am glad you at least got on Monsters, and Stardust. I have been 6 times, and only one of those times did I make it on more than 3 rides.

 

[hopemax]

I think the short hours are because they are still doing overnight construction and ride fine tuning. The rides are still having a lot of downtimes, and I am sure they are working hard to fix that.

I am a little surprised that they are not doing 10pm closings after the park officially opens on May 22nd.

And @hopemax I am glad you at least got on Monsters, and Stardust. I have been 6 times, and only one of those times did I make it on more than 3 rides.

The shows were both great, and the Butterbeer crepe and Mac n cheese cones are as advertised. So we are accomplishing stuff. Just seeing so much stuff on delay, all day was unexpected vs what I was seeing in the app the last 2 days.

 

[BrianLo]

Universal is emphasizing consistently that Epic Universe will turn the resort into a week-long destination.

They are - and I do not disagree in theory with the resort build out. But ticketing currently dictates LOS is only increasing by a single day because of Epic.

Which means Universal really needed to be consistently a 6 day resort prior to Epic - I think that is being awfully generous. Until Epic on multi-day ticketing is free flowing, I don't see much reason to buy a 7 day ticket.

They already do attendance numbers similar to those of 3/4 WDW parks.

Briefly they did, but that seems to have massively backslid. Acknowledging our TEA report is quite old and does not capture 5 further quarters of attendance declines Comcast has reported. We seem to more so settled into three tiers for attendance.

MK; Epcot/DHS; USF/IOA/DAK

 

[DarkMetroid567]

An interesting distinction between Disney opening a third/fourth park and Universal opening their own is the status of the previous parks.

No one thought that the opening of MGM or DAK would make Magic Kingdom or EPCOT old news. There was never a question of a place like MGM ever surpassing MK’s attendance. But Epic and USF do not share that relationship. It’s going to be really interesting to see what the preferred Universal vacation looks like down the line.

 

[TalkingHead]

An interesting distinction between Disney opening a third/fourth park and Universal opening their own is the status of the previous parks.

No one thought that the opening of MGM or DAK would make Magic Kingdom or EPCOT old news. There was never a question of a place like MGM ever surpassing MK’s attendance. But Epic and USF do not share that relationship. It’s going to be really interesting to see what the preferred Universal vacation looks like down the line.

Which is partially because WDW shrewdly differentiated those three parks. They each had a distinct brand identity so customers understood what they were losing by skipping one of them.

The Universal parks all feel like mix and match from the same barrel. From a customer POV, getting the latest and greatest (Epic) and dropping one or two of the others may be perceived as a fair trade off.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The Universal parks all feel like mix and match from the same barrel. From a customer POV, getting the latest and greatest (Epic) and dropping one or two of the others may be perceived as a fair trade off.

Universal's strategy to get around this was to build a ride you could only do by having admission to both their parks

Epic is banking on IP being the key differentiator. I don't think it will stop a decline at USF because other than Diagon Alley, I don't think the IP it has (Minions, Transformers, F&F) is as big a draw.

 

[Agent H]

An interesting distinction between Disney opening a third/fourth park and Universal opening their own is the status of the previous parks.

No one thought that the opening of MGM or DAK would make Magic Kingdom or EPCOT old news. There was never a question of a place like MGM ever surpassing MK’s attendance. But Epic and USF do not share that relationship. It’s going to be really interesting to see what the preferred Universal vacation looks like down the line.

I think people will end up choosing epic universe and islands of adventure because that way you get Nintendo the main Harry Potter land Jurassic Park and marvel.

 

[Poseidon Quest]

Epic is banking on IP being the key differentiator. I don't think it will stop a decline at USF because other than Diagon Alley, I don't think the IP it has (Minions, Transformers, F&F) is as big a draw.

But there is a big new sexy Intamin coaster on the way. I thought it was weird that RRR was the thing to go, but I get it now. It's an easy win to draw people over.

 

[co10064]

Just left for the day and wanted to share my thoughts.

As @hopemax said, ride ops were terrible for the first few hours today. At one point 6 out of 11 rides were temporarily closed. Only 1 ride was available for early entry.

That aside, I tried to have a good attitude since I knew the park was in technical rehearsals. Come about 2pm, most everything was up and running. I was able to ride everything, with a few re-rides. The park was empty come afternoon time, maybe because people had given up.

The park is by far and away Universal’s best work. I left feeling very satisfied (keep in mind I had to fork out not only the price of the ticket but also a one night hotel stay, as I’m not an AP).

Highlights:
• Ministry of Magic is certainly Universal’s best attraction worldwide and rivals anything Disney has done.
• Theming in Wizarding World and Super Nintendo World is superb.
• You can tell the park designers knew how to use kinetics—in every area of the park.
• Celestial Park pleasantly surprised me. I loved the fountains; I’m surprised the half-hour fountain show isn’t advertised more prominently.
• Stardust Racers… while I don’t love exposed-steel coasters in a theme park, I have to admit the ride was incredibly thrilling. The dueling aspect adds a neat visual element. Not as intense as Velocicoaster but perhaps a better coaster.
• This is THE park for single riders. Almost every attraction has single rider lines. Rides were almost always being filled to capacity.

Critical Thoughts:
• Isle of Berk did not impress me at all. The coaster has far less theming than Slinky Dog, which I wouldn’t have thought was possible. Dragon Racer’s Rally (thrilling spinner) lasted exactly 60 seconds… it felt over just as soon as it started. Sight lines in this land are awful. There’s no berm whatsoever and you can see so many exposed buildings.
• Honestly, sight lines in general… it’s crazy to me how in some areas of the park there is such rich theming, and in other areas of the park you can see where the theming clearly ends (exterior of Nintendo and Wizarding World are the worst offenders).
• Nothing we didn’t know, but the rides in Super Nintendo World leave a lot to be desired.
• These rides seem to have terribly low capacity. Unless attendance is heavily restricted, the park is going to crush under its own weight.

Is it on Disney’s level? I’m not sure. But it’s very fun. It could never surpass MK in attendance, but I could easily see it dethroning any of WDW’s other gates.

Happy to share more thoughts, but I feel like most of what I said others already articulated. I truly loved my time today.

 

[Tom Morrow]

First hours for EU have been released: 9am-9pm.

I wish they would consider opening at 10:00 so they can be open later more frequently. This park was made to be seen at night.

 

[Tom Morrow]

While Monsters is a great ride, one of the best dark rides in years (pacing and tone issues aside), I do have to ask about this: There are a few parts in the ride where it seems like your vehicle is programmed to face something that should be there but isn't. Particularly after Dracula breaks free, you are looking at ... black curtains. What happened here? Why are you given such a good view of them? Was something better supposed to be there but the budget ran out?

 

[hopemax]

Final update for me. We did get all the attractions in, except Ministry of Magic (and Fyre Drill. Almost forgot). Mine Cart was down to 25 minutes but went on delay by time we got back there. I had the fancy sundae thing and it reopened but with a 90 minute wait, and fewer cars on the track. We decided to go for it. It took about 70 minutes, but it got dark by the time we rode, which I wanted to do anyway.

I’ll have more to say later, but we love this park for everything outside of “the rides.” We have been to Tokyo Disney parks twice, including the new Fantasy Springs addition which we saw in October. There are parts of Epic that remind me very much of the level of detail and care in DisneySea. Obviously, DisneySea has better, and more repeatable attractions. It’s nice to have that stateside, especially as Disney threatens to tear out Rivers of America and the Muppets. A park can add more rides, as part of a successful business plan. It’s a lot harder to fix bad placemaking, whimsy, eye candy, etc. The environment and feel, worked really well for us. But that Jules Verne, Art Nouveau style is something we like in general. Curious to think what my DH thinks when we visit around D23 time.

 

[hopemax]

Oh, for those that have been more frequent visitors. We got our top 3 food / snacks out of the way (crepe, cone, DK sundae)… what should we target for Tuesday? Probably will save the fancier options and Toadstool cafe for when my DH is with us.

 

[Moth]

Is the Donkey Kong hot dog there?

 

[Jrb1979]

I think people will end up choosing epic universe and islands of adventure because that way you get Nintendo the main Harry Potter land Jurassic Park and marvel.

I can see that at first. Once the Rip Ride Rockit replacement opens I think it get people to go to all 3

 

[MistaDee]

Technically its possible Universal Japan may take the top spot.

EPIC may take enough folks from MK such that its no longer at the top of the list, but then DLR or Universal Japan could take top spot.

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this seems wild to me - I feel like Universal Japan is at a way bigger disadvantage to the fantastic OLC Disney offerings in Japan compared to Orlando where the gap, at least on a park to park basis, feels much closer between the two.

What's the special sauce at USJ?

 

[Agent H]

I can see that at first. Once the Rip Ride Rockit replacement opens I think it get people to go to all 3

I don’t see how a big roller coaster in roughly the same spot as a previous big roller coaster would change things that much. If anything Pokémon will be the upset.

 

[Jrb1979]

I don’t see how a big roller coaster in roughly the same spot as a previous big roller coaster would change things that much. If anything Pokémon will be the upset.

If its an Intamin like has been rumored it would be a big draw. It would be the Studio's park it's own Velocicoaster

 

[Agent H]

If its an Intamin like has been rumored it would be a big draw. It would be the Studio's park it's own Velocicoaster

I guess. I wonder what it will be themed after. Fast and furious? (Please no) back to the future? Ghostbusters?(please let it be this one)

 

[Jrb1979]

Which is partially because WDW shrewdly differentiated those three parks. They each had a distinct brand identity so customers understood what they were losing by skipping one of them.

The Universal parks all feel like mix and match from the same barrel. From a customer POV, getting the latest and greatest (Epic) and dropping one or two of the others may be perceived as a fair trade off.

Your first point was what made Disney different. The funny thing is they are doing the exact same thing as Universal with a mish mash of IP in each park.