Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!

[CosmicDuck]

-- Crowd levels, long queues, operational issues (breakdowns) and rain closures are definitely a problem. Ministry of Magic did not go well for us on day two and Mario Kart delays were also a challenge the second day. Plan ahead and set expectations accordingly.

Came away with very similar impressions from our three day trip. Though honestly I wish we had even more time and can't wait to go back.

I know it's been discussed ad-nauseum but I'm a little baffled at the decision to build a majority of rides that all shut down in the rain, in a state that experiences disproportionate amount of it. At minimum, both Berk and probably Darkmoor could have used indoor dark rides in place of their flat rides. I'm sure ideally they would have loved to and operations I'm sure tried to make the argument, but paying those ticket prices and going to a major theme park where 75% of it is not functional as soon as the skies get cloudy is a recipe for disaster. Hope it pushes them to expand quickly!

 

[CosmicDuck]

Thoughts on Monsters Unchained? My favorite new ride in a longggggg time and happy it seems to be one of the best in the park operationally

Not OP but my wife and I were blown away by how much we loved Monsters Unchained. Easily our favorite universal ride of all time and one of the best rides we've ever done period. And we are not horror people in the slightest so that ride and land held very little interest for us on paper.

I lost count of how many times we rode it in three days and could have done a dozen more without ever getting tired of it. I'm shocked and impressed at how well the alchemy of those original takes on those classic monsters characters works in the pre-show with the ride system. They straddle this beautiful line that Haunted Mansion does of being a mostly all ages attraction in the skin of something that could be tonally much darker and ends up working like magic. It's a line that I think the rest of the land misses ever so slightly but the ride nails. The choice to not make this a gory/horror/HHN type ride and make the characters loveable in a darker/more comedic way was brilliant. It's an incredible recipe for success and I hope they are able to replicate it again because I would love to see them do more rides in that setting and tone both in this park and around the world.

It's not perfect, and I have a few very small nitpicks for the queue and the land as a whole, but the way its a little rough around some edges makes it very endearing in the way a lot of our favorite Disney dark rides are. Ministry of Magic was the most technically impressive attraction of Epic Universe but Monsters Unchained was by far our favorite.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

View from the Helios Grand this morning. I love this hotel!

 

[Virtual Toad]

Have you done early entry to Epic yet from Helios? Curious to know how it works and where you end up in the park. We did Stella Nova and it put us right outside the Super Nintendo World portal for rope drop.

 

[Andrew25]

Have you done early entry to Epic yet from Helios? Curious to know how it works and where you end up in the park. We did Stella Nova and it put us right outside the Super Nintendo World portal for rope drop.

You enter by the Blue Dragon restaurant near the Dark Universe portal.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

Have you done early entry to Epic yet from Helios? Curious to know how it works and where you end up in the park. We did Stella Nova and it put us right outside the Super Nintendo World portal for rope drop.

Not yet!

 

[rd805]

Have you done early entry to Epic yet from Helios? Curious to know how it works and where you end up in the park. We did Stella Nova and it put us right outside the Super Nintendo World portal for rope drop.

The entry is smooth - they usually start allowing people through a very quick security check around 8:15ish (sometimes earlier?) and you are walking right into the park to head to any portal you see fit! You will need to have your room key to show the security in the hotel, and then again possibly at the portal of choice.

 

[TalkingHead]

Google reviews rating has dropped to 4.0

 

[Tom Morrow]

One thing to consider is that people are probably bothering to rate Epic more than the other parks because it is new.

That said, its likely that the things we knew would be issues all along - not enough high capacity rides, not enough rides with no restrictions, not enough indoor attractions to carry the weight on rainy days are likely giving not the best impression.

 

[rd805]

I had two amazing days at Epic. It also only rained starting at 5PM, it was early June so not DEVASTATINGLY hot yet, I got as close to Early Entry as possible both days, and paid for Express on my 2nd day. Without Express, I'm not sure I would have gotten my second ride on BATM, OR been able to experience Hiccup's.

If it rains....you are in trouble. I'm really hoping this causes them to look and say, "We really need to fast-track a few more things."

To me, this includes the Roller Coaster overhaul at USF - AND a replacement for current F&F attraction;
-but also, something new in IoA, and 1-3 other attractions at Epic. Obvious needed upgrades to the two older parks will help adjust crowds a bit all around more evenly, lowering crowds at Epic.

Concerning Epic - One of these new attractions should be on the level of the Carousel, a ride for all, a small filler which is cheap & fast ---> Zelda expansion gets announced at Epic? Have a grand ride, and a smaller style attraction (much like the purpose Flight of the Hippogriff serves - hopefully a newer idea).

That's anywhere from 4-6 attractions, in the next 4 years. If they can maintain their usual "one new experience" per year trend which typically happens. That is how Epic becomes much more balanced.

 

[Andrew25]

One thing to consider is that people are probably bothering to rate Epic more than the other parks because it is new.

That said, its likely that the things we knew would be issues all along - not enough high capacity rides, not enough rides with no restrictions, not enough indoor attractions to carry the weight on rainy days are likely giving not the best impression.

I was excited to see that outside the issues with capacity and weather issues I was expecting, the park is a success in every other way. I'm really hoping they can alleviate this sooner than later.

Creative success, operations are rough.

 

[Agent H]

I’m just gonna leave these here.https://parklore.com/vault/peek-special/buildout-ueu/
https://parklore.com/vault/peek-special/buildout-ueu-2/

 

[Bob Harlem]

Epic Universe Opening Drives Record Month for Tourist Tax Collections in Orange County ​

Florida Schools See More A and B Grades in 2025 State Ratings & Epic Universe Drives Record Boost for Tourist Tax Collections

July 10, 2025 - This Week's News from Central Florida

centralflorida.substack.com

The highly anticipated opening of Universal's Epic Universe theme park has propelled Orange County's tourist-tax collections to a record high for the month of May, reaching nearly $30 million. This represents a 5.7% year-over-year increase, surpassing the previous May record set last year, despite Epic Universe only opening its gates on May 22nd. Comptroller Phil Diamond, whose office tracks the 6% surcharge on hotels and short-term rentals, expressed anticipation for June's figures, which will reflect the park's first full month of operation. Historically, new theme park openings, such as Disney's Animal Kingdom in 1998 and Universal's Harry Potter attractions in more recent years, have consistently boosted these tax revenues

 

[trr1]

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Things they could add with (relative) ease to assist those capacity issues:

- flat ride with permanent roof and year-round maze for Monsters
- 3D movie theater attraction
- Covered amphitheater for live performances
- 2nd children's play area (not another splashpad)
- Olivander's type show or indoor exhibit for Wizarding Paris (I know there's a wand shop, but no "show")

This would be on top of whatever substantial expansion plans there are

I know a parade was considered, but I was thinking more about stuff that can stay open all day regardless of weather

 

[BrianLo]

I've been following along thrill data with some fascination. I know attendance and wait times are by no means a 1:1 surrogate, but I think with the sheer volume and depth and data points that site pulls over time you can compare the bigger picture.

A few things I am seeing:

The booking curve on Epic is actually later than I expected. Quite a lot of ticket sales occur within the last 48hours. That might be a summer crowd thing, but a ton of last minute business. What I thought was going to be a precipitous July drop off for Epic seems much more gentle. Still a minor release from its peak opening frame compared to what is typically a build for the resort into late July with retreat in August into early Fall... but it's holding well.

Islands and USO were down quite precipitously in May year over year. That's on top of them having consistently declined year on year since COVID revenge travel for a number of years. While there is now some recovery in those patterns, it's also clear Epic is eating away at both parks attendance even still. I suspect Comcast Q2 attendance is relatively flat, even strangely accounting for Epic being open six weeks. It probably only barely budged the needle for how down IOA/USO were before opening and also their ongoing continual attendance drift.

This does explain ticketing ultimately. They really are trying hard not to let those two parks simply fall off a cliff.

 

[flynnibus]

The booking curve on Epic is actually later than I expected

I think everything you are highlighting can be tied back to the choice to price Epic as the single day full price tickets.

These constraints make it difficult to commit to a multi-day vacation plan, especially when the convention is you get discounts for the more you stay. So I think this has the effect that it is less about people not wanting to visit the other parks, but that people are steering their visit and buying strategy based on the Epic ticket model. Thus causing many that would have normally just booked an extended stay to instead shy towards just buying the Epic portion. They aren't really being incentivized to buy the multi-park bundle strongly enough. So instead of just prioritizing Epic, people are being lead to basically skip the other parks.

I'm of the belief that these trends will correct themselves and look better for USO as a whole once they do away with this ticket rationing they are doing and move back towards a model that encourages a longer stay better.

 

[BrianLo]

I think everything you are highlighting can be tied back to the choice to price Epic as the single day full price tickets.

These constraints make it difficult to commit to a multi-day vacation plan, especially when the convention is you get discounts for the more you stay. So I think this has the effect that it is less about people not wanting to visit the other parks, but that people are steering their visit and buying strategy based on the Epic ticket model. Thus causing many that would have normally just booked an extended stay to instead shy towards just buying the Epic portion. They aren't really being incentivized to buy the multi-park bundle strongly enough. So instead of just prioritizing Epic, people are being lead to basically skip the other parks.

I'm of the belief that these trends will correct themselves and look better for USO as a whole once they do away with this ticket rationing they are doing and move back towards a model that encourages a longer stay better.

I think that's an interesting and worthy hypothesis. Making it all the more distressing they cannot do that because Epic cannot handle it. It's sort of now setting the benchmark for the resort and is in a round about way holding it back because it is under capacity to be adopted into a true multi day product.

 

[flynnibus]

I think that's an interesting and worthy hypothesis. Making it all the more distressing they cannot do that because Epic cannot handle it. It's sort of now setting the benchmark for the resort and is in a round about way holding it back because it is under capacity to be adopted into a true multi day product.

I think there is a middle ground as they get more established... but it's probably too late.

They could have made 3 day tickets give one Epic day, and 5 day tickets 2 Epic days. This could have incentivized the longer stays while still giving some throttle control to Epic crowds. With a 5 day stay to get the bonus Epic day, the resort, the hotels, the rest of USO would have benefited. The 5 day deal would have been more attractive than more full single day ticket pricing.

Right now people are incentivized to just buy a single day Epic ticket.. it's the most flexible, least commitment, and you're not really giving up any discounts. So all those people who might have made a long weekend out of coming to Epic for the first time could have been locked into a solid USO booking in advance. Now, I'm sure more people are adlib'ing things and doing Epic alone, with maybe other bumper activities.

It is a really challenging problem. You want short term sales options to be there to fill in gaps... but you'd really prefer to lock everyone into longer, pre-booked stays and try to keep them in your sphere of influence.

It seems like Epic's true weakness for it's launch was it's capacity, where even Uni has to work around it.. limiting their sales options.

It will be interesting to see which approach they take to counter... as in what can you do as quickly as possible without being inferior stuff due to being rushed? There aren't any real sexy lucrative clones.. and even entertainment takes time.

Maybe they take a page out of the Disney book and monkey around with 'exclusive access' windows...

 

[Baloo124]

Google reviews rating has dropped to 4.0

Take worth a grain of salt.

There are a couple other Disney fansites and a podcaster or two (not to be mentioned here) that have been encouraging members to downvote EU, whether or not they have actually been to EU.