It's a Kuka ride. It's only omnimover-like in the sense that the vehicles are dispatched closely together in a chain that never stops moving (with the exception of the secondary loading platform for disabled guests.)
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
It also has comparable throughput to an omnimover.
Side note - since my last post, apparently the pre-show for Monsters Unchained has gone back to being down often and every day several animatronics in the ride are stationary.
Side note - since my last post, apparently the pre-show for Monsters Unchained has gone back to being down often and every day several animatronics in the ride are stationary.
Agree with this. It seemed like many of the rides were offline at various points, so it could be easy to miss an opportunity to ride if you happen to be in line for something else when they go back online. And even with express pass, some waits seemed crazy at times. I think it might have been Minecart that was up to 300 minutes one night. That same night, ministry was 180.
hopemax
Well-Known Member
As proven by the 25 minute wait HP has right now! The last 2 days it looks pretty stable. 45 minutes most of the time I’ve looked. Of course not the 2 days we were there…
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
Sundays in September… the way to do Epic. I’m here.
Pre-show is on today. I think victoria is removed though unless it just lowers for B-mode.
Igor is behind a shower curtain (ha actually) and there was maybe a curtain or two more than I recall. But the first Dracula and wolf animatronics were working, along with a tree branch above the monster from the lagoon. There may have been an extra bride flying. Those all were not working for me a week and a half ago.
Last edited:
TalkingHead
Well-Known Member
Casual observation but it looks like Google has paused reviews since the most recent one is from 4 days ago and the second most recent is from a week ago.
hopemax
Well-Known Member
I'm trying to decide if I want to go again next Sunday the 14th. It's a $116 day and the weekdays are $135 and I'm nervous that the one Sunday I would go, it would be busy because of the cost differential.Sundays in September… the way to do Epic. I’m here.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
I think because of tourists going home and school still being early back combined with APs not rushing to fill in the gaps… I would go for sure next Sunday if you have the option.
hopemax
Well-Known Member
It would be my 5th paid Epic day, between previews and now. I’m only in FL for most of a month because it made more sense to just stay at my Dad’s between D23 and the WDW pin event which is 9/20 then go home between them. The take away is I’ve spent a crap ton already between D23, our 4 nights we just spent at UOR, and the pin event.
OTOH, what is another $116+tax+enormous amount on food & snacks when we go to Epic. Compared to what we just spent, lol. YOLO! Especially since I can’t import all my fun stuff from Japan until the tariff dust settles.
OTOH, what is another $116+tax+enormous amount on food & snacks when we go to Epic. Compared to what we just spent, lol. YOLO! Especially since I can’t import all my fun stuff from Japan until the tariff dust settles.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
Historically speaking from trips to WDW, Pres week is variable. By that I mean many people visit over the long weekend (2/14-2/16 in 2026) but if you are visiting for longer than 3-4 days, and your Epic day is not on the actual weekend, that will make a significant difference in crowd levels. Orlando in Feb before 2/14 is quiet, there is also a historical drop-off in crowds after 2/16.
Hard to predict what the holiday weekend will be like, but if the rides are all operating, most days pargoers can come pretty close to hitting all of the rides without EP in one day, if they start at EE, stay as late, and minimize meals/breaks.
Though that assumes good weather, and we don't yet have any idea what the park hours will be. During my visit it stormed, so a number of rides go down during storms. It was also summer, so the heat was a factor. But summer also had great park hours. Feb temps should be quite a bit cooler.
With Epic, I'd say strategy and luck are both factors. the day I didn't go, my group did MarioKart, Monsters, Werewolf, Stardust, and Racer'sRally all before 10:30am. Then Fyre Drill, Carousel, and Ministry before noon. (Ministry was posted 75, but was act much shorter) Next was Wing Gliders. After that came multiple weather delays/attempts to get on rides that re-closed before getting to front of line. At 4, group re-rode Monsters. At 4:30. Hiccups, a bit of shopping, then they got in line for Minecart. Posted was 90, but it was delayed due to more weather. They waited 95minutes, and made it all the way to the loading dock, when there was another weather delay. They waited another 25minutes, then bailed. The storms continued for a bit. Their next ride was Hiccups, Carousel, then was the night show, and they called it a day.
They did not ride Minecart Madness (despite 2hr waiting for it), Yoshi's Adventure, nor did they see Hiccup or either of the shows that day. They did have short interactions with some of the roaming characters, and managed 3 re-rides.
On the day I went, we opted to Ministry Single rider. It would have been pretty quick, about 20min, but just as we were near boarding, the ride had a 20min delay. Since it was also storming outside, we waited.
MickeyLuv'r
Well-Known Member
But my above post only tells part of the story. A theme park is more than just the rides.
On the day I went, the storms somewhat forced us to take a break. We used that time to explore Paris and Darkmoor in the rain, and also stopped for a round of hot beverages.
Post-trip, we all had the same thought, that we easily could have/should have spent a more time exploring and taking in all the atmosphere and details.
I don't fault anyone for trying to get on rides, and I appreciate wanting to avoid long waits and the expense of visiting, but I think you'd be better off doing the park over 2 days without EP so you can take time to explore.
The most enjoyable time of our 2 days was the time we allowed ourselves to casually explore the lands noticing small details. The lands are full of immersive details that are worth exploring!
On the day I went, the storms somewhat forced us to take a break. We used that time to explore Paris and Darkmoor in the rain, and also stopped for a round of hot beverages.
Post-trip, we all had the same thought, that we easily could have/should have spent a more time exploring and taking in all the atmosphere and details.
I don't fault anyone for trying to get on rides, and I appreciate wanting to avoid long waits and the expense of visiting, but I think you'd be better off doing the park over 2 days without EP so you can take time to explore.
The most enjoyable time of our 2 days was the time we allowed ourselves to casually explore the lands noticing small details. The lands are full of immersive details that are worth exploring!
That's a bit much.
Stripes
Premium Member
Is it?
Universal circa 2008 was not headed in the right direction…not by a long shot.
Universal Creative has, more or less, copied and pasted this brilliant man’s designs for over a decade. Stuart Craig designed Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, not UC. Stuart Craig designed Diagon Alley, not UC. Stuart Craig designed the Ministry of Magic, not UC.
Last edited:
Yeah, I see what you're trying to do here, and it's more than a little tacky given the context you've chosen to frame it in.
Universal were never in any danger of having to close the resort. SeaWorld is in much worse shape than Universal ever was and is still in operation, after literal decades of speculation. The same goes for numerous other parks that don't have one of America's largest companys (at the time) backing them. It's entirely unrealistic to think them "copying and pasting" Harry Potter literally saved anything.
Last edited:
Rich Brownn
Well-Known Member
Actually before Potter the park was not in very good financial shape and there was serious consideration to closing the parks for a few days each week. Potter really did save the resort (And Comcast - after Potter - decided to keep the parks instead of selling them off which was their original intention)
There's a wide divide between "not in very good financial shape" and "wouldn't even be around anymore." Potter being a major boon to the resort doesn't mean it saved the resort. You could argue we wouldn't have Epic Universe without it, but the first two parks? I'm not buying it.
Comcast supposedly wanted to sell Universal as a whole, not just the parks, because they supposedly only wanted the NBC side of the business. They would have needed to be very shortsighted to actually do so. People also speculated that GE would spin off the parks division or various other parts of Universal, which they never did. The only thing I can think of is Universal Music Group, and that was Vivendi's doing. Either way, someone would have bought the parks and continued their operation had they ever been sold.
Last edited:
Stripes
Premium Member
There is not a wide divide between “not in very good financial shape” and “there’s a real possibility that Universal wouldn’t be around anymore.”
The future is not always predictable.
If not for Harry Potter, Seaworld may not be around either!
Yeah, I’ll give this brilliant man the recognition he deserves any day of the week. The entire industry owes him a massive debt of gratitude.
Last edited:
There's a real possibility that WDW gets hit by a rogue asteroid tomorrow. Some possibilities aren't likely enough to give much thought to.