An Epic Weekend (11/6-11/9)

[Clive]

Going to do my best to recount (and remember) what was an excellent weekend visit to Epic Universe over two days. I'll probably cross post attraction/portal-specific thoughts in their respective threads so that any highly specific discussions can continue there.

First of all, I want to emphasize that my experience was heightened by extraordinary luck at all levels. That includes flights (we had no delays despite the ongoing travel chaos), crowds (felt moderate but never uncomfortable), ride uptime, and general timing/dumb luck.

Stella Nova Hotel

• Our stay was for three nights in a two-queen room. We had originally booked at a far more expensive rate - I want to say averaging $250/night - but happened to find a $150/night rate several nights ago, which I jumped on. A reminder to routinely check hotel rates to see if things have dipped.
• The hotel is spare and utilitarian but overall looks slick, with some nice touches between the (custom?) lobby furnishings and eclectic lighting fixtures. Felt like a combination of Aventura and Cabana Bay with a dash of Tron, maybe.
• Check-in was expedient and helped along by a very kind team member. She hooked us up with the room directly over the porte-cochère, with a view of the park and a short jaunt to the elevators.
• The room itself was more spacious than I expected. Beds were very comfortable. Shower had good water pressure. Appreciated the Stella Nova-specific soaps and shampoos.
• A note for those used to the will call machines located in or near the lobbies of most of the other Universal resorts: Stella Nova does not have one. If you booked tickets to be picked up at will call, you need to go to the travel center, which isn't always open. Not sure if they're phasing out those machines, but fortunately, we caught the travel center right before they closed.

Grand Helios

• Since we arrived on-time (again, a miracle), we found ourselves with little to do on Thursday evening before bed. I quickly booked a dinner reservation at Flora Taverna and a 10pm reservation at Bar Helios (which requires you to put down a $25 deposit you'll be charged if you no-show, FYI.)
• We took an Uber to the Grand Helios - it looked like you could theoretically walk, but it'd be quite the trek in the (mostly) dark.
• While we did dress up a smidge, the team member who let us out of the Uber did politely ask if we needed help finding our way, perhaps correctly intuiting that we were not guests. The interaction was warm, to be clear, but I'm not sure you're always allowed to waltz in if you don't have a key card or a dining reservation. Once I mentioned Flora Taverna, we were on our way.
• Flora needed about 10 minutes before they could seat us, which worked out great - it gave me a chance to step into the courtyard overlooking the park outside and see the park up close for the first time. The views from this courtyard are stunning, especially at night, and I highly recommend dining at Helios so you can take advantage of the photo opportunities. The gentle vibe, emphasis on running water, and Grecian touches reminded me quite a bit of the Atlantis area of The Lost Continent - not a bad thing at all.
• Flora Taverna is very pretty, with moody low lighting at night. My take is it feels like a place designed to appeal to agents and other movers and shakers - it'd feel right at home in Century City in Los Angeles. I noticed families were seated at the very far end of the restaurant, cloistered, while couples and adults-only groups were positioned toward the front. An appreciated touch. Food was great, and the drinks even greater. I would recommend.
• The overall vibe and aesthetic of Helios is intruging but doesn't always come together. For all the lovely Celestian flourishes - the courtyard, the indoor greenery in Flora, the stain glass art over the lobby desks, the animation in the elevator vestibule - there's just so many bland choices. It can't seem to decide if it wants to be a themed hotel or an opulent hotel, so it doesn't quite succeed at either. The theme sort of just becomes "opulence," except when it doesn't.
• Given the general stratospheric price point of the hotel at this time, I get the sense that this is the hotel designed only for those without any concerns about money - a wealth extraction hotel, if you will. It's objectively not a good value for the price you're paying, as you'd get better and more cohesive accommodations at the other premium resorts given their more central location and Express access for the legacy parks. The only real asset you get for Helios is the exclusive park entrance and accompanying proximity, which, while presumably nice, does not justify the expense, at least in my book. However, the folks who don't flinch at a $700/night rate are also not going to mind paying for separate Express tickets as needed. Anecdotally, that observation bears out given the clientele I observed. I think eventually - once the newness wears off - rates for Helios will come back down to earth, and they'll eventually add Express access to the legacy parks. (I'm not saying anytime soon - I'm talking in two or three years, perhaps.) All that to say, I think this is a good hotel, but not the finest one Universal has produced. I think that crown still belongs to Hard Rock or Portofino.
• Bar Helios is gorgeous. Everyone talks up the views, which are also predictably stellar, but the interior constellation dome is lush and captivating, especially after dark. We were seated inside, but our server encouraged us to step outside to watch the fountain show when it started. They do play the in-park show audio (and stop all other music), so everyone basically goes out to watch. And...
• Wow. People are underselling this show, or at least the scope of it can't be truly appreciated unless you're up in Bar Helios. The entire park comes alive as a synchronized, wondrous beast. The scale of the lighting work took our breath away, and we hadn't even stepped foot in the park yet. Everyone up there applauded and was extremely impressed. I highly, highly recommend making it up to Bar Helios for the show if you can before the secret gets out.
• I got a night cap - their take on a Paper Plane - and was really impressed with the cocktail, which had a spicy kick despite the bourbon base. Big fan and would get again. My fiancee got a smoky chocolate mousse desert that came with a sort of "instagram" moment as the fog dissipates. Also very tasty and a generous portion.

Soon, we headed back to Stella to get some shut eye ahead of day one... more to come!

 

[Brian G.]

Looking forward to more!

 

[Mad Dog]

Excellent review so far. I'll be there in a few days myself.