Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[tielo]

I expect theme member previews in late Feb, family of theme members in early March. Half March passholders will have had their days and they start to open it for hotel guests. If everything goes well, tickets will free up for regular guests. The pre-order tickets for exact dates will continue until the situation normalizes (probably Jan 2026).

 

[Mad Dog]

And the big wildcard is the weather, and possible delays due to it. With a very active hurricane season predicted by meteorologists, hopefully the Orlando area will be spared. We saw the kind of damage the last one to hit Orlando did, namely Lagoon Show & PF damaged beyond major repair. So I think Universal will be cautious on publicly stating an opening date. If nothing goes wrong, maybe late Spring, but if there's issues, who knows when it will open.

 

[FrankSinatra]

I’d love to see it open early, even if I doubt it will. We’re planning a trip in late spring of 2026 and the longer it’s open before then, the better the park will probably be for us — operational kinks being sorted, crowd levels settling a bit, that sort of thing.

 

[OLSinFLA]

My bet: soft opening Sept. 1, grand opening October 1. I think they stopped saying “summer” because they’re not going to be ready for it.

I believe the reverse is true and it will be ready before summer (June 21). More likely spring. If they follow IOA's pattern it will have a grand opening in June, with softs starting as early as late March

 

[Tbad556]

Feels like a lot of predictions happening in here are based on personal desires and not much else ‍/shrug

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Aerial Image (thanks to Bio!) of Volcano Bay ~3 months ahead of its opening date.


While VB is obviously smaller in size (and simpler in design), Epic appears further along than VB did to its opening. Mind you, water slides are rather easy to test and adjust, but with Universal already doing that with the coasters (and presumably dark rides), Universal is definitely giving themselves some buffer time.

I'm not going to play the guessing game, but sometime between April-May is the sweet spot for opening something in Orlando (avoid the spring break crush). With summer crowds diminishing, need to incentivize folks to weather the Florida heat. I also think announcing a hard date/month 6-9 months in advance seems to be Universal's strategy... so an announcement in August this year (placing an opening date somewhere in April/May) is my educated guess.

 

[Alicia]

Feels like a lot of predictions happening in here are based on personal desires and not much else ‍/shrug

I think the company wanted to be open by June. I don't think they think they're going to make it now. We shall see.

 

[Tbad556]

I think the company wanted to be open by June. I don't think they think they're going to make it now. We shall see.

I completely agree from what I’ve been hearing. That’s why all of the overly cheerful predictions caught me by surprise. I can’t say I’ve ever seen a dropped release/opening date happen due to confidence by a company.

 

[Jake S]

 

[Paulio]

I think a lot of video screens crowded by lots of t-shirt racks.

If that's true, then the bar is setback from the physical sets of the IOA Preview Center back in the 1990s.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I think the company wanted to be open by June. I don't think they think they're going to make it now. We shall see.

What do you think is holding things up? From the air, it seems like things are on literally on track. but I know there are various other contingent factors that others have mentioned are potentially holding things up (anemic staffing, technical difficulties *cough* DK *cough*, supply chain issues, etc).

 

[Clive]

What do you think is holding things up? From the air, it seems like things are on literally on track. but I know there are various other contingent factors that others have mentioned are potentially holding things up (anemic staffing, technical difficulties *cough* DK *cough*, supply chain issues, etc).

I would imagine it's the stuff we can't readily see (i.e. whatever's going on inside those big beige boxes).

 

[Tbad556]

From the air, it seems like things are on literally on track.

All the rides are up and running properly.

Mind you, water slides are rather easy to test and adjust, but with Universal already doing that with the coasters (and presumably dark rides),

Last thing I'm comfortable saying is that it's odd seeing these assumptions based on a few visible testings.

 

[Clive]

Last thing I'm comfortable saying is that it's odd seeing these assumptions based on a few visible testings.

The most complex attractions are literally indoors!

 

[Tbad556]

The most complex attractions are literally indoors!

 

[Brian G.]

The irony of using Volcano Bay as the example when it opened well before it was finished. I'd rather Universal take their time and get it right instead of meeting a self-imposed deadline.

 

[Alicia]

The irony of using Volcano Bay as the example when it opened well before it was finished. I'd rather Universal take their time and get it right instead of meeting a self-imposed deadline.

Guess they alternate:

USF opened before the rides were ready and had issues for months.

IOA tested their most complicated attractions literally for years and everything actually worked when it opened.

VB wasn’t done being built when it opened. It was shocking how rushed they were in the weeks leading up to opening.

Maybe UEU will alternate back to being ready upon opening?

 

[fryoj]

Getting coasters cycling is probably the easiest thing they have to do. But it also is a big visual thing. And at most theme parks, once they start cycling, the ride is almost ready to open. They probably could put riders on Starfall next month. But everything else is where the problems are. I'll bet MoM will be the one that'll be lucky to open next summer.

 

[Clive]

Two things can be true:

The outdoor/visible areas of the park look very much on track to make the original summer 2025 estimated opening. This includes outdoor attractions that are relatively less sophisticated/easier to operate. (DK appears to be the exception!)

-and-

The interior headliners are running into some fairly major hiccups that will take time to address and resolve, possibly pushing them past the original Summer 2025 window. They do not want to open the park without these headliners, especially Potter, for obvious reasons.

 

[Mad Dog]

and....this is why I have no plans to visit until late Fall of 2025. What's the hurry, I say? I want to enjoy the 'expensive' experience, not muck around stuff that breaks down regularly.