Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[TheCodeMan95]

Islands of Adventure has all of these extraneous, unfrequented areas off the main thruways that are still really well-themed and enjoyable. I'm thinking about all of the areas around the Lagoon like the Popeye bridge areas or the Zax Bypass; the sprawling caves and paths of Camp Jurassic or the Pre-Velocicoaster Discovery Center shoreline. If the main paths are ever too much bustle, it's nice to be able to walk away from it all and enjoy some quiet.

I didn't discover the nest with eggs in Seuss Landing until my 5th visit to Universal lol

 

[Mad Dog]

I didn't discover the nest with eggs in Seuss Landing until my 5th visit to Universal lol

We've spent hundreds of days on vacation at Universal. Every trip we find a number of things we've not noticed before. Even at Portofino.
where we've spent around a hundred nights, it seems we wander onto a hidden piazza, or some other passageway, that we didn't know existed.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

We've spent hundreds of days on vacation at Universal. Every trip we find a number of things we've not noticed before. Even at Portofino.
where we've spent around a hundred nights, it seems we wander onto a hidden piazza, or some other passageway, that we didn't know existed.

Absolutely! I don't think I discovered how large the area is behind Me Ship The Olive until our 3rd or 4th trip.

(Funny aside on the nest in Seuss Landing - we were walking around looking for spots to do pregnancy announcement pictures. Found the nest/egg and figured that was perfect!)

(we still did a Jurassic Park announcement though)

 

[Mad Dog]

Absolutely! I don't think I discovered how large the area is behind Me Ship The Olive until our 3rd or 4th trip.

(Funny aside on the nest in Seuss Landing - we were walking around looking for spots to do pregnancy announcement pictures. Found the nest/egg and figured that was perfect!)

(we still did a Jurassic Park announcement though)

That decking area behind Me Ship Olive was one of my quick nap, when it gets really hot, spots. Hardly anyone ever goes back there. I lost
my comfy wall nap spot, in front of the Discovery Center, when they built Velocicoaster. That was another deserted spot. My fav spot was the benches in Central Park, but then they put the viewing deck in, and uncomfortable to lay on benches. Alene's lap was always my pillow, but she has a
thin waistline, so unfortunately for pillow purposes, it's not padded.

 

[GA-MBIT]

And when it's not, it seems like an odd choice, like having the Wizarding World portal open into another bare concrete area (aside from a couple of metro maps and a kiosque) facing a brick wall and a set of stairs leading to the big gate/porte that is the actual entry into Paris. Seems like a hot waste of space.

I guess it's supposed to look like you're coming out of the métro, but it doesn't. If you want to block the view there, maybe go for some trees and a crêpe stand or shady magical fountain to one side, like you're passing through a Parisian garden to enter Place Cachée. Also, a fake metro train line overhead like you see over Diagon Alley could have provided shading while enhancing the theming.

Yeeeeah, that double-portal thing with Paris isn't great. It's trying to both be an Epic Universe Portal and a Diagon Alley / Hogwarts Express-style "hidden wall" land entrance, and the combination just feels awkward in practice.

SNW kinda nails it's double-portal though imo. That Portal into Warp Pipe transition flows a ton better.

 

[Rhian]

Stardust Racers had both sides running at the start of day and using all 3 trains on each track.

The lighting of the section closest to Helios in main fountain wasn’t working. No doubt it’ll be fixed but it made a huge difference in the visual impact of the show.

 

[Mad Dog]

Park hours were just posted for November and December. Epic November 1 to Nov. 30 are all 10 to 9 EXCEPT for two dates.
So you might want to avoid those two dates if you want to tour into the evening, when lines get way shorter. 11/18/25 is 10 to 7 for Epic and
11/20/25 is 9 to 6 for Epic . Probably a buy out of some sort......Lots of Epic in the dark time for all but those two dates.....December Epic times vary.

 

[lowbudget]

Park hours were just posted for November and December. Epic November 1 to Nov. 30 are all 10 to 9 EXCEPT for two dates.
So you might want to avoid those two dates if you want to tour into the evening, when lines get way shorter. 11/18/25 is 10 to 7 for Epic and
11/20/25 is 9 to 6 for Epic . Probably a buy out of some sort......Lots of Epic in the dark time for all but those two dates.

That's great news, we'll be there on the 23rd and want to take in a few nigh time hours.

 

[Mad Dog]

That's great news, we'll be there on the 23rd and want to take in a few nigh time hours.

Should be decent since it's a Sunday, if there's no breakdowns. Holiday is later in the week so maybe it won't have the Labor Day weekend effect.
Yes, I've been waiting for the posted hours for a while. Now I make my decision. I originally was going to do two Epic days but I'm thinking
of scaling down to just one long day since they haven't made any progress on their long lines problem. I can take aggravation for one day,
but not two. And long lines are the biggest theme park aggravation, by far.
And I'm sure not paying the small fortune for Express.

 

[ItsAtrap]

I'm finally going. Pretty excited. I'm hoping mid January will be a slow time - 12 to 17.

Looks like EPIC only sells one day passes. Is that still the case?

 

[UOR92]

Yes. Have fun!

 

[Jake S]

Looks like EPIC only sells one day passes. Is that still the case?

For now, yes. I hope that by the time you're going that will not be the case but who knows.

 

[Rhian]

Oddly the allotment for TM comp passes is still not loaded for October

They’re available now.

 

[ViperGTS500]

What have the crowds and waits been like on Monday's and Tuesday's there lately? May go mid Oct

 

[Mad Dog]

What have the crowds and waits been like on Monday's and Tuesday's there lately? May go mid Oct

I check Touring Plans app a number of times every day....Wait times: Mondays are real high. Tuesdays not as bad as Mondays,
but still pretty damn high.....In reality, the only decent wait times are evenings, and 'some' Sundays. This past Sunday was almost
as bad as the other 6 days of the week......Universal still can't get a handle on long lines, for whatever reasons. So many low
capacity rides don't help. Ministry is still very unreliable. Lots of downtime, and good days are often followed by a real bad day.
.Kind of a dice throw with Ministry,,,If you don't spring for an expensive express pass, stay until the park closes. Most days aren't
bad after 7:00.

 

[ViperGTS500]

For a Tuesday, what are some of the average waits for the top few? Does it slow down from 8pm-10pm?

 

[Mad Dog]

For a Tuesday, what are some of the average waits for the top few? Does it slow down from 8pm-10pm?

Generally lines slow down a lot from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The only caveat is if a ride is down a lot during the early part of the day,
like Ministry was on Sunday, the line for that ride will still be long in the evening. Donkey Kong Mine Cart is just about always real long,
even at night. It has terrible capacity and breaks down a lot. Monsters is generally the best lines for afternoon and evening, if it doesn't
break down. Mario Kart is decent in the evenings, unless it had breakdowns during the day. Breakdowns are the key. If an attraction has
a lot during the day, it rarely recuperates.....Most D/E ticket Attractions still don't appear to be very reliable. Monsters is easily the most
reliable attraction. You could probably ride it a good number of times if you want. Generally it's around 15 to 35 minutes most of the
day, except higher at park opening.

 

[rhino4evr]

Hi all: apologize for the noob question… but have an issue.

Was planning on going to Epic in about a month and have fast passes purchased for my family.. however my daughters best friend now wants to go with us. Unfortunately when I checked it appears that fast pass is no longer available for the day we are going/

Has anyone had any experience buying the pass the day of at Epic? If the rest of the party has passes , except 1 member of your group?
Do these passes availability fluctuate ?

I did call customer service and they were not very helpful.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Hi all: apologize for the noob question… but have an issue.

Was planning on going to Epic in about a month and have fast passes purchased for my family.. however my daughters best friend now wants to go with us. Unfortunately when I checked it appears that fast pass is no longer available for the day we are going/

Has anyone had any experience buying the pass the day of at Epic? If the rest of the party has passes , except 1 member of your group?
Do these passes availability fluctuate ?

I did call customer service and they were not very helpful.

I see the issue, you bought FastPasses for Universal when they have Express Pass. (jk jk)

I'd go up to guest relations the day of and explain the situation. If you're lucky you might get a sympathetic TM who might be able to hook you up on the day of. I'd still watch and check to see if it becomes available that day.

 

[rhino4evr]

I see the issue, you bought FastPasses for Universal when they have Express Pass. (jk jk)

I'd go up to guest relations the day of and explain the situation. If you're lucky you might get a sympathetic TM who might be able to hook you up on the day of. I'd still watch and check to see if it becomes available that day.

lol the term fast pass is ingrained in me. I prefer it to express pass.