I am fully aboard the Epic Universe hype train. After spending my first few days in the new park at Universal Orlando, it’s all I can think about. I cannot wait to get back. If I had to choose only one park to visit in Florida the rest of this year, it wouldn’t be Magic Kingdom or anywhere else at Walt Disney World–it’d be Epic Universe. At the same time, there major downsides to visiting this highly-anticipated new park during its opening season(s).
As excited as I am to revisit Epic Universe ASAP (and I’m very excited), I also recognize that not everyone is me. The average tourist might not have the same time or tolerances to experience a new theme park and all that entails. Moreover, I’m somewhat concerned that the hype train is going a tad too fast, and needs the brakes pumped before it risks derailment.
To that end, I want to start our major coverage of the new park by making the argument against visiting Epic Universe–why you should skip it for now, and wait until 2026 to visit Universal Orlando’s new theme park. Please note that this is one half of a point-counterpoint article series. The case in favor of visiting Epic Universe (“Here’s Why We Highly Recommend Doing 2 Days at Epic Universe”) is coming soon. With everyone else fixated on hype, I thought it’d be pragmatic to start by tempering expectations. (So don’t grab the pitchforks just yet, Universal diehards!)
This article outlines the case against Epic Universe–that much should be obvious from foregoing (or even just a quick glance at the title). If you’re excited about Universal Orlando’s new theme park, have already bought your vacation package or park tickets, or are otherwise averse to negativity, this post is probably not for you. This details the potential pitfalls in visiting Epic Universe during its opening season, meaning that it’s a bit of a downer by design.
While you may want to skip this post about skipping Epic Universe if you have zero intentions of skipping Epic Universe, there might be value even for those of you fully aboard the hype train. First, it’ll help in managing expectations. Second, in preparing for these downsides to mitigate their impact to the greatest extent possible.
On with the list of reasons why maybe you should wait to visit Epic Universe until 2026 or beyond…
Heat, Sun & Shade (or Lack Thereof)
Apparently, Epic Universe was designed for the folks who thought Toy Story Land was just a bit too chilly and didn’t offer enough opportunities to crispen their skin or get soaked during a storm. We’ve been critical of recent lands at Walt Disney World when it comes to the lack of cover and how hot they get, wondering if the designers responsible had ever left the comfort of their 70-degree air-conditioned offices in California.
The team behind Epic Universe heard that and said “hold my beer,” cranked their office A/C to 62, and designed the hottest and least shaded theme park I’ve ever experienced. There was a lot of bluster from Universal about Celestial Park putting the “park” back in theme park. Apparently that does not include trees or shade structures of any sort, but does include the most reflective pavement on earth. You can feel the heat from both above and below, making it difficult to spend time in the land during the day.
Celestial Park is lovely, to be sure, but all of the praise for it is necessarily coming at night. I seldom saw more than a handful of guests in here during the day aside from those going from point A to B. It was always a veritable ghost town, and for good reason–it’s really uncomfortable. None of this is exaggeration.
The other portals are better, but only marginally so. Ministry of Magic feels like a sauna, with the same reflective properties and heat emanating from the pavement and facades, until the sun is lower in the sky and the buildings block it from view. It’s a similar story in Super Nintendo World, Isle of Berk, and Dark Daylight Universe.
If you are going to visit Epic Universe this summer, I’d strongly recommend an umbrella with UV protection, cool-dude bucket hat, and ridiculously strong sunscreen. Also, be sure to bring your own water bottle–to Universal’s immense credit, there are refilling stations all over the place, including in queues. (See our Summer Survival Guide to Walt Disney World for more recommendations.)
There are several factors that contribute to Epic Universe having a worse “feels like” environment than other Central Florida theme parks, but the biggest is a lack of permanent shade structures and no mature trees. Epic Universe will be a lovely park-like setting a decade from now, but in the immediate future, I’d imagine it becomes umbrella central this summer. And keep in mind that this is the feedback from days that never broke 90 degrees. But at least Epic Universe is exquisite in the evenings–oh wait.
High Prices & No Discounts
There have been a lot of complaints among Walt Disney World fans about price increases, and that conversation is often accompanied by comparisons to Universal Orlando. Many have suggested they’ll vote with their wallets and visit Epic Universe instead due to Walt Disney World pricing them out.
This doesn’t quite add up. Epic Universe is extremely expensive its opening summer, and Walt Disney World has unprecedented discounts that essentially offer 2019 pricing. For Epic Universe preview tickets, I paid $180 per day after tax, and that’s at the lower end of the price spectrum this summer.
Of course, multi-day tickets are available…but that requires visiting Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, with only a single day at Epic Universe and no park hopping. This strikes me as a poor allocation of limited vacation time, especially if you’re doing other theme parks in Central Florida during your trip.
To each their own, but if spending multiple days at Universal Orlando this summer, I’d want to spend at least two-thirds of that time at Epic Universe–two days there and a day split between the existing gates. This necessarily means buying single day tickets.
Epic Universe is the shiny new theme park, so it’s understandable that Comcast would want to recoup as much of its massive investment as possible while excitement is high. But the dearth of discounts strikes me as unsustainable and unlikely going forward.
At minimum, the highly restrictive ticketing policies will be dropped in 2026, but I’d expect even more deals and cheaper prices. This is like 2022 all over again, with Universal Orlando capitalizing on a different form of pent-up demand.
Unpredictable Attendance & Crowds
Speaking of Comcast wanting to capitalize on hype and recoup its investment, we’re already seeing this play out with previews. If you look at any Universal Orlando Annual Passholder group right now, you’ll see the hottest topic is outrage over Epic Universe previews opening to everyone.
While I don’t necessarily agree with the anger, I get where they’re coming from: Universal has poorly communicated what to expect with Epic Universe, frequently making last-minute announcements, reversing course, etc. It’s the lack of predictability that’s the problem; fans buying on the basis of certain implicit expectations, and those changing days later.
This is partly the nature of the beast with a new theme park. And it’s not going to become consistent anytime soon. My early expectation and understanding is that Universal Orlando is seeing soft demand for Epic Universe after opening week, and that even the “sold out” dates in May and June are limited way below full-capacity.
But who’s to say that won’t change tomorrow? Comcast could decide its quarterly numbers aren’t looking so hot–that the theme park segment is falling short of analyst expectations–and reopen ticket sales for “sold out” dates. The demand is still there for those dates, it’s supply that has been throttled. Universal could reassess strategies, and roll out monetized earlier entry (a la Super Nintendo World at USH) or late nights. It’s all uncharted ground, and unpredictable. Crowds and attendance could be awesome, awful, or somewhere in between.
Getting in Shape
Epic Universe continues the trend of Universal’s stringent guest containment policies, meaning aggressive restraints even on the slower moving attractions. This had the recipe for being another Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, a slow-moving dark ride that many larger guests cannot experience due to its restraints. Thankfully, that is not the case.
Everything we’ve heard suggests that Universal Orlando took guest feedback to heart with Epic Universe, and the restraints are largely friendly to Pooh-sized guests. There are limits on this, but the same is true with Walt Disney World–TRON Lightcycle Run and Avatar Flight of Passage would like a word.
I’m about the worst person to speak to this, so it’s all second-hand from friends who reported being pleasantly surprised. There are plenty of resources tailored to this type of guest, but the salient point is you probably don’t need to fear embarrassment or accessibility issues if you’re a larger guest. Universal seems to have done a really good job threading the needle when it comes to Epic Universe’s seats and restraints.
The bigger issue, and the one I absolutely did notice, is all of the stairs. On my days in Epic Universe, I somehow managed to log an upwards of 20 flights per day. It seems like every single attraction has stairs both in the queue and at unload. Of course, attractions are also accessible, so there are elevators, but waiting around for those might not be an ideal use of your time.
Personally, I do not think Epic Universe involves an excessive amount of walking as a result of the portals. My average steps per day was lower, and considerably so, than prior days at Walt Disney World. But the difference is that I was actively trying to avoid spending time outdoors due to the heat and lack of shade and I did way more rides per day than my norm. So I’m not really sure that step count was representative of an average guest’s day.
Point being, you might want to work on endurance and get in shape a bit before Epic Universe. The one-two punch of the heat and the stairs makes this a park that can be unduly tiring. It was for me despite fewer steps, and I’m decently in shape.
Virtual Line for #1 Ride
Universal’s Virtual Line system is worse than even Walt Disney World’s first generation of Virtual Queue. Let that sink in. Also, I strongly suspect that the worst experiences with Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry will surpass the worst experiences with Rise of the Resistance. If you’re paying attention, you’ve probably already started to hear horror stories about the Virtual Line for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.
Those will only get worse. It’s a simple numbers game. On a good day, we’d hazard a guess that fewer than one-third of all guests are experiencing Battle at the Ministry. And this is still during paid previews, when park capacity is capped pretty low. Meaning that later this year, it could be ~15% of guests experiencing Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry on a regular day.
This Virtual Line is being used because Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is plagued by unreliability and downtime woes. The ride breaks down a lot. If it were to post a wait time, that would measure in the hours, and whatever number were posted often wouldn’t even be remotely accurate due to multi-hour breakdowns.
Even when it is operational, Battle at the Ministry is not efficient. One entire side of the attraction is often offline, and we’ve observed a slow and methodical dispatch. I don’t want to guess as to its current operational hourly ride capacity versus theoretical hourly ride capacity, but let’s just say throughput is not so hot right now. No knock on the ride–it’s a highly sophisticated attraction in a brand-new park, so this is to be expected.
We have a 100% success rate thus far for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, but that is very much not the norm. (This VL is also less “skill-based” than its counterparts, so our luck will run out sooner or later.) If you opt to do Epic Universe, you should go in with the expectation that you will not get to ride Battle at the Ministry.
This means skipping what is unquestionably the objective #1 attraction in the park, and best ride Universal Creative has ever built. The most important planning post you can read is our VL guide: How to Join the Virtual Line for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry.
Breakdowns & Downtime
As you’ve probably witnessed if you’ve spent any amount of time being a Walt Disney World fan, new attractions have growing pains and are often plagued by problems their first few months. This is not a uniquely Disney problem. It’s the nature of the beast as attractions become more complex.
Epic Universe is an entire park of new rides, many of which are innovative and envelope-pushing. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is by far the biggest offender in this regard–hence it using the Virtual Line–but it’s far from the only problematic attraction. Pretty much every single one of the park’s marquee attractions has levels of downtime higher than what guests would consider reasonable.
During previews, there have been some really rough days. We have not experienced these, thankfully, but have talked to friends who have (and have observed from afar via the Universal Orlando app).
Multiple headliners going down has a cascading effect even during previews, causing congestion in restaurants with long delays for mobile orders, and spiking the wait times of the rides that are open. Keep in mind that this is during days when attendance is heavily capped. When rides come back online, the backlog of Express Pass means sky-high standby wait times.
Suffice to say, you’re not going to want to be in Epic Universe the first time there’s an operational meltdown with the park operating at or nearer full capacity. It’s going to be a nightmare. And it’ll be one exacerbated by the above concerns about the lack of shade, as well as sufficient crowd-absorbing counterprogramming.
In the medium or longer term, we don’t expect any of this to be much of an issue. Almost every new attraction or land has initial growing pains, especially the advanced ones. Again, Epic Universe is an entire park of those! We’re not trying to be critical or nitpick–this is more of a sober “it is what it is” type of commentary.
A year from now, our expectation is that Epic Universe is operating smoothly and with a high degree of efficiency. Many of the problems on this list, including ride reliability, will resolve themselves over time. There’s something to be said for experiencing a brand-new theme park, but there’s also a non-monetary cost to doing so. Consider both before taking the plunge.
Speaking for ourselves, we are inclined to wait to visit Epic Universe until Winter 2026. Our family has a trip planned for this summer that we are likely to postpone for the reasons above and more (also only getting to spend one day at Epic Universe and our daughter’s age). While I will be returning to Epic Universe many times in the months to come, that is primarily “for research.” I’ll undoubtedly have plenty of fun, but our family vacation will likely be delayed until next year for more optimal conditions.
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be attending Epic Universe this summer for its opening season, or will you skip it until the new park settles into a groove? Concerned about unreliable rides, how hot the park gets, or anything else discussed here? Excited for Super Nintendo World, Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe/Classic Monsters, or the How to Train Your Dragon lands and/or attractions? Think Epic Universe will be a third gate that’s a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort…and potentially on par with Disney’s best lands? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
