Epic Universe is once again switching up its ride roster for Early Park Admission (EPA), which is essentially Universal Orlando’s twist on Early Entry or Extra Magic Hours at Walt Disney World. The on-site guest perk will soon offer access to more high-demand lands, albeit with some question marks.
During Early Park Admission, all on-site Universal Orlando hotel guests and other select groups can access one of the theme parks up to one hour before the park opens. Since Epic Universe opened last year, EPA has been held daily there and on most dates at Islands of Adventure, and some dates at Volcano Bay (albeit only 30 minutes there).
Officially, Early Park Admission has been one hour long at Epic Universe since the new park’s debut, and there’s no reason to expect that to change anytime soon. Unofficially, we’ve already experienced it starting slightly earlier than an hour in advance, and expect this to continue to be the trend going forward at Epic Universe.
Here are the available attractions during Early Park Admission at Universal Epic Universe from now through January 31, 2026:
- Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
- Yoshi’s Adventure
- Stardust Racers
- Constellation Carousel
- Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
- Curse of the Werewolf
This means the lands/portals/worlds/whatever open during EPA are Celestial Park, Super Nintendo World, and Dark Universe. The big exception to this is Mine-Cart Madness in the Donkey Kong Country subsection of Super Nintendo World, which is the longest line at Epic Universe as of 2026, with a year-to-date average wait of 184 minutes. Oof.
The list of eligible Epic Universe Early Park Admission Attractions will soon change. Below is the list for (at least) February 1 through February 28, 2026.
Select Participating Attractions at:
- The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic
- Super Nintendo World
- How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
If we had to guess, this will mean 1 ride in Ministry of Magic, 2-3 in Super Nintendo World, and 2-3 in Isle of Berk. Further, that the number will vary by day, and could be as many as 7 rides and as few as 4. (And it wouldn’t surprise us if more than 7 rides in the entire park are open during EPA.)
Our expectation is that Epic Universe is committing to this change throughout February 2026 as a test, but if it goes well, it’ll be extended throughout Spring Break and beyond. If not, they’ll switch things up again.
Right now and in the future, Super Nintendo World is the obvious starting point for EPA at Epic Universe. We currently caution against this approach, as covered in Why to Skip Super Nintendo World’s Morning Madness During Epic Universe’s Early Entry. As of February 2026, SNW might become our preferred starting point. It really depends on crowds both there and in Isle of Berk.
For now, our favored approach to EPA as of late has been zigging when they zag and doing Curse of the Werewolf and Stardust Racers repeatedly. If you’re at the front of the pack, it can be possible to knock out Mario Kart and then both of those–and maybe even Yoshi’s Adventure–but that requires exceedingly good luck.
It does help that lines for Curse of the Werewolf don’t build immediately at rope drop. (Its daily average is 63 minutes thus far in 2026; it’s worse during storm season due to extended downtime.) It would seem that Curse of the Werewolf and Stardust Racers soon won’t be open during EPA, taking this approach off the table.
If you’re staying off-site, you don’t have access to Early Park Admission.
Accordingly, you will want to prioritize the other portals that aren’t open during EPA as opposed to racing to Super Nintendo World and being behind all of the on-site guests. That’s objectively bad strategy.
That will soon also be objectively bad strategy in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic and How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, too. That’s a tough break, as starting in the former is currently a good off-site ‘hack’ and starting in the latter was our preferred clean slate rope drop approach.
As of January 2026, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic is occasionally open during Early Park Admission. If it is, it’s just open to everyone. Since this portal is not part of EPA, anyone can access it.
If you’re staying off-site, you should absolutely arrive a full hour (or more!) prior to official park opening. You’ll be allowed to enter Epic Universe at the same time as EPA guests, you just won’t be able to enter Super Nintendo World or Dark Universe. Again, this is how things work right now–it’ll change in February 2026.
Our current recommendation for off-site guests is checking out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic to see if the portal is open and, if so, riding Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. That’s currently the #2 line at Epic Universe, with a current year-to-date average wait time of 177 minutes. (Nothing else breaks 2 hours.)
Battle at the Ministry is one of those attractions that seems to just open whenever it’s ready. The ride is notorious for downtime and delays, so it may not be up when you first enter the park. If it is, do Battle at the Ministry ASAP.
If Battle at the Ministry isn’t open to start the day, cut your losses! Do not loiter around, waiting for it to open. You could be waiting minutes, or perhaps hours. If BatM is open and firing on all cylinders, it’s possible to be done with that before regular rope drop starts. I know, because I have!
This gives you time to rope drop a different portal, with the current top pick being Isle of Berk. If you’re really aggressive, you could bounce over to Donkey Kong Country, but that’s not particularly advisable because you’ll be behind the EPA pack that had access to Super Nintendo World.
It’ll be interesting to see how EPA and rope drop strategy changes starting in February 2026. Obviously a lot remains to be seen, but we’re tentatively bullish on both Super Nintendo World and Isle of Berk.
My gut is that Universal is declining to list specific attractions due to the aforementioned delayed opening issues. Meaning that some days, Battle at the Ministry and Mine-Cart Madness will be part of EPA…and some days they won’t. It all depends upon whether they’re ready to roll during the start of EPA. Regardless, BatM will no longer be open to off-site guests during EPA. Ministry of Magic will have a checkpoint, just like Super Nintendo World currently.
Having the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic officially open during Early Park Admission should help greatly reduce the crowds in Super Nintendo World. There’s currently a monster demand imbalance between Dark Universe and Super Nintendo World; sometimes the latter is packed and the former is dead. As of February, crowds should be pretty evenly balanced between the two. Isle of Berk will be a distant third, but still more popular than Dark Universe is at present.
Ultimately, the big winners with these changes are on-site guests wanting to do Super Nintendo World at all costs. Or those wanting to start in Isle of Berk. Even with the dreaded delayed openings, something in both of those two portals will be open, and with the lowest crowds of the first half of the day. That alone makes this a great move for on-site guests, especially since the value of having EPA access to Dark Universe or Celestial Park is somewhat minimal.
The biggest losers, unsurprisingly, will be off-site guests. This change will effectively put them behind the on-site crowd in every portal that matters when regular rope drop rolls around. Rope dropping Toothless will be off the table, even if that meet & greet isn’t open during EPA.
On positive I could see is that Dark Universe and Celestial Park attractions quietly open earlier for everyone as a soft opening, but the strategic value of that compared to Battle at the Ministry quietly opening early is minimal.
Of course, we don’t know how this will play out until it actually happens, but I have a hard time envisioning any scenario where on-site guests aren’t the big winners and off-site guests aren’t the big losers. It’s just a matter of degree. I’ll be field testing these changes in late February and, assuming they get extended, will report back in early March. (If they’re not extended, there’s little value in sharing my experiences, so I won’t.) Stay tuned…or not.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think of the Early Park Admission changes coming to Epic Universe in February 2026? Any first impressions or speculation as to how strategy will change? Which attractions do you prioritize during EPA? Do you agree or disagree with our strategy? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
