Epic Universe Ticketing Info, Advice, & Speculation

[maxairmike]

That's actually a good idea, that would be helpful, as long as they keep the park open late. Not sure if they'll keep that up. There's a few days in November they close early (but maybe they're private party buyouts?). ....Touring is different at Epic than the other parks in Orlando, except for AK. Seems most everyone shows up at opening, tires out around 6 or 7, and then leaves. Which results in some comfortable late nights.

Yeah, that’s the one thing, it relies on regular, predictable later hours than Universal has historically run outside of peak seasons. The park seems more amenable to what I’ll call the “Epcot model” for lack of a better term in my head at the moment, compared to IOA and USF. A decent focus on food and atmosphere that can encourage evening visits for those reasons alone. If they ever do get a full nighttime spectacular figured out and running on a regular basis, I think they could find strong demand for that from locals while the typical touring patterns of tourists adjust over time to stay in the park(s) later (and capacity improves) with further attraction additions.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yeah, that’s the one thing, it relies on regular, predictable later hours than Universal has historically run outside of peak seasons. The park seems more amenable to what I’ll call the “Epcot model” for lack of a better term in my head at the moment, compared to IOA and USF. A decent focus on food and atmosphere that can encourage evening visits for those reasons alone. If they ever do get a full nighttime spectacular figured out and running on a regular basis, I think they could find strong demand for that from locals while the typical touring patterns of tourists adjust over time to stay in the park(s) later (and capacity improves) with further attraction additions.

All good points. Once the newness wears off, the touring patterns will probably change. AK is an outlander, probably because the park
is mostly about animals and is kid heavy.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I think the "after 4PM" rule would be good to introduce adding APs to Epic.

(Of course, Monsters Unchained will skyrocket to a 2 hour wait after 4 PM)

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think the best compromise would be, as previously mentioned, limited AP reservations plus "free" access after 4PM with blockout periods.


I know we want to avoid Disney-esque reservations, but the park is rough capacity-wise and I can't imagine a park in Orlando without APs for more than 2 years.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think the best compromise would be, as previously mentioned, limited AP reservations plus "free" access after 4PM with blockout periods.


I know we want to avoid Disney-esque reservations, but the park is rough capacity-wise and I can't imagine a park in Orlando without APs for more than 2 years.

2 years with no Epic on the pass, and a mass exodus of local AP's happens, I would guess. They have to do something besides just reserving some AP
buy tickets at those high prices.......I would imagine a large number of the new passes Universal sold since 2024 were bought with Epic access in mind.
Giving out special magnets and small food discounts won't make up for lack of Epic on the pass....It's a quandary for Universal, no doubt, with
the poor Epic ride capacity that doesn't have much ability to improve, besides cleaning up the tech issues on Ministry and DK Mine coaster.

 

[BooKitty]

I have seen so many reports of the lower crowds in the evening "saving" visitors' Epic days. The evening hours are are the only saving grace for a lot of people. If APs are given evening access, I feel for the TMs in Customer Relations. It won't be pretty.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

The funny thing is - we had a 10 PM closing on our days, and I really did not see any noticeable change in wait times as the night went on.

 

[Mad Dog]

The funny thing is - we had a 10 PM closing on our days, and I really did not see any noticeable change in wait times as the night went on.

If you went on Mondays, that's generally the longest lines of the week all day long. Also, if there's a lot of breakdowns during the day, nights never
recuperate from that....especially Ministry. Nights are usually much shorter lines, but not always....is probably the best way to look at it. Sundays also
are generally the best times of the week, but not always. Unfortunately, due to so many breakdowns and iffy weather, it's kind of luck of
the draw more than anything else. And DK Mine coaster is basically almost always a bad choice to stand in line. And for the past two weeks
Ministry seems back to long lines almost always.

 

[Drumfreak]

If you went on Mondays, that's generally the longest lines of the week all day long. Also, if there's a lot of breakdowns during the day, nights never
recuperate from that....especially Ministry. Nights are usually much shorter lines, but not always....is probably the best way to look at it. Sundays also
are generally the best times of the week, but not always. Unfortunately, due to so many breakdowns and iffy weather, it's kind of luck of
the draw more than anything else. And DK Mine coaster is basically almost always a bad choice to stand in line. And for the past two weeks
Ministry seems back to long lines almost always.

Agreed on the luck of the draw part. I've been to Epic about 7 times now, and the evening crowd level definitely varies depending on how the park has performed during the daytime. I've had nights where the whole park (minus DK) is a walk on during the last hour, and I've had other days where half the rides are still at 40+ minute waits at closing time. Hopefully as we move into the less rainy season, and more technical issues get resolved, the park is able to have more smooth days than not because those nights where the park is dead at night are just incredible.