There’s another issue here which is that Universal seems to be very all-or-nothing in terms of headliners vs non-headliners. Epic absolutely needs better balance, but things like Yoshi and the Carousel are so limited in scope and appeal that they’re not going to redirect substantial crowds from the major attractions.
A genuine middle ground — non-headliner but still broadly appealing and exciting to say the teenager and family crowd — probably would have been something like an interactive shooter dark ride in Berk or some kind of equivalent in Celestial Park.
When was the last time Universal actually built something like that? Instead, they tend to go Hagrid or go Villain-Con. They need to get better at the middle ground, but given that going big is much more likely to move the needle on attendance for future additions, I think the only time Epic would have got a ride like that would have been at phase 1.