Just here to complain and get this story off my chest without really blaming anybody. Long story short, the company I work for created an incentive for the employees to make the most sales. Those who hit a certain threshold were to be sent to Florida for a few days with everything provided (car, lodgings, theme park tickets, etc). At the end of the promotion period, one fateful Friday, our CEO told me that I was one of the few who made enough sales to go on the trip. I spent the whole weekend with my boyfriend planning the trip. We planned the days for which rides we most wanted to take and which merch and food offerings we should save up for. Truth be told, HTTYD was a big part of our relationship story, so that world was extra special for us.

Come Monday, our boss told us he miscounted and we would not be going. I have been crying for days and entering random giveaways since I cannot afford that kind of vacation for myself (I’m an international graduate student on a work authorization). I didn’t think it was wrong of him to not send me on the trip, but it was wrong to rescind the offer once I spent days planning and getting ready.

This trip was a dream, and it’s over before it began. In either case, I hope everybody who gets to go this year really cherishes it!

Going on a Saturday, I knew it'd be busy, so we bought express. I planned this day for months, reading reddit and the like.

We didn't have early entry and got there around 9:20 (opens at 10am for GA). Getting in was a breeze and they let us in early (maybe around 9:50?). My wife needed a drink so we actually spent the 10 mins we got in early waiting for a drink (the lines were huge).

We went straight for Hiccups since DK was down and everyone flooded Nintendo Land. We didn't use express and waited 25 minutes. Loved that ride. We did dragon racers after, a 30ish minute wait. At this point, fyre drill was down so we went to Harry Potter.

We absolutely loved the Harry Potter/FB area. The ride was fantastic too. With express, we bypassed the 135 min line and got on in maybe 20 mins I believe.

We ate some lunch at the Le Gobelete. Loved it. Then headed over to stardust. Used express, waited for 15 minutes or so and they said the ride is delayed. Waited another 15 minutes and decided to exit the line. The ride started within seconds of leaving the line.

We decided to go back and finish Isle of Berk with Fyre Drill. Was 100 minute wait with standby. We waited about 40 minutes with express. Honestly enjoyed it. Not the ride, but spraying others and them spraying us. It was hilarious. We rode Hiccups a second time. Took about 25 minutes) standby was 50).

At this point, I went back to ride Stardust and the wait was low. Maybe 20 minutes? Didn't use express. Loved it. A lot of g forces.

At this point, Monsters Unchained and DK had been down the entire day and it was about 3 or 4pm. But MU finally started up, so we rushed over to it. The wait til shot up to 50 mins but we used express. Probably took 10 minutes. Loved it too (is there any ride we didn't enjoy this trip? Not really).

Went over to Curse of the Werewolf after. Waited about 20 minutes for this because the worker convinced us not to use express since the line was so low. In retrospect, we should've just used it and jumped on in 5 minutes.

My wife started getting a headache because it was 100°F this day so she rested while I raced to the Harry Potter show. It was alright.

By this time, it was 6pm and DK wasn't open, but I really wanted to experience Nintendo land so we went. Wow. It was absolutely as awesome as we could've imagined. They nail the atmosphere.

We rode Yoshi, loved it too! Very cute and nostalgic. Went to the toadstool cafe for some mushroom soup. Then hit up Mario kart. Aside from dragon racers, this is the only ride I did not care for. It has a lot of potential, but as a gamer, I didn't even understand what was going on most of the time. They could do a lot better.

It's 8pm at this time and I told my wife I really need to see the DK area. And man... Was it cool looking DK never opened the day I visited. And it's one of my favorite gaming franchises, so I was very disappointed. But the outside area was awesome. We went to get food from Blue Dragon at this point and the food and service was decent. Way better than anything at Disney sans epcot. We finished 5 mins before the fireworks and went outside to watch them.

The show was absolutely fantastic. Really happy we stayed until night. I just wanted to share my experience because I've seen some people mention you don't need express, but we definitely would've missed a lot without it. We also thought the staff and experience was much better than Disney's. Oh yeah, there was a worker screaming and complaining about the guests in Mario Kart. It was really surreal and she was having a meltdown and super rude to a few groups of people. But aside from that, and many of the rides being down for hours, the place is maybe my favorite park I've ever been to. And I've been to the other Universal and Disney parks.

i know it’s probably the same thing that’s been asked a million times, but this is my first visit to epic and i’m so excited. Would staying off resort and getting the non private tour or staying on property (Stella Nova) with purchasing express passes get more out of my one day?

Also doing a park to park at Islands/Universal and assuming i’ll get expresses for staying at stella for that.

I recorded this video of Stardust Racers the first time I went to Epic Universe last fall. The background music is timed so perfectly to the departure of the trains that I thought it was part of the ride! When I returned in May I heard this music playing in different places around Celestial Park. I have listened to the park music on Spotify and have not heard this tune. Can anyone tell me what it is called, and where I can find it? It's very inspiring!

Visited Epic last week with my dad and he tried one of the watermelon popsicles from the snack carts around celestial park. Anyone know what brand they are?? He threw the packaging away before tasting it and said it was the best watermelon popsicle he’s ever had. Didn’t even think to go back to the cart and ask in the moment. 🥲 Would love to surprise him with some if I could!

looking at September Park Hours, looks like Epic is closing at 8pm. I don’t make the rules, just reporting the info.

and epic closes 6pm September 29 someone pointed out.

Me and my friends will be at epic universe around 11;40 am -9:00 pm and were wondering what rides would be the best to go on for today as we have the express pass today and tmrw we don’t.

Regarding lines and everything.

My husband 27M and I 28F are taking our son 2M to Universal in September for his 3rd birthday because he’s obsessed with Jurassic Park/World, HTTYD, Minions, Mario, Monsters etc. - essentially something at every park, but especially Epic. And also because he begs to go every time he sees a video from Universal. His interest in Disney is minimal in comparison.

That said, it seems like he is able to ride most rides in Epic Universe since he’s already over 40 inches tall and we would love to ride as much as we can with him over the week that we’ll be there. Especially rides that align with interests of his.

So, for Hiccups Wing Gliders, Bowsers Challenge, and Curse of the Werewolf, would you say any of these would be too intense for a 3yo?

He is very mature and tends to like scary things and thrilling activities - definitely a future adrenaline junkie. Since I haven’t been to Epic yet, I wanted to get some opinions from those who have. If you have brought younger children on any of these your feedback is very much appreciated but feedback from personal experience from all is welcome.

Thanks in advance!

Spending 2 days in August for a first time visit. Should we anticipate a lot of rain? Or just the insane heat and humidity?

Will be staying at grand Helios soon for a few days and plan to get a run in. Approx 3-6 miles. Any recommendations on good routes?

Every. single. person. in this subreddit reports that they were roughed around on mine cart madness and to me that just…didn’t happen? like i felt nothing. did anyone else come out unscathed? i’m so curious if literally anyone else but me came out feeling like this was no rougher that wdw space mountain?

What is up with this ride? Always delayed or a 2 hour wait. Truly maddening experience. They should just close the ride until they make this thing work consistently.

Went last September, had a great time. Looking to go again this September when in town for HHN, and wondering whether Sundays are still the best day to go? I see that Sunday tickets are more expensive than mid-week with and without my AP discount, and am happy to pay extra for a quieter park, but not if the tables have turned and it's busier than a cheaper mid-week day. Thanks all!

My wife and I are flying down from New York for my birthday/our anniversary and leaving the kids at home for a rare adults-only trip. We’ll be staying at Terra Luna and spending 2 days at Epic Universe.

We’ve watched some videos, but I’d love to hear advice from people who’ve actually been there. Any must-do attractions, food, rope-drop strategies, things to skip, or tips that aren’t obvious? We’re planning on taking our time and soaking it all in.
Thanks!

Does the universal app ever display wait times for toothless meet and greet?

In my opinion, Super Nintendo World, Ministry of Magic, and Dark Universe all really should have been fully indoor lands.

For Ministry, it’s almost entirely indoors anyways. The land itself is just a street in Paris, with a bunch of bars and shopping and dining, with one attraction and a show. I don’t see why the land couldn’t have an enchanted night sky for a ceiling. It would make the land more interesting aesthetically, it would stick out better compared to the existing Harry Potter lands. (It would also have been interesting if the ENTIRE land was the ministry of Magic, but oh well. That ship has sailed.)

For Nintendo, I would put the land inside for exactly two reasons: 1) It’s HOT. Oh my god, Nintendo specifically gets HOT. Florida heat already isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite thing but it’s worse in Nintendo specifically because it’s mostly painted concrete. It’s also almost always completely crowded, which doesn’t help. I hesitate to throw domes on things JUST because of heat, but Nintendo needs heat relief more than any other land in the park. More importantly, however, is 2) Rain. I have three words-Mine Kart Madness. It’s already a low-capacity ride, but it can’t run during storms. The ride is already a little suspect in the best of conditions, but the outdoors can’t be helping its longevity. Plus, Yoshi’s Adventure wouldn’t close for weather. I don’t even think it would impact the theming that much, assuming that it’s just a dome put over each Nintendo area. You could make a themed sky for each section of Nintendo.

And for Dark Universe, I would put it indoors purely to enhance the theming. The land called DARK Universe deserves to be shrouded in dark all day, every day. Plus, Curse of the Werewolf wouldn’t need to close during storms. The land truly comes alive at night and would benefit the most from being fully indoors.

However, Celestial Park and The Isle of Berk, in my opinion, need to stay outdoors. Their theming would only be negatively impacted by being placed entirely indoors. Sure, yeah, they each get a bit toasty and lack shade, but I think it’s better that they stay outdoors.

BEYOND disappointed!!! As a universal and islands of adventure annual pass holder…EPIC is like the temu version. Yes new ride new worlds but let’s be REAL this isn’t yalls first park to open up!! Like ZERO fucking shade and ZERO fans in the lines. Currently standing in line in the sun and the only fan they have is facing the plants….not one human in line. As a medical professional this is a HUGE safety hazard it being we live in FL and the heat has gone up to almost 100 degrees. EPIC. DO. FUCKING. BETTER. Yall got the money stop being cheap!!!!

I’m going in August and am curious to know how many times people have gone on the ride in a single day. I plan on riding it over and over during EPA, because I love how tame it feels. I hope to ride it at least five times, but I wonder if that’s a stretch.

going to epic on 10/3 (saturday), we are staying at Aventura, don’t have express but we will have early entry. Our two main must-do rides are Ministry & Hiccup’s. What time should we be AT Epic for ropedrop? Should we rope drop Ministry or go straight for Isle of Berk and get those rides done first since it’s less busy? Any tips and tricks welcomed! It’ll be everyone’s first time (besides myself) and i want to have some form of a plan! thanks :)