I simply had my greatest day but at Epic Universe, knocking out 20 rides, 2 stage reveals, 2 informal eating places, and 1 fantastic eating spot. All around the course of 14 hours from Early Park Admission to after park closing, whereas taking 38,007 steps, 30 flights, and a pair of,390 images. Right here’s how I achieved all of it with out Categorical Cross, and the way (perhaps) you may, too!
One of many factors we hold stressing is that Epic Universe’s opening season has been a wild trip. Common’s new park has had sky-high wait occasions and crowd ranges, but in addition all-time low attendance and days with plenty of walk-on strains and. There have been some absolute operational meltdowns, together with bona fide ‘greatest days ever.’
I’ve been extremely fortunate with Epic Universe, and have had nothing however nice days. That is most likely a giant a part of why I really like Common Orlando’s third gate a lot, as my experiences have been unequivocally optimistic. To make certain, I’ve encountered some friction, and at the present time was no totally different. However being versatile and shortly pivoting when issues come up has helped me keep away from catastrophe on a number of events.
Regardless of this, I’m fast to plug our rundown of Why You Ought to Skip Epic Universe. We not too long ago returned with a refresh to that put up, as our recommendation for almost all of vacationers is to remain on the sidelines and wait till Epic Universe improves its operations and effectivity.
Though I’ve been lucky to keep away from the worst of the excessive crowd ranges, meltdowns and breakdowns, I’m very cognizant of those points. I’ve watched them play out from afar, listening to from each buddies and readers who’ve skilled Epic Universe on its worst days.
My earlier days confirmed what might probably go fallacious with dangerous luck or poor planning, and my most up-to-date go to actually underscored this. Though I used to be fortunate to have my longest wait in line be 13 minutes, I might simply see ready for much longer or topic to a number of trip breakdowns and queues dumped.
Amongst different issues, two of the opposite main factors raised in that article are “Unpredictable Attendance & Crowds” and “Experience Breakdowns & Downtime.” These proceed to be the overriding points with Epic Universe, as the brand new park continues to be a veritable curler coaster of every day crowd ranges and common wait occasions since its official opening three months in the past.
Past the issues, Epic Universe has had excessive wait occasions all through most of its opening season. Epic Universe set a file for its busiest day ever on July 16, when common wait occasions have been 85 minutes and the gang degree was 10/10. There have been back-to-back 80 minute days August 6-7. There have been a number of different days at or above 70 minutes, with every day lows within the mid-to-upper 40s.
Late June was the beginning of a stretch when weekly averages have been 64-68 minutes for six consecutive weeks; with all however one week within the 64-66 minute vary. For a park that’s so inconsistent on a day-to-day foundation, that’s remarkably constant on a weekly one (courtesy of thrill-data).
Three out of the final 4 weeks have proven indicators of enchancment, with averages of “solely” 54-57 minutes every week. Granted, any of those 3 weeks are worse than each week at Walt Disney World because the stretches between Christmas and New 12 months’s Eve in each 2022 and 2023 (61 minutes on every event).
Nonetheless, I’ve been predicting decrease crowds at Epic Universe for the following couple of months for some time. First in our preliminary 2025 Epic Universe Crowd Calendar a pair months in the past, and extra not too long ago in Epic Universe Ticket Trickery & Crowd Adjustments.
Within the former, I shared the next when recommending when to go to: “I’m personally wanting on the final couple weeks of August, coinciding with One among 2025’s Finest Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World. Identical concept applies to Epic Universe.”
And within the latter: “I’m cautiously optimistic that Epic Universe may have a weekly common beneath 50 minutes someday in mid-September. On the very least, there needs to be sure days when the common wait time is beneath 40 minutes. Epic Universe has been near that on the 2 most up-to-date Sundays.”
Earlier than we get too far, right here’s every day wait occasions knowledge for Epic Universe because it opened:
The day I visited needs to be extremely simple to identify. It’s the one quick inexperienced bar on the appropriate aspect of the graph amidst a sea of yellow, orange and crimson.
You might say I referred to as my shot, because the day I focused over two months prematurely turned out to be the least-busy day at Epic Universe since opening weekend, with a 32 minute common wait time and 1/10 crowd degree.
If something, this overstates how busy the park really was; these numbers have been on par with 3 earlier days I attended, however the ‘looks like’ crowds (and even the precise wait occasions on most sights) have been far decrease. The general common was seemingly skewed by two huge outliers, plus typical wait time inflation.
I’ll clarify how I selected my day to go to in a bit, however first, I wish to share every thing I achieved:
- Curse of the Werewolf (x2)
- Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity (x1)
- Harry Potter and the Battle on the Ministry (x2)
- Hiccup’s Wing Gliders (x2)
- Le Cirque Arcanus (x1)
- Mario Kart: Bowser’s Problem (x1)
- Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment (x2)
- Stardust Racers (x7)
- The Untrainable Dragon (x1)
- Yoshi’s Journey (x3)
A number of notes and clarifying particulars so as to add…
The longest wait time on at the present time was Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity at 240 minutes. It was additionally the second, third, fourth, and so on., longest wait with occasions starting from 90 minutes to 130 minutes a lot of the day. There are solely two occasions when its wait time dipped beneath an hour, after 9pm and through the many occasions all through the day when it was down as a consequence of a supposed ‘Climate Delay.’
I say supposed ‘Climate Delay’ as a result of this didn’t impression different sights to just about the identical diploma. Though heavy rain was within the forecast for a number of hours all through the day, it solely briefly sprinkled on a few events. There was one occasion of lightning that did trigger downtime (I can confirm that this was legit as a result of I noticed the lightning past the park), that was additionally temporary. No different attraction had a ‘Climate Delay’ past what I’d name the ‘Check Monitor Norm.’
Against this, Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity was down 259 minutes. That verified quantity was really decrease than I’d’ve anticipated if I simply guessed; it appeared just like the trip was down about half the day. Though I checked in on Mine-Cart Insanity periodically, the wait occasions have been all the time a non-starter for me till the very finish of the day.
I went in with the expectation of leveraging Single Rider strains extensively, as I’ve heard from buddies who went not too long ago that these strains have been minimal even when standby wait occasions are over an hour.
Ultimately, I solely used the Single Rider line twice: as soon as on Harry Potter and the Battle on the Ministry and as soon as on Curse of the Werewolf. Technically, twice on Curse of the Werewolf, however on a kind of events the trip went down proper as I used to be on the boarding station, and I minimize my losses and instantly exited. (I had solely “wasted” 5 minutes at that time and felt it wasn’t well worth the gamble once I might simply leap in line once more later with minimal wait.)
Single Rider strains have been incessantly closed, each when strains have been too lengthy but in addition too quick. This was true with each Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity and Curse of the Werewolf (the previous having an indication indicating the road was “at capability”) on the excessive finish, in addition to Battle on the Ministry and Stardust Racers on the low finish.
The longest I waited all day was 13 minutes, for Harry Potter and the Battle on the Ministry within the common standby line when the posted wait time was 20 minutes. (Truthfully, my Single Rider wait for a similar was most likely shut to about that lengthy; though there was just one individual in entrance of me, the load platform wasn’t firing on all cylinders.)
My shortest wait of the day was Yoshi’s Journey at beneath 2 minutes. Please don’t choose me for driving this 3 times–it was for the images. This was one among many sights that have been walk-ons, but it surely simply so occurs that was the quickest. It helped that nobody in entrance of me was shifting slowly and there’s no metallic detector to undergo.
My most efficient stretch of the day was the ~25 minutes once I rode Stardust Racers back-to-back-to-back with out grabbing my digicam bag from the locker. I’d’ve stored going to pad my stats, however I used to be feeling a bit off after that third trip. Guess I’m getting previous!
This was additionally why Curse of the Werewolf closing its Single Rider line was a giant blow. That curler coaster is far tamer and I relatively get pleasure from it. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders would’ve been another choice, but it surely was up and down within the afternoon and by the point it was a perpetual walk-on, I had different priorities.
Downtime and delays weren’t a pronounced challenge throughout my day at Epic Universe.
On the contrary, I’d say this was a beneath common day for breakdowns and climate delays. Not only for Epic Universe (objectively true, and by a noteworthy diploma) or for brand new sights (subjective, however I’ve been across the block and that is additionally pretty indeniable), however by regular ‘mature’ theme park requirements.
Exterior of Mine-Cart Insanity and perhaps a few different rides to a a lot lesser diploma, it was an excellent day for trip uptime at Epic Universe. Between this and the low crowd, it was simple to look at the friends who have been in attendance getting their ‘fill’ of a specific attraction, after which that being a perpetual walk-on (or near it) by mid-afternoon–or a bit later, within the case of the rides that had downtime woes.
Even with the objectively nice day for Epic Universe, I might see others having very totally different experiences than me.
In case you began in Tremendous Nintendo World, encountered the longest line of the day for Mario Kart after which moved on to Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity, which had a 240 minute posted wait earlier than it went down, I might see that leaving a bitter style!
I might additionally see some friends who started in these two spots after which made extra unfortunate decisions for rides 3-4 hitting a wall earlier than the wonderful afternoon even started. Particularly if that they had nearly nothing to indicate for the day by midday, hit the height lunch rush, after which noticed a strong 3-4 hours of heavy rain on the radar.
Crucial be aware was that I didn’t break a sweat knocking out all of those sights. Don’t make the error of assuming that these are the unrealistic outcomes of a speedy solo blogger and that you just household couldn’t have achieved as a lot. Though I do transfer quick, I didn’t on this explicit day.
Epic Universe continues to be very a lot ‘new to me,’ so a giant a part of my days within the park are observing and capturing images–almost 2,500 of them! The above picture of Stardust Racers, for instance, took nearly quarter-hour to seize as I waited for the spot to liberate and tinkered with shutter speeds for the appropriate impact. And remember that images aren’t allowed on most Common rides, so I wasn’t padding my stats by spraying and praying on Monsters Unleashed or Potter!
I criss-crossed the park a number of occasions for no discernible purpose, besides to see what congestion was like, the bodily size of strains (I entered and exited a number of standby and Single Rider strains simply to test issues out), and take images of random issues. If we had a plot of my actions, they’d seem about as aimless as your common housecat. However there was a technique to the insanity…I feel?
Regardless, listed here are my stats from at the present time at Epic Universe:
Past the 38,007 steps and 18.34 miles moved, be aware the 30 flights climbed. The primary two numbers are on the excessive finish of my regular days at Walt Disney World, however not irregular. (In case you’ve ever questioned how I eat a lot theme park meals, that’s how.)
The 30 flights just isn’t regular. There are days at Walt Disney World once I log zero flights per day. I’m actually shocked that the quantity wasn’t increased. I might swear I climbed extra flights than that; Stardust Racers and Tremendous Nintendo World alone ought to’ve accounted for 30 flights!
In any case, my recommendation is to put on snug footwear. I began out the day sporting Brooks Ghost Max and switched to Crocs Lite Experience noon when it was purported to storm. I really like these footwear, however doing that many steps in them was simply an excessive amount of.
I additionally bought actually fortunate with an excellent fee at Helios Grand Lodge, and I’m really glad I booked that, as I took two temporary noon breaks for espresso and a change of garments (and footwear, as famous). Had the forecast been as wet as anticipated, Helios would’ve been massively advantageous.
Because it turned out, I didn’t want Helios, however I used to be actually proud of the resort–extra so than my first keep. It was good insurance coverage, form of like Categorical Cross. (Talking of which, I’m clearly very comfortable I didn’t overspend on that!) The choice was Stella Nova, however I’m happy to have splurged on this. For this keep, Helios was nicely price it.
One other factor to notice is that, have been I not so fixated on taking images and observing crowd and wait time dynamics for the sake of studying extra and with the ability to write posts like this, I might’ve simply doubled my trip rely.
If I’d’ve simply looped Stardust Racers all day, perhaps I might’ve tripled it. This was a literal walk-on a lot of the day, and incessantly dispatching with unfilled seats.
The variety of rides I achieved may appear spectacular and unrealistic–and most days up to now this summer season, it might’ve been–however on this explicit day, I’m optimistic that loads of different friends exceeded my counts. Possibly you have to be studying their recaps!
On the plus aspect, I’ve a ton of recent images and insights about Epic Universe to share over the approaching weeks–so keep tuned for these as quickly as I dig out from this journey!
Along with the above sights, I dined on the following:
- Spit Fyre Grill within the Isle of Berk
- Hooligan’s Grog and Gruel in Isle of Berk
- Atlantic Restaurant in Celestial Park
- Frosty Moon in Celestial Park
My most time-consuming meal of the day was, unsurprisingly, Atlantic Restaurant. This was regardless of putting my order instantly and requesting the test shortly after my meals arrived.
To be clear, it wasn’t gradual in a nasty method. The expertise was implausible from begin to end. (Be careful, Mythos; Atlantic is coming to your banner!) Simply noting this as a result of the entire jist of this put up is how a lot I bought accomplished, and doing a fantastic eating meal in late afternoon definitely diminished my general effectivity.
My greatest “fails” of the day have been each of the eating selection, on the entrance and backend of the day. The primary is that I didn’t do breakfast at Café L’air De La Sirène within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The actually unhappy half right here is that I went into the restaurant to seize empty interiors, however breakfast completely slipped my thoughts. It wasn’t till later within the day when consulting my record of issues to eat that I remembered “Breakfast at Café L’air De La Sirène” was a factor…and the #1 factor on my record.
My different huge fail was lacking final name at Pizza Moon. I’ve been dreaming a few return go to to Pizza Moon because the first time I dined there, however with a lot different new meals to attempt to evaluate, it appeared “irresponsible” to revisit a restaurant for enjoyable. However once I realized that they had to-go packing containers, ordering proper earlier than park closing and taking the pizza house appeared like the proper compromise.
And it might’ve been, had I not pushed my luck with one final evening trip on Stardust Racers. (It’s simply so good at evening!) I fully perceive why they shut with the park, however I wasn’t alone with this concept, as there have been numerous different friends leaving the park with pizza packing containers in hand–and some others making an attempt to enter the restaurant at 10:02pm. As a comfort prize, I grabbed a cone from Frosty Moon (which was open till 11 pm!), which was a candy and refreshing solution to end the evening.
Tricks to Take Benefit of Low Crowds at Epic Universe
Honest warning: none of my suggestions are going to be really groundbreaking to any skilled theme park-goers. Nonetheless, I’m going to “reiterate” them, because it’s simple for longtime Walt Disney World followers to turn out to be so set of their methods that they’re second nature, and Epic Universe does throw a number of curveballs.
My first huge piece of recommendation is to tempo your self. This may appear foolish and easy, however I’ve heard of so many friends hitting a wall at Epic Universe, and it jogs my memory very a lot of Disney’s Hollywood Studios on this regard. If you realize you received’t make all of it day and have to decide on between Early Park Admission or staying late, keep late.
Significantly. Early Park Admission might be discouraging on an excellent day, and terrible on a nasty day. There are methods to take the trail of least resistance and be sure that each EPA is an efficient one, however the temptation to knock out headliners might be an excessive amount of.
Likewise, it’s extremely simple to get downright discouraged by downtime and delays. If a trip breaks down, my recommendation is to chop your losses ASAP. I’d take this a step additional and suggest making knowledgeable selections earlier than even moving into line for out of doors sights. If the wait is ~120 minutes and there’s heavy rain on the radar within the subsequent hour, even getting in line is a nasty resolution.
I really feel for the friends that began at the present time in Tremendous Nintendo World, ready an hour for Mario Kart earlier than getting in a 240 minute line for Mine-Cart Insanity…that then bought dumped as a consequence of a trip breakdown. I ponder what share of these folks recovered and had an incredible day, and what number had a nasty expertise.
If it’s doable to have an terrible expertise on an superior day, you higher imagine it’s doable to have the identical on an terrible day. Or vice-versa. Epic Universe actually requires a drift perspective and willingness to pivot. Spreadsheet planners needn’t apply, as no plans needs to be set in stone…and even clay.
Above I boasted that I “referred to as my shot” when reserving this go to a few months prematurely. To be absolutely clear, I really moved it by 2 days as soon as I spotted I’d have extra wiggle room and an extended go to to Florida. I knew this date needs to be nice (pending the climate wildcard), however actually, I had no clue it’d be this glorious.
As beforehand famous, the 2 days of the week with the bottom common wait occasions over the previous few months have been Saturdays (#2) and Sundays (#1, by far). Friday is third-lowest. The simplest clarification for that is that Epic Universe single-day tickets are costliest on weekends, so budget-conscious vacationers are searching for out cheaper dates.
There’s much less consistency for Mondays by way of Thursdays, and never sufficient knowledge factors to attract definitive conclusions. Statistically, Wednesdays and Thursdays have been worst, which might be a byproduct of vacationers beginning out their weeks at Walt Disney World, visiting a pair parks there, then doing Epic Universe. Or beginning out at Common’s legacy parks.
To that time, the remainder of Common Orlando is busiest on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, adopted by Sundays. That is fueled largely by locals and Annual Passholders over the weekends, after which vacationers being most inclined to go to on Mondays. Midweek is the very best time to go to the opposite parks, with common wait occasions bottoming out on Wednesdays.
This is sensible! Floridians work on weekdays, making weekends their greatest time to go to the opposite parks for Annual Passholders. However Epic Universe doesn’t have APs, and lots of locals have already gotten their “repair” of Epic Universe and are ready for Annual Passes.
One factor to notice is that as quickly as Annual Cross gross sales or Florida resident ticket offers begin for Epic Universe, this dynamic flips. Saturday and Sunday will turn out to be the busiest days of the weekend. Furthermore, there are exceptions to all the above when climate rears its ugly head. Nothing throws a monkey wrench into Epic Universe wait occasions like a stormy day!
Nonetheless, I’d extremely suggest visiting Epic Universe within the subsequent month or two, particularly on a Saturday or Sunday. This dynamic ought to solely speed up within the subsequent three or so weeks. I can’t promise they’ll exceed my expertise, however they need to be in the identical ballpark.
The larger unanswered query for me is how lengthy it will proceed. We’ve warned that crowds are going to select up throughout peak weeks from October by way of December, and I’d count on the dynamic to worsen all through the guts of Halloween Horror Nights ‘season’ when regulars e-book journeys for that. However early October (earlier than Columbus Day) could be fantastic, as would possibly early November and early December.
In reality, after this glorious Epic Universe expertise, we’re now debating whether or not to go to as a household throughout our Christmas-time journey. We most likely received’t, if solely as a result of time is restricted and there’s extra that appeals to Megatron at Walt Disney World, but it surely nearly feels prison to move up this golden window of alternative at Epic Universe.
Finally, that’s what that is about and why I needed to explain my day intimately and implore these with flexibility to go to Epic Universe as quickly as doable. What this glorious expertise most jogs my memory of is the halcyon days of “Further, Further Magic Hours” at Walt Disney World that started nearly precisely 6 years in the past.
“Further, Further Magic Hours” have been one of many final golden eras of Walt Disney World, a very magical expertise earlier than a number of months of essentially the most chaotic crowds we’ve ever seen within the parks. Whereas this go-round most likely received’t be adopted up by a multi-month closure, we completely see historical past repeating itself with heavier crowds at Epic Universe.
Even for those who’re a neighborhood sitting on the sidelines ready for Annual Passes, you would possibly wish to take into account re-allocating that improve price to a single-day ticket and Florida resident low cost on a keep at Stella Nova or Helios Grand. Future weekends won’t be this glorious as soon as APs roll out, and I’d gladly commerce a dozen mediocre days for this one glorious expertise at Epic Universe.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you ever visited Epic Universe because the begin of summer season? Planning a day within the low season or throughout Halloween Horror Nights? What did you consider wait occasions and crowds? Expertise any operational meltdowns as a consequence of breakdowns or climate? Is it doable or possible that Epic Universe really has even increased attendance from October by way of December 2025, or all through 2026? Will you go to Epic Universe this 12 months, or will you anticipate crowds to cool down (in principle) in 2026? Agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions? We love listening to from readers, so please share some other ideas or questions you’ve gotten within the feedback beneath!
