I simply had my greatest day but at Epic Universe, knocking out 20 rides, 2 stage reveals, 2 informal eating places, and 1 positive 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 photographs. Right here’s how I completed all of it with out Specific Cross, and the way (perhaps) you’ll be able to, too!

One of many factors we maintain stressing is that Epic Universe’s opening season has been a wild journey. Common’s new park has had sky-high wait instances 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 in all probability a giant a part of why I like Common Orlando’s third gate a lot, as my experiences have been unequivocally optimistic. To make sure, I’ve encountered some friction, and today 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 just lately returned with a refresh to that submit, as our recommendation for almost all of vacationers is to remain on the sidelines and wait till Epic Universe improves its operations and effectivity.

Regardless that 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 mistaken with unhealthy 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 journey 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 each day crowd ranges and common wait instances since its official opening three months in the past.

Past the issues, Epic Universe has had excessive wait instances all through most of its opening season. Epic Universe set a report for its busiest day ever on July 16, when common wait instances 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 each 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 Yr’s Eve in each 2022 and 2023 (61 minutes on every event).

Nonetheless, I’ve been predicting decrease crowds at Epic Universe for the subsequent couple of months for some time. First in our preliminary 2025 Epic Universe Crowd Calendar a pair months in the past, and extra just lately 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 Certainly one of 2025’s Greatest Weeks to Go to Walt Disney World. Identical concept applies to Epic Universe.”

And within the latter: “I’m cautiously optimistic that Epic Universe could have a weekly common beneath 50 minutes someday in mid-September. On the very least, there ought to be sure days when the typical 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 each day wait instances information for Epic Universe because it opened:

The day I visited ought to be extremely straightforward to identify. It’s the one brief inexperienced bar on the suitable aspect of the graph amidst a sea of yellow, orange and purple.

You could possibly say I known 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 truly was; these numbers have been on par with 3 earlier days I attended, however the ‘appears like’ crowds (and even the precise wait instances on most points of interest) have been far decrease. The general common was possible 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 need to share all the pieces I completed:

• 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 couple of notes and clarifying particulars so as to add…

The longest wait time on today was Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity at 240 minutes. It was additionally the second, third, fourth, and so forth., longest wait with instances starting from 90 minutes to 130 minutes many of the day. There are solely two instances when its wait time dipped beneath an hour, after 9pm and in the course of the many instances all through the day when it was down on account of a supposed ‘Climate Delay.’

I say supposed ‘Climate Delay’ as a result of this didn’t affect different points of interest to almost 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 transient. No different attraction had a ‘Climate Delay’ past what I’d name the ‘Check Monitor Norm.’

In contrast, Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Insanity was down 259 minutes. That verified quantity was truly decrease than I might’ve anticipated if I simply guessed; it appeared just like the journey was down about half the day. Though I checked in on Mine-Cart Insanity periodically, the wait instances 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 just lately that these strains have been minimal even when standby wait instances 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 type of events the journey 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 definitely worth the gamble once I might simply bounce in line once more later with minimal wait.)

Single Rider strains have been often closed, each when strains have been too lengthy but in addition too brief. 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. (Actually, my Single Rider wait for a similar was in all probability 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 using this thrice–it was for the photographs. This was one in every of many points of interest that have been walk-ons, nevertheless it 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 digital camera bag from the locker. I might’ve saved going to pad my stats, however I used to be feeling a bit off after that third journey. Guess I’m getting outdated!

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 fairly take pleasure in it. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders would’ve been an alternative choice, nevertheless it 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 might 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 points of interest (subjective, however I’ve been across the block and that is additionally pretty indeniable), however by regular ‘mature’ theme park requirements.

Outdoors of Mine-Cart Insanity and perhaps a few different rides to a a lot lesser diploma, it was a terrific day for journey uptime at Epic Universe. Between this and the low crowd, it was straightforward to watch the company 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.

When 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 company who started in these two spots after which made extra unfortunate selections for rides 3-4 hitting a wall earlier than the fantastic afternoon even started. Particularly if that they had virtually nothing to indicate for the day by midday, hit the height lunch rush, after which noticed a stable 3-4 hours of heavy rain on the radar.

An important word was that I didn’t break a sweat knocking out all of those points of interest. Don’t make the error of assuming that these are the unrealistic outcomes of a speedy solo blogger and that you simply household couldn’t have completed as a lot. Though I do transfer quick, I didn’t on this explicit day.

Epic Universe remains to be very a lot ‘new to me,’ so a giant a part of my days within the park are observing and capturing photographs–practically 2,500 of them! The above picture of Stardust Racers, for instance, took virtually quarter-hour to seize as I waited for the spot to unlock and tinkered with shutter speeds for the suitable impact. And understand that photographs 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 instances for no discernible motive, 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 verify issues out), and take photographs 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 believe?

Regardless, listed here are my stats from today at Epic Universe:

Past the 38,007 steps and 18.34 miles moved, word the 30 flights climbed. The primary two numbers are on the excessive finish of my regular days at Walt Disney World, however not irregular. (When you’ve ever puzzled 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 truthfully shocked that the quantity wasn’t greater. 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 comfy footwear. I began out the day carrying Brooks Ghost Max and switched to Crocs Lite Experience noon when it was presupposed to storm. I like these footwear, however doing that many steps in them was simply an excessive amount of.

I additionally bought actually fortunate with a terrific fee at Helios Grand Lodge, and I’m truly glad I booked that, as I took two transient 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 vastly advantageous.

Because it turned out, I didn’t want Helios, however I used to be actually proud of the lodge–extra so than my first keep. It was good insurance coverage, form of like Specific Cross. (Talking of which, I’m clearly very joyful 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 value it.

One other factor to notice is that, have been I not so fixated on taking photographs 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 journey rely.

If I might’ve simply looped Stardust Racers all day, perhaps I might’ve tripled it. This was a literal walk-on many of the day, and often dispatching with unfilled seats.

The variety of rides I completed might sound spectacular and unrealistic–and most days up to now this summer season, it could’ve been–however on this explicit day, I’m optimistic that loads of different company exceeded my counts. Possibly you ought to be studying their recaps!

On the plus aspect, I’ve a ton of latest photographs 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 points of interest, 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 verify shortly after my meals arrived.

To be clear, it wasn’t gradual in a nasty method. The expertise was unbelievable from begin to end. (Be careful, Mythos; Atlantic is coming on your banner!) Simply noting this as a result of the entire jist of this submit is how a lot I bought finished, and doing a positive eating meal in late afternoon actually decreased my total effectivity.

My largest “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 try to assessment, it appeared “irresponsible” to revisit a restaurant for enjoyable. However once I discovered that they had to-go packing containers, ordering proper earlier than park closing and taking the pizza house appeared like the right compromise.

And it could’ve been, had I not pushed my luck with one final night time journey on Stardust Racers. (It’s simply so good at night time!) I utterly perceive why they shut with the park, however I wasn’t alone with this concept, as there have been numerous different company leaving the park with pizza packing containers in hand–and some others attempting 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 technique to end the night time.

Tricks to Take Benefit of Low Crowds at Epic Universe

Truthful 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 straightforward 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 just a few curveballs.

My first huge piece of recommendation is to tempo your self. This might sound foolish and simple, however I’ve heard of so many company 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 may be discouraging on an excellent day, and terrible on a nasty day. There are methods to take the trail of least resistance and be certain that each EPA is an effective one, however the temptation to knock out headliners may be an excessive amount of.

Likewise, it’s extremely straightforward to get downright discouraged by downtime and delays. If a journey breaks down, my recommendation is to chop your losses ASAP. I’d take this a step additional and suggest making knowledgeable choices earlier than even moving into line for outside points of interest. 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 choice.

I really feel for the company that began today 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 on account of a journey breakdown. I’m wondering what share of these individuals recovered and had a tremendous day, and what number had a nasty expertise.

If it’s potential to have an terrible expertise on an superior day, you higher imagine it’s potential to have the identical on an terrible day. Or vice-versa. Epic Universe actually requires a glide perspective and willingness to pivot. Spreadsheet planners needn’t apply, as no plans ought to be set in stone…and even clay.

Above I boasted that I “known as my shot” when reserving this go to a few months prematurely. To be absolutely clear, I truly moved it by 2 days as soon as I noticed I’d have extra wiggle room and an extended go to to Florida. I knew this date ought to be nice (pending the climate wildcard), however truthfully, I had no clue it’d be this glorious.

As beforehand famous, the 2 days of the week with the bottom common wait instances over the previous couple of months have been Saturdays (#2) and Sundays (#1, by far). Friday is third-lowest. The best rationalization for that is that Epic Universe single-day tickets are most costly on weekends, so budget-conscious vacationers are in search of out cheaper dates.

There’s much less consistency for Mondays by means of Thursdays, and never sufficient information 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 best possible time to go to the opposite parks, with common wait instances bottoming out on Wednesdays.

This is smart! 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 the entire above when climate rears its ugly head. Nothing throws a monkey wrench into Epic Universe wait instances like a stormy day!

Nonetheless, I might 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 choose up throughout peak weeks from October by means of December, and I’d count on the dynamic to worsen all through the guts of Halloween Horror Nights ‘season’ when regulars guide journeys for that. However early October (earlier than Columbus Day) is perhaps positive, as would possibly early November and early December.

The truth is, 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 in all probability received’t, if solely as a result of time is restricted and there’s extra that appeals to Megatron at Walt Disney World, nevertheless it virtually feels legal to cross 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 potential. What this glorious expertise most jogs my memory of is the halcyon days of “Additional, Additional Magic Hours” at Walt Disney World that started virtually precisely 6 years in the past.

“Additional, Additional 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 in all probability received’t be adopted up by a multi-month closure, we completely see historical past repeating itself with heavier crowds at Epic Universe.

Even if you happen to’re a neighborhood sitting on the sidelines ready for Annual Passes, you would possibly need to take into account re-allocating that improve value to a single-day ticket and Florida resident low cost on a keep at Stella Nova or Helios Grand. Future weekends is not going to be this glorious as soon as APs roll out, and I might gladly commerce a dozen mediocre days for this one glorious expertise at Epic Universe.

Want journey planning ideas and complete recommendation on your go to to Central Florida? Be certain to learn our Common Orlando Planning Information for all the pieces about Islands of Journey and Common Studios Florida. Additionally take a look at our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Information for all the pieces about these parks, resorts, eating places, and a lot extra. For normal updates, information & rumors, a heads up when reductions are launched, and rather more, join our FREE e mail publication!

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 instances and crowds? Expertise any operational meltdowns on account of breakdowns or climate? Is it potential or possible that Epic Universe truly has even greater attendance from October by means of December 2025, or all through 2026? Will you go to Epic Universe this yr, or will you anticipate crowds to calm down (in idea) in 2026? Agree or disagree with our evaluation? Any questions? We love listening to from readers, so please share every other ideas or questions you may have within the feedback beneath!