Epic Universe Rides “Secretly” Open Early & After Park Closing
Epic Universe’s first month since the grand opening has been a wild ride. The park continues to see high wait times and crowd levels, but not necessarily attendance. The bigger story today is the operational inconsistency, with some rides quietly opening early and/or staying open an hour after official park closing as a ‘surprise & delight’ guest offering.
We’ll start by yet again making a plug for our rundown of Why You Should Skip Epic Universe. That was written during paid previews, but it has aged like a fine wine–for the most part. Admittedly, I did believe that the virtual queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry was going to stick around until October. I guess that was so abysmally-executed and garnering such fierce guest backlash that they had no choice but switch to standby.
Among other things, two of the other major points raised in that article are “Unpredictable Attendance & Crowds” and “Ride Breakdowns & Downtime.” These continue to be the overriding issues with Epic Universe, as the new park continues to be a veritable roller coaster of crowd levels and average wait times since its official opening about a month ago.
At this point, your motto for Epic Universe for the next year or so should be: expect the unexpected.
The #1 thing you need when visiting Epic Universe is flexibility and a willingness to call an audible as policies & protocol change, attractions break down or operate differently, attendance levels fluctuate, and the park just generally throws you curveballs. (Think of Epic Universe as the Sandy Koufax of theme parks.)
If you are the type of planner who craves certainty, loves making spreadsheets, and mapping out minute-by-minute specifics of your day months in advance…maybe Epic Universe isn’t for you right now. (More broadly, I would recommend everyone abandon this type of planning for every theme park, Universal or Disney. Flexibility and spontaneity will always yield better results, and be less stressful. But you do you!)
Before we get going, we want to make clear that none of this is criticism of Epic Universe or Universal Orlando. (Well, for the most part–there are some operational decisions with which I vehemently disagree.)
This type of thing is to be expected with a brand new theme park, as Universal discovers what works and doesn’t, hears guest feedback, makes operational updates and improves ride reliability. It’s very much a part of the process. Anyone who was around Walt Disney World from late 2019 through early 2020 should recall the veritable roller coaster of changes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Now scale that to an entire theme park with several envelope-pushing attractions!
The big difference between then and now, and another reason you should expect the unexpected, is because there isn’t great coverage of Epic Universe. We were at DHS multiple times per week for rope drop, and we weren’t the only ones. Walt Disney World had Annual Passes back then, resulting in thorough coverage. Epic Universe doesn’t have Annual Passes, and bloggers (etc.) aren’t dropping ~$180 multiple times per week to cover changes.
Instead, we’re reliant on reports from cobbled together from social media, reader comments, etc. Aside from hearing feedback from readers who have visited Epic Universe recently, my favorite resources are thrill-data for wait times and the Universal Orlando subreddit. We try to keep you abreast of changes, but the fact of the matter is that we’re not on the ground with any degree of regularity. We’re reliant on word of mouth just like everyone else–so it’s worth keeping an eye on the Universal Orlando app and social media if you want more obsessive coverage.
Anyway, let’s go over the latest operational changes at Epic Universe.
Epic Universe Early Park Admission Changes
First up, the lineup is now different for Early Park Admission at Epic Universe. This started as being Super Nintendo World plus Celestial Park and then expanded to include Dark Universe, all of which we covered in Early Park Admission at Epic Universe Strategy Guide: Beating Crowds in Super Nintendo World!
There’s been yet another change. Here are the available attractions during Early Park Admission at Universal Epic Universe:
- Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
- Yoshi’s Adventure
Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness- Stardust Racers
- Constellation Carousel
- Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
- Curse of the Werewolf
On its face, this is a negative change. Over the last month, Mine-Cart Madness has the #3 wait time at Epic Universe, behind only Mario Kart and Battle at the Ministry. Taking it off the table exacerbates wait times at the two other Super Nintendo World attractions, and disproportionately Mario Kart since it’s the other headliner.
In practice, I’m not sure it’s such a bad thing. We have heard countless reports of Mine-Cart Madness having unpublished delayed openings. The attraction wouldn’t be operating until 10 am (or later) without notice, and guests would get turned away upon arrival. Worse yet, there were times when guests were allowed to queue up–sometimes for multiple hours–even though the attraction wasn’t operational.
As a bit of an aside, one of the bigger under-discussed complaints we’ve had about Epic Universe is that operations has an unwillingness to dump queues. The reason for this is because they don’t want to issue recovery (comped Express Passes) to everyone exiting the queue, multiple times over per day. That’s a valid concern with so many rides being unreliable from an “if everyone has Express Passes, no one does” perspective. Presumably, Universal is also worried about preserving shorter waits for guests who purchased Express Pass.
However, they simply should not be selling Express Pass at this point. The park as a whole is too unreliable and low-capacity for it (which is why several attractions are excluded in the first place). Moreover, I would rather have a not-so-Express Pass for future use than be stuck playing chicken in a queue for a broken down attraction that isn’t reopening any time soon. The guest experience should be balanced and, in my view, that’s the fairly obvious answer.
But wait! The plot thickens!
On multiple days, we’ve seen or heard reports that Constellation Carousel actually wasn’t opening during EPA, but was instead delayed until noon. Thankfully, this does appear in the Universal Orlando app (see above), so you should be able to check that before starting your day.
Also, you shouldn’t be prioritizing Constellation Carousel during EPA. Not only is it lower priority, but it’s better at night. If you have kids who can’t do much at Epic Universe, Yoshi’s Adventure during EPA is the play.
But wait again! This plot has more twists than the Mine-Cart Madness track!
There have been some days, including today, when Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness and/or Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry just open during Early Park Admission. The above screenshots are all from June 21, 2025. You’ll note that at the start, MCM and BatM weren’t posting wait times–and it indicated they’d be opening at 10 a.m. Less than 5 minutes later, MCM was open with a 25 minute wait. Another ~5 minutes after that, BatM opened to a 120 minute wait.
The best explanation for this is that Universal is trying to get Mine-Cart Madness and Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry operational as early as possible, but doesn’t want to advertise this since both are down so often to start the day. But if they’re up, they’re open.
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders “Popularity” Soars
Over the last week, the average wait time for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders has soared. Its all-time average is 48 minutes (#7 in Epic Universe), which is about what we’d expect on a normal day. The weekly average for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is 110 minutes, which puts it at #3 (ahead of Mine-Cart Madness).
While you might be inclined to attribute this to the popularity of the live-action remake (they cast real dragons?!) of How to Train Your Dragon, that’s almost certainly not it. Wait times for the other Isle of Berk attractions haven’t really budged. Not even the Toothless meet & greet, which is what I’d expect to be most impacted by the movie.
Instead, it’s our understanding that Hiccup’s Wing Gliders has been operating very inefficiently. Most notably, it’s been down one load station for much (most? all?) of the week. This alone effectively halves the hourly capacity for the roller coaster, which explains double the wait time. Normally, cutting capacity in half doesn’t double wait times since more guests balk at the higher wait, so there’s probably a bit more to the story than that.
So What’s the Right Rope Drop Approach?
With so much changing, I’m honestly surprised that our Epic Universe Morning Strategy: Rope Drop Rides to Do & Avoid to Save Time is actually more accurate today than it was when we published it. Talk about a happy accident!
Here’s our advice for rope dropping Epic Universe in a nutshell:
- DO: How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
- DON’T DO: Dark Universe or Super Nintendo World
- ALSO DON’T DO: Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
(This is for regular park opening, not Early Park Admission.)
Avoiding Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is listed separately because this is a seemingly controversial take. You will find countless reports of people having great success with this approach. They aren’t lying! They are ‘suffering’ from a form of survivorship bias, though.
It’s absolutely accurate that starting at Battle at the Ministry can yield fantastic results. It’s also true that it can be a trainwreck. It all comes down to luck on the day you visit. Statistically speaking, Battle at the Ministry is both prone to the dreaded delayed opening more than any other ride at Epic Universe and an average wait time that peaks early and gets progressively shorter throughout the day. Objectively, the best strategy is to hold off on it until later in the day.
If you’re a gambler, go for it at rope drop. But don’t say that we didn’t warn you if you fail. And if you succeed, don’t assume your results are replicable. The safest approach to rope drop at Epic Universe is starting in Isle of Berk. If you’re a roller coaster person, an attractive option for both EPA and regular rope drop is simply looping Stardust Racers. I enthusiastically endorse this approach from a ‘fun and easy’ perspective, even if it’s suboptimal strategy.
Epic Universe Rides Open an Hour After Park Closing!
This one has ‘evolved’ over the course of the last couple of weeks. We received a few scattered reader reports that after Epic Universe moved to a 9 pm closing (from 10 pm for the first few weeks), the rides in Celestial Park–Constellation Carousel and Stardust Racers–were nevertheless operational (barring downtime) until 10 pm.
More recently, the entire park has remained open after 9 pm. Here’s a look at wait times from last night:
The big exception you’ll notice here is lines that are “at capacity.” (Quick aside: the same thing can happen with Single Rider lines.)
This is mostly a matter of attractions closing their lines due to sky-high wait times, as Universal doesn’t want to continue allowing guests into a line that’s already ~2 hours long all the way until 10 pm, and then have it take until after midnight to clear the park.
This approach to a ‘stealth’ extra hour does make sense for exactly the same reason. If guests are allowed to enter the Mine-Cart Madness, Mario Kart, Battle at the Ministry, or Hiccup’s Wing Gliders queues until 8:59 pm (as is the case), and any of those rides have 120+ minute wait times, it’s going to take until after 11 pm to clear the park, anyway. Might as well spend a bit more on staffing and keep other lines open, anyway.
Given its current average wait times, Epic Universe shouldn’t be closing at 9 pm in the first place. Park hours are criminally short and guest satisfaction is probably suffering to a degree as a result. This offers a partial solution for that. It’s kind of like a soft opening…but for existing attractions at the end of the day. A soft closing, I guess?
At the risk of stating the obvious, that last hour is a must-do. Across the board, those wait times are well below their daily averages. This is also subject to change. Universal Orlando could stop doing this next month, next week–even tonight. Since this is unpublished and unofficial policy, it could change at any moment without notice. So don’t plan on this if you’re visiting in August (and certainly not in 2026).
Regardless, you absolutely want to be at Epic Universe for the end of the night, whenever that is. Even if it means taking a midday break (or perhaps two table service meals in Celestial Park if you’re not staying near Epic Universe), you want to outlast the crowd and experience nighttime in Epic Universe. There’s something special about seeing the park illuminated, and you should be able to hang out in Celestial Park after even 10 pm. You might even be able to grab a drink or ice cream from Frosty Moon and enjoy it by the fountains–a satisfying end to a long, hot day!
Epic Universe Crowd Calendar
Finally, a plug for our Epic Universe Crowd Calendar. This is not a calendar of dates and numerical scores, so don’t go in expecting that. If you want predictions like that, just throw darts at a board–you’ll be equally accurate. Instead, we offer some rough rules of thumb:
- Fridays through Mondays have lower wait times at Epic Universe thus far.
- Epic Universe attendance will be below half-capacity on all dates throughout Summer 2025, and below one-third capacity on many dates barring massive policy changes.
- Despite low attendance, wait times will fluctuate significantly and suggest above-average crowd levels on most dates–unpredictably so.
- Epic Universe will have higher attendance from October through December 2025 than opening day through August 2025
Each of those points are explained in excruciating detail in the Epic Universe Crowd Calendar. The salient point, once again, is to expect the unexpected.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you visited Epic Universe this month? Did you experience any attractions being “secretly” open early or after park closing? What about unexpected closures, lines not being dumped despite downtime, or anything else discussed here? Will you visit Epic Universe this year, or will you wait for things to settle down and more operational consistency? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
Do you still recommend Nintendo world for EPA now that mine cart madness is not open then?
Following it all closely. We go at the end of July. Having now seen videos of the main gate vs the Helios crowd trying to get to Nintendo World, I’m worried. Mine Kart Madness is one of our 3 must do’s. We have express pass & a Helios reservation. More and more guests are starting to voice that with what Helios is charging even if they got a 5 minute head start on the main gate crowd it would even the playing field.
Same. I’ve had a Helios reservation on the books for August for ages that I’m coming close to changing to Stella Nova. My only hesitation is that prices have gone up considerably since for Helios, so I may never get this cheap of a reservation again.
In support of the table service dining option for a mid-day break without close by resort! We had an excellent meal at the Atlantic (and I’m not grading that on a theme park curve.) It was a needed break from the heat at 1:30 pm.
Thanks for this! I saw you already recommended the burger at Atlantic…any other picks? As much as I love a good burger (and I REALLY do), I’d like to order seafood here.
Open to suggestions from anyone who’s dined at the Atlantic already!
We ate there during previews. The salmon was amazing. Unfortunately the portions were minuscule. We left hungry. Later we ate at The Blue Dragon. It was really good and large portions.
“This is in no way a criticism of Universal…” Interesting that you give Universal the courtesy but thrillingly beat down against Disney with no caveats every time ….And so comfortable doing it lol. Universal giving better perks and access to promote Epic?
I’ve never been given a single thing, invited to any media events, etc., by Universal. It’s all paid for out of pocket–everything from Epic Universe tickets now to past hotel stays, APs, etc.
I think I’ve been plenty critical of Universal over the last few months, but I’m also impressed that they invested $7 billion on a brand-new park in the shadow of COVID. To each their own, I suppose.
Our family was here today and this article was spot on! We lined up in Helios’ lobby at 7:30, were let into the park at 7:45 and then held on the hotel ramp until about 8:45. As soon as the first Helios guest got to the Nintendo portal they released the front of park which was messy. We’d targeted Mine Cart as our first ride and got all the way to the attraction before being told it wouldn’t open until 10. We then backtracked to Mario Kart and waited 45 minutes, noticing that mine cart had opened by 9:09. Another 45 minute wait and we were able to do that as well. Guest services felt bad for our experience and gave us an express pass. Our party was able to enjoy every attraction in the park today and it was an overall fantastic experience. When the sun sets earlier and the temperatures are a bit cooler this park will be even more amazing.
“We’d targeted Mine Cart as our first ride and got all the way to the attraction before being told it wouldn’t open until 10.”
This is wild. I assumed that the app was just wrong, and guests actually on-the-ground and in the park would’ve been able to do Donkey Kong if they went there right at 9 am. Surely they would’ve known by then that it was going to open in a minute or two. It’s not like flipping a switch to turn the ride on and it either works or doesn’t.
Regardless, thanks for sharing your experience and happy to hear that Universal offered recovery. Problems are to be expected at this stage–it’s all in how they’re handled!
Brian,
When you are offered the express pass, can I assume it is just for THAT ride later, and not an express pass for 1-time access to all rides throughout the park? Thanks in advance for anyone who can answer this.
We had such a dissappinting visit 20th June. It’s early days for the park so will give Universal the benefit of doubt but you have raised some great points. Hiccups being down to 1 station definitely slowed the whole process down. in fact it felt as if all of the rides were running at a severly reduced capacity, slowing everything down. Express passes should be removed from all Universal Park’s and a Disney approach should be adopted- everyone’s wait times would benefit from Limited Express Passes per ride, and the passes being staggered throughout the day. We went back to IofA today and we were 5 minutes from riding the forbidden journey but this was more than tripled due to over 100 Express passes joining the queue past us. We experienced the same time and again at every ride that offered express passes in all of the parks. Getting back to Epic, we had queued for over an hour for MCM before the inclement weather closed the ride. We’d already had enough of rides closing unexpectedly, so left just after lunch, thoroughly disappointed. Although the theming at Epic Universe is fantastic, the execution of the whole process leaves a lot to be desired. The Universal powers should visit Disney down the road and pick up some operational hints and tips.
Most of the rides still have yet to hit their efficiency targets, you’re right. That’ll take time, and it’s a big part of the initial growing pains the park is currently experiencing.
Express Pass isn’t normally a problem, but it is with a brand-new park prone to downtime. That’s precisely why Universal hasn’t offered it on new attractions in the past. Adding return windows would not solve the problem, because there’s still the surge of guests who would have their window converted to “anytime” post-breakdown. The park just shouldn’t have it at all right now.
I know hindsight is 20/20 and Universal started selling Express Pass months ago, but they knew even then that some of these rides would have reliability woes.
Was at Epic Thursday, 6/19. EPA Dark Universe – off Curse of Werewolf by 9:01am and done with Monsters by 9:20. Went to BoTM – wait time listed at 90 minutes and it would have been about that long except the ride went down about 75 minutes into wait and line evacuated. Given return pass but ride was down for about 3 hours. Thunderstorms shut down most rides for 2 hours in the afternoon and we were unlucky with 2 cancellations of the Untrainable Dragon for 1:30 and 5:15 showings. Overall good experience but definitely a bit frustrating. Confirmed rides were open till 10pm with people entering Stardust at 9:58pm as we were just getting off of it
What time did you arrive for EPA? Any advice on how early you need to be?
Were you able to end up doing BatM? It sounds like you must’ve had a more productive late afternoon and evening if it ended up being a good experience, overall.
Regardless, thanks for sharing your morning!
We were able to get on BaTM after it reopened around 2pm. Was unsuccessful for Mine Kart as it went down after we were in line for an hour at 8pm. We cut our losses to ride Stardust instead. As for EPA we walked from Stella Nova leaving at 8:05am. By 8:30 we’re held with the crowd. We probably would have been in reasonable shape for Bowsers Challenge but were not interested and were able to luck out with a 30 min single riders line queue in the afternoon. Walked onto the first coaster out for Werewolf. I was lucky enough to attend previews May 4 and was much more successful overall that day – with the exception on not able to snag the pesky BaTM virtual queue 🙂 Fun stats: in 2 trips am 2/5 with seeing the Untrainable Dragon (once thrown out after the first song) 0/3 with Mine Kart Madness.
Thanks! This is helpful.
Timely article! We are here today, 6/21, for the first time, and despite your (albeit well-justified) advice otherwise, we went straight to Battle at the Ministry at rope drop(note: we were staying offsite). We were in the line for security at 7:55 (again, despite not having a resort key for early entry), in the gates by 8:15, allowed to enter the Ministry of Magic line at 8:55, off the ride by 9:25. One caveat is that we knew early on the line was moving, and we were prepared to leave the line if it stopped / went down. While I agree high risk and high reward, we were still able to rope drop Berk, make it a true win. For other readers, I might qualify your advice as “Rope dropping BATM can be a smart strategy, particularly for offsite guests, IF you make in the first wave after rope drop and IF you’re prepared to cut your losses if the ride is not operational by 10 AM.” Happy to answer other questions if interest!
This is fantastic, thanks for sharing!
Definitely a good-to-great option with your caveats in mind, especially if you’re staying off-site and aren’t eligible for anything else during Early Park Admission.
Excellent information. Thank you, Tom.