Should You Buy Express Pass at Epic Universe?
One common question we’re hearing from readers planning trips to Universal Orlando is whether they should buy for Express Pass at Epic Universe? This post weighs the pros & cons, why line-skipping will be advantageous, alternative splurges to Express Pass, and our own internal ‘debate’ about whether to purchase the pricey add-on. (Updated August 23, 2025.)
While we’ve been getting this for a while, it’s been further prompted by our recent article discussing Why You Should Skip Epic Universe, or rather, why you might want to wait to visit Epic Universe until this holiday season, winter or sometime in 2026. That lays out several reasons why some people should postpone a visit, but it certainly isn’t suggesting everyone waits out the issues (far from it).
Two of the biggest reasons identified basically revolve around unpredictability. This comes into play with crowds, which mostly have been manageable and are expected to remain that way throughout most of the summer season due to a mixture of low attendance caps and soft demand. It also relates to ride reliability and breakdowns, as several attractions have had extended downtime on a daily basis at Epic Universe. These are interconnected issues that also relate to Express Pass–this post will game out why that’s the case and how it could impact you.
Before we get to all that, let’s start with the basics. Express Pass allows guests to skip the regular standby line for priority access to select attractions (most of the highest wait time attractions). You simply go up to the attraction, scan your pass, and use your Express Pass entitlement. Express Pass is a totally “dumb” (non-derogatory) line-skipping system, and by that I mean there’s nothing to reserve or hassle with in an app.
Express Pass involves zero screen time or technology from a guest-facing perspective. It’s largely stress-free, more like Lightning Lane Premier Pass than it is Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Walt Disney World. Other than that, Express Pass is functionally similar to the line-skipping systems at Disney. Which is to say that it’s not a true “front of the line” pass, but rather, a reduced wait or priority access pass.
Wait times can vary widely with Express Pass, which will be doubly true for Epic Universe. Sometimes, you’ll walk right onto a ride. Other times, you could wait 30+ minutes. That’s a point we’ll underscore later–we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The bottom line, though, is that if you’re familiar with Walt Disney World’s line-skipping, this is more or less the same–but with a higher price and less friction than the mainstream options.
To that point, regular Express Pass prices top out at $329.99 for Epic Universe, with the starting price being $139.99. In perusing the calendar, the current average is around $250 per person for summer. Prices can be lower or higher than that, with more distant dates–including most of September through December 2025, minus holiday weeks and school breaks, costing under $200. At least, for now.
One thing worth noting is that Universal uses dynamic pricing for Express Pass, meaning that the prices can go up or down as dictated by demand. From what I recollect, prices have gone up considerably since we added Express Pass to our tickets. Our dates are no longer available, so I’m not 100% sure of that, but it appears as if prices are much higher–by $100 per day, in some cases. Not a huge surprise for the opening summer season given FOMO and excitement, but worth pointing out that buying earlier is likely better than waiting–at least until the hype dies down.
These prices are all for the single-use version of Express Pass. That’s the only line-skipping product available for Epic Universe; Unlimited Express Pass is not currently being sold, and probably won’t be for a while. No version of Express Pass for Epic Universe is included in hotel stays (more on all of this towards the end).
Epic Universe features 11 rides and two major shows, plus a wide variety of atmospheric entertainment, play areas, and more. Of those, here are the attractions eligible for Express Pass at Epic Universe:
- Constellation Carousel
- Curse of the Werewolf
- Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness
- Fyre Drill
- Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
- Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
- Le Cirque Arcanus
- Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
- Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
- Stardust Racers
- The Untrainable Dragon
- Yoshi’s Adventure
The latest development is that both Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness are now eligible for Express Pass at Epic Universe. The change has been made on attraction pages, along with the main Express Pass page. We further confirmed in person at Helios Grand Hotel that these two rides are now eligible for Express Pass.
This leaves Dragon Racer’s Rally in How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk as the only attraction in Epic Universe to not offer Express Pass. (Fortunately, the strategy we recommend for Dragon Racer’s Rally is skipping it.)
We do not expect Dragon Racer’s Rally to be added to Express Pass anytime soon, if ever. It’s incredibly low capacity, there’s limited queue space, and Express Pass would worsen already high standby wait times.
Previously, Battle at the Ministry and Mine-Cart Madness were excluded for similar reasons: low hourly throughput and unreliability. The biggest difference is that both of these have approximate a full mile of queue space.
Downtime has definitely improved with Battle at the Ministry and its hourly capacity is now fairly healthy. Still not perfect, but good enough. I’m not sure the same can be said about Mine-Cart Madness, but perhaps demand is dying down? (The ride is a disappointment; probably the biggest “miss” in Epic Universe.)
Regardless, this is a huge win for guests who purchase Express Pass. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness are the #1 and #3 wait times at Epic Universe. The former is an absolute must-do and, even though I think Mine-Cart Madness disappoints, it doesn’t underwhelm to the point that it’s skippable like Dragon Racer’s Rally. You should still do it and form your own opinion.
Saving a combined ~250 minutes on Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness is a huge selling point with Express Pass. And since both attractions are still prone to downtime (especially Mine-Cart Madness during storm season, when it can also get hit with weather delays), that could actually amount to even more time saved.
If you’re a Walt Disney World fan debating whether to purchase Express Pass at Epic Universe, I’d recommend thinking of the park like Disney’s Hollywood Studios–but with a couple more rides like Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance. This is not a perfect comparison, but it’s the closest approximation and one that puts you in the right mindset to evaluating whether or not to buy.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios is the most unpleasant park at Walt Disney World during busy weeks since it has such a top-heavy ride roster and there’s an insufficient supporting lineup to help absorb crowds. (See Disney’s Hollywood Studios: WDW’s Best Rides & Most Frustrating Park from around the time Rise of the Resistance opened.) These issues are exacerbated when multiple rides break down, ballooning wait times everywhere else.
It’s a similar story at Epic Universe, but amplified. Epic Universe has had some great days and really rough ones thus far. We’ve only experienced the good ones, thankfully, but have talked to friends who have been there for the bad ones (and have observed from afar via the Universal Orlando app).
Multiple headliners going down has a cascading effect, causing congestion everywhere else, and spiking the wait times of the rides that are open. And this has happened during days when attendance is heavily capped. When rides come back online, the backlog of Express Pass means sky-high standby wait times. There have been instances of most attractions having <30 minute waits, but one that returned from extended downtime posted triple-digit waits for the remainder of the day in order to prioritize the backlog of Express Pass guests.
This same thing happens with Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World, so you’re probably familiar with it. In any case, this is why it’s impossible to say how long the Express Pass waits will be at Epic Universe. If you’re doing a ride that has just returned from 4 hours of downtime, it could be a 45 minute wait via Express Pass, even with a 99:1 pull ratio, simply by virtue of that backlog. But the guests in standby might be waiting 240 minutes!
Suffice to say, you’re not going to want to be in Epic Universe the first time there’s an operational meltdown with the park operating at or nearer full capacity. It’s going to be a nightmare. There will be horror stories of guests only getting a couple of rides done all day long, and getting dumped from multiple queues due to breakdowns.
This brings us to the main reason to buy Express Pass at Epic Universe: insurance.
Express Pass is basically a hedge against having one of those days. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s as close as you’re going to get to one for those 10 attractions. The reason it’s not a guarantee, at the risk of stating the obvious, is because the ride still has to be operational in order to redeem the Express Pass. And there have been some days when attractions have broken down in the last few hours of the evening and that was it–they were done for the day. But that’s an issue that’s downstream of all this.
If you only have one day to do Epic Universe, Express Pass is a good insurance policy against one of those operational meltdowns. With only one day to spend in the park, Express Pass is a safety net that buys you not just shorter wait times–but peace of mind.
Like the best insurance plans, hopefully you won’t need Express Pass.
This is to say that hopefully the day you visit will be one of the great operational days. Ride breakdowns will be minimal and attractions will be operating efficiently, to the point that most wait times–except the rides that exclude Express Pass, ironically–will be fairly low. You might even be inclined to have buyer’s remorse, thinking you “wasted” money on Express Pass. I mention this because it’ll undoubtedly happen for some planners who splurge on the service.
Just remember that it was unknowable in advance whether you’d have an operationally awesome or awful day. On balance, you are much better off not having needed that insurance and feeling like it was a waste of money.
There are a couple of alternatives to Express Pass at Epic Universe.
The first of these are fairly self-evident to diehard Walt Disney World planners. Take advantage of Early Park Admission (don’t be discouraged by heavier than expected crowds during this), which is available in Super Nintendo World, Dark Universe, and Celestial Park.
We highly recommend consulting our Early Park Admission at Epic Universe Strategy Guide: Beating Crowds in Super Nintendo World in addition to this post, because rope drop is one potential alternative to Express Pass. Otherwise, you can stay late, wait out the crowd, and jump into high-priority lines at the end of the night. You probably know the drill.
The other alternative is doing 2 days at Epic Universe as opposed to a single day with Express Pass. The cost is almost certainly going to be lower for buying a second 1-day ticket as opposed to purchasing Express Pass. Heck, you might even come out ahead buying 2 extra tickets as opposed to one day of Express Pass!
This is likewise an insurance policy. Once again, it does not guarantee a good day, but it increases your odds of one. The chances of two days of operational meltdowns are a lot lower than one day. And maybe you’ll luck into two great days!
Since Express Pass is more expensive than a second day in Epic Universe, this is an age old time vs. money dilemma. Which is more costly or valuable to you: your time or money? Obviously, that’s circumstantial, so I cannot give you a definitive answer.
I do plan on making the ‘argument’ for doing 2 days at Epic Universe very soon, as I think there’s a persuasive case to be made beyond insurance; what I will say now is that Epic Universe definitely is not a 2-day park in the traditional sense of the term. I’d also add that doubling your attempts at EPA is savvy.
I can share what we have done and are doing, as we’ve been faced with this dilemma twice already, making two different decisions.
For my solo visits now and in the future, I’ve opted against purchasing Express Pass and instead doing more days. Beyond these being “research trips” that benefit additional days and being ‘forced’ to use standby lines, I’d personally prefer more time in Epic Universe from an experience enjoyment perspective. I can’t get enough of the park and will always choose more days as opposed to efficiency. If I can’t experience something, oh well, I’ll be back.
Thus far, my approach has been vindicated. I’ve had nothing but great days in Epic Universe, and accomplished significantly more across multiple days than I would’ve during one day with Express Pass. Not just by a slim margin, but by orders of magnitude. With the benefit of hindsight, it was the right call. But it was a gamble.
For our first family trip, adding on days was not possible due to Universal’s vacation package and ticketing policies. So we added Express Pass. Honestly, even if the package would’ve allowed us to do multiple days in Epic Universe, we probably wouldn’t have chosen that option. The park has very little to offer our toddler, so efficiency is the name of the game.
Moreover, I’m not sure when Sarah will have a chance to revisit Epic Universe, making the insurance more valuable. Realistically, there’s a chance she won’t be back until our daughter is of a more appropriate age, or we have a winter visit with extra days to burn. (Even then, if it’s a choice between Epic Universe or “more Disney,” I’m about 95% confident Sarah will choose the latter.)
A mixture of Single Rider and Child Swap would’ve sufficed, but taking everything into consideration, a single day ticket with line-skipping was the easy answer for us. There are just too many operational wildcards with Epic Universe, and that’s tough for parents with young children.
I would hazard a guess that most people reading this are more aligned with our circumstances as a family as opposed to mine as a solo blogger doing research. Regardless, it comes down to your risk tolerance and where you come down in the time vs. money balance.
It’s also worth emphasizing that there’s another low-cost option: most rides at Epic Universe offer Single Rider lines. And not only that, but with the park skewing towards tourists during its opening season(s) due to a lack of local Annual Passholders, those Single Rider lines are the ultimate intersection of time and cost efficiency.
That’s hopefully enough to weigh and determine whether to purchase Express Pass at Epic Universe. However, I also wanted to briefly touch on the hotels, as this is always a hot topic when it comes to Universal Orlando and Express Pass…
When it comes to both the paid and hotel versions of Express Pass, there are a couple of things to note. First, Universal Helios Grand Hotel does not offer Unlimited Express Pass. This means guests staying at Helios Grand only have access to Early Park Admission, not line skipping at any of the three theme parks.
Second, Epic Universe does not offer Unlimited Express Pass, period. You cannot purchase it and it’s not available via stays at any of the Premier Hotels. While we eventually expect Epic Universe to sell Unlimited Express Pass, that day probably won’t come until 2026 or later.
We never expect Epic Universe to offer “free” Unlimited Express Pass with hotel stays. I’ve seen some comments from fans suggesting they’ll wait to do Epic Universe until that’s available. In which case, they’ll never visit.
The reason for both this and Helios Grand not offering Unlimited Express Pass is contractual. The current Unlimited Express Pass hotel perk is part of a deal Universal Orlando inked with Loews to entice them to be the hotelier at the resort complex. That deal does not extend to future parks or resorts (e.g. Epic Universe and Helios Grand), and Loews no longer has the leverage to extract such a commitment out of Universal Orlando.
Outside of Helios Grand, Unlimited Express Pass is available at the Universal Orlando’s top-tier Premier Hotels.
Guests who stay at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock Hotel, and Portofino Bay all receive Unlimited Express Pass included with their stay at no additional charge (including check-in and checkout days).
We hesitate to call Unlimited Express Pass that comes with hotel stays “free” since it’s arguably priced into the nightly rate. However, we’ve had some stays that literally cost less than Express Pass would’ve when paying out of pocket, so perhaps free is apt!
As a general matter, all three of these hotels are nice and on par with Walt Disney World’s Deluxe Resorts. If your budget allows for it, we’d recommend considering one of Universal’s Premier Hotels if you want the Unlimited Express Pass perk or a good location near the legacy parks or a cool luxury-caliber themed resort. If you’d be staying at a nice hotel anyway, this trio is worthy of your consideration.
See our reviews for photos, video, and comprehensive thoughts:
- Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando Review
- Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando Review
- Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando Review
However, if the question is whether you should splurge on one of these hotels or paid Express Pass at Epic Universe, I’m choosing the latter, without a doubt. There are a few reasons for this…
First, rates for those hotels have spiked considerably for the remainder of this year, to the point that they’re difficult for me to justify.
Second, I suspect that Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios are going to see lower crowds as Epic Universe absorbs all the oxygen in the room. Those parks are more of known quantities, so all of the above points about insurance are irrelevant. If crowds are lower at the older gates this summer, Express Pass simply won’t be as valuable at them.
Finally, I’d rather be closer to Epic Universe, which means staying on the new campus. That last point means staying at Universal Helios Grand Hotel if you’re splurging or have a bigger budget, and Stella Nova or Terra Luna Resort if you’re looking for a cost-effective option.
If you want experienced professionals to book one of these hotels for you or to help determine which Universal Orlando/Epic Universe vacation packages will work best for your family, we recommend requesting a free quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Universal Preferred Travel Agency.
Hopefully this has given you plenty to contemplate in order to make at least a semi-informed decision about whether to buy Express Pass at Epic Universe. For whatever it’s worth, most of the same underlying reasoning here also applies to VIP Tours. Those are available as a VIP public group or a VIP private tour and run for 4 hours for one park. Prices start at $299 per person plus tax, which makes the VIP Tours a non-starter for us. But if you want extreme insurance and mitigating risk further, that’s your best (and only) bet.
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be buying Express Pass at Epic Universe or sticking to standby? If faced with the time vs. money dilemma, would you choose 2-3 days at Epic Universe via regular lines or 1-day with Express Pass? Any other splurge you’d prefer? Agree or disagree with my assessment on the value of Express Pass at Epic Universe as insurance? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
I love a post on how to do this park without the very expensive Helios or Express passes the first week of December (Epic on a Saturday because Tom said that’s a good day and we have other plans earlier in the week). The other two parks are easy since we have done them before. We are staying at the Endless Summer Surfside (because the 2 rooms for a family are what we can manage). Is it better to take the bus early entry or are we better off taking a rideshare? My #1 area is Harry Potter. Thank you for any advice you all can give. There isn’t much out there.
“I suspect that Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios are going to see lower crowds as Epic Universe absorbs all the oxygen in the room.“
Keeping in mind that dynamics may or may not change now that local students are back in school, how did this shape up all summer long?
Thanks for the reports, Tom!
I’ve seen folks idealize Universal’s non-tech dependent approach to line prioritization services (as well as in the heated comparison of AAP/DAS). However I have found Express Pass lines at Universal much longer than Lightening Lanes. The merge points also seem much further back in the queues. Additionally, to my recollection, there are no estimated wait times at Universal Express entry points, rendering even non-phone strategizing impossible as there may not be a correlation between general wait times and Express wait times. I’m not sure why this is rarely mentioned…
It doesn’t really matter if Universal express is shorter or longer than Disney LL, it only matters if each express line is shorter than the standby for that ride. While any day can be outside the norm, we have had Universal express at least a half a dozen times and wait times have always been significantly shorter and often almost a walk on; there’s no there there with that argument which is why it isn’t mentioned. Also, if you ask the team member at the entrance they can usually give you an estimate. Plus even taking the phone issue out of the debate the fact that the Universal express is much easier to use (just show up at the line entrance and flash the pass whenever, and in the case of the unlimited pass you get at the hotels however many times you want) makes it an apples to meatloaf comparison.
Timing is everything. When we learned of Epic’s official opening date, we opted to skip WDW this year and immediately booked a Universal package for 2 adults with 1-Day at Epic staying at Royal Pacific Resort for mid-Sept 2025. So we got booked early and got great pricing. First, look at this comparison to the WDW package we did last year for Sept 2024 at Pop Century (a Value hotel).
– Pop Century – Sept 2024- 6 nights Std room, 6-Day Park Hopper Plus Option – $3328. Spent an additional $350 minimum on LLMP and ILLs.
– Royal Pacific – Sept 2025 – 6 nights Water View room, Unlimited days (so every day) Park-to-Park, including Volcano Bay and 1 Day at Epic Universe, with Unlimited Express Passes good from first to last day (n/a at Epic or VB)- $3524. Did not need to spend anything more.
So our cost for our Premier UOR package with all of the trimmings was just $196 more than our WDW Value package.
Once Universal opened up single day Epic tickets, we opted to purchase 1 additional day ($306 for 2 adults) because we didn’t think 1 day there would be enough time. When the Express Pass became available for Epic, we purchased it ($362 for 2 passes) to go with the extra day (mainly because of the many reasons Tom outlined in the article). Total additional cost for additional day and Express Passes – $668, but again, this was an optional decision by us.
I continued monitoring the UOR package price to see if it would drop since UOR hotels use dynamic pricing, and within 1 month after purchasing the UOR package, it was already $1500 more than what we paid, and not long after shot up to $2500 more.
So the nice thing about WDW hotels and packages is they “typically” only change once (maybe twice) a year vs the dynamic pricing of UOR hotels and the impact on packages. But if you time it right, man, you can’t beat the pricing for a Premier UOR package vs just a Value WDW package.
We did Epic at the end of July on a very hot day. I bought the express pass and we did the early entry for hotel guests. We rope dropped and headed with a, very large, crowd to ministry of magic first, then mine cart second, as they were not part of the express pass. We were able to ride everything and some things twice, depending on lines, before 3:00 pm that day. We did use the express pass to catch both shows as well. The stardust racer was delayed for more than 3 hours during the day so we chose to leave the park, eat dinner, and return for the evening. We rode stardust racer and caught ministry of magic one last time, then watched the water/light show on the fountain lawn at closing. I will say the express pass was a huge help in allowing us to ride everything.
Please clarify what is meant by “single use” Express Pass. Does that mean you have to pay well over $100 but can only use it on one ride? Or does the single refer to using it only one day, but for multiple rides?
I don’t use Lightning Lane at Disney both in protest to them getting rid of free Fast Passes & because as an annual passholder, I could come back another day, similar to your reasoning about your own individual experiences of Epic Universe. Since Epic Universe doesn’t have annual passes available yet, I might want to splurge for an express pass, if I could afford it.
Once per ride per day. You can choose how many days to buy it for.
And if you have park hopper tickets you can use it on all express rides (which is almost all of them) in multiple parks in one day and they reset for the next day. So if you have 3 day express for example, you get a one time use on each ride, each day, in each park.
Tom, great article and good to see the two big attractions added to the Express Pass roster for Epic Universe. In addition to your two recommendation, another “alternative” to the Express Pass would be the VIP tour, which at least in for the fall at the “base” package was a 4hr guided group tour that could theoretically hit all the attractions. Pricing varies and is prohibitive of course, but still much more affordable than comparable Disney VIP-type offerings. So any recommendation between the “new and improved” Epic Express Pass vs. 2 Days at Epic/no pass vs. Regular VIP tour? Much thanks.
VIP tours are mentioned briefly at the bottom. I don’t go into any greater depth because I’ve never done one at Universal.
Also, VIP tours just are not my thing in general so I can’t really offer a credible review. I have joined friends for a couple at Walt Disney World, and it was not for me. I can honestly say that I wouldn’t do one even if it were free–and I actually have declined free ones. But everyone is different, and we have friends who love them. That seems to be the norm, not my perspective.
I did the Shared VIP Tour at Epic a few weeks ago. It was the first time I’ve ever done a VIP anything anywhere. The only way to describe it is “very expensive,” but if we were to visit Epic again for the very first time, I’d probably spring for it again. In 4 hours, we did 8 attractions. During the rest of the day, we had a lovely sit-down lunch, re-rode 5 rides with the Express Pass we were given, and had plenty of time to do magic in Paris and play power-up games in Nintendo World. It turned out to be especially important as lightning (not rain) came into the area and after 6pm there were only 2 attractions running (Ministry was closed to capacity, so it wasn’t one of them). We didn’t do Fyre Drill (don’t like water rides) or Yoshi (waited for the sun to go down, but then never came up again after weather delays) or the Untamed Dragon show (didn’t get the timing right and they canceled a show we were lined up for), but we did everything else. I feared that I would regret spending that much for the experience. I didn’t. The number of rides plus the removal of the mental load on me (the family decision maker) was impressive; I actually got to enjoy my time rather than make sure everyone else was happy! We bought VIP long before Epic opened and we went on a random Tuesday in August, so the price, while very expensive, was in the realm of possibility. But some of the numbers I’m seeing floated now make me glad we bought the VIP in January.
” I’d also add that doubling your attempts at EPA and VL is savvy.” EPA is Early Park Admission, but what is VL? The only thing I can think of is Virtual Line, but I thought Epic had done away with Virtual Lines.
You are correct. I removed all references (and an entire section) about Virtual Line, but missed a stray instance of the acronym. Thanks!
Just want to clarify…
Staying at Hard Rock does not include even single-use express pass?
At the beginning of the article you seem to say that, but at the end it only mentioned unlimited.
Thanks!
Staying at Hard Rock (or Royal Pacific or Portofino Bay) includes unlimited express for Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios but nothing for Epic. No hotel stay comes with express for Epic, you have to buy that separately and right now you can only buy a one time use for Epic. If you stay at a hotel other than the above 3 then you can buy one time use express for any park or unlimited for the 2 original parks or one time just for Epic or whatever combo you want as a separate purchase.
I’m having serious second thoughts about my current plan, so I’d appreciate some help finalizing the details. I took your advice and booked 4 nights at the Helios Grand Hotel (July 7-11). Since I booked on October 22nd, I think I got a pretty reasonable price. This will be my first time at Universal Studios (I’m based in Costa Rica), so I chose a 2-Park 2-Day Park-to-Park PLUS 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Ticket, planning to visit one park each day on July 7, 8, and 9. We’ll be coming from 3 nights at Disney (July 4-7) and heading to 2 nights at Legoland (July 11-13), flying back home on the 13th. We’re two families, each with 2 adults and a 6-year-old.
After reading several of your articles, I’m wondering if I should buy an additional 1-day ticket for Epic Universe. That would mean spending 2 days at Epic Universe and one day at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure between the 7th and the 10th. How would you suggest we arrange the days? Am I overthinking this, and should I just stick with the original plan?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts!
Hi! Seeing that Epic Universe tickets are now sold out in early June, I’m wondering if anyone has heard anything about what the attendance cap is like for those dates? Are they still ramping up? Curious what kind of crowds to expect first week when we go.
Hey Tom,
Staying at Helios for a visit to Epic Universe in September. Any idea if we will be at a disadvantage during Early Park Admission compared to the guests entering from the front of the park? Specifically wondering if the guests entering the front of the park will get to Minecart Madness well before we can get there from the Helios entrance. Thanks!
Hi Tom!
We are going for a passholder preview date in May. Is either early entry (we are staying on site) or express pass available for the preview dates?
I don’t see how Express Pass for Epic is feasible for most families. For a potential trip our family of four is looking at for October, it is $880 plus tax (so $937) for all of us to get Express Pass! I can’t see many families saying okay to spending almost $1000 for Express Pass for a single day (plus the tickets themselves are another $757 for a grand total of $1700!) . If I were a solo traveler, the prices might be a bit easier to swallow.
The hotel rates are also astronomical, but that is another story…
If we do this, we are really considering staying offsite and hoping for the best.
We moved offsite due to costs and totally upended our strategy.
We had a package booked (4 nights) at Sapphire Falls until we began reading reviews and learned more on how Epic operates. We then cancelled those reservations and booked at Disney (SSR) and took advantage of the dining plan and price cuts. We already had 10 nights set up for Disney after our Universal trip, so this merely extended that and reduced our cost as we can use the dining plan for the most expensive meals at Disney. We also adjusted from visiting all the parks to simply purchasing 2 one-day tickets to Epic. No Express Passes. We will just maximize the full day and get to what we can, with a rest day between them (for Disney resort). We are hoping this allows us enough time to see what we want and experience the most desirable rides.
Hi Tom!
I am talking from Brasil.
I go on December with my daugther (8 yo) and my wife.
We go 2 days to Epic Universe, the first one with express pass.
My fear is, after spend a big money with flight and hotel, don’t have time to explore all the new park, this is why I decided to this way.
I think the Helios rates will also go up substantially once Universal offers multi day park hoppers. I was originally planning five nights in Helios, but switched to a split stay once I realized that under the current ticket scheme, we would have one day in Helios…followed by a lot of shuttle buses, a harder midday break (with a less impressive pool), less access to dining, and a view of a beautiful park we couldn’t enter! I changed our reservation to Portofino for the “legacy park” days of our stay. Once you could start every morning in Epic, then hop elsewhere, the calculus might change for me.
This is an interesting perspective, and you might end up being correct.
Personally, I think it’s equally likely that word of mouth about Helios is mixed outside of location and views (and only half of rooms have that). Anyone expecting a flagship resort, strong slate of amenities, or luxury accommodations is going to be disappointed.
You can get an Unlimited Express Pass for Epic if you do the Private VIP Tour, which is also 8 hours and includes meals. Obviously cost-prohibitive for many – we’d doing the regular VIP Tour in late August as we saved enough money hotel-hopping to justify the public tour price and to up our chances of experiencing everything this first year.
Thanks for sharing that! I know it’s several months away, but I’d be very curious to hear your report from that experience in a follow-up!
The rides at EU are mostly of the 2-across configuration, which is the least effective for single rider. I noticed them regularly filling an entire train with single riders on Stardust Racers, presumably as they’d waited longer than the regular queue – but I wouldn’t like to bet on that happening…
This is an excellent point, and one that I think is relevant during previews–and will be again in the longer-term once there are Annual Passes.
However, for anyone visiting from June through October (perhaps beyond), there will be decreased demand for the Single Rider line and also more variance in party sizes due to a greater distribution of tourists and far fewer locals.
You mentioned hotel rates spiking. You aren’t kidding. I’ve been tracking a few dates daily with an annual pass rate, and it seems like August/September have decent pricing but fall and winter are kinda bonkers. I mean, Hard Rock is a fine hotel and all, but it’s not $1000/nt, not by a long stretch. Interested to see how the pricing shifts (or doesn’t) once Epic really truly opens.
From what I’ve seen, their hotel prices have only been going up lately–even before Epic Universe.
We’ve made two reservations thus far for Helios Grand, one during previews and one for opening day–both made immediately when the dates opened. Both were considerably cheaper (like one-quarter to half) than prices are now.
My Club Level Park View Room wasn’t cheap–but I priced out going back again during the tail end of previews, and a standard room is now about the same price. And my first stay was Easter weekend, versus a return weekday visit in shoulder season. So that’s not going to happen!
We booked Helios Deluxe 2 queen beds for this November when bookings opened last October. 5 nights for $1900. That same room for those same dates is now $4100. I cannot fathom that being worth it.
Any idea how Universal hotel capacity looks for June/July? Keep waiting for summer room discounts and just doesn’t look like it is going to happen!
No clue at this point. I heard over a month ago that bookings are soft for summer, and haven’t received any updates since. People generally make travel plans well in advance and early reviews of Epic Universe haven’t been *that* glowing, so I would expect that to still generally be accurate. But it is a brand new theme park, so it could defy trends.
As for discounts (or the lack thereof), it’s entirely possible that Universal would rather run at a lower occupancy number with a higher nightly rate than the other way around.