My Excellent Epic Universe Experience

I just had my best day yet at Epic Universe, knocking out 20 rides, 2 stage shows, 2 casual restaurants, and 1 fine dining spot. All over the course of 14 hours from Early Park Admission to after park closing, while taking 38,007 steps, 30 flights, and 2,390 photos. Here’s how I accomplished it all without Express Pass, and how (maybe) you can, too!

One of the points we keep stressing is that Epic Universe’s opening season has been a wild ride. Universal’s new park has had sky-high wait times and crowd levels, but also rock bottom attendance and days with lots of walk-on lines and. There have been some absolute operational meltdowns, along with bona fide ‘best days ever.’

I’ve been incredibly lucky with Epic Universe, and have had nothing but great days. This is probably a big part of why I love Universal Orlando’s third gate so much, as my experiences have been unequivocally positive. To be sure, I have encountered some friction, and this day was no different. But being flexible and quickly pivoting when problems arise has helped me avoid disaster on several occasions.

Despite this, I’m quick to plug our rundown of Why You Should Skip Epic Universe. We recently returned with a refresh to that post, as our advice for the majority of tourists is to stay on the sidelines and wait until Epic Universe improves its operations and efficiency.

Even though I’ve been fortunate to avoid the worst of the high crowd levels, meltdowns and breakdowns, I’m very cognizant of these issues. I’ve watched them play out from afar, hearing from both friends and readers who have experienced Epic Universe on its worst days.

My previous days showed what could possibly go wrong with bad luck or poor planning, and my most recent visit really underscored this. Although I was lucky to have my longest wait in line be 13 minutes, I could easily see waiting much longer or subject to multiple ride breakdowns and queues dumped.

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 daily crowd levels and average wait times since its official opening three months ago.

Beyond the problems, Epic Universe has had high wait times throughout most of its opening season. Epic Universe set a record for its busiest day ever on July 16, when average wait times were 85 minutes and the crowd level was 10/10. There were back-to-back 80 minute days August 6-7. There have been several other days at or above 70 minutes, with daily lows in the mid-to-upper 40s.

Late June was the start of a stretch when weekly averages were 64-68 minutes for 6 consecutive weeks; with all but one week in the 64-66 minute range. For a park that is so inconsistent on a day-to-day basis, that’s remarkably consistent on a weekly one (courtesy of thrill-data).

Three out of the last four weeks have shown signs of improvement, with averages of “only” 54-57 minutes each week. Granted, any of these 3 weeks are worse than every week at Walt Disney World since the stretches between Christmas and New Year’s Eve in both 2022 and 2023 (61 minutes on each occasion).

Nevertheless, I’ve been predicting lower crowds at Epic Universe for the next couple of months for a while. First in our preliminary 2025 Epic Universe Crowd Calendar a couple months ago, and more recently in Epic Universe Ticket Trickery & Crowd Changes.

In the former, I shared the following when recommending when to visit: “I’m personally looking at the last couple weeks of August, coinciding with One of 2025’s Best Weeks to Visit Walt Disney World. Same idea applies to Epic Universe.”

And in the latter: “I’m cautiously optimistic that Epic Universe will have a weekly average below 50 minutes sometime in mid-September. At the very least, there should be certain days when the average wait time is under 40 minutes. Epic Universe has been close to that on the two most recent Sundays.”

Before we get too far, here’s daily wait times data for Epic Universe since it opened:

The day I visited should be incredibly easy to spot. It’s the only short green bar on the right side of the graph amidst a sea of yellow, orange and red.

You could say I called my shot, as the day I targeted over two months in advance turned out to be the least-busy day at Epic Universe since opening weekend, with a 32 minute average wait time and 1/10 crowd level.

If anything, this overstates how busy the park actually was; these numbers were on par with 3 previous days I attended, but the ‘feels like’ crowds (and even the actual wait times on most attractions) were far lower. The overall average was likely skewed by two big outliers, plus typical wait time inflation.

I’ll explain how I chose my day to visit in a bit, but first, I want to share everything I accomplished:

• Curse of the Werewolf (x2)
• Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness (x1)
• Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry (x2)
• Hiccup’s Wing Gliders (x2)
• Le Cirque Arcanus (x1)
• Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge (x1)
• Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment (x2)
• Stardust Racers (x7)
• The Untrainable Dragon (x1)
• Yoshi’s Adventure (x3)

A few notes and clarifying details to add…

The longest wait time on this day was Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness at 240 minutes. It was also the second, third, fourth, etc., longest wait with times ranging from 90 minutes to 130 minutes most of the day. There are only two times when its wait time dipped below an hour, after 9pm and during the many times throughout the day when it was down due to a supposed ‘Weather Delay.’

I say supposed ‘Weather Delay’ because this didn’t impact other attractions to nearly the same degree. Although heavy rain was in the forecast for several hours throughout the day, it only briefly sprinkled on a couple of occasions. There was one instance of lightning that did cause downtime (I can verify that this was legit because I saw the lightning beyond the park), that was also brief. No other attraction had a ‘Weather Delay’ beyond what I’d call the ‘Test Track Norm.’

By contrast, Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness was down 259 minutes. That verified number was actually lower than I would’ve expected if I just guessed; it seemed like the ride was down about half the day. Although I checked in on Mine-Cart Madness periodically, the wait times were always a non-starter for me until the very end of the day.

I went in with the expectation of leveraging Single Rider lines extensively, as I’ve heard from friends who went recently that those lines have been minimal even when standby wait times are over an hour.

In the end, I only used the Single Rider line twice: once on Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and once on Curse of the Werewolf. Technically, twice on Curse of the Werewolf, but on one of those occasions the ride went down right as I was at the boarding station, and I cut my losses and immediately exited. (I had only “wasted” 5 minutes at that point and felt it wasn’t worth the gamble when I could just jump in line again later with minimal wait.)

Single Rider lines were frequently closed, both when lines were too long but also too short. This was true with both Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness and Curse of the Werewolf (the former having a sign indicating the line was “at capacity”) on the high end, as well as Battle at the Ministry and Stardust Racers on the low end.

The longest I waited all day was 13 minutes, for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry in the regular standby line when the posted wait time was 20 minutes. (Honestly, my Single Rider wait for the same was probably close to about that long; although there was only one person in front of me, the load platform wasn’t firing on all cylinders.)

My shortest wait of the day was Yoshi’s Adventure at under 2 minutes. Please don’t judge me for riding this three times–it was for the photos. This was one of many attractions that were walk-ons, but it just so happens that was the fastest. It helped that no one in front of me was moving slowly and there’s no metal detector to go through.

My most productive stretch of the day was the ~25 minutes when I rode Stardust Racers back-to-back-to-back without grabbing my camera bag from the locker. I would’ve kept going to pad my stats, but I was feeling a bit off after that third ride. Guess I’m getting old!

This was also why Curse of the Werewolf closing its Single Rider line was a big blow. That roller coaster is much tamer and I rather enjoy it. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders would’ve been another option, but it was up and down in the afternoon and by the time it was a perpetual walk-on, I had other priorities.

Downtime and delays were not a pronounced issue during my day at Epic Universe.

To the contrary, I would say this was a below average day for breakdowns and weather delays. Not just for Epic Universe (objectively true, and by a noteworthy degree) or for new attractions (subjective, but I’ve been around the block and this is also fairly indisputable), but by normal ‘mature’ theme park standards.

Outside of Mine-Cart Madness and maybe a couple of other rides to a much lesser degree, it was a great day for ride uptime at Epic Universe. Between this and the low crowd, it was easy to observe the guests who were in attendance getting their ‘fill’ of a particular attraction, and then that being a perpetual walk-on (or close to it) by mid-afternoon–or a bit later, in the case of the rides that had downtime woes.

Even with the objectively great day for Epic Universe, I could see others having very different experiences than me.

If you started in Super Nintendo World, encountered the longest line of the day for Mario Kart and then moved on to Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness, which had a 240 minute posted wait before it went down, I could see that leaving a sour taste!

I could also see some guests who began in those two spots and then made more unlucky choices for rides 3-4 hitting a wall before the glorious afternoon even began. Especially if they had almost nothing to show for the day by noon, hit the peak lunch rush, and then saw a solid 3-4 hours of heavy rain on the radar.

The most important note was that I did not break a sweat knocking out all of these attractions. Don’t make the mistake of assuming that these are the unrealistic results of a speedy solo blogger and that you family couldn’t have accomplished as much. Although I do move fast, I didn’t on this particular day.

Epic Universe is still very much ‘new to me,’ so a big part of my days in the park are observing and capturing photos–nearly 2,500 of them! The above photo of Stardust Racers, for example, took almost 15 minutes to capture as I waited for the spot to free up and tinkered with shutter speeds for the right effect. And keep in mind that photos aren’t allowed on most Universal rides, so I wasn’t padding my stats by spraying and praying on Monsters Unleashed or Potter!

I criss-crossed the park multiple times for no discernible reason, except to see what congestion was like, the physical length of lines (I entered and exited several standby and Single Rider lines just to check things out), and take photos of random things. If we had a plot of my movements, they’d appear about as aimless as your average housecat. But there was a method to the madness…I think?

Regardless, here are my stats from this day at Epic Universe:

Beyond the 38,007 steps and 18.34 miles moved, note the 30 flights climbed. The first two numbers are on the high end of my normal days at Walt Disney World, but not abnormal. (If you’ve ever wondered how I eat so much theme park food, that is how.)

The 30 flights is not normal. There are days at Walt Disney World when I log zero flights per day. I’m honestly surprised that the number wasn’t higher. I could swear I climbed more flights than that; Stardust Racers and Super Nintendo World alone should’ve accounted for 30 flights!

In any case, my advice is to wear comfortable shoes. I started out the day wearing Brooks Ghost Max and switched to Crocs Lite Ride midday when it was supposed to storm. I love those shoes, but doing that many steps in them was just too much.

I also got really lucky with a great rate at Helios Grand Hotel, and I’m actually glad I booked that, as I took two brief midday breaks for coffee and a change of clothes (and shoes, as noted). Had the forecast been as rainy as expected, Helios would’ve been hugely advantageous.

As it turned out, I didn’t need Helios, but I was really happy with the hotel–more so than my first stay. It was nice insurance, sort of like Express Pass. (Speaking of which, I’m obviously very happy I didn’t overspend on that!) The alternative was Stella Nova, but I’m pleased to have splurged on this. For this stay, Helios was well worth it.

Another thing to note is that, were I not so fixated on taking photos and observing crowd and wait time dynamics for the sake of learning more and being able to write posts like this, I could’ve easily doubled my ride count.

If I would’ve just looped Stardust Racers all day, maybe I could’ve tripled it. This was a literal walk-on most of the day, and frequently dispatching with unfilled seats.

The number of rides I accomplished might seem impressive and unrealistic–and most days thus far this summer, it would’ve been–but on this particular day, I am positive that plenty of other guests exceeded my counts. Maybe you should be reading their recaps!

On the plus side, I have a ton of new photos and insights about Epic Universe to share over the coming weeks–so stay tuned for those as soon as I dig out from this trip!

In addition to the above attractions, I dined at the following:

• Spit Fyre Grill in 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 despite placing my order immediately and requesting the check shortly after my food arrived.

To be clear, it wasn’t slow in a bad way. The experience was fantastic from start to finish. (Watch out, Mythos; Atlantic is coming for your banner!) Just noting this because the whole jist of this post is how much I got done, and doing a fine dining meal in late afternoon certainly reduced my overall efficiency.

My biggest “fails” of the day were both of the dining variety, on the front and backend of the day. The first is that I didn’t do breakfast at Café L’air De La Sirène in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The really sad part here is that I went into the restaurant to capture empty interiors, but breakfast totally slipped my mind. It wasn’t until later in the day when consulting my list of things to eat that I remembered “Breakfast at Café L’air De La Sirène” was a thing…and the #1 thing on my list.

My other big fail was missing last call at Pizza Moon. I have been dreaming about a return visit to Pizza Moon since the first time I dined there, but with so much other new food to try and review, it seemed “irresponsible” to revisit a restaurant for fun. But when I learned they had to-go boxes, ordering right before park closing and taking the pizza home seemed like the perfect compromise.

And it would’ve been, had I not pushed my luck with one last night ride on Stardust Racers. (It’s just so good at night!) I completely understand why they close with the park, but I wasn’t alone with this idea, as there were countless other guests leaving the park with pizza boxes in hand–and a few others trying to enter the restaurant at 10:02pm. As a consolation prize, I grabbed a cone from Frosty Moon (which was open until 11 pm!), which was a sweet and refreshing way to finish the night.

Tips to Take Advantage of Low Crowds at Epic Universe

Fair warning: none of my recommendations are going to be truly groundbreaking to any experienced theme park-goers. Nevertheless, I’m going to “reiterate” them, as it’s easy for longtime Walt Disney World fans to become so set in their strategies that they’re second nature, and Epic Universe does throw a few curveballs.

My first big piece of advice is to pace yourself. This might seem silly and straightforward, but I have heard of so many guests hitting a wall at Epic Universe, and it reminds me very much of Disney’s Hollywood Studios in this regard. If you know you won’t make it all day and have to choose between Early Park Admission or staying late, stay late.

Seriously. Early Park Admission can be discouraging on a good day, and awful on a bad day. There are ways to take the path of least resistance and ensure that every EPA is a good one, but the temptation to knock out headliners can be too much.

Likewise, it’s incredibly easy to get downright discouraged by downtime and delays. If a ride breaks down, my advice is to cut your losses ASAP. I’d take this a step further and recommend making informed decisions before even getting into line for outdoor attractions. If the wait is ~120 minutes and there’s heavy rain on the radar in the next hour, even getting in line is a bad decision.

I feel for the guests that started this day in Super Nintendo World, waiting an hour for Mario Kart before getting in a 240 minute line for Mine-Cart Madness…that then got dumped due to a ride breakdown. I wonder what percentage of those people recovered and had an amazing day, and what percentage had a bad experience.

If it’s possible to have an awful experience on an awesome day, you better believe it’s possible to have the same on an awful day. Or vice-versa. Epic Universe really requires a go with the flow attitude and willingness to pivot. Spreadsheet planners need not apply, as no plans should be set in stone…or even clay.

Above I boasted that I “called my shot” when booking this visit a couple of months in advance. To be fully transparent, I actually moved it by 2 days once I realized I’d have more wiggle room and a longer visit to Florida. I knew this date should be great (pending the weather wildcard), but honestly, I had no clue it’d be this excellent.

As previously noted, the two days of the week with the lowest average wait times over the last few months have been Saturdays (#2) and Sundays (#1, by far). Friday is third-lowest. The easiest explanation for this is that Epic Universe single-day tickets are most expensive on weekends, so budget-conscious tourists are seeking out less expensive dates.

There’s less consistency for Mondays through Thursdays, and not enough data points to draw definitive conclusions. Statistically, Wednesdays and Thursdays have been worst, which could be a byproduct of tourists starting out their weeks at Walt Disney World, visiting a couple parks there, then doing Epic Universe. Or starting out at Universal’s legacy parks.

To that point, the rest of Universal Orlando is busiest on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, followed by Sundays. This is fueled largely by locals and Annual Passholders over the weekends, and then tourists being most inclined to visit on Mondays. Midweek is the absolute best time to visit the other parks, with average wait times bottoming out on Wednesdays.

This makes sense! Floridians work on weekdays, making weekends their best time to visit the other parks for Annual Passholders. But Epic Universe doesn’t have APs, and many locals have already gotten their “fix” of Epic Universe and are waiting for Annual Passes.

One thing to note is that as soon as Annual Pass sales or Florida resident ticket deals start for Epic Universe, this dynamic flips. Saturday and Sunday will become the busiest days of the weekend. Moreover, there are exceptions to all of the above when weather rears its ugly head. Nothing throws a monkey wrench into Epic Universe wait times like a stormy day!

Nevertheless, I would highly recommend visiting Epic Universe in the next month or two, especially on a Saturday or Sunday. This dynamic should only accelerate in the next three or so weeks. I can’t promise they’ll exceed my experience, but they should be in the same ballpark.

The bigger unanswered question for me is how long this will continue. We’ve warned that crowds are going to pick up during peak weeks from October through December, and I’d expect the dynamic to get worse throughout the heart of Halloween Horror Nights ‘season’ when regulars book trips for that. But early October (before Columbus Day) might be fine, as might early November and early December.

In fact, after this excellent Epic Universe experience, we’re now debating whether to visit as a family during our Christmas-time trip. We probably won’t, if only because time is limited and there’s more that appeals to Megatron at Walt Disney World, but it almost feels criminal to pass up this golden window of opportunity at Epic Universe.

Ultimately, that’s what this is about and why I wanted to describe my day in detail and implore those with flexibility to visit Epic Universe as soon as possible. What this excellent experience most reminds me of is the halcyon days of “Extra, Extra Magic Hours” at Walt Disney World that began almost exactly 6 years ago.

“Extra, Extra Magic Hours” were one of the last golden eras of Walt Disney World, a truly magical experience before several months of the most chaotic crowds we’ve ever seen in the parks. While this go-round probably won’t be followed up by a multi-month closure, we absolutely see history repeating itself with heavier crowds at Epic Universe.

Even if you’re a local sitting on the sidelines waiting for Annual Passes, you might want to consider re-allocating that upgrade cost to a single-day ticket and Florida resident discount on a stay at Stella Nova or Helios Grand. Future weekends will not be this excellent once APs roll out, and I would gladly trade a dozen mediocre days for this one excellent experience at Epic Universe.

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. For regular updates, news & rumors, a heads up when discounts are released, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Have you visited Epic Universe since the start of summer? Planning a day in the off-season or during Halloween Horror Nights? What did you think of wait times and crowds? Experience any operational meltdowns due to breakdowns or weather? Is it possible or probable that Epic Universe actually has even higher attendance from October through December 2025, or throughout 2026? Will you visit Epic Universe this year, or will you wait for crowds to settle down (in theory) in 2026? 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!