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Universal Epic Universe - New Florida Theme Park

Josh555 said:
Only just realised that there are no rapids or flume style attractions at Epic, odd decision that for an otherwise amazing looking park.

Perhaps there's one planned for future expansion, a Zelda boat ride would be great.
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There is a splash battle as part of How to Train Your Dragon called Fyre Drill https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/gb/things-to-do/rides-attractions/fyre-drill
So there is a water ride.


Zelda expansion is expected for Islands of Adventure.
 
Rides that aren't allowing Express passes at all:

Dragon Racer's Rally
Mine-Cart Madness
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

So 2 of the park's 4 main attractions won't be accepting them. 260 dollars for a one shot on each attraction and you can't use it on 2 of the major rides plus the flat ride in Isle of Berk.

Mental.
 
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For August 5 days of express across all 3 parks is £318 which would cover my two days at Epic and 3 days at the existing two parks. . It’s 1 ride per day. Spent enough so not sure would get it and always managed fine at the existing parks without express in August and as onsite for 9 days have plenty of time to visit the parks, as those 9 days are purely universal focused for park visits as Disney is the second half of the trip.
 
Maelstrom said:
For August 5 days of express across all 3 parks is £318 which would cover my two days at Epic and 3 days at the existing two parks. . It’s 1 ride per day. Spent enough so not sure would get it and always managed fine at the existing parks without express in August and as onsite for 9 days have plenty of time to visit the parks, as those 9 days are purely universal focused for park visits as Disney is the second half of the trip.
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Can't even get on that site to check. Just says paused.

How have you managed?
 
Benjsh said:
Rides that aren't allowing Express passes at all:

Dragon Racer's Rally
Mine-Cart Madness
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

So 2 of the park's 4 main attractions won't be accepting them. 260 dollars for a one shot on each attraction and you can't use it on 2 of the major rides plus the flat ride in Isle of Berk.

Mental.
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Yeah I’m not to worried about it. These rides are high capacity - also, 260 dollars is ridiculous; hopefully by design. What sucker is going to buy that? Here I was thinking £10 for a one shot was expensive…
 
The_bup said:
Yeah I’m not to worried about it. These rides are high capacity - also, 260 dollars is ridiculous; hopefully by design. What sucker is going to buy that? Here I was thinking £10 for a one shot was expensive…
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Lots of people will do- Disney and universal already sell their passes at those kind of prices and they sell out. Universal express for both the current parks (although unlimited) hits those price levels- a peak day like July 4th it’s currently £280ish for 1 days express at the studios and islands. The magic kingdom premier lightening lane + package which hits a similar price point has sold out on many dates over Xmas and during the current spring break period. Universal have had to pause sales

However having been many times to Orlando and never purchased any kind of express at universal I have always managed perfectly fine.
 
Just to add if you where a family of 4 and decided to visit epic universe for 1 day in June and add express for the day. It would cost £1500 that excluding the $35 parking and then food and any merchandise etc for the day.

Obviously multi day tickets bring the cost down when combined with the other parks.
 
Maelstrom said:
Lots of people will do- Disney and universal already sell their passes at those kind of prices and they sell out. Universal express for both the current parks (although unlimited) hits those price levels- a peak day like July 4th it’s currently £280ish for 1 days express at the studios and islands. The magic kingdom premier lightening lane + package which hits a similar price point has sold out on many dates over Xmas and during the current spring break period. Universal have had to pause sales
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Ultimately - the real money will be in the packages, if there are any. Maybe they makes the one shots really expensive to make the packages seem like a bargain
 
There are only 7 rides I'm really wanting to experience plus one show.

Of those 7 rides, 2 don't have express pass lanes. So I'd be basically paying £350 for our party of 3 to skip the lines on 5 rides, one time each. That's absolutely insane and needless to say we won't be spending it. Early Access will hopefully be sufficient for us to accomplish all what we want to do there.

Works out at £23 per person per ride extra.

I think we can all agree that's absolutely outrageous and those are the August prices which are much lower. May, June and July prices are obscene.
 
Fair play to Universal's marketing for this, especcialy the TM previews and the inevitable commotion that it would all cause on social media, I've gone from hoping I would go at some point in the next few years to practicaly having a trip booked for March next year - capitalist marketing at it's finest.
 
I've been watching a lot of the videos, I'll put all my thoughts in spoilers. Will touch on more or less the whole park so don't click if you want anything to be a surprise

The whole park looks great. This is likely my Disney Brain at work but I noticed a few issues with "sightlines" though it seems like those will be resolved once all the plants and trees grow a bit.

Stardust Racers looks spectacular.

There's a POV for Monsters Unchained and since it's a very dark dark ride it's very hard to tell what's going on, but (and chalk this up to Disney brain again) the animatronics in the preshow and the ones you can make out on the ride seem like the best ones ever made. The Frankenstein in the preshow especially is jaw-dropping.

The queue for the Ministry of Magic ride is also jaw-dropping. Looks exactly like the movies and the scale is incredible. Nobody has managed to smuggle out a POV of the actual ride yet but all the reports I've seen put it above Rise of the Resistance and likely the greatest dark ride on the planet. I'm more of a dark ride fan than a coaster enthusiast so I'm thrilled that Universal is putting so much effort into these rides, effectively making them the big draws for their new park rather than relying on big coasters. Love it. Also the whole Magical Paris area looks incredible.
 
I’m largely avoiding spoilers now prior to visiting in September, however as my investment in the Potter area is close to zero, I haven’t been quite as cautious, and have come across one or two things that are being wilfully overlooked when praising the area

1) Its still just Paris!

The exterior of the area is being praised as a huge achievement , however a 1:1 accurate scale representation of Paris is still just Paris, so it isn’t all that impressive and there’s very little in the way of magical details compared to Hogsmeade and Diagonal Alley

2) Clouded judgement

The interior queue is being gassed up for many reasons, but it’s hard to ignore that the much lauded “indoor clouds” are very clearly just projections on a screen. Where the “endless” ministry interior stops is clearly visible contrary to what many fans would have you believe.

Overall it strikes me that between the above points and various sight line issues, the park isn’t quite “perfect”
 
tayspru said:
I’m largely avoiding spoilers now prior to visiting in September, however as my investment in the Potter area is close to zero, I haven’t been quite as cautious, and have come across one or two things that are being wilfully overlooked when praising the area

1) Its still just Paris!

The exterior of the area is being praised as a huge achievement , however a 1:1 accurate scale representation of Paris is still just Paris, so it isn’t all that impressive and there’s very little in the way of magical details compared to Hogsmeade and Diagonal Alley

2) Clouded judgement

The interior queue is being gassed up for many reasons, but it’s hard to ignore that the much lauded “indoor clouds” are very clearly just projections on a screen. Where the “endless” ministry interior stops is clearly visible contrary to what many fans would have you believe.

Overall it strikes me that between the above points and various sight line issues, the park isn’t quite “perfect”
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Remember that it's still in technical rehearsals, they've got a bit more time to tweak everything before the grand opening.
 
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