I really wanted to write this as a stream of consciousness about all of my feelings during our preview day at Epic Universe. The opening of this park is something I want to always remember. So if that means one person reads this, hi family, or it becomes a little diary of my time at the park I had to get it out there.
Do normal people tear up seeing a theme park for the first time? I don’t know and I don’t care because watching the story of Epic Universe opening has been such a amazing journey.
I remember Universal sharing that something epic was coming August 1, 2019. I wasn’t expecting a whole new theme park. Since then I have watched them break ground on the park and continue with announcements and development.
In October I purchased tickets for our summer trip and figured I would have to sit back with major FOMO when the park opened on May 22nd.
Three weeks ago the stars aligned and annual passholder preview days were the same weekend we were on spring break. Yes we would be in Myrtle Beach and it would mean an 8 hour drive to Orlando, then a 20 hour ride home from Orlando to New York (which we did in one day!), but it was worth it to step through the portals and experience the park before it officially opens.
So lets get into it with the good, the bad, and why I can’t wait to do it again.
Epic Universe Annual Passholder Preview
We were staying at Dockside for this trip and it is a solid choice for families, but we did something we never do on our trips-drove to the park. With it being a preview I didn’t want to risk any delays of the buses.
I am sure once the park is officially open buses will run smoothly but for this trip we wanted to control our arrival time so we paid the $32.00 and parked ourselves. I would have probably stayed at Stella Nova and walked if the price was less. For this trip I booked the least expensive option.
We left our hotel around 7:50am for the 10:00am early entry admission. At 8:04am we were waiting for the parking lot to open.
At 8:30am they opened the garage and we were in line at 8:40am. Security started screening people at 9:20am and I scanned into the park at 9:30am.
We saved family photos until later in the day and headed into the park.
Everything about this park is beautiful. I really made sure to take it all in and not feel the urgency of rope drop. I wanted to appreciate everything about this moment.
Hotel guests were directed through a line to the Super Nintendo Land Portal. I liked how they had an actual roped off line instead of the madness that can sometimes happen with Hagrid’s rope drop.
At 9:35am we were in the queue for Mine-Cart Madness (Donkey Kong Rollercoaster). They held guests until they started to fill the queue around 9:45am. Then we were delayed, which should have been a bit of foreshadowing for the day. 🙁
The delay did not last long. We were on and off Mine-Cart Madness around 10:30am and grateful the delay wasn’t terrible.
From there we skipped Mario Kart because it was delayed and headed to Stardust Racers. The wait was about 25 minutes and would run into our time to get a Virtual Queue for Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic.
Stardust Racer is an awesome rollercoaster. I am getting to the point where coasters are not really my thing anymore but you will want to ride this one. It is a little less intense than VelociCoaster but still has some serious thrills. I screamed the entire ride and can’t wait to experience this at night.
With a few minutes to spare we tried to get the Virtual Queue for Battle of the Ministry with no luck so we headed to Dark Universe to ride Monsters Unchained. There was a 130 minutes wait so we pivoted and did Curse of the Werewolf.
Curse of the Werewolf is a fun coaster that is not very intense but it spins making it a little nauseating. After this we headed back to Super Nintendo World for lunch at Toad Stool Cafe.
Toad Stool Cafe is adorable and I will have a full review out about it soon. The sauce is on the spicy side but overall we liked our lunch.
After Toad Stool Cafe we purchased the Power Up Bands so the kids could use them in the land and in the queue for Yoshi’s Adventure. The bands ended up being a huge hit. So many interactive ways to use them throughout the land.
At this point Monsters Unchained, Mario Kart, and Hiccup’s Wing Gliders were delayed. The delays really impacted our day and it made the other wait times balloon to much longer than typical.
I know visiting on a preview day is a risk but it was super disappointing to have so many rides and attractions down for our visit.
At this point we decided to go explore How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk and this is one of my favorite areas of the park. There is so much to see just walking around and I really want to go back and spend more time there.
The family rode Dragon Racer’s Rally while I walked around a bit. Hiccup’s Wing Glider was still delayed so we decided to watch The Untrainable Dragon show….that was delayed and not fully ready during the performance.
The show is really well done but the big surprise was not working. We will definitely want to see this next trip. While in line we randomly saw someone secure a Virtual Queue and gave it a try. We got one!!!
This was not during a drop time but from what I am hearing the times are random and if someone cancels they can show up in the app. Be sure to keep refreshing if you want to ride Battle of the Ministry.
When the show ended we made our way to the Ministry of Magic which truly feels like you are stepping into Paris, France. It is stunning.
The Harry Potter and the Battle of the Ministry was super immersive. From the minute you enter the Metro and through the queue and ride. It is really well done.
With that being said I got very motion sick on this ride. 4 out of 5 of us did. Next time I will take something to prepare for the motion sickness but I was really surprised by this and it impacted the rest of our day at the park.
The ride is a mix of animatronics and screens. Guests are in a carriage the moves up and down and the cart moves side to side. I will ride it again because it is really great but be prepared.
After this we headed to Mead Hall to have some dinner and (hopefully) settle our stomachs. We were really starting to crash and tried to pull it together for the rest of our time at the park.
Mead Hall was delicious. It was my favorite meal of the day. I will have a full review on it in the upcoming weeks so check back.
After dinner we did Constellation Carousel which was a nice ride but will be better at night. At this point we were still feeling a bit sick so we decided to call it a day. As we were almost to the exit we saw that Hiccup’s Wing Glider opened.
It was like rope drop all over again. Every person in the park started walking that way. I think it ended up being a 45 minute wait and was 90 when we got off. People were waiting for it to open.
Then we tried to do the single rider line for Mine-Cart, it was closed, so we got in the single rider line for Mario Kart. We waited about 15 minutes before a delay was announced.
There was audible groans from the people in line. At no fault of Universal there were so many delays at the park. It is to be expected during a preview but it is disappointing. This was not a free event, we paid basically regular ticket prices to visit.
I do not want to complain but am sharing to help others with what to expect. I am very grateful that we could visit Epic Universe before official park opening but it was really a bummer that we missed out on so many attractions.
With that being said I can’t form a true opinion of the park. Capacity, delays, and previews mean it is not the same experience as when the park is officially open.
I think theme park fans are going to love this park. At opening it will have 11 attractions open and people may think it is a half day park. If you only do the rides, maybe it will, but I wouldn’t suggest it.
Epic Universe is going to be a park to savor. It is a park to get lost in and appreciate the details of Vikings Village and dine on the streets of Paris (in Orlando). The wait times are going to be busy this summer and having a plan will be helpful but I would recommend saving time to take it all in.
After experiencing the preview and having a few days to recharge I can’t wait to get back. I know a bit more about what to expect and how to plan our day. I will be writing up an Epic Universe itinerary. This will be the plan we will use when we go this summer.
If you got this far in my ramblings about the parks, thanks! I am excited to get back and dig in more to bring you lots of info and planning tips for your trip to Epic Universe. Check back often because there will be a lot of Epic content! 🙂
Leah has been planning and writing about Universal trips since 2016. She loves finding the best places to eat and stay during her visits to the park. Leah enjoys the little details that make visiting the parks so immersive and special, and sharing that with her readers.
