Universal Orlando Resort (USF, IOA, Epic) Discussion Thread

[thepoint4life23]

I think we would have a better understand how everything will work by next week. 

Your question is valid and I would also like to know. Its harder to leave my family and stand in a 30-45 min line why they might be doing something way more fun with out me. 

I looked at VIP tour pricing and that might be in your budget but not for me. 

[Zand]

2 hours ago, bejackso said:

quick question on express passes. i am going to epic on thursday 06/05 and friday 06/06, open to close both days. i have my tickets and trip all planned out. HOWEVER, i did not think to buy express passes until now, and i see they are all sold out.

1. will they be available to buy day of inside the park?

2. if not, and we are unable to get express passes, how big of a deal is this? will we still be able to hit most the rides? i don't care about riding every single thing, just want some of the biggies (stardust, ministry, monsters, maybe 1-2 more).

any advice/thoughts on rope drop strategy and getting around the park would be appreciated. i realize that's probably been spelled out in this thread already but i don't have time to comb through it all.

Someone else will have to answer about the express pass end of things. As for question #2 obviously the crowds could be much different when the park is officially open compared to preview, but I pretty comfortably got on everything except HP in about 7 hours when I was there last month. My 2 cents...

1. If you don't have early entry, save Nintendo World and Harry Potter for later. These two are your early entry lands and the lines will be massive by park opening. I would recommend going to Berk first and then Dark Universe.

2. If Nintendo and Potter haven't died down yet, usually a good time to ride Stardust Racers. When both sides are open that thing chews through people. Seems like the line never gets much longer than 30-40 minutes.

3. I think 2:00 is roughly the time that the lines get more bearable in Nintendo and Potter. The last couple days I've watched Ministry drop from a 4 hour line to a 2 hour line by mid afternoon. If you don't care that much about riding it I would recommend saving it for last because you never know how much of your day it is going to ruin if it keeps breaking down.

4. I got lucky on Minecart Madness by catching the singles line shortly after it reopened. Like Velocicoaster and Hagrid it moves very slowly and closes often. The regular line is often insane too. But if you catch the singles line right when it opens it can save you over an hour, and unlike Velocicoaster you can actually see the line once you're in it to judge for yourself.

Ultimately the park has 11 rides. Dragon Racer's Rally is a ride you can do elsewhere if the line looks long (and it usually is because the capacity isn't great). Fyre Drill is usually pretty short. Wing Gliders is usually 45-60 minutes which is why I recommend going there early. Monsters Unchained rarely has a huge line and moves fast. If you check the app a few times you should be able to hit it when the line is 20 minutes or less. Werewolf is hit or miss, again if you check the app you can probably grab a 15 minute line, or sometimes it can be an hour. Carousel never has a huge line. Mario Kart is insane early but usually under 45 minutes later in the day. Yoshi never has much of a line. Minecart you need to play the singles game or be prepared to wait a while. Stardust usually under 45 minutes. Realistically you can do all of the above in 6-7 hours unless they really pump people into the park after opening day. Then there's the wild card of Ministry if it's a must ride for you. 

[bejackso]

thank you zand! this is exactly the feedback i was looking for. for further clarification: the rides we would like to do are: stardust racers, ministry, monsters, mine cart madness, wing gliders, curse of the werewolf. the arcanus show, carousel, and mario kart would all be bonuses if we can get to em. anything other than those i dont care about.

 

also do you know what the hours will be for the park? i can't seem to find this anywhere. i am guessing 9am-10pm?

[Zand]

They do have the hours in the app...mostly 9-9 on weekdays including the days you'll be there. For some reason they're not clearly listed on the website. 9-9 is kind of lame for a new park seeing as IOA is open till 10 those days.

Since you have two consecutive days what I would do is try to get everything done on day 1 that isn't Ministry. If things go well maybe you'll still have time for Ministry at the end of the day and your day 2 would be much more leisurely. And if you don't have time then at least you will have ridden everything else you wanted so you won't have to really worry about them on day 2. But long lines, breakdowns, and real life get in the way sometimes so your approach may very well be different!

[bejackso]

got it, thanks. i saw the hours on the app are 10am-9pm (early admission 9am). we don't have early admission so i am hoping 10am-9pm both days will be enough to do everything. i also want to go to the rooftop bar in helios to check that out as a "must see" item.

[prozach626]

On 5/19/2025 at 10:22 AM, prozach626 said:

Additional question: Does the express pass save you enough time to be worth it? I want to ride every coaster once, but take as little time away from my family as possible. If we're still talking 30 minute express pass waits on the last Tuesday in July, I'll skip it for better and more important memories with the three of us.

Edit: My question is in reference to Islands of Adventure.

Crap. Sorry. My Express Pass question was about Islands of Adventure in July.

[Chiselphane]

We went to the last Epic preview day on the 19th.   They are NOT ready for full opening.   I know its a preview yadda yadda but only 2 of the rides that we were even able to ride were fully operational and I dont see that changing in 3 days.

 

On 5/19/2025 at 9:29 AM, bejackso said:

quick question on express passes. i am going to epic on thursday 06/05 and friday 06/06, open to close both days. i have my tickets and trip all planned out. HOWEVER, i did not think to buy express passes until now, and i see they are all sold out.

1. will they be available to buy day of inside the park?

2. if not, and we are unable to get express passes, how big of a deal is this? will we still be able to hit most the rides? i don't care about riding every single thing, just want some of the biggies (stardust, ministry, monsters, maybe 1-2 more).

any advice/thoughts on rope drop strategy and getting around the park would be appreciated. i realize that's probably been spelled out in this thread already but i don't have time to comb through it all.

There were places to buy express in the park but if it's already sold out then I wouldn't hold out much hope, but it's at least worth a try.   Unless some miracle occurs between now and then I would say express is a must if Ministry, Mario Kart, and Donkey Kong are on your list.   We didnt get to ride Ministry because it broke down before it even opened, opened back up hours later for about 30 minutes, then was broken the rest of the day.   MK's standby line is SLLOOOOOWWW but you could see Fastpass people breezing through.  DK is similar but not as slow as MK.

If you have early access, don't go to Nintendo World, go to Ministry and hope it opens on time.

Bring an umbrella, the sun was PUNISHING especially in Celestial Park.