Epic Universe’s first month since the grand opening has been a wild ride. The park continues to see high wait times and crowd levels, but not necessarily attendance. The bigger story today is the operational inconsistency, with some rides quietly opening early and/or staying open an hour after official park closing as a ‘surprise & delight’ guest offering.
We’ll start by yet again making a plug for our rundown of Why You Should Skip Epic Universe. That was written during paid previews, but it has aged like a fine wine–for the most part. Admittedly, I did believe that the virtual queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry was going to stick around until October. I guess that was so abysmally-executed and garnering such fierce guest backlash that they had no choice but switch to standby.
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 crowd levels and average wait times since its official opening about a month ago.
At this point, your motto for Epic Universe for the next year or so should be: expect the unexpected.
The #1 thing you need when visiting Epic Universe is flexibility and a willingness to call an audible as policies & protocol change, attractions break down or operate differently, attendance levels fluctuate, and the park just generally throws you curveballs. (Think of Epic Universe as the Sandy Koufax of theme parks.)
If you are the type of planner who craves certainty, loves making spreadsheets, and mapping out minute-by-minute specifics of your day months in advance…maybe Epic Universe isn’t for you right now. (More broadly, I would recommend everyone abandon this type of planning for every theme park, Universal or Disney. Flexibility and spontaneity will always yield better results, and be less stressful. But you do you!)
Before we get going, we want to make clear that none of this is criticism of Epic Universe or Universal Orlando. (Well, for the most part–there are some operational decisions with which I vehemently disagree.)
This type of thing is to be expected with a brand new theme park, as Universal discovers what works and doesn’t, hears guest feedback, makes operational updates and improves ride reliability. It’s very much a part of the process. Anyone who was around Walt Disney World from late 2019 through early 2020 should recall the veritable roller coaster of changes for Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Now scale that to an entire theme park with several envelope-pushing attractions!
The big difference between then and now, and another reason you should expect the unexpected, is because there isn’t great coverage of Epic Universe. We were at DHS multiple times per week for rope drop, and we weren’t the only ones. Walt Disney World had Annual Passes back then, resulting in thorough coverage. Epic Universe doesn’t have Annual Passes, and bloggers (etc.) aren’t dropping ~$180 multiple times per week to cover changes.
Instead, we’re reliant on reports from cobbled together from social media, reader comments, etc. Aside from hearing feedback from readers who have visited Epic Universe recently, my favorite resources are thrill-data for wait times and the Universal Orlando subreddit. We try to keep you abreast of changes, but the fact of the matter is that we’re not on the ground with any degree of regularity. We’re reliant on word of mouth just like everyone else–so it’s worth keeping an eye on the Universal Orlando app and social media if you want more obsessive coverage.
Anyway, let’s go over the latest operational changes at Epic Universe.
Epic Universe Early Park Admission Changes
First up, the lineup is now different for Early Park Admission at Epic Universe. This started as being Super Nintendo World plus Celestial Park and then expanded to include Dark Universe, all of which we covered in Early Park Admission at Epic Universe Strategy Guide: Beating Crowds in Super Nintendo World!
There’s been yet another change. Here are the available attractions during Early Park Admission at Universal Epic Universe:
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
Yoshi’s Adventure
Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness
Stardust Racers
Constellation Carousel
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Curse of the Werewolf
On its face, this is a negative change. Over the last month, Mine-Cart Madness has the #3 wait time at Epic Universe, behind only Mario Kart and Battle at the Ministry. Taking it off the table exacerbates wait times at the two other Super Nintendo World attractions, and disproportionately Mario Kart since it’s the other headliner.
In practice, I’m not sure it’s such a bad thing. We have heard countless reports of Mine-Cart Madness having unpublished delayed openings. The attraction wouldn’t be operating until 10 am (or later) without notice, and guests would get turned away upon arrival. Worse yet, there were times when guests were allowed to queue up–sometimes for multiple hours–even though the attraction wasn’t operational.
As a bit of an aside, one of the bigger under-discussed complaints we’ve had about Epic Universe is that operations has an unwillingness to dump queues. The reason for this is because they don’t want to issue recovery (comped Express Passes) to everyone exiting the queue, multiple times over per day. That’s a valid concern with so many rides being unreliable from an “if everyone has Express Passes, no one does” perspective. Presumably, Universal is also worried about preserving shorter waits for guests who purchased Express Pass.
However, they simply should not be selling Express Pass at this point. The park as a whole is too unreliable and low-capacity for it (which is why several attractions are excluded in the first place). Moreover, I would rather have a not-so-Express Pass for future use than be stuck playing chicken in a queue for a broken down attraction that isn’t reopening any time soon. The guest experience should be balanced and, in my view, that’s the fairly obvious answer.
But wait! The plot thickens!
On multiple days, we’ve seen or heard reports that Constellation Carousel actually wasn’t opening during EPA, but was instead delayed until noon. Thankfully, this does appear in the Universal Orlando app (see above), so you should be able to check that before starting your day.
Also, you shouldn’t be prioritizing Constellation Carousel during EPA. Not only is it lower priority, but it’s better at night. If you have kids who can’t do much at Epic Universe, Yoshi’s Adventure during EPA is the play.
But wait again! This plot has more twists than the Mine-Cart Madness track!
There have been some days, including today, when Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness and/or Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry just open during Early Park Admission. The above screenshots are all from June 21, 2025. You’ll note that at the start, MCM and BatM weren’t posting wait times–and it indicated they’d be opening at 10 a.m. Less than 5 minutes later, MCM was open with a 25 minute wait. Another ~5 minutes after that, BatM opened to a 120 minute wait.
The best explanation for this is that Universal is trying to get Mine-Cart Madness and Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry operational as early as possible, but doesn’t want to advertise this since both are down so often to start the day. But if they’re up, they’re open.
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders “Popularity” Soars
Over the last week, the average wait time for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders has soared. Its all-time average is 48 minutes (#7 in Epic Universe), which is about what we’d expect on a normal day. The weekly average for Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is 110 minutes, which puts it at #3 (ahead of Mine-Cart Madness).
While you might be inclined to attribute this to the popularity of the live-action remake (they cast real dragons?!) of How to Train Your Dragon, that’s almost certainly not it. Wait times for the other Isle of Berk attractions haven’t really budged. Not even the Toothless meet & greet, which is what I’d expect to be most impacted by the movie.
Instead, it’s our understanding that Hiccup’s Wing Gliders has been operating very inefficiently. Most notably, it’s been down one load station for much (most? all?) of the week. This alone effectively halves the hourly capacity for the roller coaster, which explains double the wait time. Normally, cutting capacity in half doesn’t double wait times since more guests balk at the higher wait, so there’s probably a bit more to the story than that.
So What’s the Right Rope Drop Approach?
With so much changing, I’m honestly surprised that our Epic Universe Morning Strategy: Rope Drop Rides to Do & Avoid to Save Time is actually more accurate today than it was when we published it. Talk about a happy accident!
Here’s our advice for rope dropping Epic Universe in a nutshell:
DO: How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk
DON’T DO: Dark Universe or Super Nintendo World
ALSO DON’T DO: Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
(This is for regular park opening, not Early Park Admission.)
Avoiding Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is listed separately because this is a seemingly controversial take. You will find countless reports of people having great success with this approach. They aren’t lying! They are ‘suffering’ from a form of survivorship bias, though.
It’s absolutely accurate that starting at Battle at the Ministry can yield fantastic results. It’s also true that it can be a trainwreck. It all comes down to luck on the day you visit. Statistically speaking, Battle at the Ministry is both prone to the dreaded delayed opening more than any other ride at Epic Universe and an average wait time that peaks early and gets progressively shorter throughout the day. Objectively, the best strategy is to hold off on it until later in the day.
If you’re a gambler, go for it at rope drop. But don’t say that we didn’t warn you if you fail. And if you succeed, don’t assume your results are replicable. The safest approach to rope drop at Epic Universe is starting in Isle of Berk. If you’re a roller coaster person, an attractive option for both EPA and regular rope drop is simply looping Stardust Racers. I enthusiastically endorse this approach from a ‘fun and easy’ perspective, even if it’s suboptimal strategy.
Epic Universe Rides Open an Hour After Park Closing!
This one has ‘evolved’ over the course of the last couple of weeks. We received a few scattered reader reports that after Epic Universe moved to a 9 pm closing (from 10 pm for the first few weeks), the rides in Celestial Park–Constellation Carousel and Stardust Racers–were nevertheless operational (barring downtime) until 10 pm.
More recently, the entire park has remained open after 9 pm. Here’s a look at wait times from last night:
The big exception you’ll notice here is lines that are “at capacity.” (Quick aside: the same thing can happen with Single Rider lines.)
This is mostly a matter of attractions closing their lines due to sky-high wait times, as Universal doesn’t want to continue allowing guests into a line that’s already ~2 hours long all the way until 10 pm, and then have it take until after midnight to clear the park.
This approach to a ‘stealth’ extra hour does make sense for exactly the same reason. If guests are allowed to enter the Mine-Cart Madness, Mario Kart, Battle at the Ministry, or Hiccup’s Wing Gliders queues until 8:59 pm (as is the case), and any of those rides have 120+ minute wait times, it’s going to take until after 11 pm to clear the park, anyway. Might as well spend a bit more on staffing and keep other lines open, anyway.
Given its current average wait times, Epic Universe shouldn’t be closing at 9 pm in the first place. Park hours are criminally short and guest satisfaction is probably suffering to a degree as a result. This offers a partial solution for that. It’s kind of like a soft opening…but for existing attractions at the end of the day. A soft closing, I guess?
At the risk of stating the obvious, that last hour is a must-do. Across the board, those wait times are well below their daily averages. This is also subject to change. Universal Orlando could stop doing this next month, next week–even tonight. Since this is unpublished and unofficial policy, it could change at any moment without notice. So don’t plan on this if you’re visiting in August (and certainly not in 2026).
Regardless, you absolutely want to be at Epic Universe for the end of the night, whenever that is. Even if it means taking a midday break (or perhaps two table service meals in Celestial Park if you’re not staying near Epic Universe), you want to outlast the crowd and experience nighttime in Epic Universe. There’s something special about seeing the park illuminated, and you should be able to hang out in Celestial Park after even 10 pm. You might even be able to grab a drink or ice cream from Frosty Moon and enjoy it by the fountains–a satisfying end to a long, hot day!
Epic Universe Crowd Calendar
Finally, a plug for our Epic Universe Crowd Calendar. This is not a calendar of dates and numerical scores, so don’t go in expecting that. If you want predictions like that, just throw darts at a board–you’ll be equally accurate. Instead, we offer some rough rules of thumb:
Fridays through Mondays have lower wait times at Epic Universe thus far.
Epic Universe attendance will be below half-capacity on all dates throughout Summer 2025, and below one-third capacity on many dates barring massive policy changes.
Despite low attendance, wait times will fluctuate significantly and suggest above-average crowd levels on most dates–unpredictably so.
Epic Universe will have higher attendance from October through December 2025 than opening day through August 2025
Each of those points are explained in excruciating detail in the Epic Universe Crowd Calendar. The salient point, once again, is to expect the unexpected.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you visited Epic Universe this month? Did you experience any attractions being “secretly” open early or after park closing? What about unexpected closures, lines not being dumped despite downtime, or anything else discussed here? Will you visit Epic Universe this year, or will you wait for things to settle down and more operational consistency? 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!
