Losantiville Mining Co. Posted April 29 Share Posted April 29 This is something from Universal Hollywood, but I don't know if there's a topic for that. I've been noticing a few videos/posts from Universal Fan Fest Nights that include Star Trek characters as part of a Star Trek experience there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted May 1 Share Posted May 1 On 4/29/2025 at 5:52 PM, Losantiville Mining Co. said: This is something from Universal Hollywood, but I don't know if there's a topic for that. I've been noticing a few videos/posts from Universal Fan Fest Nights that include Star Trek characters as part of a Star Trek experience there. I saw that as well! Here’s the link to the event page (it’s a limited time thing) https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/hhn/en/us/things-to-do/entertainment/ffn-star-trek Years and years ago (prior to Paramount purchasing the KECO chain) USH used to have a Star Trek attraction—if I recall correctly, it was a live show? EDIT: Guess I could have just done a 2-second Google search before posting Here’s a link to some info about that older Universal attraction: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek_Adventure 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted May 21 Share Posted May 21 Epic Universe has its Grand Opening tomorrow, May 22nd, 2025! This park has looked great so far through everyone's pictures and videos. Everyone who worked on and in this park has done an awesome job and I can't wait to see what the future brings for this amazing new theme park! The Grand Opening Celebration livestream is happening now and will probably continue tomorrow, so go watch if you'd like and get hyped! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted May 21 Author Share Posted May 21 9 minutes ago, Losantiville Mining Co. said: Epic Universe has its Grand Opening tomorrow, May 22nd, 2025! This park has looked great so far through everyone's pictures and videos. Everyone who worked on and in this park has done an awesome job and I can't wait to see what the future brings for this amazing new theme park! The Grand Opening Celebration livestream is happening now and will probably continue tomorrow, so go watch if you'd like and get hyped! I’ll be there! Just got word that all hotels down here have dedicated lines to epic so we will be there as soon as possible tomorrow am! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 We just returned from two full days at Epic Universe. Monsters Unchained and Harry Potter Battle at the Ministry are two of the best dark rides in the world. The dining options are very impressive with many tasty (and very photogenic) offerings. Epic Universe is a wonderful addition to Universal Orlando and the world of theme parks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Well, opening day at Epic today. From lots of live streams I've been watching from 7:30 this morning, SO many people are trying to get on Battle at the Ministry. Not too long ago, Battle at the Ministry was posted at 300 minutes (5 hours). Meanwhile, Monsters was a walk on an hour ago, and Minecart Madness is only about 25 minutes! It seems everyone is at Ministry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted May 22 Author Share Posted May 22 The rest of the park is barely even busy. We did Frankenstein, Werewolf and Hiccups with walk ons essentially. Just got to pizza moon the Ube pizza and pizza nicarossa? Is AMAZING! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Pizza Moon is something special. That interior is incredible (and the pizza is crazy good too)! We found that when the queue was open for Battle at the Ministry is tended to pull a bunch of guests that way leaving the other attractions relatively quiet. The biggest issue was attractions switching to "delayed" status, but we managed to just pivot to whatever was open at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 One thing I've heard is that Pizza Moon is mobile order only. Is that true for any of the other restaurants at Epic Universe? I already don't like needing to use my phone for everything, so it's unfortunate that there's not another ordering method readily available. All of the food looks really good though! If I ever get to go, I think I'll be super happy with whatever food I get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 Pizza Moon and most (if not all) food locations at Epic Universe have a place to order with a team member. Many of the larger ones appear to have been designed and built with the traditional counter-ordering setup, perhaps a nod to how much of the park was designed before 2020 made mobile ordering more common. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 Thank you for the clarification! I may have either misheard or saw something that was only true for one of the previews. My other issue with a lot of places that force mobile ordering is that you can't use cash; although the mighty dollar bill seems to be hard to use at any theme park these days. I'd rather just let my friends/family order everything and give them cash in return. The pizza looks awesome! I've been thinking about trying to make one of the mac and cheese bread cones at home to see what it's like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted May 23 Share Posted May 23 With so many international guests there is still a need for cash transactions at the Central Florida parks. The mac and cheese bread cone was very good, although it is less of a cone and more like half a large hoagie roll. It kind of reminded us of the "everything" bread at DiBella's Subs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted May 24 Author Share Posted May 24 I’ll post a full breakdown later but just a snip of where I’m at: 1. I’ve ridden every attraction at Epic now, Monsters Unchained the Frankenstein Experiment is arguably the best ride here. 2. Save Ministry till the end of day or around lunch, quoted 90 waited 35. 3. Stardust Racers is a brilliant coaster, green is more air time and intensity focused while yellow is more speed and flow. 4. Helios is the best resort on property and the Athenian Punch is immaculate. 5. the Opening Day ticket has a digital medallion, it’s a NFT, which requires a wallet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 Memorial Day Weekend is now officially over, and it seems that Universal had an Epic hit with their new theme park. I've seen SO MANY good reviews, but I think that might be because of the EXTREMELY low crowds. Hardly anything gets over an hour except for maybe Ministry (without breakdowns of course). I even heard that crew members of Monsters Unchained were letting people stay on the ride because there was no line! Opening week seemed like a good time to go to Epic, if you could get tickets. I know Universal is very much limiting capacity at Epic, and I am curious to see how long they limit capacity or if they will slowly let more and more people purchase tickets. It seems Universal was very smart about how they attacked the first few opening days of Epic. Small crowds, low waits, and pleased guests (at least for the most part ). Epic Universe is receiving some high praise, and I hope to see that trend continue through June! Also as a side note, I'm glad that Universal was able to get rid of the Virtual Line system for Ministry, as that system didn't work out the greatest. More people are getting to ride it, which is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 From checking wait times for the past week or so and watching TONS of videos from YouTubers, it seems that Universal has been letting more people into Epic Universe. Wait times are getting higher (at least in the park...the app wait times are usually higher than they actually are). From what I've heard, Express does save you lots of time in rides, except for maybe Monsters, which never really has a long line. But, super pricey. I think if you bought one today it would be around $300 for just 10 attractions (all the attractions you can use Express on) Single rider lines are available on most attractions, including: Mine Cart Madness Mariokart: Bowser's Challenge Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment Curse of the Warewolf Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry Stardust Racers Hiccup's Wing Gliders But, some of these single rider lines aren't always open...Battle at the Ministry and Stardust Racers are the two rides that have the single rider line closed most of the time. But those rides that do have single rider the day you go, it saves A TON of time compared to the regular line. Monsters Unchained is not usually a really long line, but the single rider line can be a walk-on sometimes, because there is just no one in the line. But some rides that have a single rider line, the line often skips major parts or all of the queue, which Monsters Unchained has a great queue that you should not miss! Overall, the single rider lines are a great way at Epic to save time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losantiville Mining Co. Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 I'd love to see more single rider lines at parks across the US since they work so well for the most part! The only downside is people who use it as an express lane and get unreasonably mad when their party is split. Kings Island could definitely use a few on coasters like Banshee and Orion since they have those 4-across rows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted June 19 Author Share Posted June 19 After being at the park for a full week and really taking some time at some other parks here are a few thoughts. Epic, is arguably going to be the biggest fish in the theme park industry for the next decade for how advanced it is. The food, rides and hospitality are blended effortlessly with cutting edge technology and actual creativity. There are a lot of Universal original staff members at Epic, but also a pretty good contingent of Disney crossovers. If you are planning on going to Epic, take some time, give yourself a few days at the park and really enjoy yourself. If you want an extra day or a few extra days all universal hotels had tickets when I was down there a few weeks ago. Dark Universe is arguably my favorite section, it's every horror fan's dream and they aren't done with it yet. The fact that USO is already starting on the expansion pads moving forward is wild to me but a strong belief that the park has so much potential. I went to USO, IOA, and every Disney park after my visit and felt so underwhelmed after my experience at Epic. I'm going to post a full review of the park in the next few days but I can't help but say bravo USO for creating such a unique product. I'll be back down in July and then in September, October & December or November so I can't wait to see what they bring to the table moving forward. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 For those who have been to Epic, (maybe @BB1 and @jzarley could share some of your thoughts after your visit?) how do the lines in the park compare to the wait times on the app? Are the posted wait times accurate or longer than the actual wait? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Except for Battle at the Ministry and its usual downtime we found most of the posted waits to be longer than the actual waits during our visit in May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB1 Posted June 23 Author Share Posted June 23 5 hours ago, Diamondback_Is_King said: For those who have been to Epic, (maybe @BB1 and @jzarley could share some of your thoughts after your visit?) how do the lines in the park compare to the wait times on the app? Are the posted wait times accurate or longer than the actual wait? I’ll ditto what Tim said, posted usually was less. Even ministry was quoted an hour and we got on in 45 min. Monsters keeps a low wait time due to the nature of the attraction. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 Monsters Unchained is a real people-eater (and not in the monster sense of actually eating people ) so the wait is almost always reasonable. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 7 hours ago, Timchat2 said: Monsters Unchained is a real people-eater (and not in the monster sense of actually eating people ) so the wait is almost always reasonable. I picked up on that pretty quickly Thanks for the answers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timchat2 Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 No problem! While Epic Universe certainly has its share of impressive attractions, the park is best when savored across a couple days to just take in all the vibes and details. In a way Epic is a bit like Epcot with a bunch of pleasant corners to eat, drink, and hang out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 I was back for my third visit last Friday (6/20)—but my first since the park was “officially” open. I had purchased Universal Express for this visit, so my wait time experience this trip probably doesn’t say a whole lot with the exception of Ministry and Dragon Racer’s Rally (decided to skip Donkey Kong this visit—rode it during the AP preview and didn’t love it—especially not enough for the posted wait times). We got in line for Ministry a little before 10a and the wait time was posted at 90 minutes. I’m pretty sure we had at least one break down while in line (still outside), and couldn’t hear the announcements very well (but, the line completely stopped moving for about 15 minutes). However, once the line started moving, it moved at a pretty good and consistent clip. With a 90 minute posted wait time even with the suspected break down we were on the ride in about 70 minutes. (We also had a break down *during* the ride as well—for about a 10 minute stop before resuming.) Dragon Racer’s Rally was posted at 50 minutes (we rode after a weather delay and only one side was operating for the first part of our wait) and it took every bit of that 50 minutes (probably closer to 60)—that ride is a SLOW loader (and personally, I think should probably have at least three—if not four—“arms” for the attendance Epic will have). On another note, I saw both live theatrical shows for the first time. Both were impressively staged, but The Untrainable Dragon’s story was pretty weak. Le Cirque Arcanus was fantastic—impressive both technically and from a story perspective—I haven’t seen a theme park show that good since I saw Festival of the Lion King for the first time years ago. (I also saw “Villains” at DHS this weekend too…pretty “meh” on that one ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 A little tip for Epic: look at wait times at "closing" time and a little after... That's all I'm going to say. I've been checking every night for the last 4 nights and noticed something after the park "closed" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerColt Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 Took my family down to Florida for a 10 day Disney/Universal trip and saved Epic Universe for our last two days. It is a beautiful, and true to its name epic park. It has some flaws, but I think over time it will grow to be one of the best parks out there. I will warn those who plan to travel down: be prepared for lots of exposure to the elements. It’s a new park, so the trees are very young. That means no shade in a lot of places. The summer sun is very unforgiving for those who don’t have a tolerance for it. Nintendo World is stunning but especially lacks in shade. Prepare for rain! One major downside to the park is the fact that lightning shuts down pretty much all rides in the park except for Mario Kart, Monsters Unchained and Battle at the Ministry. Keep that in mind for those afternoon storms during the rainy season. For our trip, we attempted to ride Stardust Racers and Hiccup’s Wing Gliders throughout the day and each time lightning would shut them down. I had almost given up hope when miraculously right at the final hour of operations they reopened them. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders might be for family riders, but it deserves a seat in the world class section of roller coasters. It is simply one of the most fun rides from start to finish. And Stardust Racers? You guys have to ride it at night. It makes the entire experience much more impactful. One of the best night rides of my life. The trains glow and sparkle, so as you’re racing you truly feel as if you’re in a powerful dance / ballet with the other train. Simply magical! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback_Is_King Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 @RollerColt-Loved to hear your experience! I will be up there in August for the first time (to Epic) and I can't wait! I will be at the other parks, but I've been to them so many times (40 times roughly in one year. I used to have a season pass when I lived in Florida). Couple of questions if you don't mind me asking: 1. Which food places did you enjoy most at Epic? 2. What was your favorite ride? 3. Did you participate in Early Entry for Epic? What did you do first and how did it go? 4. Weird question: What time did the park close when you visited Epic? If it was at 9:00, did some of the rides stay open until 10:00? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerColt Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 10 hours ago, Diamondback_Is_King said: @RollerColt-Loved to hear your experience! I will be up there in August for the first time (to Epic) and I can't wait! I will be at the other parks, but I've been to them so many times (40 times roughly in one year. I used to have a season pass when I lived in Florida). Couple of questions if you don't mind me asking: 1. Which food places did you enjoy most at Epic? 2. What was your favorite ride? 3. Did you participate in Early Entry for Epic? What did you do first and how did it go? 4. Weird question: What time did the park close when you visited Epic? If it was at 9:00, did some of the rides stay open until 10:00? Hey buddy! Great questions! 1. We had Pizza Moon for lunch. It was our favorite food of the day. For dinner we were in Le Gobelet Noir, had the beef stew which was decent. Naturally had butter beers to wash it down. For a snack we had the viral Mac and cheese bread from Berk. It surprised us how good it all tasted! 2. It’s a tie between Hiccup’s Wing Gliders and Stardust Racers. Wing Gliders is so good, so fast and smooth. The theme and scenery are perfect. Stardust Racers at night is almost a life changing experience. The ride just gets better and better as it goes on. 3. We stayed at the Grand Helios Hotel which gave us our own special direct entry into the park and early access. I highly recommend it for that feature alone, even if the views from the non-park side are not good. We rope dropped an hour early (9am) and went straight to Donkey Kong. It’s easily the longest wait on average throughout the day so it’s a good idea to get it done first. Then we went straight to Battle at the Ministry. We managed to get those two rides done before 11, which gave us the rest of the day to explore. 4. The park according to Universal “closes” at 9pm, but they’re actually keeping the whole park and rides open until 10. This is the time to get in the big roller coaster rides. The wait times for us was almost walk on. From 9-10pm we rode everything we wanted to. Excited for you! I can’t wait to go back already to Orlando! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 On 7/5/2025 at 7:31 AM, RollerColt said: Hiccup’s Wing Gliders might be for family riders, but it deserves a seat in the world class section of roller coasters. It is simply one of the most fun rides from start to finish. I could not agree more with your assessment of Wing Gliders! By far it was the most pleasant surprise for me in the park—I thought it was going to be a boring coaster, but instead it really reminded me a lot of the same qualities that Hagrid’s has at IOA. I guess on the flip side, Mine Cart Madness was my biggest disappointment—I had a lot higher hopes for that ride than it actually delivered 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RollerColt Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 4 hours ago, jzarley said: I could not agree more with your assessment of Wing Gliders! By far it was the most pleasant surprise for me in the park—I thought it was going to be a boring coaster, but instead it really reminded me a lot of the same qualities that Hagrid’s has at IOA. I guess on the flip side, Mine Cart Madness was my biggest disappointment—I had a lot higher hopes for that ride than it actually delivered It really is a well done coaster, and I still think it’s right up there as the best ride in the park. And yeah, DK was a bit of a let down. My wife hated how rough it felt. I’m very happy I didn’t wait 2-3 hours for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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