We are planning for a trip in February, and have a couple days at Epic. I realize that the data is not going to be accurate, but right now it seems COMPLETELY wrong. The wait times are like 3-4 times lower than expected based on wait times we are seeing.
Also, the UOR app is very…uh…awkward to us. It doesn’t feel like it has really been used by the team. (One small example, when selecting who is going on the trip, Infants is actually listed in the pop-up as “Infanten”. )
Wanted to bring this up because I am hoping it is updated soon based on recent data.
I did a quick mock up. Just to see what I could fit in a day. Apparently I can do the whole park, including shows, with Express Pass in 6 hours. That includes 2 meals and a break. Riiiiiggght.
I put a 20 mins break every 2 attractions. It turned out much more realistic. I just can’t see us getting through EVERYTHING in 1 day. We even set walking speed to slowest. AND weren’t using early entry.
Here are two simple plans that I created awhile back to look at a different issue. They were created using strictly the Web interface. Could you recreate these using whatever interface you are using and post the results. Also, what is the source of the wait times you are using for comparison?
I used both the website and the app for our trip 2 weeks ago and it worked for what I needed. TP wait times have always been overly optimistic since the pandemic in my opinion. Even for WDW. I think if you want a touring plan you’ll have to watch waits daily and build it yourself. When I built in my own breaks it got pretty accurate.
I will also say that the staff, including Len, were incredibly quick to respond to technical feedback. For example, the Viking Training Camp was messing with my plan no matter where I put it and it would never work for a duration over 20 minutes. They fixed that right away. They also fixed some issues with closing times for certain attractions.
I have also been going back and forth with David regarding the issue of Universal opening attractions before their stated opening times. I have provided some feedback and he understands the user story, but I don’t think they have figured out a good technical solution yet. But he’s kept me posted!
I don’t really like to be too critical of the TP team. They are highly appreciated, and I’m thankful for what we have because of them. But this was the first time that I’ve really, in any practical way, gotten a chance to use the updated app for UOR, so I was just surprised by some of what I experienced. It wasn’t like there was a huge number of items I noticed…but since the focus of the redesign was usability (UX), I had expected it to be a bit more refined, I guess.
For me, though, the NUMBER ONE issue really comes down to the fact that if the predicted wait times are not somewhat reasonable, the entirety of the app becomes worthless to me.
With the old version of the app, even then, I found the wait times in the Universal app was ultimately better that what was in the TP app…but where the strength of the TP app (and website) lies is in PLANNING. I never expect a plan to be perfect, but it is certainly better than me guessing number or having to analyze gobs of data out of thrill data or something. So, I feel it is worth reporting that the numbers for wait times when I optimize don’t seem to be anywhere close to aligning with what I’m seeing when I look at the Universal app for actual posted wait times.
Even with Express? I’ve never been to Epic so I may be way off base, but I’m planning on us spending about 9 hours at Epic and have expected that with Express Pass we would be able to experience the 10 express pass attractions and 2 shows. Should I re-evaluate?
@ryan, did you contact TP about an issues? I know @melcort10 posted how responsive David has been for issues. I have had the same experience with David multiple times over the years. For the WDW app I have been in contact with Brad. I have an unusual issue due to having too many stored “chats”. He was immediately responsive and made adjustments to address the issue.
In theory, you “should” be able to get through everything in one day with Express pass. When I went last month, there were weather closures, unexpected closures, really long lines even in the Express line, HP show shut down a few minutes in and we eventually had to “evacuate” the show, Mine Cart was closed all day, etc. If weather is not an issue the day you go and all attractions are running smoothly, then Express should get you on everything.
I mean, maybe? But we are slow movers. We rest. We take time to eat and we aren’t open to close. I like to get to shows early. I thought I reflected that in my steps. I just think the wait times are 2 to 3 times too short. BUT, I’m also looking at mid April. So I’m sure there will be refinement. I will want to ride things multiple times. I’m hoping to have 1 full day at Epic and 2 half days.
We have been rather shocked that this was the first week of September, which is historically one of the lowest crowd weeks/months of the year, and the shortest wait for ANYTHING was Constellation Carousel…which, early afternoon, was 25 minutes. MoM was hitting 180 minutes, etc. most things were well over an hour wait.
You will 100% be able to do every ride with Express Pass in one day. Even slow moving. There are only two shows. The lands are very close together and not enormous.
I’m planning for a trip next month so have been looking at it in detail - my TP for Epic suggests we’ll spend about 4hrs in line in total to see the 11 attractions we have prioritised. If we experienced the average wait time for each attraction (data from Queue-times.com) we would expect a total of 8 hours in line.
That’s one of the best ‘returns’ I get from using TP optimimization across all of the Florida parks, but it’s not the best of all - (even more time is saved, in percentage terms, by the plans I have for Epcot and Islands of Adventure) So the ‘success’ of using the TP didnt raise any alarms for me. We all know that the order in which you do attractions can make a huge difference to your day, and the time between 11 and 4 is for shows, not rides.
Additionally, I’ve been re-optimising the plan roughly once a week since I prepared it (pretty much as soon as Epic opened) and it has varied (both up and down) several times, suggesting that the data available to the software is being constantly updated, but of course, there is a lot less data to base predictions on than with all the other parks.
Here’s my question -(and I’m hoping someone will know who I should send it to) have the TPs for Epic been user tested recently? And if so, did they check out?
I will say that I did not think that the early times in my Epic TP would be accurate. Meeting Toothless was NOT accurate (but character meets are really hard) but Epic posted 65+ minute waits for the other Berk rides as soon as they opened and TP was more accurate than what was posted.
Can I just check I’ve understood you correctly - are you comparing the predicted wait times for your trip in February 2026 with what’s being experienced by visitors now, in September 2025?
If so, that in itself may (partly) explain the difference. I ask because one of the ‘known unknowns’ with Epic is that it is not operating with anything like the kind of efficiency which it could have. I don’t know for sure, but it may be that the wait times you’re having predicted for February are taking account of anticipated increases in operational efficiency of the park. There’s also the likelihood of a tailing off in demand. I know that sounds optimistic, but Tom Bricker, for one, is predicting that people who wait till 2026 to visit Epic will have a much more manageable experience than those visiting at the moment.
I’ll be visiting Epic next month so I’ll be putting my custom TP to the test. Counterintuitively, the TP crowd calendar is suggesting we visit on a Wednesday. I’ll be happy to report back on whether or not the modelling is on the money or way off.
Speaking for my own plan for January, I don’t trust what it says. The current data is the best data we have for making a guess for the future. If they are considering increased efficiency in calculations, IMO they should also be including the increased crowds that will come with upping capacity, allowing multiple Epic days in packages and possibly adding passholders. All unknowns But we do know what the numbers look like under current conditions and can compare that.
I just optimized a plan for this Wednesday. It has me waiting 10 minutes to meet Toothless at 11am. I have never seen Toothless wait under 50 minutes. It shows waiting only 6 minutes for Minecart Madness at 10 am. This is only a possibility if I’m at the very front of line for rope drop. Waiting 9 minutes for Dragon Racers Rally at 5:56. I don’t see any of that as realistic. Closer to realistic is riding MOM at 9:08 pm after waiting 38 minutes and waiting for Mario Cart for 41 minutes at 7:21. I only know what wait times look like online, not what people are actually waiting. Perhaps that is a consideration.
I’ve been watching Epic wait times every day for a while ( because I’m a nerd and a planner) and there is a very clear pattern of weekends having much better waits than weekdays, barring weather issues. I can’t imagine recommending a weekday over a weekend if the numbers from the past 2 months are really being taken into account. At least, not before Thanksgiving. I can’t think of anything that is going to change that trend until then. I will be interested to see how real world plans go.
