Epic Universe touring plan?

Okay, so the 2025 UG of Universal Orlando has four clip-outs for Epic Universe: one-days for adults, families/small chuldren, tweens, and seniors. On paper (literally) the adult’s plan seems doable, though in practice it obviously has no guarantees since no-one has ever done it before.

How long after the grand opening will the UOR Lines app be able to formulate an itinerary for Epic?

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Since there won’t be express passes, the app would be particularly important. I’d be happy to go without an express pass if no one has them. But I wouldn’t go without the app.

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If not a TP, then will it at least offer the estimated wait times? Maybe its just my phone, but Universal’s app crashes every time i try to use it in a park

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I sure hope it won’t take too long. I am planning a mid-June trip, and I’m feeling worried.

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I would expect the Lines app to be ready to accept user submitted wait times near opening day, but I don’t know how much data it will take before @len and company will require before making a data-supported touring plan available and to be optimized on the fly.

It will take more than just attraction wait times, too. The crew is also going to need to time the length of the attractions, the walking time between the attractions, traffic patterns (especially since it appears that all lands must be entered and exited through the “portal”), and likely a few dozen other variables that I haven’t even considered.

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We’re working on models for Epic now, and we’ll support custom plans even before the park opens.

We think we know the ride capacity for each attraction. We know the walking paths and distances thanks to Bioreconstruct, who helped out with that. We have a sense of the ride times.

I think the two big questions left are:

  • Overall park capacity. How many people will be admitted into the parks?
  • Relative ride popularity. I’m sure Ministry is going to be popular. But how much more popular than other attractions?
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Mid June? Youre not worried about the heat (or worse, the humidity)? Im planning on September

I dont mean to second guess you, but i think you might be overestimating how popular M.O.M. is going to be. Between how negatively Potter fans view the “Fantastic Beasts” trilogy, how immersive Super Nintendo World is, how long people have been wishing for something basee on the Universal Classic Monsters, and how unique the Isle of Berk is, i think the crowds will be pretty evenly distributed across the lands (? Realms? What are we calling these?)

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I’m new to the forums, what does UG stand for?

Thanks

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Unofficial Guide

Oh, I see Alicia was included in the new one.

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September, when all you have to worry about is hurricanes!

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I suspect much of it will ultimately depend on the rides, how those rides are promoted, and word-of-mouth.

With all things being even right now, most people are going to make a bee-line to Ministry of Magic because it’s Harry Potter in the Harry Potter timeline (even though it somehow goes through early 20th century Paris). Fans will want to see the new film of those classic characters from Hogwarts (namely Imelda Staunton reprising her role as Delores Umbridge), and a reported new ride system will be the icing on the cake.

As for the other lands, Universal Monsters will likely appeal to mostly adults and teens with Super Nintendo appealing to nearly everyone, but it appears its going to be missing a real thrill ride (DK Country looking pretty tame and Mario Kart is likely not what many will be expecting). Isle of Berk is going to appeal to kids, but I’m not sure how well it is known to most adults. Maybe the new live action movie will change that.

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You’re both kinda saying the same thing - popularity is the biggest unknown at this point when it comes to touring plans. There are dark horse popular attractions (like Soarin’ over California) that pop up and also surprising turds (Discovery River Boat tours anyone?). Maybe M.O.M. isn’t more popular than any ride, maybe the most popular one is Mario Kart.

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I would’ve included “The”, but thought TUG would be even more confusing for newcomers

And yeah, that was a pleasant surprise

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I’m a lifelong Floridian, ive never worried about hurricanes :grin:

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That edition of TUG actually suggests that Super Nintendo World is going to be the first to fill up, and recommend in their sample Touring Plan that adult guests should head to MOM first to avoid the crowds

People who are theme park enthusiasts first, and Potterheads second, are likely not going to care about the narrative structure. But as Potter devotee since the 90s, i follow all kinds of different fan pages. And the consensus view is that having a post-Deathly Hallows attraction in a land themed to a prequel (that almost no-one asked for, and even less have a positive opinion of) set 70 years in the past makes no fucking sense.

Excuse my language.

Universal should’ve turned the old Fear Factor stage into the MOM, and actually have the fortitude to fully commit to the Fantastic Beasts theme in Epic

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I suspect Universal was so convinced Fantastic Beasts would be the next big thing that they got too deep into the plans for the land that they would have to scrap everything to convert it back to late 20th century Britain. It must have been easier to change the MoM ride to match the much more popular Potter franchise.

The next question becomes what if the HBO series becomes a huge success. Will it take away from the current lands to the point they have to be rethemed to the new series (If the license is even available)? My current answer to this is, no, the new series will not be as popular because this is a series that no one has asked for and it won’t be nearly as popular as the original films to the point that it will not even make it past a couple of seasons at most.

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I don’t think the Potter fandom should be underestimated. The tepid response to Fantastic Beasts notwithstanding, the French Ministry of Magic and outdoor theming look amazing. It makes complete sense for there to be a connection between the two ministries - it’s magic after all. :man_shrugging: And the ride looks next level bonkers – like Rise of the Resistance level of epic scope and scale, with the potential for a bit more thrill.

I predict that all the lands will be pretty busy and spread crowds relatively evenly, but Potter will be the biggest draw if one had to be picked.

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The lines for the Epic rides are going to be insane for at least the first year.

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I think Universal will do what they can to keep lines manageable. It would not be good for publicity if every ride had a 10 hour line like Hagrid’s did when it opened at first. I do expect that certain “portals” will have to be closed from time to time to ensure one land isn’t overpopulated while another land is virtually empty.

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