Epic Universe touring plan?

Universal Orlando Resort Touring Plans
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On the one hand, there are plenty of diehard fans who hate Steve Kloves with a passion for how many characters he did dirty, especially constantly shitting on Ron to heap more praise on Hermione. So being able to dedicate an entire season to a book is going to win over a lot of skeptics. The only real downfall is all the greatest living British actors had already done the original series, so anyone who gets cast is going to have impossible standards to meet.

Now for the controversy: i believe the showrunners are going to go way overboard with the virtue signaling, and will probably try to force in multiple original trans storylines purely to spite Rowling. I say this as a queer leftist, who is sick of “rainbow capitalism”.

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Hello, you mentioned in January you would have custom plans available before the park opens. Any update around timing on this? I would like to start mapping out my day. I have it in a spreadsheet for now but one key thing that is missing is walk time between the lands and attractions. Looking forward to being able to use TP to plan out my day for Epic!

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Hey! I’m hoping to have preliminary plans by the end of next week. We’ve got the models built and the walking times calculated. We’re waiting on a few more changes needed for the app before we release.

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Doesn’t Rowling own a production seat on this though she’s already said at the SFX article she wanted a firmer grip on the script this time.

Though the casting so far doesn’t give me much hope, I suspect though the ride will be the major draw of the park and also a problematic ride as well if opening capacity is anything to go buy.

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For my family, Berk was hands down the best land. We started and ended there. We probably spent close to a third of our day there. Granted, we are all huge fans of How to Train Your Dragon, so probably biased, but it was spectacular!

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So - the only think at Epic we are interested in is HTTYD. I’m trying to figure out one day there for our November trip ($$$). Could we get all of it done in one day if it’s the only Must Do part?

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I think a day in Berk would be perfect. We had preview crowds, which is to say, none, but I think even on a busy day you could get it all done in a day. Such an amazing land!

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How was Fyre Drill? Did you see the show?

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The show was cute! We learned afterward that a major effect was missing, but we enjoyed it and had no idea. We rode Fyre Drill twice. It’s hit or miss whether you’ll get wet, wear a poncho if you want to guarantee dryness.

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Ive been eagerly awaiting that as well. Otherwise I’ll have to use the clipout from the Unofficial Guide

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Len just posted on bsky an update, we’re working on it!

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Very interesting! I’m curious to see how actual wait times end up being at various times of day. I have full faith in Len’s intellect, but it seems pretty impossible to predict at this point given the variables. Still, the order of attractions seems logical.

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When do you think it will be available on the app?

Also, whays up with the extended previews? I thought it was just AP holders, but now anyone can buy. Is there a limit of guests per day?

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How has it been with the VQ drops for Ministry during previews? If we enter at 2pm do we have any hope for the later drops? I don’t think my dad can do a whole day and we are staying at Disney so we can’t go to the resort for a break. I’m thinking of taking a break at Helios mid day if we go for the whole day but it’s cooler in the evening so I would rather enter late and stay to close. Ministry is a priority though obviously.

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How crazy are we? Had tix to USF and IOA then they opened up Epic to the public so I jumped on them. 3 parks in 1 day! We do have the unlimited EP to the first 2, and it seems they’re limiting tix to the preview days so I’m hoping we can get a lot done/seen. Any advice on anything that will help make this easier is welcome! It’s May 13 and we are staying at Disney. Will be rope dropping one of these—probs universal bc there’s early admission at IOA I believe.

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You’re going to attempt Epic, IOA and USF in one day? :astonished:

Best of luck! It’s gonna be like the 4 in 1 at Disney!

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I’ve done both USF and IOA in one day with EP, but I’m not sure how you are going to add Epic into that mix. Maybe hit the highlights of USF and IOA and pick out 2 attractions to target in Epic?

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We entered around 11:30am, so missed the first drop. We did not get one at either of the later drops. We were trying for a group of 6 (later was told that if we can get it for 1, they will let the whole group in, but don’t know if that’s TM discretion). The ride was down for hours in the mid-late afternoon, so the drops were small I think. I was told that they do drops an hour to an hour and 15 minutes before close if they’ve caught up on any backlog, but the ride went down again just before 7, so no last minute drop that day. The ride is so unreliable. If you can be there for the first drop, I would be. And if you’re not, don’t be shy about nicely asking the TMs at the ride about unscheduled drops.

I don’t know if the crowds have changed at all since I was there on 4/21, but this is roughly what we did -

Berk First!
Meandered in, got to Fyre Drill, posted 15 minute wait, took a bathroom break first, ride was down by the time we got back. Pivoted to the roller coaster. Probably 15 minute wait posted. Got to the bridge inside (so three or four trains from loading) and the ride went down. Waited another 10 - 15 minutes for it to get going. Basically walked on the flying ride. Went back to Fyre Drill, it had just come back up, so this was our longest wait, I’d say 20 - 25 minutes. Went to the Dragon show.

Celestial Park
Road Stardust Racers 3 times in a row basically walking on, we liked the left side better. Big kids and their dad rode once or twice more while I took DD4 on the carousel. This one is a slow line, really neat carousel though. Make sure to get an animal that’s on one of the spinning plates. I didn’t know and we did not.

Lunch at Oak and Star (I think that’s the name). Really great brisket sandwiches. And fast service!

Mario
Walked around a bit, did some of the interactive stuff, broke my kids’ hearts by refusing to buy the bracelet things. Road MarioKart as a walk on. The queue was incredible! Rode Yoshi as a walk on. Mine cart ride was down. Dilly dallied a bit, met Mario and Luigi, ride was still down.

Monsters
Walked through. Rode Werewolf twice as a basic walk on. Skipped Monsters Unchained…posted wait was longest in the park at 40 minutes. DD4 can’t ride and simulators are iffy for me. Not worth it at the time for me.

Harry Potter
Walked through, did all the spells. Waited for ride to come back up and late drop to happen. Whomp whomp.

Back for another walk on at Stardust Racers, Fyre Drill, and Dragon Coaster. Mine cart was back up, but nobody was motivated enough to cross the park (which is silly, it’s so quick and easy to navigate, but the kids wanted to redo what they knew they loved).

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Keep an eye on the wait times as they might have changed, but when I was watching/there, there were only 1 or 2 rides that had waits longer than 20 minutes after 2pm.

The park is not large and very easy to navigate, so that helps!

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Are most/all of the dining spots open? Anyone know where one could find menus?

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