Oh my goodness yes this was a fun ride! It’s honestly not scary at all @QwertySC . It’s pure joy. And it’s really fun to watch the faces of people you are facing. I laughed the entire time.
I was waiting for some sort of jump scare on Monsters (I hate jump scares), and there were none. The animatronics are so cool!
Bus to City Walk. It’s a pain.
You may have already made the decision but you should know that Epic is amazing. I want to go back! I would not want to do it without EP but I do agree with @Jeff_AZ that it can be done if you have EE and at least two days.
Monsters wasn’t scary, and is the best ride in the park, apart from Stardust Racers. The fact that it also has a short wait compared to everything else is nice as well.
Definitely do Darkmoor at night. Pardon the pun, but it comes alive at night.
I should say that it isn’t that we didn’t enjoy Epic. It was just that without Express Pass, and the fact that things kept going down, and waits were so long and in two days we still couldn’t get on everything, it was so clear that Universal did not think through the actual design of this park from a capacity standpoint. And when it rains, well, only four rides available.
But the ambiance is second to none, and the food was impressive.
We aren’t sorry we went, but definitely needed the two full days there, but still didn’t get on several of the rides. We could have, and I would think your family could … But the waits are long.
Like I said, we just have no desire to go back. One and done.
Second this. It is spooky in a similar way as Haunted Mansion but a little more heightened. But it doesn’t have jump scares or anything truly frightening. It wasn’t my family’s favorite ride cause we don’t love spooky vibes, but we liked it just fine.
Werewolf was one of my kids’ top three rides (along with Stardust and Hiccup). It is not particularly spooky during the daytime and at night it’s still more thrilling than spooky. It has a fun vibe.
Hmmmmm.
I don’t like spooky vibes. And I would never go there after dark!
But maybe in the morning? And Werewolf sounds doable.
Thank you all.
Still processing and comparing.
I’m looking more at the distances from hotels to parks. And the estimated lengths of bus rides.
The Endless Summer is so inexpensive, but also not close to anything. But the rooms seem to have more kitchen amenities.
The two by Epic seem interchangeable? And at least close to Epic.
We loved Cabana Bay… but it’s fun to try something new?
Stella Nova is more walkable due to the configuration of the sidewalks, but they are a similar distance.
Must be why it is $0.50 more per night. 
I think it depends on what you’re most excited to see at Epic.
For us that was Wizarding World and Berk, and you could manage those without Express Pass, even on a difficult day as long, as you have EE. Where it gets tricky is if you really want to do both Nintendo World rides (I’m not counting Yoshi because it’s so lame that no one should ride it unless it’s a walk-on).
We did one full day with XP in July and three partial days without it, and we didn’t wait for more than 30 minutes for anything (with the exception of our first ride on Ministry, where we used the SB on purpose because I wanted to have time to look at all the details - we waited just under 60 min). I think this is because we did not attempt to re-ride anything in NW after having done in once with XP (the SB waits were never low enough for us).
We LOVED rope dropping Berk (you can do the Toothless M&G, Dragon Racers Ralley and then still ride Hiccups multiple times before crowds build - because everyone else is in Wizarding Paris or NW). Hiccups and Fyre Drill also have low wait times in the evenings.
Dark Universe opens at regular park open, so you can second rope-drop/knock out both rides there, starting with Werewolf, as walk-ons (agree with everyone else who has said they are not scary - Werewolf in particular has very little theming). You can easily catch Stardust Racers and the Carousel with low wait times at some point during the day. Once SB waits get long, you can watch the two shows, eat, or go back to the hotel to rest before returning in the evening. You should be able to catch Ministry with low waits at some point in the evening - especially if the Single Rider queue is in use.
If NW is a priority for you, I agree that you pretty much need XP. I think the only other way to ride Mine Kart Madness with a low wait time is at rope drop, but it often has a delayed opening - which then screws up your whole plan, and in my view too big of an opportunity cost/time sink compared to other things you could get done at that time.
Just sharing some info…
Crowd Calendar:
Are these the hotel prices you’re seeing?
Here’s a 4 day ticket from OI. You would be fine without Express with multiple days at Epic
I think with a multi day ticket Epic can be done without express, especially knowing that @QwertySC will wait up to an hour. EE you can one day do BoM and another day Isle of Berk (saving any shows). Then rope drop Dark Universe when it opens (werewolf first since Unchained is usually a low wait). Then shows, and leave to return end of day a couple of times. Other attractions such as stardust and carousel can be squeezed in any time with a wait. Although I love the carousel at night.
End of sentence.
No kidding.
I took my grandson on it and couldn’t believe how lame and short it was. Plus, he couldn’t even push the buttons because they took more strength than he had. Granted, he was 2. 
I am going to disagree about Yoshi. I am 65 years old and my first video game was pong, followed at some point by maybe duck hunt? My DS34 is a gamer. The groomsmen at his wedding last year came from Qatar, Quebec, and states across the US, all met through the “Nintendo games” my son ran online for years. I don’t think I will ever forget traveling up and walking out into Super Nintendo World.
I may never go on Yoshi again (most likely I will) but I could not wipe the grin off my face as I rode it. It just made me smile. I think everyone with any connection to Nintendo should go on once. I hope you smile too.
