We have been to Universal several times over the years. It has always been an addon to a Disney trip. A little over a year ago, I was looking at going to UOR as a primary destination because of the upcoming opening of Epic Universe. As I was doing my research, EPIC opened and the feedback was not good. My trip morphed into a week long WDW vacation - decided to do Disney right by staying on site and doing things we had never done before (keys to the Kingdom tour, for example). Totally took UOR off our dance card.
I am now wondering about spending a few days at Universal to see Epic and revisit other attractions and wanted a little feedback.
One reason I am hesitating is cost, it appears to me that Universal is more expensive than WDW. We are not renting a Car so I wanted to stay on site but that is looking pretty pricey at their deluxe resorts.
I was wondering what people thought of experiencing EPIC universe.
Yes, worth it. Do you need to stay Deluxe? I will say, we had technical difficulties at Epic and even with that found it to be amazing and different from Disney. It probably depends on what you are looking for/expecting.
If you are only going to Epic, there is no reason to stay at a deluxe resort. If you want Epic convenience, stay at Stella Nova. It is a short walk to Epic. It has a solid QS restaurant but the QS dining in Epic is the best QS dining in any park. Even if you just spend time exploring Epic, eating and doing a couple of rides (do Monsters Unchained- it usually has a short wait) you will enjoy the park.
If you can do the rides at Universal and haven’t been, then YES! Totally worth it to go, it’s a great park with lots of fun stuff to do. That being said, the tickets to Epic are a tier above in pricing as you pointed out, and the food is more expensive than similar WDW restaurants.
Didn’t even read your post before I’m gonna say YES. For the lands alone, rides not even included, it’s the most stunning theme park I’ve ever seen. And I’m not even into the movies or old Nintendo games anymore like that.
Having now read your post and others I concur with Principal Tinker. No reason to say deluxe. We preferred Cabana Bay to Helios. It’s a fantastic resort with bowling and lazy river and those epic buses came like every 5 min. Even the endless summer resorts are a really good deal especially in the suite that lets mom and dad have their own room and have very regular bus service. No need to go broke on the deluxe to see this beautiful park. If you really want to splurge buy the epic express pass for one day. Given the price of the deluxe since epic opened we found just buying express and staying at cabana bay cheaper and more comfortable in a suite with a little more room to spread out. I think buying the pass is more bang for your buck but where it counts. And again I even preferred the value resort cuz of the extra space which was more important to us and one of the best things we did was our off day where we bowled then went to city walk and did the mini golf and the escape room.
I love both WDW and UOR. I will bounce between them via Uber on my trips. IME - a rideshare between the two is going to cost about $25 each way. If you can find a rental car for $60 / day I would consider it. (I just paid that much to rent a car while in Anahiem)
If you have the opportunity and means, then a trip to EPIC will be great. A lot of the bad press about Epic comes from when it’s really busy, it truly feels packed. They only have 11 rides / attarctions. So, if they are crowded that day - it may be a rough day.
Like most theme parks, if you are willing to truly RD, then take a midday break (by 1pm / after lunch), and come back for the evening (after 4pm) you’ll avoid the worst of the crowds.
Endless Summer ws my original UOR “home” when I first started my AP "journey” back in 2022.
I genuinley LOVE everything about that hotel EXCEPT the noise. The laminate flooring means you hear every heavy footstep in the adjoing rooms and definiately above you!
If you have good neighbors in the rooms around you, then you’ll be fine. However, since it is the cheapest hotel option I have experienced large youth groups that make the noise issue almost unbearable. Running around all night, TVs turned on at 1am & etc….
I was just checking my rates for my upcoming Universal trip (it is AP rates) but Stella Nova and Terra Nova are much cheaper for my dates in comparison to Endless Summer ($152 vs $227). There are no noise issues at Stella Nova (and since they are so similar in design) I suspect the same would be true for Terra Nova.
I would not automatically assume Endless Summer is always the cheapest.
We are going to WDW June 27 and was thinking the same thing but decided against it…….Everything Ive read on Epic I was not impressed with. I would go for the other 2 parks but would need express pass so I looked into a room that included and it was going to cost about $3k for my family for 1 day and thats not worth it to me
There was a baby crying at night I could hear in the main bedroom so concur it’s the main complaint. Towels are also not great. But the space is fantastic in comparison, the size of the resort is better and layout better. The suites are so much space for such a low price. I prefer the hotel style, the picnic table, the starbucks in the lobby on the way to the bus. So yes, noise is an issue and I don’t recall noise being an issue at All-Stars but over all I preferred it because of the space and size isn’t so overwhelming and the amenities are better in the restaurant sitch. It’s better food than All-Stars food court in variety and options in the cafeteria style restaurant. For two people, the All-Stars/Pop Century are fine but for four people Endless Summer all the way.
This is wrong assessment. Even if you ride nothing it’s worth it imho. Yes, there were a lot of ride breakdowns but every single one of them was quickly resolved, usually 10-20 minutes. And we went on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and it was absolutely packed on Christmas day (as in the Mario Kart ride was at least 60 min wait in express line) itself. Still worth it.
Shucks do the wands and the nintendo bands, meet the dragons, see the shows, and ride Monsters Unchained, Donkey Kong, Harry Potter and Hiccups. Then you’ve been successful and seen and done the best! Just watch the stardust rollercoasters after dark, no need to ride, and go to the Helios rooftop bar during the fountain show and do lunch in Paris or the main park area at a quick service
I read a lot of different people including Len, Tom B, WDWNT, DVC show, etc, etc, etc and its definitely not worth it to me based on their descriptions……Plus I dont love Universal to begin with……..when you factor in the $, its a hard no for me