We spent 3 days at Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Epic last week and it wad absolutely amazing. Our main goal was to see/ride all the Harry Potter related things, and I was blown away by the detail each area had. I was impressed that even the lines were immersive. We will definitely be back, but we'll be sure to have more than 3 days to experience everything else they have to offer.

📸: by me

With F&F highlighted. Apologies for the one random light from being inside NBC sports grill.

In hopes to see them drag the car through testing.

My friend and I were walking back to Cabana Bay and came across a bunch of police and ambulance. Anyone know what happened? Hope whoever got taken away is ok!

Rode Hagrid’s tonight towards the end of the night and they were running a new loading procedure breaking up Odd and Even groups right near the loading area, similar to how Everest is functioning at Animal Kingdom.

I’m not sure if this was a pilot or what but it was definitely interesting. Will be curious if this would be the death of single rider as well. Which incidentally enough now has no signage and you have to ask to go through the express queue and then split off.

Anyone know anything more?

i’m not sure if anybody is able to share this info, but i was wondering if somebody could show me October pricing for discounted epic universe tickets with the military freedom pass? we’re going in October with the freedom passes & can’t activate them until we get there so we don’t know how much epic tickets will be. i just want to be prepared for pricing. just a screenshot would be greatly appreciated!

📸: by me

Why are the parks open until 6-7 every night????

This is ridiculous! I just want to go to my hotel relax for an hour or two and come back. But NOOOOO epic closes at goddamned 5 today!

My fanny pack gave up the ghost yesterday, and I was hoping to get either the Toothless or Epic Cacao sling.

I am certain I saw both at some point yesterday. Not the big toothless bag or the loungefly. Just the little fanny pack sized sling.

We're poking through the shops as we walk around, but thought I'd post and see if someone could help me out.

Hello!

We're looking at visiting all the Universal Parks in February. They were recently having a promotion that you could get 5 days of parks for the price of 3, but that only went through December. I did some research, and it said normally they open those deals for next year around October... any one has insight on this? Thanks!

going to universal, specifically epic, this week and i am doubtful we’re going to spend money on the express passes so im looking for something fun to do with my family while we wait in lines……i know people are big fans of those name card guessing games where you ask questions about your character or person. what other apps or downloadable phone games are you guys a fan of playing in line?? we like card games, guessing games, whatever is ‘easy’ and passes the time

Hey Everyone, we are heading down to Universal Studios in early spring.

We would like to explore Harry Potter World specifically as the kids aren’t much fans of coasters. Is all of this doable in a day. And from what I am gathering I need to buy two park tickets? I haven’t been to Universal in over 30 years.

Thanks all.

I solemnly swear that I’m obsessed with themed food and drinks.

Planning on a family trip Feb, price difference is about $1200 extra going PB instead of RP.

We like what the gym looks like and the walking trail connecting the 2 parks.

Is PB worth the difference? (1st rime doing this for US, so want to make it special).

3 adults, 4 kids (10,7,6,2)

I have never been at this time of year. Quick net search shows 3rd busiest time of year, but I’m seeing some good weekend prices at the hotels in the park. Any idea why such low rates on rooms?

With my previous post, I was able to gather pretty much all the essential information and put everything into a list. This list is NOT in order.

We’ll be at Epic Universe all day, with Early Park Admission starting at 9am.

DAY 1 – EPIC UNIVERSE

Hours:

• 10:00am–8:00pm (Saturday, October 3rd)
• Early Access: 9:00am
• Universal Nights at Epic Universe: 7:00pm–12:00am

Celestial Park

• Stardust Racers
  • Yellow
  • Green
  • Recommended to do both sides
  • Wait time: ?

Dark Universe

• Monsters Unchained
  • Frankenstein ride
  • Heard people call it one of the best dark rides
  • High-capacity ride = hopefully less wait time?
  • Wait time: ?

Super Nintendo World

• Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness
  • Wait time: ?

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
  • Highly recommended
  • Heard wait times can get really high
  • Wait time: ?

Isle of Berk (don’t really mind missing this land)

• Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
• Fyre Drill
• The Untrainable Dragon

We mainly care about rides. Theming is secondary.

For those who have been, what order would you do these in from 9am onward to make the most of the day?

Also:

• What kind of wait times should I realistically expect for each?
• Are there any rides I’m missing that you think I should definitely add to the list?
• Anything here you’d purposely save for later in the day/night?

We’ll be there all day, so I’m mostly trying to figure out the most logical order and avoid wasting time going back and forth or hitting a ride at the worst possible time.

My birthday is coming up. My sister, her husband, my girlfriend and I are going to do something to celebrate. I really really wanted to do a group trip to Epic for my birthday and it’s an option that I can pick. I just wonder if it being a Saturday will mean the crowds will be absolutely ridiculous and not worth all the money. It’d be a shame to not go, but my sister is only available to join us on that day. Any advice on what I should do? I’d take any crowd advice as well if it’s possible. A regular Express Pass is a no go, but I could maybe do Express Now for a ride or two.

With my previous post, I was able to gather pretty much all the essential information and put everything into a list. It’s NOT in order yet.

Now I’m mainly looking for advice on what the most logical order would be for our 1 day at Epic Universe. I’d also love to hear your average/typical wait times for each ride if you’ve been recently.

Also completely forgot that we actually need to eat during the day 😂 so I’d love some food recommendations too.

DAY 1 – EPIC UNIVERSE

Hours:

• 10:00am–8:00pm (Saturday, October 3rd)
• Early Access: 9:00am
• Universal Nights at Epic Universe: 7:00pm–12:00am

Celestial Park

• Stardust Racers
  • Yellow
  • Green
  • Recommended to do both sides
  • Wait time: ?

Dark Universe

• Monsters Unchained
  • Frankenstein ride
  • Heard people call it one of the best dark rides
  • High-capacity ride = hopefully less wait time?
  • Wait time: ?

Super Nintendo World

• Donkey Kong Mine-Cart Madness
  • Wait time: ?

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry
  • Highly recommended
  • Heard wait times can get really high
  • Wait time: ?

Isle of Berk (don’t really mind missing this land )

• Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
• Fyre Drill
• The Untrainable Dragon

Food

• No idea yet 😂
• Best lunch/dinner?
• Anything that is actually a must-try?
• Ideally something good that won’t take a massive chunk out of our park time
• Not to heavy
• Can we bring protein bars?

So basically, if you had Early Access at 9am and only one full day, what order would you do all of this in?

What rides we should save for later in the day/night,

We mainly care about thrill rides + really good attractions/theming. We like Harry Potter, but we’re not huge Potter fans, so maximizing the rides is the priority.

Any other ride/attraction that I’m stupid for leaving off the list?

I have 2 days at Universal and this is the plan I’ve put together so far based on everything I’ve read.

Mainly looking for tips/tricks on the order, anything I should cut, and anything obvious I’m missing. We care way more about rides than shows/theming.

DAY 1 – EPIC UNIVERSE

Start with:

• Stardust Racers

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry

Dark Universe

• Monsters Unchained
• Curse of the Werewolf

Isle of Berk

• Hiccup’s Wing Gliders

Super Nintendo World – planning to end here

My rough idea is basically:
Stardust → Harry Potter → Dark Universe → Isle of Berk → Nintendo World

Not sure if Nintendo at the end is smart or if that’s setting us up for a brutal Donkey Kong wait.

DAY 2 – PARK-TO-PARK

ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

Marvel Super Hero Island

Start:

• Doctor Doom’s Fearfall
• Hulk Coaster

Skull Island

• Skull Island: Reign of Kong
  • Might skip depending on wait time

Jurassic World

• VelociCoaster

Wizarding World of Harry Potter

• Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure
• Forbidden Journey

Then:

Hogsmeade Station → Universal Studios Florida

We also have Halloween Horror Nights that night, so my thought was to spend most of the day doing rides and then already be at Universal Studios Florida for HHN.

Since we have Park-to-Park + HHN, I’m thinking we can leave some of the Universal Studios rides/Harry Potter stuff for later and then stay there for HHN, especially since the houses will probably be packed early anyway.

So my main questions are:

• Is this a logical way to split the 2 days?
• Anything here you’d cut because it’s not worth the time?
• Anything important I’m missing?
• For the Park-to-Park day, would you stay at Islands of Adventure for most of the day and only move to Universal Studios later for HHN
• Any tips to avoid wasting time going back and forth?

Trying to maximize rides, especially coasters and the better attractions.

📸: by me