Epic Universe

Going in December… looks like slightly higher chance of dying at epic in comparison.

It's islands of adventure on steroids. As for a comparison to Disney Parks, I just dont think you can do that. Universal is not Disney nor do they try to be. Both have their positives and negatives.

All the negatives have been not much shade and lines are ridiculous. There was a video the other day at 7:30am people were wrapped around the building forever to get in

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not much shade

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That's part of the growing pains for a newly opened theme park. It will get there.

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And its still an add on even if staying at a premium property huh?

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Yes, it’s still an add on. Express Pass for Epic Universe is not included for any of the Universal hotels.

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I've heard DO NOT go to Ministry of Magic at open due to surge and risk of it shutting down bc of the safety sensors, go to the other lands and then hit ministry late in the day.

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I did not go there first. Ministry of Magic is not part of Early Park Admission. I’ve heard sometimes it will open early, but that’s not guaranteed. You can go there first, but you might have to wait for an hour just for the ride to open (assuming it’s working). Waits tend to be the shortest for Ministry of Magic in the evening, but it can also close early (there will usually be signs out if that is the case).

I spent two days there and hit Mine Cart Madness first one day. That one also wasn’t part of Early Park Admission, so I had to wait for an hour for the ride to open. However, I thought it was worth it since that ride has a very low capacity of riders per hour and, as a result, has some long wait times.

The second day I went to Stardust Racers first (which is part of Early Park Admission). I was able to ride both tracks once, went over to Dark Universe after that and rode Monsters Unchained and Curse of the Werewolf by the time the rest of the park opened. I went over to Ministry of Magic after that and the wait was already three hours (I didn’t get in line).

One of the team members at Epic told me the queue at Ministry of Magic can hold up to an eight hour line. It is massive in there.

Did Epic Universe yesterday.

Absolutely incredible! I swear the environments are way more immersive than Disney.
Seems like Disney generally has a "theme" for their zones/rides, where Epic creates a world full of scale and detail that are unrivaled.
Only thing close in Disney might be the star wars zone in Hollywood studios or Avatar ride in epcot, but that's a smaller scale.

Epic Frankenstein ride is basically the equivalent of the "Rise of the resistance" star wars ride, and it's one of the lower wait times. Epic basically has twice the number of top shelf rides of any of the Disney parks.

No park compared, unless you've got young daughters that need the princess experience of magic Kingdom.

The Good:
- This might be the best park in Florida (don't know that I've been to many others in the US recently enough to say). Quality is just two cuts above anything else I've seen this trip.
- I'm a Nintendo lover, so that world was beyond belief. Highlight of the trip. That said, the other worlds were super impressive as well.

The Bad:
- Wait times were insane for most marquis rides. **Note: I went on the Columbus Day Sunday, so it was probably much higher attendance than usual. We got to ride everything but Ministry of magic, (steady 210 minute wait all day). That said, we did Mario Kart twice, werewolf a few times, and we didn't get early admission. Also did not buy express lane passes either.


TLDR: Epic is better than any Disney park I've seen. Totally delivers, even when I didn't use any premium perks to shorten the lines. If it was just me & my wife, I'd do Express Lane on the high attendance days, but I had a party of 5, so that was too rich for my blood.