Enthusiasm Levels for a Brand New Theme Park.

11, everyone says despite high expectations it still blew them away. (

10, just looks stellar and love to visit sometime.

Honestly, probably a 9/10. While I do have a few small concerns with the place, it does look like a spectacular park that is definitely prioritizing Florida for my next sizable domestic theme park trip.

For reference, the last full size theme park to open in the US (Lost Island Theme Park) was probably about a 6/10 on the excitement scale for me.

My enthusiasm for Epic is at an all time low. Virtual queues instead of standby lines? Nope. Until there is a paid (or complimentary) Express option for every ride, I will not set foot in that park.

We (our family) have been completely coddled and spoiled by the Unlimited Express perk from the premier hotels. Couple this with $10 Butterbeer... I think we will be doing Busch Gardens and hanging out in Clearwater on our future Florida vacations.

*old man shakes fist at Universal

Yes, my entitlement is unreasonable, but Universal created this monster.

@NB Creative - Just book a VIP tour then. When we end up going to Epic will most likely do that but I do want to re-do both Monsters, and the Harry Potter ride to see the queues.

You can purchase Express for Epic, they just aren't including it as a hotel perk (yet). Personally, I like the idea of a VQ, because I would much rather walk around and enjoy the park than being stuck in an extended queue with a wait time far longer than one could be entertained with the line's theming. Also, as of right now, the only attraction in Epic that I've read is using VQ is MoM. Now, it's possible that more VQs will be used when the park is officially open and closer to its maximum capacity, but even then, I wouldn't expect them to be used on more than 1-3 of the biggest rides and then only on the busiest days.

Personally, I'm extremely excited for Epic (9.5/10), not just for the new rides and IPs, but also for the portal concept.

Is NB Creative different than TH Creative? Hope TH is doing alright!

Personally I'm at a 7 or 8. For whatever reason, I think some of these IPs just aren't ones I was particularly passionate about?

I'm very hyped about the Dark Universe stuff. I've already seen the Super Mario Land at USH, and although I loved it I don't feel like I need to experience it again at Epic Universe.

However, I feel no connection to How to Train Your Dragon or Ministry of Magic stuff. For HTTYD, I think I was just too old for those movies when they came out (I'm 23) and for MoM, I just can't get myself to care at all about the third most important Harry Potter location. I like the Harry Potter franchise and I read/watched all of the original series, but the Ministry of Magic isn't something that ever really stood out to me as a place I wanted to be transported to.

Juan Hamilton - NB and TH are different people. TH hasn't commented in over a month. I made a few comments about how he's not mentally or emotionally prepared for the attention Universal is about to receive, and is the denial / anger stage of grief.

Francis 24 - Agreed, VIP is probably the way to go for an impatient spoiled family like us. It's all Universal's fault... :)

Russel Wasn't that the idea for volcano bay? and also i heard you are using your phones a lot more than usual in this park

Battle at the Ministry does have a temporary virtual queue at the moment as the attraction is experiencing an average of four hours of downtime per day and operating below 60% of its target capacity. Once the attraction is able to operate reliably at or near full capacity, the virtual queue will be disabled. The attraction was built with a permanent queue capable of holding over 8,000 guests, so Universal fully intends to use that once they feel confident everyone who queues up will actually be able to experience the attraction.

The park is designed with the ability to enable virtual queues for entry to the portals in the event capacity is reached. In practice, it is expected this will only be a regular scenario with Super Nintendo World, which has the highest demand and lowest capacity of the four portals. Unless significant portions of other portals are unavailable due to downtime, virtual queues for them should be rare. Even if they are enabled for portal entry, the attractions inside will still operate using regular standby queues.

Universal Express is available for Epic Universe, though only the once per ride pass at the moment (unlimited will be available eventually...included is still tbd). Express will also allow users to bypass the virtual queues for portal entry if they happen to be enabled. Yes, it doesn't include every single ride, but neither does the pass at Islands of Adventure, where it took several years before VelociCoaster was added and even after six years of operation Hagrid's isn't included.

Epic is more phone dependent than Universal's other parks but is not as phone dependent as Disney's parks have become. The main thing that's new here is that pretty much all of the fast casual restaurants have done away with registers and just have guests order on the app from their table. There are one or two just in case guests don't have a phone or want to pay with cash, but the system is designed to maximize efficiency and prevent the need to potentially wait in multiple lines to dine.

I will say it's been very hard seeing literally all my Florida friends posting about their experiences at this park over the past week, but the message is pretty consistently the same: Universal very much knows what they're doing and Epic is indeed epic!

Y'know what? I'm at a solid 9. This is a "vibes" park- a park that relies on lands as opposed to rides- and a kind of park that we don't really see outside of Europe. It's something that should influence any major Orlando park (and outside of Orlando) when they plan their openings and expansions. I mean, let's be honest, nobody should be going to EU just for rides.

I have to give props to Universal for even pioneering this type smash f completely immersive land. Give credit to Disney all you want, and rightfully so, but WWoHP was a major factor for Universal expansion. Diagon Alley is a great example of a good land with a mid ride.

VIP Tour is the way to go, I have decided. Only guaranteed way to experience every ride with zero lines.

@NB - its wonderful and totally worth it. When we visited Hollywood we did it there and I've done twice in Orlando to guarantee getting on Hagrid's and Velocicoaster when they first opened.

We tried the RIP tour for the first time in 2019 and never went back to express after. Fair warning though after you've done the VIP tour in the park you'll never want to do express again..lol

Francis 24 - Well, Express is Unlimited (we only stay at Hard Rock), where VIP is all rides once in a day. I'd need both.

Actually after your tour is over your VIP pass is an unlimited express pass as well. Granted the day is mostly gone but we got to ride a few rides after the tour.

I plan on checking it out in October, but honestly my excitement level isn’t all that high (I’ve definitely been far more excited for other theme park related trips). Hopefully that sets up a better than expected experience.

Right now? 2-3 just because I have to let the lines die down. Then it will be an 11. Might be a while…