Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion

[Brian G.]

located on the surface of the sun.

I dread August.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

I dread August.

Dude I dread tomorrow at 9am

 

[DOOMBOT]

Feels like we could be in for a weird and rough middle stage for Epic operations: post-Opening Year hype and fresh car scent, but still not having enough effective capacity or low enough crowds to reasonably introduce APs to make up for that lessened tourist energy.

Epic internally has been working this year to "streamline" operations across the board, cutting redundancies and employees hours as much as they can get away with. They want Epic to be profitable now; but without enough functional capacity to raise their attendance caps like they've wanted to since late last year, there is only so much growth you can find without minimizing that overhead cost (and occasionally, the park experience itself).

 

[Carah]

I’ve already bought a one day ticket for Sept 29 and the hours are 9am to 6pm for that date. I’m going to have to call to get my date switched to the day before now. This is crazy. Those Monday and Tuesday park days during HHN have to be popular among visitors coming for HHN. Really got screwed on that day.

Thank you for highlighting as I definitely wouldn't have randomly checked this myself lol! We're there for 2 weeks for HHN and have booked the 22nd and 29th as Epic days, so will have to change the 29th too as 6pm close is...not good lol

 

[Parkscope Joe]

8pm closes for Epic before the time change is so maddening.

If they’re looking at bad projections, then at minimum consider a reasonable after 4pm option for APs (and yeah, the options I saw in that survey were mostly unreasonable). If hotels are their biggest concern…I don’t think they can paper over that with APs getting even full day Epic access.

I’ve heard of those tickets and I’m surprised they haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

 

[Grabnar]

Actually, last week saw the busiest day of commercial flying ever documented.

There’s still an appetite to travel. But it is expensive. People have to choose their trips more carefully and there’s a lot more world to see than some permanent theme parks located on the surface of the sun.

tbf that article says that flights are running more despite the contraction in passengers. They don't have to run completely full to still be profitable ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Global commercial aviation set a record on July 23, with flight-tracking platform Flightradar24 recording 153,359 commercial flights in a single day—the highest daily total recorded in the platform's data set.
[...]

Only a few weeks ago, IATA reported that global passenger demand fell 2.2 percent year over year in May, marking a second consecutive monthly contraction. Domestic traffic declined 3.1 percent, while demand in the United States fell 1.9 percent and China's domestic market dropped 6.2 percent.

 

[SeventyOne]

My impression was that the fireworks were permanent. Given sunset within minutes of 8 pm in September (and well after 6), I assume not the case then?

 

[dxwwf3]

Thank you for highlighting as I definitely wouldn't have randomly checked this myself lol! We're there for 2 weeks for HHN and have booked the 22nd and 29th as Epic days, so will have to change the 29th too as 6pm close is...not good lol

You’re welcome. I was able to change my ticket for the 29th to the 28th over the phone. I’m still not very happy about the 8pm close time and that Epic Universe park hours are shorter than Islands of Adventure, but it is what it is.

 

[Mad Dog]

Epic execs will do whatever they feel will help them save their jobs. I'm sure the spotlight is on them. They haven't really reacted well to Epics shortfalls, except for increasing number of show times in the two theaters and maxing the night show. But even that hasn't helped much since the theater shows end up offline as much as the rides do. And they didn't even try to answer the Celestial lack of shade issue. Ministry and Mario Kart still way under theoretical capacity, break down often, and lightning is the park's kryptonite.

 

[MAC]

If their intent on taking away an hour,,,,Open at 11:00 AM and close at 9:00 PM....

This is exactly what they should be doing. I know a 11AM opening would feel weird, but this is very much a night park and they're... not allowing that to happen. Very disappointing to see 10-8PM. I was really hoping to enjoy the park in the evening hours.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

For a park with capacity struggles, reducing park hours is not the solution.

 

[Captain Spaulding]

You’re welcome. I was able to change my ticket for the 29th to the 28th over the phone. I’m still not very happy about the 8pm close time and that Epic Universe park hours are shorter than Islands of Adventure, but it is what it is.

Actually just looked at the September hours, IOA closes at 8 after the first week in September too, also Aweful!

 

[dxwwf3]

Actually just looked at the September hours, IOA closes at 8 after the first week in September too, also Aweful!

IOA opens earlier though

 

[Captain Spaulding]

IOA opens earlier though

Don't really care, I prefer Evening hours a LOT more.

 

[Mad Dog]

For a park with capacity struggles, reducing park hours is not the solution.

Why should any of this closing hour BS surprise us. The Execs. who make the decisions, have consistently screwed up, starting with the insane opening ticket policy, not having enough opening staff, inadequate maintenance crews, overt reliance on high tech food ordering systems, no attempt to create shaded cooling seated areas in Celestial, no answer to attraction breakdowns a year in, A ton of Comcast/Universal money spent on marketing. A very uneven tourist experience that primarily depends on the number of attraction breakdowns and the weather on the day of visit.

 

[Frank Drackman]

I’ve heard of those tickets and I’m surprised they haven’t pulled the trigger yet.

They'll release Express after 4 first (and they'll have no pass holders w/ it as a perk)

 

[LPCaptainDeath]

I have a 9:30 Bar Helios reservation so i'm going to use that as an excuse to walk as slowly as i can toward Helios from 8-9PM; Let's hope we get that hour extension like we did last year. lol

Don't mind me if i stop to see Ministry, Stardust, and Unchained on the way out...