Aug 9, 2025

Brand new, from the ground up

There is no other way to say it. Experiencing a theme park built over the last decade and opening just a few months ago was nothing short of incredible. It was like a dream. We started trying to book our tickets 6 weeks out, and checked over several hours each day. Then bam! The date we wanted became available and our passes were safely purchased, direct from the Universal website!

We were careful to also limit exposure to spoilers. We avoided reading reviews, and didn’t watch videos or look at pictures. We wanted to have our own perspective, and for this, we are so proud of ourselves that we managed to limit the push of information in our feeds. After all, the searches and tracking knows what we were doing, and the powers that be wanted to show us! But we didn’t peek beyond the surface.

Again, now having been, we can add to the planning tips and recommendations you might see in other places, but also perhaps we have something else here you haven’t seen or read. And again, this is if you want to know all about our day in Epic Universe at the Orlando Universal Resort! Click back on your browser or tap into another one of our articles below the sidebar if you don’t want to read further.

How to do it all in one day

When we booked our 4-day trip to Orlando, we had already purchased 3-day park hopper tickets to Walt Disney World. Our time off from work was already maxed out, so we couldn’t add a day to our vacation. That left one single day to try and do Universal Epic Universe. When we told friends familiar with Epic that we were going to try and do it in one day, they said things like “You won’t be able to see it all,” and “You’ll get to be there, but you can’t do it all in a day.” We were going to do everything possible to at least try!

Since we visited the park just a month after it opened, the r/UniversalEpicUniverse Reddit sub led us to read how to maximize the day without too many spoilers. It must be said Epic Universe is incredibly large. At 750 acres, it is the largest Univesal park comprising five themed worlds— Celestial Park is in the center of Super Nintendo World, Dark Universe, Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Ministry of Magic, and How to Train Your Dragon Isle of Berk. Things like when to arrive, which portal to get closest to for early park admission, and finally which attraction to get in line for at rope drop. And finally, the debate of whether or not purchasing Express Pass.

Suffice to say after talking for 10 minutes, we added two $300 Express Pass tickets to our cart. Factors to why we did this included the fact we only had one day, the intense heat (it was forecast to be over 92 °F that day), very little shade in the new park, and again, finite, valuable time. And guess what?? We did Epic Universe in one day!

We arrived at the park around 8:15 a.m. fully expecting to be waiting near the ticket booths. It was exciting when we were allowed entry, and funneled to walk with all the others near the Starbucks in Celestial Park. Then some magic happened. At 8:30 a.m. there was music and fanfare. They let us go further! We headed right toward the Ministry of Magic, again expecting to line up at the portal. But to our surprise, we were able to go in, and that’s when we decided to join the queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry ride. This is one of the 3 rides not included in the Express Pass for Epic Universe, so it was amazing to get on the ride so early. And we were glad to say by 9:15 a.m. we were done with an attraction that we heard some guests wait in line for 5-6 hours to ride!

Now we must say, Express Pass does not guarantee a front of line experience. Where it does help is it usually can cut 50% of the estimated wait times for rides. So if a ride estimate is 120 minutes, the Express Pass line will be 60 minutes. We found this to be true. Doing the math, we averaged an hour for each attraction (including 2 shows) over the course of our 12 hour day with breaks for lunch, dinner, shops, and restrooms. And we also appreciated the details in the well intentioned, thought-out design and artwork around every turn!

When we waited nearly an hour for a ride that was estimated to be 20 minutes in the standard line, we talked with Concierge in Celestial Park. They gave us passes to get to the front of the line for Mine-Cart Madness, another ride not included in Express Pass. Mine-Cart Madness is one we likely would have not have been able to ride in our single day at Epic Universe had it not been for the gracious guest services agent we spoke with.

The prices

If you’ve read this far, you may have also purchased tickets already to Universal’s Epic Universe. We booked direct with Universal on their website here. While pricing can vary by season or weeks in the year, when we went our admission tickets were $179 each plus taxes. We were staying at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin, so booked a Lyft to take us to the park. That ride cost $24 plus tip, so double it for round trip.

As you read above, you can see we splurged for the Express Pass tickets that cost an extra $300 plus taxes on top of the 1-Day admission tickets. This is something to budget and save for in our opinion, and it’s a day we will remember forever being two of the guests getting to experience a brand new amusement park, just one month into their operations! For the two of us, our day at Epic Universe has cost just over $1,000 and we haven’t purchased food, drinks, and souvenirs yet!

We were pleasantly surprised to see reasonable prices for food and beverages at the numerous carts, restaurants and bars around the park. In fact, we’d venture to say offerings at Universal are a few dollars less for drinks and $5-10 less per meal than an equivalent option at the Disney parks! All this to say, the food and drinks were very good too. We especially enjoyed Bièraubeurre Glacée (Frozen Butterbeer) at Bar Moonshine in Ministry of Magic, the steak at Das Stakehaus in Dark Universe, and the handhelds at Meteor Astropub in Celestial Park.

Our favorite attractions

This is factual, with our own opinion, but it must be said: many of the attractions at Epic Universe involve various sets of staircases. We did notice some elevators in the queues, but if this is of concern, please speak with a concierge, park attendant or guest services as you enjoy your day at Epic Universe. If you are able to ride, the coasters at Epic Universe are incredible overall. Neither of us experienced any motion sickness on the thrill rides, either! Below are a our thoughts on a few of our favorite attractions:

Stardust Racers

Stardust Racers, go figure is a racing coaster, and one of Celestial Park’s attractions, and it provided us both with all the thrills! Edward went as far as saying that this is the best roller coaster he’s ever been on. The air time is remarkable and the times you get to see your opponents alongside of you is incredible. Even with Express Pass, we waited through a period of time where it was down for testing, but it was worth that as the coaster is a lengthy ride! For all these reasons, Stardust Racers is a 10/10 for us.

Battle at the Ministry

As we mentioned earlier, Battle at the Ministry is a ride that isn’t included in the Express Pass ticket. We felt the ride began in the queue, as it winds through the Ministry of Magic. The details and grandeur is so well done and looks just as it does in the movies! But once on the ride, the combination of CGI and 3D spaces was a world of its own. We were captivated in witnessing one of the greatest moments for bringing Dolores Umbridge to justice! David felt this was the ultimate thrill ride, and would also rate Battle at the Ministry a 10/10.

The Untrainable Dragon (Show)

In efforts of not releasing spoilers, The Untrainable Dragon show in How to Train Your Dragon - Isle of Berk is a must-do. Absolutely do not miss this opportunity to sit down and enjoy some air conditioning during the peak heat of the day. The way in which the story comes alive will possibly even melt your hearts! There are so many elements that provided aww and wonder, so take our word and be sure your day includes this show! We rate The Untrainable Dragon as another 10/10!

What we’ll do next time

Next time we return, we hope it’s with our children! We figure it might be 7-8 years, as we think that the park is best enjoyed for kids when they’re old enough to appreciate all that is here (yes, even Super Nintendo World). And it’s definitely not a place we’d want to bring a stroller due to all the stairs throughout the lands and even within the attractions!

Stay on property. Hotels at Universal offer added benefits. Do rope drops. Take a break mid-day. Go to the pool. Come back to the park in the evening. And spread out going to Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, as well! We’d also love to check out Volcano Bay, the water park at Universal Orlando!

Fully immerse ourselves. This includes playing the games in Super Nintendo World. Getting robes and wands in Ministry of Magic. Perhaps staying later and enjoying walking through Dark Universe. We’d also wait in lines to get pictures with characters, especially Hiccup and Toothless in the Isle of Berk! Lastly, we’d like to see the mini shows that are at each portal when the park opens. It will be fun to see how Epic Universe grows and evolves over the next few years. Let’s be honest, it might not be 7-8 years from now until we return!