Epic Universe is fantastic, with world-class rides, shows, and restaurants. If I had to choose only one park to visit in Florida in 2026, it wouldn’t be Magic Kingdom or anywhere else at Walt Disney World–it’d be Universal’s third gate. At the same time, there major downsides to visiting this highly-anticipated new park while it’s still finding its footing.
Although I’m fully aboard the Epic Universe hype train, I also recognize that not everyone is me. The average tourist might not have the same time or tolerances to experience a new theme park and all that entails. Moreover, I’m somewhat concerned that the hype train is going a tad too fast, and needs the brakes pumped before it risks derailment.
To that end, I want to make the argument against visiting Epic Universe. Why you should skip it in 2026, and wait until 2027 to visit Universal Orlando’s new theme park. With everyone else fixated on hype, I thought it’d be pragmatic to temper expectations. With that said, this is one half of a point-counterpoint article series. For the companion piece, see Here’s Why We Highly Recommend Doing 2 Days at Epic Universe.
This article outlines the case against Epic Universe–that much should be obvious. If you’re excited about Universal Orlando’s new theme park, have already bought your vacation package or park tickets, or are otherwise averse to negativity, this post is probably not for you. This details the potential pitfalls in visiting Epic Universe in its first year-plus, meaning that it’s a bit of a downer by design.
While you may want to skip this post about skipping Epic Universe if you have zero intentions of skipping Epic Universe, there might be value even for those of you fully aboard the hype train. First, it’ll help in managing expectations. Second, in preparing for these downsides to mitigate their impact to the greatest extent possible.
On with the list of reasons why maybe you should wait to visit Epic Universe until 2027 or beyond…
Heat, Sun & Shade (or Lack Thereof)
Apparently, Epic Universe was designed for the folks who thought Toy Story Land was just a bit too chilly and didn’t offer enough opportunities to crispen their skin or get soaked during a storm. We’ve been critical of recent lands at Walt Disney World when it comes to the lack of cover and how hot they get, wondering if the designers responsible had ever left the comfort of their 70-degree air-conditioned offices in California.
The team behind Epic Universe heard that and said “hold my beer,” cranked their office A/C to 62, and designed the hottest and least shaded theme park I’ve ever experienced. There was a lot of bluster from Universal about Celestial Park putting the “park” back in theme park. Apparently that does not include trees or shade structures of any sort, but does include the most reflective pavement on earth. You can feel the heat from both above and below, making it difficult to spend time in the land during the day.
Celestial Park is lovely, to be sure, but all of the praise for it is necessarily coming at night. I seldom saw more than a handful of guests in here during the day aside from those going from point A to B. It was always a veritable ghost town, and for good reason–it’s really uncomfortable. None of this is exaggeration.
The other portals are better, but only marginally so. Ministry of Magic feels like a sauna, with the same reflective properties and heat emanating from the pavement and facades, until the sun is lower in the sky and the buildings block it from view. It’s a similar story in Super Nintendo World, Isle of Berk, and Dark Daylight Universe.
If you are going to visit Epic Universe this summer, I’d strongly recommend an umbrella with UV protection, cool-dude bucket hat, and ridiculously strong sunscreen. Also, be sure to bring your own water bottle–to Universal’s immense credit, there are refilling stations all over the place, including in queues. (See our Summer Survival Guide to Walt Disney World for more recommendations.)
There are several factors that contribute to Epic Universe having a worse “feels like” environment than other Central Florida theme parks, but the biggest is a lack of permanent shade structures and no mature trees. Epic Universe will be a lovely park-like setting a decade from now, but in the immediate future, it can be miserable on hot and sunny days.
High Prices
There have been a lot of complaints among Walt Disney World fans about price increases, and that conversation is often accompanied by comparisons to Universal Orlando. Many have suggested they’ll vote with their wallets and visit Epic Universe instead due to Walt Disney World pricing them out.
This doesn’t quite add up. Epic Universe is extremely expensive. For my first few visits, Epic Universe tickets, I paid as much as $180 per day after tax. Subsequent days in the park last year were cheaper.
The good news is that this year has brought with it more reasonable options with the release of 2026 Epic Universe 1-Day, Multi-Day, Park Hopper & Discount Tickets. This means you can now visit Epic Universe multiple days or portions of days; you could spend every waking hour at Epic Universe, never doing the legacy parks at all.
This is a big win versus buying multiple single day tickets, which is what was necessary last year. If spending multiple days at Universal Orlando in 2026, I’d want to spend at least two-thirds of that time at Epic Universe–two days there and a day split between the existing gates. I’d add that this is practically necessary given the below issues.
If you do opt for only a single day at Epic Universe, those 1-day prices are still high. And I’d add that, in that case, you might want to strongly consider Express Pass, which is even more expensive.
Personally, I’d go with multiple days (or portions of multiple days) over a single day with Express Pass for a few reasons, but to each their own. Some people have more money than time!
High Wait Times Despite Low Attendance
The new theme park is seeing astronomical wait times for a number of reasons despite relatively low attendance. Despite low attendance, Epic Universe has astronomical wait times.
Since opening, the park’s monthly wait time averages have been 56 to 66 minutes. This may not seem that bad. After all, many rides at Walt Disney World have wait times that are over an hour. But keep in mind that this is an average across all rides and throughout the day, and it doesn’t take into account downtime (see below).
Weekly average wait times at Epic Universe since opening have been 44 to 82 minutes. Daily numbers have been even more extreme. And it’s not getting any better. Epic Universe’s busiest two months have been January and February 2026. March will likely be equally bad once the dust settles on Spring Break.
Some of those days have been absurdly busy. In January, Epic Universe had its busiest day ever. Not just the highest wait times ever for Epic Universe, but for any park at Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World since at least 2019–and by a very wide margin. The average wait on that date was 107 minutes, with peak waits of over 300 minutes and multiple headliners hitting 200+ minutes throughout the day.
To put these numbers into perspective, it’s also worth noting that Walt Disney World’s two busiest days since 2019 have been 71 and 70 minute waits–both came during the weeks of New Year’s (early 2020 and late 2023). Walt Disney World’s average wait time since Epic Universe opened has been less than half of Epic Universe. The same goes for Universal Orlando’s other parks.
On any given day, Walt Disney World’s average wait time has typically been less than half of Epic Universe. The same goes for Universal Orlando’s other parks, which are seeing averages of around 25 to 30 minutes.
This may seem contradictory, but Epic Universe has been seeing New Year’s Eve level wait times on a near-weekly basis since opening despite having attendance that’s one-third to half of the park’s theoretical capacity.
Wait times at Epic Universe are worse than any other park at Universal Orlando or Walt Disney World despite the likelihood of lower daily attendance than any of them. The high wait times at Epic Universe are due to ride reliability and operational inefficiency, and not overwhelming demand.
To the contrary, all signs have pointed to fairly modest attendance. Aside from Super Nintendo World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, both of which are cramped lands based on hugely popular brands, congestion isn’t really an issue at Epic Universe. The park usually doesn’t feel crowded, even when wait times are triple-digits.
Universal has stated that efficiency and capacity constraints are posing problems for the new park. During the company’s most recent earnings call, Comcast CFO Jason S. Armstrong shared that Epic Universe is “not yet operating at full run rate capacity, but we’ve made meaningful progress expanding ride throughput and remain focused on scaling further over the next several quarters with higher attendance, stronger per-caps, and additional operating leverage over time.”
In plain English, this means that they hope to both improve operational efficiency by getting the rides firing on all cylinders while also increasing attendance. At the same time, Comcast leadership has shared that this process will be slow-going, and take until the end of 2026.
It’s unclear why leadership believes it’s going to take another full year to ramp up Epic Universe, but we’ve noticed minimal progress made on our visits, even ones that have been months apart. Hence our recommendation to consider skipping Epic Universe until 2027. Operational woes and high wait times are showing no signs of relenting anytime soon, so the wait may be longer than originally anticipated.
All of this is partly the nature of the beast with a new theme park. And it’s not going to become consistent anytime soon. Wait times and crowd levels on par with the worst week of the year at Walt Disney World are an obvious reason to skip Epic Universe.
Operations should find its footing, efficiency should improve, weather should get better. However, it’s also worth pointing out that the park is lacking in capacity and it’s heavy on headliners. What if it’s only going to get worse from here?! What if it’s a failure of imagination to not see this all somehow worsening?! A good example of this already happening is Universal overselling Express Pass for Epic Universe and adding Mine-Cart Madness and Battle at the Ministry to the line-skipping service to boost sales, despite neither having the capacity or reliability needed to be part of that yet.
Stardust Racers is another example, as that headliner has already been closed for “refurbishment” for over a month, and has already been extended three times now. That alone is a big loss of capacity, and it’s one of the 3 best rides in the park.
Wait times could also increase as attendance increases because, as mentioned above by Comcast leadership, that is one of the goals as Epic Universe continues to scale up. The company didn’t spend $7 billion on this new park for its current (modest) attendance.
Comcast could decide its quarterly numbers aren’t looking so hot–that the theme park segment is falling short of analyst expectations–and start selling Annual Passes, Florida resident ticket deals, or multi-day tickets without restrictions. There’s a huge number of locals who are tapped out on single day tickets, sitting on the sidelines waiting for APs or special offers.
Universal could reassess strategies, and roll out monetized earlier entry (a la Super Nintendo World at USH) or late nights. It’s all uncharted ground, and unpredictable. Attendance could increase, and crowds could worsen.
In the here and now, it actually is possible to beat the crowds at Epic Universe, bad as they are. If you’re eligible to take advantage of Early Park Admission, that’s huge. Even if not, regular rope drop is a great time to knock out one portal.
Staying late to outlast the crowds at the end of the night is likewise another excellent strategic option for low waits. The first two hours of the morning and last two of the evening are as or more valuable than the entire middle of the day.
It’s also possible to choose your day to visit strategically. I’ve been to Epic Universe several times now, and have yet to encounter peak crowds. See our Epic Universe Crowd Calendar: Best Dates to Visit in 2026 for advice. The worst and least busy dates are actually pretty predictable, albeit slightly counter-intuitive and unlike the other Universal Orlando theme parks.
Suffice to say, if you’re considering a visit during the shoulder season or off-season, our advice is much different than if you’re traveling during a school break or the heart of summer.
I wouldn’t hesitate to visit in August or September 2026, or even certain dates in November or December 2026. But other dates between now and then, and even in early 2027, would be complete non-starters.
Honestly, I’m skeptical there’s going to be an “answer” to the park’s problem until the second wave of expansion comes online. Even though that’s currently being fast-tracked, the best case scenario on new attractions is probably 2028. In the meantime, the park really needs a daytime parade, added entertainment, and a proper nighttime spectacular.
Getting in Shape
Epic Universe continues the trend of Universal’s stringent guest containment policies, meaning aggressive restraints even on the slower moving attractions. This had the recipe for being another Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, a slow-moving dark ride that many larger guests cannot experience due to its restraints. Thankfully, that is not the case.
Everything we’ve heard suggests that Universal Orlando took guest feedback to heart with Epic Universe, and the restraints are largely friendly to Pooh-sized guests. There are limits on this, but the same is true with Walt Disney World–TRON Lightcycle Run and Avatar Flight of Passage would like a word.
I’m about the worst person to speak to this, so it’s all second-hand from friends who reported being pleasantly surprised. There are plenty of resources tailored to this type of guest, but the salient point is you probably don’t need to fear embarrassment or accessibility issues if you’re a larger guest. Universal seems to have done a really good job threading the needle when it comes to Epic Universe’s seats and restraints.
The bigger issue, and the one I absolutely did notice, is all of the stairs. On my days in Epic Universe, I somehow managed to log an upwards of 20 flights per day. It seems like every single attraction has stairs both in the queue and at unload. Of course, attractions are also accessible, so there are elevators, but waiting around for those might not be an ideal use of your time.
Personally, I do not think Epic Universe involves an excessive amount of walking as a result of the portals. My average steps per day was lower, and considerably so, than prior days at Walt Disney World. But the difference is that I was actively trying to avoid spending time outdoors due to the heat and lack of shade and I did way more rides per day than my norm. So I’m not really sure that step count was representative of an average guest’s day.
Point being, you might want to work on endurance and get in shape a bit before Epic Universe. The one-two punch of the heat and the stairs makes this a park that can be unduly tiring. It was for me despite fewer steps, and I’m decently in shape.
Breakdowns & Downtime
As you’ve probably witnessed if you’ve spent any amount of time being a Walt Disney World fan, new attractions have growing pains and are often plagued by problems their first few months. This is not a uniquely Disney problem. It’s the nature of the beast as attractions become more complex.
Epic Universe is an entire park of new rides, many of which are innovative and envelope-pushing. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry is far from the only problematic attraction. It’s actually become one of the better performers as of June and July, owing at least in part to the fact that it’s indoors so it doesn’t suffer from weather-related delays.
Pretty much every single one of the park’s marquee attractions has levels of downtime higher than what guests would consider reasonable. These are unscheduled breakdowns, so they’re obviously unpredictable, but there’s not even consistency to which attractions are impacted. It seems like just as one problematic ride hits its stride and starts running smoothly, a new one starts having issues.
For the first few months that Epic Universe has been greeting guests, there have been some really rough days. We have not experienced these, thankfully, but have talked to friends who have (and have observed from afar via the Universal Orlando app).
Multiple headliners going down has a cascading effect, causing congestion in restaurants with long delays for mobile orders, and spiking the wait times of the rides that are open. Keep in mind that this is during days when attendance is heavily capped. When rides come back online, the backlog of Express Pass means sky-high standby wait times.
Suffice to say, you’re not going to want to be in Epic Universe the first time there’s an operational meltdown with the park operating at or nearer full capacity. It’s going to be a nightmare. And it’ll be one exacerbated by the above concerns about the lack of shade, as well as sufficient crowd-absorbing counterprogramming.
In the longer term, we don’t expect any of this to be much of an issue. Almost every new attraction or land has initial growing pains, especially the advanced ones. Again, Epic Universe is an entire park of those! We’re not trying to be critical or nitpick–this is more of a sober “it is what it is” type of commentary.
A year from now, our expectation is that Epic Universe is operating smoothly and with a high degree of efficiency. Many of the problems on this list, including ride reliability, will resolve themselves over time. There’s something to be said for experiencing a brand-new theme park, but there’s also a non-monetary cost to doing so. Consider both before taking the plunge.
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more.
YOUR THOUGHTS
Will you be attending Epic Universe ASAP, or will you skip it until the new park settles into a groove? Concerned about unreliable rides, how hot the park gets, or anything else discussed here? Think Epic Universe is a third gate that’s a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort…and on par with Walt Disney World? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!