My crew is travelling to Universal Orlando this upcoming weekend. The group will include my wife, my kids (16 and 15), and my sister-in-law. We'll be arriving Thursday night and leaving Monday morning with a stay at Royal Pacific. Friday through Sunday we'll be in the parks. We've all been to Universal before but this is our first stay on property.
Our plan for the parks is to take advantage or early entry at Epic each morning and then transition to the other two parks in the afternoon. Since we have Universal Express Unlimited at both Studios and IOA, I figure those are not priorities for early morning. We are not paying for Express passes at Epic. I think one of the evenings we will end up back at Epic to check out the vibe when the sun goes down.
We are likely either bringing breakfast or grabbing something quick. The plan is to have groceries delivered for lunches for the three days. Dinner we will be eating out.
Any advice about staying on property? Any great places to eat, either in the parks or City Walk? We'll pretty much eat anything except Thai or Indian. Any Epic pointers?
TIA!
Epic Universe crowds tend to peak in the morning/afternoon before thinning out in the evening. The last hour I waited maybe 15-20 minutes for Donkey Kong, then 0 minutes for Mario Kart, and then 5-10 minutes for Harry Potter. I talked to some folks who said they waited 2.5 hours for Harry Potter earlier that day.
I would suggest not doing your plan. How about don’t have a set plan. You have free express at the original parks, you can do whatever whenever. At Epic you’re stuck in the normal lines, thankfully Monsters and Stardust have very quick moving lines so you can still ride them often. Outside of EE, the lines for Nintendo and Ministry are shortest at night. The park is stunning too. Make sure you close the park once and watch the fountain show at close it’s so cool. My suggestion is try rope dropping Epic your first morning and leaving once the lines get too long Then just play it by ear.
2026 Trips: Universal Orlando, Dollywood, Cedar Point, Kings Island, Schlitterbahn New Braunfels, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Sea World San Antonio, Sea World Orlando, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Walt Disney World, Silver Dollar City
Our "plan" is much more fluid than a Disney trip. Honestly, for IOA and Studios we don't have a plan at all.
You guys are correct, the wait times for Ministry are much shorter late at night. We'll probably open Epic in Nintendo Land the first day and then head over there again the second night. I definitely want to check out the Monsters area in the dark.
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