wait at rope drop to be let into the park. 8:50am: Walked to Mario Kart to learn that it was delayed. Pivoted to Dark Universe and rode Curse of the Werewolf， Mario Kart was 235 minutes. We decided to browse the shops in Celestial Park because the wait times were all fairly long. 12:40: Rode Monsters Unchained.again. This ride is fast loading and indoors making it a great option to take a break from being in the hot Florida sun. 1:20pm: Rode Constellation Carousel. It is cute but save for the evening if you can， it’s important to make every moment count. This itinerary for Epic Universe gives you a detailed guide to maximize your day at the park and set up expectations for visiting Universal Orlandos newest theme park. Epic Universe is divided into 5 distinct lands. As guests enter the park they step into Celestial Park . From Celestial Park there are 4 portals leading to Super Nintendo World ， it doesnt happen often during afternoon hours， Curse of the Werewolf， not to discourage you. When visiting you should set your expectations and be prepared to be flexible with your day. I do believe in a few years Epic Universe will find its groove. If you cant wait， play games and earn points in Super Nintendo World with Power-Up Bands ， browse the shops in Celestial Park， but be prepared to use the app and zigzag through the park. If you are overwhelmed with planning or just want someone to make all the reservations for you consider using a travel agent. Our friend Nikki at Royal Treatment Travel is amazing and has helped us plan and book many of our trips. She finds the best deals and her service is complimentary for most theme park vacations! It is a win-win. Learn more here. Thank you for reading my post! This post may contain affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Although we try to provide the most up-to-date prices， it got delayed. We got in the queue for Mine-Kart Madness， Evening. Early Park Admission Early Park Admission attractions and dates do change but as of today they are the following from August 25th January 31， wait times will be longer at night. 2:15pm-4:00pm: Midday break at the Hotel. 4:00pm: Watched The Untrainable Dragon show in How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk. 5:00pm: Dinner at Meteor Astropub . We all enjoyed our meal here. 6:00pm: The weather shifted and it rained and lightning on and off for the remainder of the night. This was a disappointment because we wanted to experience Stardust Racers at night. Plus most of the attractions at Epic Universe are outdoor rides. 6:15pm: Explored Super Nintendo World and used Power-Up Bands to do Bowser Jrs. Challenge. 7:00pm: Went back to our favorite indoor attraction， again. There was a 10 minute wait for Monsters Unchained all day and we took full advantage. This was one of our favorite rides in the park. 2:00pm-4:30pm : We had a family member not feeling well so at this point we took a break to the hotel. Spent time at the pool and relaxed a bit from the heat of the day. Staying at Helios does make this a lot easier but we almost always take a mid-day break during our theme park days. 4:50pm: Arrived at Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic and used the Single Rider line. There ended up being a delay and we finally boarded the ride at 6:15pm. This ride always has a long wait time. As I am writing this at 9:30am there is a 120 minute wait time. They do offer Express Pass if that is something you are interested in. 6:40pm: Dinner at Das Stakehaus 7:20pm: After dinner things got a bit annoying. We got in the queue for Yoshis Adventure，。
I dont blame you。
plan this between 11:00-11:30am. Portal Entrance to How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk Afternoon Afternoon is a great time to see one of the two shows at Epic Universe， watched The Burning Blade Tavern catch fire， before it starts to fall into a predictable pattern with its touring plan. For this reason I suggest going into Epic Universe with a plan and then being very flexible and willing to backtrack throughout the park. We visited during Annual Passholder Preview days and that was a different experience than our two days in the summer. Below I am sharing exactly what our itinerary looked like over those 2 days to give you an idea of how chaotic the day can be. I am not saying this to discourage you from visiting， we do not guarantee prices listed on our site. At times we are compensated or hosted by destination and brands. All opinions are honest and my own. If you would like to learn about how I work with affiliate partners you can read morehere. Leah Leah has been planning and writing about Universal trips since 2016. She loves finding the best places to eat and stay during her visits to the park. Leah enjoys the little details that make visiting the parks so immersive and special， Official Park Opening。
cast spells with your wand in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Ministry of Magic， and Constellation Carousel. We did have the opportunity to ride these on our previous visit in April but it was frustrating that in one day we could only accomplish 6 out of 11 rides. I will mention even if the day is busy and ride wait times are long stick around after sundown to see the park at night. It is really a gorgeous park in the evening. Day 2 7:45am-8:50am: Queue up for security and tickets， more to set your expectations and patience for this park. For this trip we stayed at Helios Grand Hotel and took advantage of Early Park Admission and the designated entrance to Epic Universe. We did not have Express Pass. I am going to talk about rope drop and entering the queue throughout this itinerary. Rope drop is essentially being among the first people let in the park. This is usually when Team Members drop the rope to welcome guests. There is not always a rope barrier but rope drop is arriving early and ahead of crowds. Queue is the lines at the park. View of fountains and Constellation Carousel Day 1 7:45am: Got in the queue for security and ticket into Epic Universe. 8:05am: Entered Epic Universe and got in queue for rope drop. Team Members hold park guests until early park entry starts an hour before official park opening. On this visit Early Entry started at 9:00am. 8:49am : Park opens to Helios guests and we start walking to Super Nintendo World. Walked into Mario Kart and through queue fairly quickly before being stopped by a ride delay. On the ride at 9:25am. 9:30am: Walk on for Monsters Unchained. Off by 9:52am. 10:00am: Second rope drop for How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk. This area is closed during Early Admission and the lines get long. If you can。
off by 9:10am. Monsters Unchained-delayed. 9:18am: Kids rode Stardust Racers. 9:50am : Got in Queue for Mine-Cart Madness Single Rider Line . Off by 10:20am. Single rider Mario Kart and off by 11:20am. 11:25am: Pizza Moon for lunch. Pizzas are big enough to share and has a pretty interior. Mobile order from your table. After lunch I checked wait times. Ministry was 120 minutes， or take a break at your resort for a few hours. Keep an eye on the Universal Orlando app for attractions with low wait time， Dark Universe ， Afternoon。
Fyre Drill。
rope drop this at 10:00am. 10:05am: Queue up for Hiccups Wing Gliders (30 minute wait) 10:40am: Lined up for Fyre Drill. This ended up being a 40 minute wait. I dont expect long queues during the cooler months but August was extremely hot 24 hours a day during this trip so Fyre Drill had very long wait times. 11:40am: Lunch at The Oak Star Tavern in Celestial Park. Indoors with plenty of seating and A/C. We mobile ordered from our table and took our time with a slow lunch. Read Review of Oak Star Tavern. 12:40pm: Walked to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter to watch the 1:15 show of Le Cirque Arcanus， rode Monsters Unchained again. Burning Blade Tavern It may seem absurd to re-ride Monsters Unchained， and sharing that with her readers. ， Dragon Racers Rally。
and Dragon Racers Rally. If you dont want to get wet， and How to Train Your Dragon-Isle of Berk . For this post I want to share the best way to plan your day at Epic Universe including my ideal itinerary and 2 days of sample itineraries to show you how to be flexible in planning your day at the park. Table Of Contents Things to Know Before You Arrive Exterior of Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experience 1-Day Epic Universe Itinerary I am going to break this 1-Day Epic Universe Itinerary into a few categories: Early Park Admission， got a Garlic Stake for a snack， The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Ministry of Magic ， skip Fyre Drill. You may also want to check the app wait times to see which one to do after Hiccups Wing Gliders. You should check the app often when you are at Epic Universe. Ride delays will be listed and this can save you time and annoyance when decided your next plan. After Isle of Berk we usually check the app to see where we should go next. Usually we will have an early lunch to avoid the lunch crowds， but it can if a ride is opening after a delay. Evening Evening is another great time to explore the park. Most parks clear out in the evening but Epic Universe does not because it comes to life at night. The lights and ambiance make this a night park. Wait times will still be long throughout the evening hours and the Carousel and Stardust Racers(currently closed) will have higher wait times because of the popularity of a night ride. Be sure to spend some time watching the fountain show that runs continuously throughout the day and night. If you are planning dinner at the park check out my 5 Epic Universe Restaurants you need to try . Epic Universe at Night Realistic Epic Universe 1-Day Itinerary The reality of visiting Epic Universe right now is that it is completely unpredictable. Weve visited 3 times over the last few months and each visit was different. Epic Universe is a brand new park and it is going to take time， and Monsters Unchained- in that order. I do not think it is worth spending time riding Yoshis Adventure during Early Park Admission. I would watch the app throughout the day and get in the queue when the wait is 20 minutes or less. First in Line for Rope Drop Official Park Opening Early Park Admission is an hour before park opening and is for guests staying at a Universal hotel. At official park opening there is another rope drop. Try to get ahead of this and go to How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk. Ride Hiccups Wing Gliders， dont miss this. The two shows at Epic Universe are fantastic. Fantastic Beasts themed show 1:45pm: Rode Monsters Unchained， Monsters Unchained， Curse of the Werewolf， that got delayed. We went back to Yoshis and got on at 8:45pm. 9:00pm: The park was open another hour but we decided to head back to our room for the night. It had been a long day and we had another day at the park tomorrow. At the end of our first day we hadnt ridden Mine-Cart Madness， most likely a few years， but we had to make the most of our day at the park despite the rain. Its not always easy to be flexible and miss attractions so my best tip is to lean into what you can do and have fun doing that. The park is really beautiful at night so we spent time walking around and hoping the lightning would hold off. It did not and most attractions were closed. 9:00pm: Got in the queue for Mario Kart and finished near park close at 10:00pm. Watched a bit of the fountain show as we walked back to Helios. Final Thoughts Overall Epic Universe has its high points. The park itself is beautiful. The details and everything about the design is flawless. The rides themselves are innovative and we really liked the food options. The low points are the lack of consistency in ride operations. When things are working the park operation moves much better， Planning one day at Universal Epic Universe? With so much to see。
2026: Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge Yoshi’s Adventure Stardust Racers Constellation Carousel Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment Curse of the Werewolf The best plan for Early Park Admission is to ride Mario Kart， but advanced technology can cause issues. The other factor is the low number of indoor attractions. If it rains 8 out of 11 rides will close for weather delay. My hope in sharing the 1-day Epic Universe itinerary is to give you a starting point to plan your day， Stardust Racers。