Universal's Epic Universe - News and Discussion

[Minnie1222]

Whenever Universal opens a new ride like Hagrid's or Velocicoaster, they don't include the new ride in Express Pass. I believe after Velocicoaster was open for a year, they then added it to EP. However, there still is no express pass for Hagrid's which is the most popular ride in the park. I appreciate that Universal does this because it's a long line and adding EP to it would make it even longer for everyone. This is quite the opposite approach that Disney takes where their most popular rides have seperate paid lightening lane passes.

Yeah even if you take out the several months of the pandemic Hagrid's opened in June of 2019, it's been 5 1/2 years without EP on that attraction and we're several years out of saying it's merely just pandemic related.

The main reason Hagrid is still not offered with EP has nothing to do with Universal's generosity. It is simply more profitable to them to have it included in the group and private VIP tours. There are plenty of premier hotel guests who join the tours just to access Hagrid's (and maybe the free lunch).

At least Disney offer passes to ALL their rides. Imagine if the only way you can access Guardians, Tron, etc. is to buy their Premier Passes. Even if Epic doesn't offer EP in the first ten years, they will offer tours within the 24-48 hours of park opening.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The main reason Hagrid is still not offered with EP has nothing to do with Universal's generosity. It is simply more profitable to them to have it included in the group and private VIP tours. There are plenty of premier hotel guests who join the tours just to access Hagrid's (and maybe the free lunch).

At least Disney offer passes to ALL their rides. Imagine if the only way you can access Guardians, Tron, etc. is to buy their Premier Passes. Even if Epic doesn't offer EP in the first ten years, they will offer tours within the 24-48 hours of park opening.

Apparently you simultaneously do not know the history of EP and how Universal handles it but also know exactly why a specific attraction is not included in it (disregarding all the other past attractions). But what do multiple posters across the years know? I guess not much. You're also talking about two completely different things VIP tours and how Universal treats Express Pass.

In terms of attractions you've got it wrong; Universal's Express Pass offers more attractions based on what is in their park than Disney's system does. There are only 2 actual attractions that do not have Express Pass at Universal between the two parks. Disney has more that are not included in their system but what Disney does do is not allow a new attraction be standby but that is something that has been increasingly their path in recent years.

 

[Minnie1222]

Apparently you simultaneously do not know the history of EP and how Universal handles it but also know exactly why a specific attraction is not included in it (disregarding all the other past attractions). But what do multiple posters across the years know? I guess not much. You're also talking about two completely different things VIP tours and how Universal treats Express Pass.

In terms of attractions you've got it wrong; Universal's Express Pass offers more attractions based on what is in their park than Disney's system does. There are only 2 actual attractions that do not have Express Pass at Universal between the two parks. Disney has more that are not included in their system but what Disney does do is not allow a new attraction be standby but that is something that has been increasingly their path in recent years.

I thought we were talking about why EP is still not included with Hagrid's? And yes, I think Universal's group and private VIP tours have a lot to do with it.

 

[marmentrout85]

Whenever Universal opens a new ride like Hagrid's or Velocicoaster, they don't include the new ride in Express Pass. I believe after Velocicoaster was open for a year, they then added it to EP. However, there still is no express pass for Hagrid's which is the most popular ride in the park. I appreciate that Universal does this because it's a long line and adding EP to it would make it even longer for everyone. This is quite the opposite approach that Disney takes where their most popular rides have seperate paid lightening lane passes.

I truly miss those pre-Express Pass wait times for VelociCoaster. Standby waits have been much longer since they made the change and you always seem to stand still in one spot in the queue for like 5 minutes at a time before you move again. Always seemed like you were moving at a much more consistent basis before EP was introduced. I'm cool with a long line/wait as long as I'm consistently moving, so I kind of hope they don't have EP pass initially for more of a level playing field, and for my wallet's sake.

 

[georgina]

I guess I really lucked out getting tickets, sort of. I went to HHN. Checked every hour starting at midnight until 5am ET and tried to sleep between. Saw in a private FB group that they were in accounts. Got my 2 dates. When it showed up in email, I realized one was wrong, my fault. Tried calling; no one there. Woke back up at 7:30am. Waited an hour and went back to sleep. Later in the afternoon, I was getting ready and called. Got ready, ate a snack, walked to guest services in Citywalk, waited in line. They told me they couldn’t change the dates. Went back to the hotel. As I was leaving to grab water, they answered. Got it changed. On the phone about 2 hours. Luckily I never hung up and didn’t lose the call in the elevator or going through security. We are going 5/29 and 6/1 with a theme park view room at Helios.

Quick question - did your Helios reservation deposit hit your credit card yet? I made a reservation on the 22nd, got a confirmation but they did not charge the deposit yet.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally Hagrids had major reliability issues. Guests who purchased Express would have complained if they weren't able to ride Hagrids. Having to clear Express passes when the ride resumed after a stopage would have further stopped the standby line.

Universal said EPIC will offer Express. Universal controls daily attendance at EPIC. We have no idea how long the lines will be with or without Express. We may wind up with very long regular lines and long Express lines. Similar to HHN.

 

[fatmanatee]

Unless they are extremely dumb, I can't see why they would forfeit a large chunk of money by not selling line skipping products from the start.

They’re already forfeiting a large chunk of money by pricing tickets and hotels well below many estimates. Entirely reasonable if they decide to take a wait-and-see approach with EP while they get data from the first months of park activity.

 

[soniam]

Quick question - did your Helios reservation deposit hit your credit card yet? I made a reservation on the 22nd, got a confirmation but they did not charge the deposit yet.

I haven’t looked. I did get the confirmation from my TA. Did you get the confirmation email?

 

[Lewisc]

They’re already forfeiting a large chunk of money by pricing tickets and hotels well below many estimates. Entirely reasonable if they decide to take a wait-and-see approach with EP while they get data from the first months of park activity.

What estimates? Sources? Internet bloggers? Anonymous posters on the internet?
Pricing was less then some of us speculated BUY Helios guests won't be getting any kind of express. AP add-ons are available from June 1st. Multi passes are still available. There is no discount for guests who want to spend more then 1 day.

JMO Helios has fewer amenities then first projected. Pricing looks about right.

Admission price looks a little low, but no deal if you want to spend more then 1 day in EPIC.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

JMO Helios has fewer amenities then first projected.

This one might be how we define amenities. For me its getting what I thought it would get overall but I think the hotel is not as high in ambience as I thought but that was primarily because I thought (like I feel others did too) that Helios would be in a new and even higher than existing category and instead they brought several other existing hotels along with it create a new but not higher than existing category. So my expectations were that it would have more oomph than it's being presented as, but I'd still stay there.

Pricing looks about right.

I think it's coming in much less than I was originally anticipating TBH even with the adjustment in ambience expectations.

 

[fatmanatee]

What estimates? Sources? Internet bloggers? Anonymous posters on the internet?

Well, yours, to start. I think a lot of people here and elsewhere were fully prepared to pay 200 or more for a ticket. They could have done that and it would have been fine, but instead we’re seeing people get in for $155 opening day. I know it’s APs but for example, I didn’t think Helios was going to be on my radar at all for a hotel stay, but it’s definitely a possibility at the price they’re offering.

 

[Minnie1222]

They’re already forfeiting a large chunk of money by pricing tickets and hotels well below many estimates. Entirely reasonable if they decide to take a wait-and-see approach with EP while they get data from the first months of park activity.

I agree the park tickets are very reasonable as I was expecting at least $225 on a regular day. The rates for Helios Grand are actually not that cheap, considering that no EPs are included. The Dragon suites are still at ~$1200/night for the opening week.

Wait-and-see approach for what? Wait to see if it's more profitable to have guests staying longer due to lack of EPs?

 

[fatmanatee]

Wait-and-see approach for what? Wait to see if it's more profitable to have guests staying longer due to lack of EPs?

Wait and see to see how park operations go without it. Monitor waits and downtime across the board to try to figure out which rides might have a harder time for standby with EP. Figure out how many EP's you can offer and how to price it without running into the problems WDW has had with their system.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

The rates for Helios Grand are actually not that cheap, considering that no EPs are included.

They are less expensive than I ever expected and I never expected the rate to include EP at all. I was going in with the idea it wouldn't have it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Wait and see to see how park operations go without it. Monitor waits and downtime across the board to try to figure out which rides might have a harder time for standby with EP. Figure out how many EP's you can offer and how to price it without running into the problems WDW has had with their system.

It's also good to figure out which attractions are using up their hourly capacity well and which ones are underperforming or having too much demand. An attraction that is underperforming is (if using the past) more likely to get an EP faster than an attraction that has too much demand for the hourly capacity of it.

 

[Lewisc]

Well, yours, to start. I think a lot of people here and elsewhere were fully prepared to pay 200 or more for a ticket. They could have done that and it would have been fine, but instead we’re seeing people get in for $155 opening day. I know it’s APs but for example, I didn’t think Helios was going to be on my radar at all for a hotel stay, but it’s definitely a possibility at the price they’re offering.

Our opinion is nothing more then speculation. It reflects what we think tickets and hotel will cost and what we mght be willing.to pay. Universal has research which supports pricing.
Universal could be leaving money on the table or we might be wrong.
People attack Disney's greed. Exact opposite here

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I got us tickets for an Epic day in Dec because they are so reasonable. Interestingly a one day ticket to Islands or Studios the same day is marginally more expensive.

I would be shocked if the general public one day Epic tickets are not more expensive than the ones available to APs. It would be a strange choice to charge less/equal for Epic...

 

[tony67]

Originally Hagrids had major reliability issues.

It still does - at least in the morning for the two weeks I was there in September. It seemed to be down for an extended time almost every morning. It was down for so long several morning they basically had most folks leave the line. This worked out well for me as I was able to get in as soon as it reopened. I don't think I ever waited more than 30 minutes for it.

I know they are doing some things to make it more dependable in the AM, but this was something different since it was such a long delay.

 

[tony67]

They are less expensive than I ever expected and I never expected the rate to include EP at all. I was going in with the idea it wouldn't have it.

Yeah almost everyone was pretty surprised by the price - and it was announced well in advance there would be no EP - even for the existing parks. Personally I'd only consider staying for my planned Epic days and then switch to somewhere else. If I can get an AP rate when I go Ill do a night or two. Same for the other two Epic resorts. Thing with those is I can stay at Aventura for the same price and walk or boat to the existing parks as well as City Walk and avoid the Hub. The hub is not all that big a deal, but some dislike it. Then its a simple bus to Epic.

Dockside seems to the best option since its pretty much in the middle of things.

I guess a lot will come down to how well the buses work with the new lanes and all that - maybe it wont be all that big a deal.
Regardless I want to stay at the new resorts since I've stayed everywhere else (except Surfside since its pretty much the same as Dockside with less amenities)

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yeah almost everyone was pretty surprised by the price - and it was announced well in advance there would be no EP - even for the existing parks. Personally I'd only consider staying for my planned Epic days and then switch to somewhere else. If I can get an AP rate when I go Ill do a night or two. Same for the other two Epic resorts. Thing with those is I can stay at Aventura for the same price and walk or boat to the existing parks as well as City Walk and avoid the Hub. The hub is not all that big a deal, but some dislike it. Then its a simple bus to Epic.

Dockside seems to the best option since its pretty much in the middle of things.

I guess a lot will come down to how well the buses work with the new lanes and all that - maybe it wont be all that big a deal.
Regardless I want to stay at the new resorts since I've stayed everywhere else (except Surfside since its pretty much the same as Dockside with less amenities)

Haha I preferred our stay at Surfside and chose it over Dockside because it was smaller and got picked up first on the bus so I would chose it over Dockside again. I agree about a split stay between Helios and other hotels and the new Nova hotels. I think Universal understands the limitations of their location. In the future when tickets are more flexible I'm sure people will opt to just go to Epic much like they choose to only go to the Harry Potter areas buying tickets just to see them and the hotels right by Epic will be what makes the most sense.