I wish they would just end EP. It'll never happen because it makes a lot of money. But I think it would make the experience better. Waiting 30 min for a popular ride is fine. Instead, the majority of guests have to wait double that or more so that a few can have a short wait. Yes, I know that's not the world we live in...
I'm fine with having EP (it goes for any theme or amusement park to have a front of the line pass) but I've always appreciated that Universal didn't do what Disney does with putting EP at the start and I'm hoping they continue with this trend for Epic.
Sure it's about them being able to sell it to the public but there's a balance too with guest satisfaction so I don't really think it's wholly about profits. They have to weigh never having a means for people to get through a line quicker and how that would impact their willingness to even patronize the park. I just think people can't expect the park to be anything other than busy for at least several years.
I also think it depends on when you went over the years. We went in 2011 and Forbidden Journey was still very long it was for sure more than an hour I think it might have been 90+ mins. IDK we got stuck in the greenhouse for quite a while even though we breezed through the queue parts before the greenhouse I remember thinking whew they certainly built the capacity for the line to be long. FJ didn't get EP until summer 2017 (it opened summer 2010).
I also think it depends on your expectations and to me 30 mins is NOTHING in terms of a theme park and certainly when speaking about a very popular ride. Ride times tend to go down the longer an attraction is open. I'm not saying I wouldn't love waiting less time but my expectations are very adjusted for things.
When we last went in 2022 VelociCoaster before EP was added to it
- First day
- 45 mins (listed as 50mins) at 8:15am
- Second day
- 7:55am it was posted 15min wait and it was slightly less than that and my husband rode it twice back to back within 20 mins
- That afternoon about 3pm it was 35min posted wait and he waited 30mins
- Third day
- 8:45am it was posted 45mins wait and he waited about 40mins.
- They had single rider open once my husband got off (they did not have single rider the prior two days) and he rode it again immediately with about 5 or so min wait
- That evening the posted wait time was 60 mins at 9:30pm and he was out in 45mins.
VelociCoaster opened summer 2021
And Hagrid's is definitely a longer wait time which opened summer 2019 even if you remove that the pandemic shortened the time it was opened to the public and with crowds by a bit still.
For Hagrid's in 2022 (again no EP)
- First day
- Went down in the morning (common)
- at 9:05am posted 60 mins, waited 40mins
- Third day at 6:50pm posted wait time of 70mins (75 mins posted)
I get your point about how EP affects the wait time, we know that, but if your definition is waiting 30mins for a popular ride is fine (meaning longer than that is where you start to get iffy on it) I'd say you have a low threshold for waiting. To me a brand new OR in demand line anything less than 60mins is actually really good.
