When it comes to vacation planning, I go all-in. I’m comparing hotels, making dinner reservations weeks in advance, studying a map of the area I’m visiting and packing a travel bag full of “emergency” supplies. But as any traveler knows, trips don’t always go according to plan.
That was especially true on my recent trip to Universal Orlando. I’d previously visited back in 2019, but the parks have changed quite a bit since then. From unexpected fees at hotel check-in to mega crowd levels at Epic Universe, these are some of the things I wish I knew before walking through the gates.
1. Epic Universe gets extremely crowded
Epic Universe is the shiny new theme park on the metaphorical Orlando block. Considering that it’s both brand new (it only opened last year) and home to some of the most beloved franchises in the world (like Super Mario and Harry Potter), it’s no wonder it draws huge crowds.
However, large crowds mean long lines, and nobody likes spending most of their vacation standing in two-hour lines for rides that are over and done with in two to three minutes. I’m not exaggerating when I say that the average wait time for a given ride during my day at Epic Universe was typically around the two-hour mark, sometimes longer. The standby wait time for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry alone remained consistent at four hours while I was there. Yeah, no thanks.
I’m not exaggerating when I say the average wait time during my day at Epic Universe hovered around two hours — sometimes longer. The standby line for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry alone stayed at four hours while I was there. Yeah, no thanks.
It’s super expensive, but if you’ve got the cash, my number-one piece of advice is to consider buying an Express Pass (aka Universal’s “skip the line” pass) for the day. I was able to get on most of the rides at Epic within 30 minutes or less with Express, even when the line was out the door.
2. Set up the Universal app early
There’s an app for pretty much everything nowadays, and Universal is no different. While it’s certainly not perfect, it was extremely helpful to have installed while wandering the parks and sitting down to eat. Most of Universal’s quick-service restaurants let you seat yourself and place a mobile order through the app, which they’ll bring straight to your table. No waiting in food lines with other hangry customers is necessary!
You can also upload your park admission tickets and Express Passes to the app for easy scanning (or fuss over your paper tickets all day like I did). The feature I found most helpful, however, is the wait times tool. This lets you see real-time line updates for rides in your area. You can even set alerts for when a ride reopens after a delay or when a wait time drops below a certain number.
3. The free ride lockers are tiny
Seeing “free” anything today is rare enough, but considering that most theme parks charge upwards of $5 for a safe place to store your belongings during a ride, Universal’s free lockers are a real treat.
The only problem is that they’re extremely small. When I say small, I’m only talking about the free lockers at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Thankfully, Universal had mercy on us “heavy packers” when designing Epic Universe — the free lockers there are substantially bigger.
But the free lockers in the other parks are really only big enough to fit a mini backpack, crossbody bag or fanny pack. If you’re toting a large backpack or purse, I can’t guarantee it will fit in the locker. However, those lockers are wider than they are tall, so as long as you can arrange your belongings to lie flat, you might be able to make it work. Trust me, I’ve seen some serious locker cramming — it’s possible.
4. Food costs are higher than expected
I could’ve easily downed three of these mac-and-cheese cones — and the butterbeer crepe was just as good.
(Sarah Drolet/Yahoo)
I don’t think anybody assumes theme park food is going to be cheap, but I honestly wasn’t expecting food costs during my trip to be quite this high either. I found the average cost of a quick-service entrée to be around $23 during my visit. This is already pricey enough to feed one person, but if you plan to feed a family, it adds up quickly. Even the cost of snacks from the food stalls lining the walkways was pretty high. Seven dollars for a bag of popcorn? No, thank you.
I packed a few snacks, like granola bars and chips, to help satisfy some of my munchies throughout the day. That said, I would definitely recommend making room in your budget to buy at least one meal in the park each day. Epic Universe, in particular, has some surprisingly good options. Butterbeer-inspired treats in the Ministry of Magic area and the mac-and-cheese cones in the Isle of Berk are must-eats.
5. You will get wet on the water rides
All those warning signs at the entrance to every water ride at Universal Orlando aren’t there for show. I can promise you will get wet on the water rides. I know I did. But there’s a big difference between getting a little damp and getting absolutely drenched. My sister and I both left the log flume and river rapids rides at Islands of Adventure absolutely soaked. Like, we’re talking dripping clothes, stringy hair and waterlogged sneakers.
The ride designers were very devious in their placements of surprise water guns and waterfalls. You will not escape unscathed. So if you’re not up for spending the next hour or two of park day dripping water everywhere, I’d highly recommend wearing a poncho on the ride. You can bring one from home or purchase one in the gift shops near the water rides. There are also body dryers near some of the water rides, but you’ll have to pay to use them, and they don’t always get you fully dry.
6. Universal Orlando hotels charge parking fees
Normally, I’m not the type to spend the extra money to stay on-site at whatever property I’m vacationing at, seeing as off-site hotels are almost always cheaper. This time, however, I decided to stay at one of Universal’s hotels, mainly for the free shuttle services and early park admission.
And while I had a wonderful stay at Universal’s Terra Luna hotel, I did not enjoy paying $30 per night to park my car in the hotel lot. It just felt like another unexpected expense on top of all the others I had to pay during the trip.
7. There’s no Express queue for character meet-and-greets
Because I was only planning to visit Universal Orlando for three days, I decided to spend the extra money and purchase Express Passes for each of my park days. Given the insanely long lines at Epic Universe, I’d say it was money well spent — at least there. The other parks weren’t nearly as busy.
But one thing to know about Express is that, while it lets you skip the regular lines for rides and live shows, there isn’t an Express queue for character meet-and-greets. I hoped to meet the adorable Toothless animatronic or some of the costumed Nintendo characters, but the lines were simply too long.
If you have your heart set on meeting Toothless, in particular, I’d strongly recommend making a beeline for Isle of Berk right when the park opens. They’re usually out early for meet-and-greets. Otherwise, be prepared to wait up to two hours.
8. Ride delays can (and will) happen
Like I mentioned, Epic Universe is still relatively new. Given that the rides are practically brand-new, I was surprised by how often they were delayed throughout the day. Every single ride at Epic was either down or delayed at some point during my visit. And while you won’t be kicked out of line when something goes wrong, it just adds to the already out-of-control wait times at this theme park.
The two rides I noticed went down the most were Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry (this ride gave us a lot of trouble during my visit) and Fyre Drill, which is a relatively simple water gunner boat ride in the Isle of Berk area. The good news is that they rarely stay down for more than two hours, and you can use the Universal app to set an alert to let you know when a ride opens again.