Surprising Wait Times for Epic Universe on Opening Day

Epic Universe is officially open. There have been so many predictions about opening day crowds and wait times. The actual waits were surprising, but not for all of the reasons you would expect.

Epic Universe Grand Opening

Epic Universe is officially open for business. Opening day and the first few weeks of operation are long sold out.

And of course, the interwebs have been abuzz with speculation about what crowds will be like and what wait times will look like. Some have gone as far as to predict multi-hour waits for every attraction. Many are planning to delay visiting the park for a while in anticipation of huge crowds.

However, these types of predictions did not pan out after all. Here is how opening day went in terms of wait time.

Epic Universe Wait Times on Opening Day

In fact, the only wait time that did pan out as predicted was the wait for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. The ride has been a rollercoaster for guest emotions.

During previews, it opened with a difficult-to-obtain Virtual Queue. It is rumored that some preview visitors even tried scalping their spaces in the queue! However, the previews ended with the ride operating with a traditional standby queue.

The standby queue remained in place for Harry Potter on opening day! And it quickly amassed a 300-minute wait. This wait was made more complicated by ride delays.

However, the rest of the park did not follow suit. Instead of shockingly high wait times, Epic Universe opened with many wait times that were shockingly low!

Other Wait Times at Epic Universe

Other wait times were pleasant for those who did not flock to Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. Nearly everything had 5-15 minute waits for the majority of the day. Attractions like Mine Cart Madness and Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge eventually climbed to waits of 35-45 minutes.

This held true even after the queue for Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry dropped to 180, and later, 120 minutes. Guests continued to enjoy low wait times on other attractions.

Wait times for almost all attractions were shockingly low.

Keep in mind, there are about 21 attractions to spread crowds around, including 11 rides, plus play areas, shows, and character interactions. Plus, there are many interesting restaurants and shops. Even if the 300 minutes worth of guests had been in other ride queues, it would not have resulted in multi-hour waits for every ride.

The opening day waits bring up several questions. Will waits remain low? Or was opening day capacity significantly limited compared to the coming days and weeks? (There are rumors pertaining to capacity limits, but Universal has not publicly announced anything.) And, will Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry remain on standby? We will continue to observe and see what pans out!

What do you think of these wait times? Were you there on opening day? Are you planning to visit soon? Let us know! And be sure to share the news with family and friends.