An Epic Universe Itinerary: How to Maximize Your Day at Universal Orlando’s New Park

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I just got back from the best trip to Epic Universe, but boy oh boy did I learn A LOT on how to tackle a day in this park. I’ve been an annual passholder at Universal Orlando, so I’m in so many groups to chat about strategies, logistics, and recommendations. But no matter how much I planned, I couldn’t find a solid itinerary that I had faith in.

Allow me to help. With this Epic Universe itinerary, I’ll share a breakdown of how to spend your day with some real life insight on what to expect. Plus, read on for my food recommendations, tips for timing your day, and expectations if you only have one day.

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How to Spend a Day at Epic Universe

As we get into this, I’m going to use general timing as a guide since park hours can vary by day of the week and season. They were 10 am (early admission at 9 am) until 9 pm for me. Please check the Universal app for the park hours when you visit in case it’s different. 

Also, one of my top tips for Epic Universe is to check the app the morning of your visit because ride opening times can vary by day based on needed maintenance. 

Your morning with Early Park Admission

If you have Early Park Admission, which you gain by staying at a Universal hotel, you can access some of the park’s rides an hour early. 

In fact, even without the hotel stay, you’ll be let into the park, you just can’t access the rides. I’ll share what to do instead in the FAQ’s at the end of this post.

With Early Park Admission, that early hour is one of the most important of the day to cross off the biggest rides because the crowds will be lowest.

I’ve seen two strategies for Early Park Admission, so I’ll share my thoughts.

First, if you’re a huge Harry Potter fan, you can rope drop Battle at the Ministry, which has a notoriously long wait. However, the ride doesn’t actually open until regular park opening time, so you will be standing in line waiting for the entire hour of Early Park Admission just for the ride to open.

To me, that’s a big waste. Especially considering the Battle at the Ministry queue is one of the best to tackle when the heat outside is the worst, because the queue is entirely indoors in a very air conditioned building.

The second strategy and the one that I recommend is to tackle Super Nintendo World. Yes, a lot of people will be going there. But I guarantee the waits will be shortest first thing in the morning (and potentially again late at night).

For example, I went straight to Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and waited all of 10 minutes for them to get the all clear that the ride was ready to operate. That’s it.

To do this, arrive at the park 60-90 minutes before Early Park Admission. We got there at 7:30 am when our early entry was at 9 am.

You’ll wait outside security (there are bathrooms you can access there), then progress through security at around 8 am, then you’ll wait again until around 8:25 am to be let through ticketing. At this point, you can walk into the park and go to a few different places where they corral people.

I recommend heading left toward Super Nintendo World. At 8:50-9:00am, they’ll let you go to the portal and enter, where you can go to the rides that are open for Early Park Admission.

Again, it’s important to check the app because not all rides open at the same times every day.

On our visit, Mine-Cart Madness was only opening at regular park opening, not Early Park Admission, so we went to Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. Then Yoshi Adventure, then Minecart Madness.

Try to knock out Mario Kart and Mine-Cart Madness during your early hour.

Late morning strategy

Next, I highly recommend going straight to Isle of Berk. I didn’t and totally regretted it. I instead went to Stardust Racers, but the wait time was consistently low, so I didn’t need to prioritize it.

In Isle of Berk, Hiccup’s Wing Gliders is your top priority in terms of wait time. It will be a long wait after an hour past park opening and does not let up.

Then you can do Dragon Racer’s Rally and Fyre Drill.

Both of these rides have insane waits the more the afternoon approaches, so best to knock them out as quickly as you can.

And I promise, with the Florida heat, Fyre Drill will be quite lovely even at 11 am.

Early lunch

For lunch, I highly recommend dining a bit early at Spit Fyre Grill. You can get the viral mac and cheese cones here or I truly loved Meatlug’s Chicken Bowl which was harissa spiced chicken served over farro with brussel sprouts, red bell pepper, and a smoked cheddar sauce. YUM.

Dining is almost exclusively done via the Universal app, so you’ll order and pick it up from the windows.

Alternatively, you can dine at Mead Hall, which is the quick service sit down restaurant in Berk. You’ll still mobile order, but they’ll bring it to your table once you input your table number.

Afternoon plans

In the early afternoon, enjoy an escape from the heat at The Untrainable Dragon show. It’s an adorable story and the animatronics are insane!

Plus, that’s the last big thing to do in Berk, so you can cross this portal off.

If it’s not unbearably hot, I’d go to Dark Universe to do Curse of the Werewolf. The queue is entirely outside, so it can get a bit hot later in the day even though it’s covered and there’s fans.

Once you do that, pop into Burning Blade Tavern to enjoy the Garlic Stake, a garlic pretzel snack!

Monsters Unchained is the perfect afternoon ride because the queue is entirely indoors. It’s also a stunning queue with lots to look at.

How to spend late-afternoon and evening

By now it’s probably mid-late afternoon headed into the evening, so you have a couple options.

First, you can grab an early dinner then hop in line for Battle at the Ministry, or vice versa. I’ve found that the wait time for Battle at the Ministry drops as the night goes on, so it’s also a good ride to do at the end of the day, assuming there are no delays. 

It can also reach capacity at the end of the day, so it’s something to keep in mind. For example, if the park closes at 9 pm and the ride’s wait time is 90 minutes, they may close it at 7:30-8 pm because going through the entirety of the queue will take them until (or past) park closing.

It’s a risk to wait, but the reward can be great. We did this and waited only 70 minutes!

Finish up with the rides you’ve missed. You can get in line up until the moment the park closes.

Another option would be to knock out the rides you’ve missed – namely Stardust Racers, which only gets a longer wait as night falls. You can also ride Constellation Carousel and see Le Cirque Arcanus show in the Wizarding World! When you finish those, you can grab dinner then hop in line for Battle at the Ministry to close out the day. 

Regardless, I highly recommend dinner at Pizza Moon, a fun vintage themed restaurant based on “A Trip to the Moon” by Méliès. I had the pepperoni pizza, but the ube one is also very popular!

Finally, if you do have some down time and wait times are unbearably long, the interactive spell locations in the Wizarding World and Bowser Jr. challenge mini games in Super Nintendo World can occupy you for a good amount of time.

FAQ’s about Planning Your Epic Universe Trip

Example Timing of This Itinerary

• 7:30 am – arrive at Epic Universe entrance
• 8:00 am – be let through security
• 8:25 am – be let through ticketing and go left to Super Nintendo World
• 8:55 am – enter Super Nintendo World
• 9:00 am – Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
• 9:20 am – Mine-Cart Madness (if open) or Yoshi Adventure
• 10:00 am – Isle of Berk starting at Hiccup’s Wing Gliders, then Dragon Racer’s Rally, then Fyre Drill
• 11:30 am – early lunch at Spit Fyre Grill
• 12:15 pm – The Untrainable Dragon show
• 1:15 pm – Curse of the Werewolf, snack at Burning Blade Tavern, and Monsters Unchained
• 3 pm – Stardust Racers and Constellation Carousel
• 4:30 pm – early dinner at Pizza Moon
• 5:30 pm – Super Nintendo World interactive games
• 6:30 pm – Le Cirque Arcanus
• 7:30 pm – join queue for Battle at the Ministry
• 9 pm – park closing

What about weather delays?

It’s important to know that in the event of rain and particularly lightning (even the threat of lightning), 7 of the 11 rides close.

The only ones that remain open at Constellation Carousel, Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, Monsters Unchained, and Battle at the Ministry.

If you’re facing ride closures, this itinerary should absolutely be adjusted. Mainly to cater to the rides that close. Do those first!

For example, instead of rope dropping Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, go to Minecart Madness or Curse of the Werewolf instead.

Weather is also a great time to see the two shows and do the interactive stuff in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Super Nintendo World.

Related read >> Rainy day guide to Epic Universe

Do you have more tips?

Boy, do I. In fact, I couldn’t contain everything I needed to say into one blog post, so behold my complete blog of Epic Universe tips.

What if I don’t have early park admission?

I’d still recommend getting to the park for early park admission time. They let everyone in regardless, you just won’t have access to the Early Park Admission rides.

Instead, I’d go straight to the Battle at the Ministry queue. That way, you can spend that early hour in line for a ride with notoriously long waits. 

Another option would be to go to Super Nintendo World or the Wizarding World to enjoy the interactive components without any crowds or lines.

Either way, at park opening, I’d still head to the Isle of Berk to knock out those rides.

As usual, be mindful of weather closures and rides with outdoor queues that will get unbearably hot as the day progresses.

Can you get it all done in a day?

Realistically, no. That’s not for lack of preparation or trying. It’s because there are some things you can’t plan for like weather and/or maintenance delays.

No matter how much you plan, it’s likely that rides or shows will experience delays.

Not to mention the wait times really are pretty crazy since the park is so new. It’s hard to tell right now if that’s just how it’ll be for a good while, or if it’ll die down once the initial hype does.

I do recommend experiencing the park over 2 days or investing in Express Passes if you can.

However, if one day is all you have, I really do think you can conquer this park and leave feeling satisfied.

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