Universal Orlando is releasing tickets, vacation packages, and resort reservations for Epic Universe and Helios Grand Hotel starting next week. They’ve also shared crowd control details and other info via an FAQ, which makes sense, as fans have a lot of questions about the product launch.
We’ve been around the block a few times with product launches or ‘drop days’ over the last 15 years. More importantly, we’ve attended many opening days–including the most recent major theme park to have a normal grand opening (Universal Beijing doesn’t count) as well as a blockbuster $2 billion park expansion.
With that in mind, the first half of this post shares official details for Epic Universe’s sales starting dates released by Universal Orlando. The second half shares our past ‘trial by fire’ experiences with this sort of stuff, and what we’re expecting as a result. Our intention is that it helps you set expectations and prepare if you’re planning on attending Universal’s Epic Universe early on in its opening season, or will be trying to book Helios Grand Hotel anytime in 2025 or 2026…
Starting next week, guests can begin planning a 2025 vacation to Universal Orlando to experience the entire destination as the first phase of ticket products and packages that include access to Universal Epic Universe will go on sale. Specific products launching in this first phase include:
- A variety of multi-day tickets and vacation packages that include three, four or five days of admission to Universal’s theme parks – including one day admission to Epic Universe. These products will go on sale on Tuesday, October 22.
- Reservations for Universal Helios Grand Hotel will open on Tuesday, October 22 for stays beginning May 22, 2025.
- Annual Passholders have the exclusive opportunity to purchase single-day tickets to Universal Epic Universe before they go on sale to the general public. Passholders can take advantage of this priority opportunity beginning Thursday, October 24.
During the first phase of Epic Universe ticket and package sales that starts on October 22, the following multi-day admission options will be available:
- 3-Day Ticket: enjoy two days of access to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure, plus one separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe
- 4-Day Ticket: Three days at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, plus one separate day at Epic Universe
- 5-Day Ticket: Four days at USF and IoA, plus one day at Epic Universe
- For each of the above, guests also have the option to add access to Universal Volcano Bay
Create Your Own Vacation Package: Guests can save up to $200 by bundling a 2-night or longer stay at a Universal hotel with one of the multi-day ticket options above. Guests can receive the maximum savings of $200 with a 7-night vacation package that includes:
- 5-day ticket that includes four days of access to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay, plus a separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe
- 7-night hotel accommodations at one of Universal Orlando’s 11 resort hotels
- Early Park Admission for the parks up to one hour before the park opens
2025 Explorer Ticket inclusive of a Single Day at Universal Epic Universe (Only available in the U.K. and Latin America) – Available for visits in 2025, guests can enjoy the thrills of Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Volcano Bay for 14 days, plus get access to the all-new Universal Epic Universe theme park for one day during their ticket validity window.
All Parks Ticket (Only available in the U.K.) – Available for visits beginning January 1, 2026, the All Parks Ticket gives guests the ultimate flexibility – allowing them to visit all four Universal Orlando theme parks for 14 days. This ticket also includes park-to-park access – meaning guests can visit multiple theme parks, including Universal Epic Universe, on the same day or any day they’d like during their ticket validity window.
More details about Universal Epic Universe will be released in the months ahead. Additional tickets including single-day tickets for the general public, more multi-day ticket options, Florida resident tickets, Express Pass, etc., will be available at a later date before the park opens.
Here’s the FAQ about Epic Universe ticket sales that Universal Orlando has released:
Q: Is there a one or two-day option for guests wanting to visit Universal Epic Universe?
A: During this initial phase of Universal Epic Universe-inclusive tickets, we are only offering multi-day tickets for 3-Days or longer that include one-day admission to Universal Epic Universe. Additional ticket types will be launched at a later date before the park opens.
Q: Are there Florida Resident discounted tickets available for Universal Epic Universe?
A: While this initial phase of Universal Epic Universe-inclusive tickets launch does not include Florida Resident discounted tickets, we will offer Florida Resident ticket options and additional product offerings for Epic Universe at a later date.
Q: Do guests need to specify the date that they are visiting Universal Epic Universe when purchasing a multi-day ticket for 3-days or longer?
A: No, when purchasing the current multi-day ticket options that include one-day admission to Universal Epic Universe, you will not need to specify the date that you plan to visit Epic Universe. You’ll only need to indicate the first date that you would like your overall ticket to be valid, and you will be able to visit any of the parks beginning on that date.
Q: Are guests guaranteed to be able to visit Universal Epic Universe with their ticket?
A: We plan to manage attendance at Universal Epic Universe to ensure we’re providing the best possible experience for our guests. As part of this process, ticket inventory and capacity will be controlled to allow each guest who purchases an Epic Universe-inclusive ticket to visit the park for one day during the course of the validity window of their ticket.
Q: Can guests buy a ticket to visit Universal Epic Universe for more than one day of their visit?
A: During this initial phase of Universal Epic Universe-inclusive tickets, guests are only able to purchase multi-day tickets for 3-Days or longer that include one-day admission to Universal Epic Universe. Additional product offerings — including single-day and two-day tickets for Universal Epic Universe — will be launched at a later date before the park opens.
Q: Do all Universal Orlando tickets include Universal Epic Universe?
A: During this initial phase, all three-, four- and five-day tickets purchased for visits on or after the grand opening date of Universal Epic Universe will include one-day access to the new theme park. One-day and two-day tickets currently do not include access to Universal Epic Universe but are still available for purchase for guests who wish to enjoy our existing theme parks.
Q: Are there Express Pass products available for Universal Epic Universe?
A: Express Passes for Universal Epic Universe will be launched at a later date before the park opens. More details will be announced closer to the launch of these products.
Q: Are there VIP Tours available for Universal Epic Universe?
A: VIP Tour experiences that include Universal Epic Universe will be launched at a later date before the park opens.
Q: Are there My Universal Photo products available for Universal Epic Universe?
A: My Universal Photo products that include Universal Epic Universe will be launched at a later date before the park opens.
Q: Will Early Park Admission be offered at Universal Epic Universe?
A: Yes, Early Park Admission for Universal hotel guests will expand to include Universal Epic Universe from the park’s Grand Opening date onward. Valid theme park admission is required and select attractions are included.
Q: Do I need a park admission ticket to enter Celestial Park?
A: Yes, Celestial Park is one of the five imaginative worlds of Universal Epic Universe. Guests will be able to explore Celestial Park as part of their admission to Universal Epic Universe.
Q: Will there be transportation available between Universal Epic Universe and Universal Studios Florida/Universal Islands of Adventure/Universal Volcano Bay/Universal CityWalk?
A: Yes, guests will be able to take advantage of complimentary shuttle bus transportation to venture between Universal Epic Universe and Universal’s existing theme parks and CityWalk.
The big unanswered question is what time will Epic Universe tickets, vacation packages, and resort reservations start on October 22, 2024?
This is Universal’s official (non-)response to that question: “We do not have any information. We recommend staying tuned to our website and social media channels for its release on October 22, 2024.” Very helpful.
In asking around, we’ve found that Universal has been tight-lipped about what time sales will start. While it’s possible they’ll announce something later today, our guess is that this is purposeful. Universal probably doesn’t want to reveal the time (or won’t do so until last minute) in order to reduce strain on their servers.
This would allow Universal to start sales at some random time when traffic is lower, such as 4:37 a.m. Eastern. (I pulled that out of thin air–that isn’t when it’ll be, unless by happy accident.) Walt Disney World does this all the time when dropping discounts, for the exact same reason.
We’re still hoping for an announcement later today, and will update this accordingly if/when there’s one. If not, we’ll be checking at midnight (which I assume will not be when sales start since it’s tough from a staffing perspective), and then again starting around 4:30 a.m. That’s probably too early, but I’d rather err on the side of caution. A more reasonably time would be around 7 a.m., unless they announce something even later. These are all just guesses, though.
Our Past Park Opening Experiences & Advice
We’ve attended a lot of opening days for new attractions, lands and entertainment at Universal and Disney theme parks around the world. However, only two are sufficiently large scale and relatively recent enough to offer any precedential value for Epic Universe: Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea and the grand opening of Shanghai Disneyland.
Unsurprisingly, booking hotels and purchasing packages for both openings was extremely competitive. It was far easier for Shanghai Disneyland, and after a few stressful hours online when bookings went live, we ended up with multiple resort reservations and tickets. All things considered, it was smooth and simple.
The key distinction with Shanghai Disneyland’s grand opening was that it was in a brand new market with few fans. No one had been around the block with Disney debuts before, so we had an advantage in that we, generally speaking, knew how this stuff worked and the effort that would be needed. Traveling to China also presented more of a barrier to entry, literally and figuratively, for American fans than Japan, Paris, or even Hong Kong. Point being, it wasn’t that competitive.
Fantasy Springs is more recent and relevant. That new land is similar in that it had a phased release of park tickets, resort reservations, and vacation packages. It’s also similar in that it added a new in-park hotel to the mix, which parallels Helios Grand in a few ways. And even though it’s not an entirely new park, it is a $2 billion expansion.
Most importantly, no one–no one–is more passionate or knowledgeable than Japanese Disney fans. They’re like Swifties who are also diehard Chiefs fans who have been sorted into Slytherin who are also Trekkies who have owned every Nintendo system since the Famicom. Suffice to say, trying to book opening night resort reservations and vacation packages was incredibly frustrating.
We wasted hours upon hours in virtual queues over the course of a few weeks. We repeatedly came up empty with the initial releases. Since it was a phased approach like Epic Universe, we also found ourselves spot-checking reservation availability as other fans who did have success cancelled their packages and released them back into the wild. Eventually, after well over a dozen hours of playing this game, we successfully scored a vacation package–at our third choice for a hotel. And this was after “trading up” repeatedly.
I’m going in with the mentality that booking Epic Universe packages and hotel reservations will be similar to this. I don’t think it could possibly be worse, so if it turns out to be significantly better, that’ll be a welcome relief. Even though Epic Universe does feature two of the fandoms mentioned above, I don’t think they care that much about theme park lands. I also don’t think Universal fans come anywhere near Japanese Disney fans on the intensity scale.
Some Universal fans might be inclined to dismiss this experience, noting that every Disney launch seems to be a cluster whereas Universal doesn’t seem to have that problem. Things generally go smoother. But Fantasy Springs also wasn’t Disney–it’s OLC, a company also known for things going smoother. Several months after opening, the booking process for Fantasy Springs still is not smooth. You can go to the online reservations page at any ole time, and there is still a virtual queue to enter!
To be sure, there are things that different companies can do to streamline the booking process, but in the end, it’s a numbers game. If 10x the number of people are trying to book something as that thing has the capacity to accommodate, it’s going to be a tedious and time-consuming process that results in more people coming up empty than having success.
At least when it comes to the opening weekend–and perhaps longer–that’s what we’d expect with Epic Universe resort reservations and packages. How long it’ll last is anyone’s guess.
Mine is that, if Universal’s Helios Grand Hotel is really as cheap as the since-removed starting price showed, that is going to be difficult to book for the entirety of 2025. Maybe even 2026. Fantasy Springs Hotel is still extremely competitive for all dates that have been released into 2025, and that hotel is both expensive and underwhelming.
During booking, my guess is that Universal fans and tourists will quickly realize that Helios Grand Hotel isn’t an option, and pivot to backup hotels. I’d expect the legacy Signature Collection hotels–the ones that include Unlimited Express Pass at the preexisting two gates–to also fill up fast. This is what happened with Miracosta and TDL Hotel during the Fantasy Springs product launch.
This might seem like quite the about-face given our speculation that Epic Universe might actually be less crowded in Summer 2025 than October through December 2025. In my view, both things can be true at once. That there is tremendous demand for the first wave of resort reservations and ticket packages–but that overall crowds will be manageable.
The first reason for this is that, even at 100% occupancy, Helios Grand Hotel and the other Signatures are a drop in the bucket as compared to Epic Universe park capacity. Those hotels could all be super difficult to book and the park could be uncrowded. That’s entirely within the realm of possibility.
As with Walt Disney World, far more guests come from off-site than on-site, and it’s really the former that’s make-or-break when it comes to crowds. It’s going to be locals, Annual Passholders, and even out-of-state tourists with plans to do a Central Florida vacation “at some point” in the next year–among other demos–that are all outcome-determinative in crowds. Purchasers of packages are going to be a small slice of Universal’s overall attendance.
The second is that, as noted in the above FAQ, Universal Orlando is going to be managing attendance and controlling crowds. Curiously, they are doing this without requiring park reservations for the initial wave of multi-day tickets. This strongly signals that they’ve going to achieve this–at least for the opening week or so–by limiting ticket inventory far below Epic Universe’s overall capacity.
For what it’s worth, that isn’t Universal’s only option. That above-referenced FAQ answer says the following: “ticket inventory and capacity will be controlled to allow each guest who purchases an Epic Universe-inclusive ticket to visit the park for one day during the course of the validity window of their ticket.”
Note that this doesn’t say guests who buy an Epic Universe-inclusive ticket will be able to visit on the day of their choice. It says “during the course of the validity window.” So it’s entirely possible that Epic Universe will hit capacity on certain days and tell even these ticket holders to come back a different day. We’d hope that wouldn’t be the case, but it’s certainly possible. Universal’s language leaves that door open.
The alternative to that, and what we’d expect to happen, is that Universal Orlando will set available ticket inventory so far below total park capacity for opening weekend/week that they’re confident they won’t hit the cap–or even come close to it. That they’ll deploy dynamic ticket sales for subsequent days, releasing more inventory as operations allows.
We expect this to happen because it’s more or less what occurred with Shanghai Disneyland’s grand opening and the debut of Fantasy Springs at Tokyo DisneySea. Both of the official opening days were the least busy that we’ve experienced in those respective places. In the case of the latter, soft openings were significantly worse than opening day.
We were later told that Disney set the capacity cap for Shanghai Disneyland’s opening day extremely low to ensure a smooth and positive experience, and gradually scaled up from there. That tracks with our firsthand experiences. Given wait times and the lack of crowds, it’s patently obvious the same thing happened with Fantasy Springs.
Domestically, another good example is Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland. The virtual queue to register for previews was an absolute madhouse, another frustrating experience with multi-hour waits. The crowds for the actual preview days, however, were nonexistent. Just another illustration of how strain on the online systems doesn’t tell the full story, or really, anything.
Obviously Universal is a different company, but the incentives are the same. The upside of a frictionless launch with positive word of mouth and without negative headlines far outweighs the downsides. Which is part of why purchasing packages could be extremely competitive and difficult–because on top of sky-high demand, supply could be artificially constrained.
This is all a long-winded way of saying you should have your game face on and be ready for an intense purchase process when packages and resort reservations go live on October 22, 2024. If I’m wrong and it’s inexplicably easy–fantastic. You lost nothing except the time it took you to read this.
If I’m right, you prepared and hopefully positioned yourself for success, which will save you frustration, disappointment, etc.
As far as preparing goes, my strong recommendation would be to prepare contingency plans. You need to have multiple options for resorts and, possibly, dates. The earlier you plan on going, the more acceptable alternatives you need to have at your fingertips. You need to be ready to pivot instantly, so talk to your family now and determine your top three resorts and/or backup travel dates. (Better yet, you are the family travel planner and have complete autonomy since everyone else is clueless, in which case you just need to mentally prepare for this.)
In all likelihood, this is probably most necessary for those wanting to book Helios Grand Hotel. Ticket packages that include opening weekend of Epic Universe will go fast and be a challenge, but my gut is that Helios Grand Hotel is going to be way worse.
Competitive not just for opening weekend–but indefinitely. Especially if it’s within $100 per night of that $293 starting price. (Personally, I think rates around $500/night are more likely for much of the launch season–so you also need to be prepared for large variances in pricing.)
It’s a simple numbers game–a lot of people are likely going to be trying to book Helios Grand Hotel, and it’s low-capacity relative to that. A lot of people will also be attempting to score the ticket packages–especially for opening weekend–but those are comparatively high capacity.
Regardless, my gut is also that opening weekend for Epic Universe sells out with the packages–before it even gets to AP sales on October 24. But that could be wrong, as the big wildcard is just how low Universal will cap attendance. If there are, somehow, still opening day tickets left as of Oct. 24, they’re selling out immediately. If they make it to the general public sales date for single day tickets, I’ll be surprised.
Finally, a plug. If you’re stressed out and overwhelmed just reading this, or if you have limited experience with Universal or Disney product launch days, we’d highly recommend having the pros do it for you. Request a quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Universal Preferred Travel Agency.
They’ll wait in the virtual queue or on hold via the telephone so you don’t have to. Again, I’d expect waits online or via the phone once Epic Universe packages go live and the whole process to be very competitive. If you do use a travel agent, you still need contingency plans as mentioned above. There are going to be a lot of people trying for opening night at Helios Grand Hotel, and my guess is that it’ll be harder to get into than MIT. So give them options, too.
And it should go without saying, but if you want to use a travel agent, the time to submit a quote request is NOW–before October 22, 2024. Don’t wait until tickets & packages go live, realize you’re overwhelmed, and scramble. They’ll already have active clients they’re assisting on launch day.
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more. For regular updates, news & rumors, a heads up when discounts are released, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Do you expect Epic Universe packages and resort reservations to be competitive, easy, or somewhere in between? Thoughts on crowd control during the initial grand opening weekend? Predictions about how smoothly (or not) the product launches will go? Will you visit Epic Universe in Summer 2025, or will you wait for crowds to settle down (in theory)? Think Epic Universe will be a third gate that’s a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort…and potentially on par with Disney’s best lands? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!
