Universal’s Epic Universe Opening Date, Ticket & Vacation Package Details!

EPIC UNIVERSE TICKETS & PACKAGES GO ON SALE OCTOBER 22, WITH MORE ON THE WAY SOON

Starting next week, guests can begin planning an epic 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.

See below for more details about the Universal Epic Universe-inclusive products that will be available for purchase beginning on October 22, 2024.

Additional tickets for Epic Universe – including single-day tickets for the general public, additional multi-day ticket options, Florida resident tickets, Universal Express passes and more – will be available at a later date before the park opens. (For everyone worried about accessing Epic Universe *without* buying tickets for USF and IoA, there’s your reassurance!)

During the first phase of Epic Universe ticket and package sales, 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: enjoy three days of access to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure, plus one separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe
• 5-Day Ticket: enjoy four days of access to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure, plus one separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe
• For each of the above, guests also have the option to add access to Universal Volcano Bay – giving them the opportunity to experience all four Universal Orlando theme parks during their visit.

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, Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Volcano Bay, plus a separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe
• 7-night hotel accommodations at one of Universal Orlando’s 11 magnificently themed resorts
• Early Park Admission for Universal Epic Universe, Universal Volcano Bay and either Universal Studios Florida or Universal Islands of Adventure 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 – including additional ticket products – will be released in the months ahead.

If you want to help determining which tickets or packages will work best for your family, we highly recommend requesting a quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Universal Preferred Travel Agency. The agents there will do the math for you, booking your vacation with the best-available special offer, and monitoring your package for future discounts that can be applied retroactively–or modifying should a better option be released in subsequent waves.

Perhaps most importantly when it comes to Epic Universe, they’ll wait in the virtual queue or on hold via the telephone so you don’t have to. We don’t know how high demand will be for Epic Universe tickets and packages, but my guess is very high. I’d expect waits online or via the phone once Epic Universe packages go live. Just keep in mind that 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!

Turning to commentary, this essentially confirms previous rumors that Universal Orlando will be pushing vacation packages hard with Epic Universe, hoping that diehard fans or tourists with FOMO are willing to shell out the big bucks to guarantee admission to Epic Universe.

As we previously reported, Universal intends to expand product offerings to single and multi-day tickets including Universal Epic Universe in a phased approach based on availability–and there will be availability.

So we’re not really worried about this phase one ticket approach. It’s just good business on Universal’s part to lock-in people with FOMO to longer duration vacations. And given the concerns about Epic Universe cannibalizing attendance of the existing gates, it’s a savvy strategy.

One thing I’ve seen a lot of fans worry about is crowds. We’ve heard from many readers who are waiting to visit a few months or until 2026, not wanting to be part of the initial rush. I’m not so sure that’s the correct approach.

For one thing, Universal has made clear that at least some park tickets are going to be sold in bundles for the other parks, which serves the dual purpose of buoying attendance at the existing gates and controlling crowds at Epic Universe. This is what prompted our post: Is Universal Making a Classic “Crowdpocalypse” Mistake with Epic Universe? The ticket details aren’t the point of that–it’s all about expectations of crowds.

Our view is that, regardless of whether this works or backfires, Epic Universe crowds are not going to be as bad as some fans are expecting. Theme park fans been down this road before, working ourselves into a collective tizzy over a “crowdpocalypse” scenario with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. The exact opposite happened as result. Fearing multi-hour lines and crazy congestion, fans stayed home–delaying visits until crowds died down. The first few months were dead, and the time when people expected things to “die down” were crazy busy.

The same thing has happened this year at Tokyo DisneySea to a much lesser extent in the opening month of Fantasy Springs, as the park hasn’t been that busy and tickets have not sold out as a result of overly-strict access limitations to the new port-of-call. It’s difficult to predict how that’ll play out, but I’d likewise be inclined to predict lagged demand for Fantasy Springs, with this month through December being much busier than June through August.

Frankly, I’d go out on a limb and make the same prediction for Epic Universe. Summer in Florida isn’t exactly peak tourist season anymore due to the weather, whereas Halloween Horror Nights is insanely popular. Not only that, but there’s a decent chance Universal scales up attendance limits at Epic Universe or reduces friction for entering after the first few months.

The bottom line here is that, one way or another, Epic Universe is going to be busy for years. Just look at the newest roller coasters or Wizarding Worlds of Harry Potter. And those were individual rides or lands. This is an entirely new theme park. It’s going to be very popular for the duration through at least 2030. That’s a very safe prediction.

What’s more of a gamble is whether you’re better off visiting first thing when Universal is artificially limiting attendance so the park can hit its groove, or waiting until the training wheels come off and organic demand is whatever it is. It’s a bet either way, but I’m more inclined to go early. This is the bet we’ve made with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Fantasy Springs, and even Super Nintendo World in Japan and California. In every single case, we made the correct call.

With that said, doing Epic Universe early is not without risk. Not just of crowds–that’s only one component of it. The other gamble is that everything is ready to roll at opening.

What I’ve heard in the last two months is that although large portions of Epic Universe are ahead of schedule, some of the major attractions are behind. That even though visible progress on attraction exteriors and landscaping is occurring at an incredibly fast pace–and some ride testing is occurring–a few of the complex ride systems are proving problematic.

This is hardly surprising. As innovative new attractions become more complex and complicated, there are more issues that arise during test and adjust. Look no further than Donkey Kong Country at Universal Studios Japan for an illustration of this. Minecart Madness continues to have issues there, and the new land is now over 6 months behind its previously-announced debut date–with no new opening date in sight. That land opening a full year late is entirely possible–and that’s one component of Epic Universe!

This is hardly unique to Universal–if anything, they’ve experienced this issue far less than Disney. But now, Universal is opening a whole new park with multiple next-gen attractions, including Minecart Madness. It seems like a safe bet that one or more would have unexpected hiccups during test and adjust. That’s just normal.

Anyway, it wouldn’t be the least bit surprising if the major attractions experience more frequent downtime during the first few months–or even the first year–that Epic Universe is open. Chances are, if you wait until 2026 or beyond, you’re less likely to encounter this. How bad it’ll be, no one knows. Ideally, it’ll all be resolved during technical rehearsals, and the official opening of Epic Universe will be smooth sailing.

(Note that this is a double-edged sword, as we’ve seen from Disney. If there are problematic effects or features that are causing the breakdowns that can simply be disabled, that’ll happen. Meaning that visiting during the first few months may be your only chance to see particular complex attractions in their full glory. This was the case most recently with Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.)

Ultimately, I’m really excited for Universal’s Epic Universe. It’s the thing I’m most looking forward to in 2025, far surpassing even Disney Starlight Night Parade. That might seem like an absurd comparison since one is a brand-new, envelope-pushing theme park and the other is a parade, but I really love night parades. Even so, it’s not even a remotely close call between the two…that’s just the only ‘major’ thing Walt Disney World is doing next year.

Anyway, I’m excited because in part because this is probably the last major theme park opening we’ll have to experience in the next decade or two. New parks are always a treat, showcasing the latest innovations, trends, and where the themed design industry is heading next. In this case, Epic Universe looks every bit the gamechanger that Universal is promising, featuring lands on par with Disney’s best as well as themed design and placemaking that reminds me of a cross between Shanghai Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea.

Beyond just how gorgeous Epic Universe’s lands look, I like the concept of the portals and the way it allows disparate concepts to be brought together in the same theme park. The lands selected for Epic Universe have something-for-everyone appeal, with everything from the kid-friendly How to Train Your Dragon franchise to all-ages Super Nintendo World to more adult-oriented Dark Universe. That last one is what has me most excited, and speaking of trend-spotting, it could serve as a sneak peek, of sorts, into what Imagineers are cooking up with Villains Land at Magic Kingdom.

Everything from the ride roster to the little details look incredibly thoughtful and meticulously designed. If Universal sticks the landing on Epic Universe–and all signs right now point to that happening–it will fulfill the company’s goal of transforming Universal Orlando Resort into a bona fide vacation destination.

At the end of the day, that’s what this is about. Universal wants to capture a bigger slice of the pie when it comes to tourists, getting guests to stay on-site in its hotels and purchase packages or multi-day tickets to its parks, rather than visit for “The Harry Potter Park” as a diversion from Disney. We don’t want to fixate too much on the business side or Walt Disney World angle of Epic Universe joining the Florida theme park landscape. (For one thing, because we’ve already done a decent amount of that recently in Is Universal “Beating” Disney?)

All I will say is that this reveal of Epic Universe is further proof that Comcast is more aggressive than Disney in actual action. So far, Disney is talking; Universal is doing. I’m not trying to make this ‘theme park wars’ nonsense, but the fact of the matter is that competition is good for fans. A stronger Universal puts Disney on its toes, and forces them to deliver. We all win.

Obviously, a lot still remains to be seen, but everything we’ve seen from Universal’s Epic Universe so far is really, really impressive and exciting. It has me looking forward to the new theme park even more, and finally getting to experience this brand new park in person. I truly cannot wait to step foot inside Epic Universe. It’s not often you get to experience a brand-new theme park…and Epic Universe truly looks like something special.

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

What do you think of Epic Universe’s opening date? Think Universal will have “crowdpocalypse” concerns? Or is the lure of a whole new theme park so overwhelming that it’ll draw way more people than it scares away? Will you visit Epic Universe in Summer 2025, or will you wait for crowds to settle down (in theory)? Excited for Super Nintendo World, Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe/Classic Monsters, or the How to Train Your Dragon lands and/or attractions? 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!