Reasons Why Epic Universe’s Opening Might Not Attract the Massive Crowds Everyone Expects

Epic Universe is the third (well, fourth if you count the Volcano Bay waterpark) major park for Universal Orlando opening on May 22, 2025. This is the first major theme park of its kind to open in the Orlando market since Islands of Adventure in 1999 and Animal Kingdom in 1998.

So suffice to say, this is a big deal! And anytime we anticipate a “big deal” when it comes to theme park opens, we also expect some big crowds to go along with it.

However, the theme park industry works different now than it did 25 years ago and the rollout of access to Epic Universe has not exactly been simple. Let's get into why I think we might not see the major crowds everyone expects at Epic Universe by looking at the ticket access, hotel availability, and how this stacks up to other popular theme park opening scenarios.

Access to Epic Universe Is Complicated

Let's first get into how to access Epic Universe. Well, it's complicated.

The only groups that can currently access 1-day tickets to Epic Universe prior to June 1, 2025 are Universal Orlando Annual Passholders and a limited group of folks that can purchase the Military Freedom Pass. All other guests can only get access to Epic Universe with the purchase of a 2-day park ticket for Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure that comes with 1-day access to Epic Universe.

So, essentially a 3-day ticket is required if you are not an Annual Passholder or have a Military Freedom Pass if you want to visit for opening week. It is worth noting that for Annual Passholders, 1-day tickets are already sold out for the entire month of May into the first week of June. But Annual Passholders are also limited in the tickets they can buy. They can only purchase one ticket, per day. Which means, no buying tickets for friends and family that do not also have an annual pass.

However, for guests that want to visit after June 1, 2025 and through the rest of the year, 1-day tickets are on sale now. But it was an interesting move from Universal to limit access to the park prior to June 1st which helps keep the capacity for Epic Universe manageable for that opening week. Or perhaps their data already shows enough guests turning out for opening week that they didn't want to allow easy access? It's hard to say.

All of this to say, when access to a new theme park becomes complicated, this turns off the average guest from visiting. And a visit to Epic Universe right now is a bit complicated, you need to plan for at least 3-days at the theme parks and then plan your trip around that. For some families, this was a no brainer to turn this into a full Universal Orlando vacation and not just an add on experience from a Walt Disney World trip. But for others that just wanted to do a 1-day visit opening week, that option is not available.

Not only are 1-day tickets not available for opening week but we still don't have the full details for Universal Express Pass except that it will also be “launched at a later date before the park opens. ” This is another factor that might be overcomplicating a visit to Epic Universe for many guests. Express Pass is the only way to “skip the lines” at Universal Orlando so not having this information at this point either could be a big turn off for guests.

We just got more news on Express Pass at Epic Universe, including prices and available rides.

READ MORE- Will Universal's Epic Universe Offer Express Pass?

Why Universal Orlando Might Not Want Giant Crowds

The last time a major Orlando theme park opened was Universal's Islands of Adventure in 1999 and prior to that the last major opening event at Universal Orlando was the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in 2010. Things have changed considerably in the last 25 years since Islands of Adventure opened!

Universal revealed some details in their ticketing fine print when they first went on sale that reveals how they plan to control crowds. The details share that they plan to “manage attendance at Universal Epic Universe” to provide the best experience possible. As part of that process, “ticket inventory and capacity will be controlled” so all guests that purchase tickets can enter the park. Ticket inventory is going to be limited and controlled which is how Universal will keep crowds manageable.

And of course, we've seen this play out with how Universal is limiting access to single day tickets for Epic Universe prior to June 1st. It is likely that behind the scenes Universal has crunched the numbers of capacity and is limiting access that first opening week so the park is not overrun with crowds.

It would not be a great guest experience if Epic Universe was overrun with guests and overcrowded beyond control. Think of it from a PR perspective, Universal Orlando doesn't want all the news highlights from opening weekend to be about long lines for new rides but instead of how wonderful these new attractions are! If guests are waiting in horrible lines that are long enough to go viral, this news will overrun all other coverage of the park. Not the headlines any theme park wants these days especially when many families are debating the affordability of theme park vacations.

And on a practical perspective, this is a brand new theme park with new rides and team members that have only been training on operating these rides for a few months. If crowds are overrun, it will put a bigger burden on the ride technology and the team members to keep things operating smoothly.

Hotel Inventory Is Still Available Opening Weekend for Epic Universe

So now let's get into the data we can really use as a predicter.. hotel inventory for Epic Universe opening weekend.

If we just look at official Universal Orlando hotels, we have full availability for all hotels opening week except for the new Universal Helios Grand Hotel which is fully booked. In terms of size, the new hotel offers 500 rooms in total. I do not think it's just regular guests that caused this hotel to book out though! Universal could have set aside blocks of rooms for management, press, and other stakeholders to be there for opening weekend.

So in the scheme of things, it's a bit surprising to see such wide hotel availability for opening day and the following weekend… which is also Memorial Day weekend!

As for tickets, you can still purchase the standard 2-day plus 1-day of Epic Universe tickets for opening day and that weekend as well which means there is still inventory for those days. If Epic Universe was going to see the type of crowds that we might rank as Massive Crowds on our Universal Orlando crowd calendar, I imagine we'd see more hotels sold out for this timeframe.

READ MORE- 10 Things We're Looking Forward to at Epic Universe

Past Precedent Shows Guests Fear Crowds and Stay Away

Most of us that have been writing about theme park news for some time remember the opening summer of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland. We all anticipated high crowds that summer with the opening of such a beloved franchise in an extremely popular theme park.

Well, those massive crowds did not materialize that summer of 2019. It seemed like most guests were so afraid of the large crowds, they stayed away instead! Some could argue that this also had to do with Disneyland opening Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge without its big e-ticket attraction. Rise of the Resistance is the biggest draw in that land which I still rank as one of the best Disneyland rides. But still, this was a moment that many of us theme park bloggers still talk about today.

So this had me thinking, will Epic Universe see a similar Star Wars summer situation? Will the anticipation of massive crowds scare many guests away this summer? Or at the very least, opening week? It's very likely as I've seen many different comments from Universal fans saying they plan on waiting until later in the year or next year once crowds die down and the kinks are worked out.

Will you be avoiding Epic Universe when it opens due to crowds or are you planning a visit this summer?

First image via Universal Orlando.

Plan Your Disney Vacation Today!

For the best resource and helpful information for planning your Disney trip, make sure to subscribe to our FREE Deals newsletter​. We’ll provide you with helpful planning information, exclusive Disney deals, and access to the lowest-priced Disney tickets anywhere.