Universal Epic Universe opened its gates TODAY, May 22nd, 2025, ushering in a new era of theme park entertainment. Last night’s live-streamed grand opening festivities featured many celebrity guests and Universal’s creative minds behind the theme park masterpiece, capped with a speech from CEO Mark Woodbury and creative consultant Steven Speilberg right before celebratory fireworks.
Today’s smaller opening day celebrations for the general public featured lively, mini ceremonies at each of the park’s five immersive portals. The excitement was palpable as guests streamed into the park, eager to explore each of the portals. Guests were held at each of the portals in Celestial Park before the 9am opening.
As one would expect, the crowd around the entrance for Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic was massive, yet still seemed less chaotic than we anticipated for opening day.
Crowds That Vanished
However, as the day progressed, the initial hustle and bustle gave way to an unexpected calm. By midday, many areas of the park were nearly empty, with walk-on wait times for most attractions.
This phenomenon was particularly surprising given it being the park’s grand opening and the anticipation surrounding it. Guests found themselves enjoying the attractions and dining locales without the usual long waits, making for a relaxed and enjoyable experience.
Excluding Battle at the Ministry (more on that below), the longest attraction waits throughout the day were between 25-35 minutes for Mario Kart or Donkey Kong. No Express Passes necessary!
Here’s a shot of Epic’s parking lot around noon today, via @bioreconstruct:
Believe it or not, the longest queue I waited in thus far was for a complimentary art postcard in Celestial Park. I added my name to a list which was approximately 50 minutes worth of a wait, I ended up enjoying Monsters Unchained at a complete walk-on around 11am before returning for my portrait. Wild!
The Battle at the Ministry: A Not-So-Magical Experience
The one exception to this trend was the highly anticipated “Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry” attraction. Despite the park’s overall light crowds, this attraction skyrocketed to a crisp 4-hour wait shortly after 9am.
Unfortunately, the ride had an extended closure from around 9:30am through 2:30pm. While some guests who had waited in the queue for 2+ hours were provided re-ride passes, this left a massive strain on the attraction’s capacity for the day, resulting in many disappointed guests. The attraction’s technical issues prevented it from operating at full capacity, contrasting sharply with the [mostly] seamless experiences offered by other rides.
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment also experienced a brief delay at opening, but was up and running strong after approximately 10:30am.
Final Thoughts
While the opening day of Epic Universe was marked by an initial surge of excitement followed by an unusually quiet mid-morning… and afternoon… into the evening, Epic’s exciting new areas with low crowds offered a leisurely memorable experience for those in attendance. Despite the challenges faced by Battle at the Ministry, the overall vibe was a lot more relaxing than we initially thought for Orlando’s newest theme park.
Perhaps Universal capped the attendance anticipating low capacity due to extended attraction closures, or maybe some guests moved their initial opening day plans to a cooler weather timeframe after already experiencing the park during previews. Either way, May 22nd was a lot more enjoyable than we anticipated, and we cannot wait to return and make more memories at Epic Universe. To the stars!
I don’t appreciate seeing this cause if you guys were so ghost town then why not sell tickets then so people can go ride the roller coasters. I’m sure their were plenty more tickets you guys can sale. Cause I know lots of people were complaining online about that and it’s crazy no wonder why Disney world is winning against you guys cause. If it doesn’t look right they are always willing to open tickets sale back up so we can get way more guests and their attendance is super high compared to you guys that’s sad to see. And really embarrassing
I think another reason is the price of the tickets. We were going to go during thanksgiving time. So went on to get tickets only to find out it is $175-190 a ticket for a single day. That is insane. A family of 4 is looking at $700 for just one day just to walk in. That does not include food…drinks….merch etc. I think that may be an issue for universal IMO. I will go 1 time and that’s it just to experience the magic. Those prices are crazy.
Did you not read the release announcement? They intentionally capped park entrance for the opening month to 14500 people. The true cap is closer to 40,000. They won’t up the cap until July. This was known months ago, I don’t know why you went through such lengths to make it look like there isn’t much demand.