Universal’s brand-new theme park, Epic Universe, officially opened on May 22nd, 2025, and we’ve been keeping a close eye on the park’s wait times, ride closures and delays, and more.
As Universal continues increasing capacity, we’ve seen ride wait times go up little by little, and in quite a few cases, a lot. From time to time, everything seems to go haywire — and that’s exactly what happened on June 19th, 2025.
Two Epic Universe rides had waits of over three hours the morning of — and neither ride was Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry, which is typically the one with the highest waits in this park.
Hiccups Wing Gliders was sitting at a 200-minute wait just after 11 AM…
…and Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge was sitting at 180 minutes.
This is likely due to the fact that Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry was delayed, meaning that it wasn’t eating up a huge chunk of the crowds like it normally does — and all those people had to go somewhere!
A bit later in the day, wait times began evening out, but still — the only ride with a wait under one hour was Constellation Carousel. We meant it when we said that Epic Universe was starting to get crowded, y’all!
We do have a sneaking suspicion that Epic Universe was limiting capacity the first few weeks after its official opening, and is only now allowing for the park to get closer to reaching full capacity. We don’t have an exact number when it comes to park capacity, so it’s hard to gauge, but either way, the park is MUCH more crowded than it was in May.
With that being said, if you’re heading to Epic Universe soon, you’ll want to pack your patience, your water bottle (and use those free refill stations all around the park to get fresh, COLD water!), and your cooling towels and fans to prepare for your busy day ahead.
Use the Early Park Admission perk if you’re staying at a Universal Orlando hotel to get ahead of some of those crowds, and don’t be afraid to stay in the park when it rains — summer rain storms are common and they WILL unfortunately close the outdoor attractions in the area if there’s lightning, but they often pass quickly!
We’ll continue to keep an eye on the latest ride wait times and information from Epic Universe to help you plan your next trip. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to AllEars for the latest Epic Universe news and more!
6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Riding Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry at Epic Universe
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Have you been to Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort? Tell us in the comments.
I was there yesterday on 6/19 and it was miserable! The wait times listed were off and double what was listed for some rides. Give me Disney any day over any universal park. Epic universe is fun to look at but it’s a one and done for my family.