CONFIRMED: A Popular Epic Universe Ride Was REMOVED From Early Park Admission

One of the best perks about staying at a Universal Orlando Resort hotel is getting Early Park Admission into all the Universal theme parks!

Epic Universe entrance

We love this perk so much! It’s a great way to get some extra ride time in the parks and check off some of the popular attractions before the crowds show up. This has especially been a great perk for those wanting to visit Universal’s newest park, Epic Universe. While some rides are included in Early Park Admission, a few are not — and a popular ride recently got removed from Epic Universe’s Early Park Admission!

We keep an eye on everything happening at Epic Universe on a daily basis, from closures to wait times. In fact, we noticed something looked a little different on the Early Park Admission list.

Isle of Berk

As a reminder, Universal Orlando hotel guests and other select groups can access the theme parks up to one hour before the park opens, but the available theme parks, attractions, and times for Early Park Admission vary based on operational needs and weather considerations and are subject to change without notice. Did you catch that last part? Well, it happened — one of the rides on the Early Park Admission is no longer available at Epic Universe.

Super Nintendo World portal

Mine Cart Madness is no longer included as part of Early Park Admission. This change started in June and has been in effect since then. The coaster ride is inspired by Donkey Kong and has been one of Epic Universe’s most popular rides, but it looks like we won’t get that extra hour to ride it anymore.

Mine Cart Madness

Super Nintendo World can still be a good spot to visit for your Early Park Admission window in Epic Universe. Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge and Yoshi’s Adventure are still included in that extra one-hour access. Hopefully, this doesn’t change, considering Mario Kart has been up there for having the highest wait time on a daily basis. Everyone wants to drive on Rainbow Road!

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge

With Mine Cart Madness being removed from Early Entry, the list of rides to experience drops to six! Here they are:

Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
Yoshi’s Adventure
Stardust Racers
Constellation Carousel
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Curse of the Werewolf

Stardust Racers

Luckily, that’s still more than half the rides in the park, so there’s still a lot you can do in that extra hour before the crowds arrive. Use that extra time to conquer the popular experiences.

Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment

Our recommendation for you would be to focus on riding Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, Star Dust Racers, or Curse of the Werewolf. We find that Mario Kart is consistently popular throughout the day, but sometimes you can’t predict the worst time to hop in line, so it’s best to get it done ASAP. Whatever ride you choose to go on, you’re still saving yourself time at the end of the day. If you’re lucky, you may even be able to get multiple out of the way in that hour.

Epic Universe entrance

If you’re looking for a travel agent to help with your vacation, we recommend our friends at Mouse Fan Travel. They’re experts in the field with over 20 years of vacation planning experience, and they can help take a bunch of the stress out of the entire booking process for you!