Riding Every Ride at Universal Epic Universe in One Day

On Sunday, November 9th, I finally stepped into Universal Epic Universe for the first time. I couldn’t wait to explore, but I was also bracing myself for potential issues given the early growing pains of the new park. After all, less than two weeks earlier on October 28th, marquee attraction Monsters Unchained was shut down for the entire day. Little did I know, our visit would turn out even better than anything I could have hoped for. Even with numerous weather delays, we rode every ride at Epic Universe, including both shows, and experienced 23 total attractions – without Express! Here’s a complete breakdown of everything we did, tips that you can use for your next visit, and my quick thoughts on the rides and attractions.

For every ride, I will list the posted standby wait time and how long we actually waited. The single rider lines do not have a posted wait time because they depend on the number of odd parties and the Grouper. Anytime I say walk on, this means we did not stop walking to get on the attraction. Some queues are so massive that is takes 10-15 minutes of continuous walking just to get to the ride but I still consider that a walk on because at no point are you stopped due to waiting on the people in front of you.

Riding Every Ride at Universal Epic Universe

8:20am: The night prior, we stayed at Terra Luna Resort so that we could take advantage of Early Park Admission. We got on the shuttle bus around 8:20am (no wait) and were outside the Epic Universe gates by 8:30. At 8:40, they began letting people into the entrance courtyard between the two gift shops.

Tip: Complete the Photo Validation Mobile Enrollment by uploading a selfie into Universal’s mobile app a day or two before your visit, this way you won’t have to scan a ticket to get into the park. The facial recognition scanners are quick and effortless.

8:50am: The ropes were dropped and guests began flowing towards the back of the park. We took the path on the right and after we showed our hotel room keys, were immediately able to enter the Stardust Racers queue.

9:00am: #1-3. Stardust Racers, 15min/walk on/walk on

My twin sister, Kelly, and I got a front row ride on Green while John (Kelly’s husband) got a zen ride (only person in the train) on Yellow. What a way to start the day! Kept our stuff in the same locker and immediately reentered the line, this time for a back row ride on Yellow. Repeated the same for a middle row ride on Green.

Stardust Racers won the Golden Ticket Award for Best New Roller Coaster of 2025 and it easily lives up to the hype.

9:45a: #4 Mine Cart Madness. Posted 60min. Single rider line actual: 10min

We retrieved our stuff from the locker then booked it over to Super Nintendo World. One of the advantages of visiting sans kids was the ability to split up if needed. We entered the single rider line for Mine Cart Madness at 9:45 and were off the ride around 9:55. The Mine Cart Madness single rider line was the biggest time saver of the day (but it might not always be, more on that later).

Mine Cart Madness is a fun but jerky little ride. It’s like an old Arrow coaster – smooth when you’re in an element, but the transitions between elements are rough. I think the ride really could have used an additional show scene at the beginning of the ride to extend the length. Or add a second track to double the capacity.

10:01am: #5 Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge. Posted 50min. Single rider line actual: 20min

One of the tips I read before visiting was from Touring Plan’s “How Not to Wait 120 Minutes for Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge. Basically, the best times to get in line are the last 15 minutes of Early Enter or the last 15 minutes after the park has opened to regular guests. After Mine Cart, we hurried over to Mario Kart and just beat the rush of regular entry guests.

I’ve seen a lot of negative comments online about Mario Kart (“It doesn’t go fast!!!”) but I have to guess 99% of those complainers haven’t ridden it. I thought it was fantastic. The combination of physical sets with the augmented-reality gameplay was incredible, and very re-rideable.

10:30ish – Rain Delay

It was raining pretty hard when we got off of Mario Kart so we hung around in the gift shop for ten minutes or so until it let up.

10:41am: #6 Constellation Carousel, walk on

10:53am: #7 Monsters Unchained. Posted 15min. Actual: walk on

One of my most anticipated attractions definitely lived up to the hype. At Islands of Adventure, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey  (another robotic arm ride) is a one and done for me due to the motion sickness caused by the dome carousels.  I was happy to find that I could’ve rode Monsters Unchained all day. So many improvements over Forbidden Journey. I think my kids would love riding Monsters but avoid FJ.

11:18am: Character Meet and Greet, 5min wait

After Monsters, we said hi to the Invisible Man who was wandering the streets, then we did the Frankenstein and his Bride meet and greet.

11:30am: #8 Curse of the Werewolf. Posted 45min. Actual single ride line: 30min.

The slowest of the single rider lines due to many Express and VIP parties but we still saved 15 minutes. Werewolf is the weakest attraction at Epic Universe. I heard multiple people exclaim “That’s it?!” upon hitting the final brake run. If you’re not going to have time for everything, this is one of the first attractions I would put on my skip list.

Noon: Funny enough, seems the only attraction that had maintenance issues during our visit was the The Tavern, which was missing its Burning Blades.

Next, we enjoyed a Frankenstein pretzel for a snack and ran into Ygor.

12:20: #9 Le Cirque Arcanus, walk on

This was the one attraction I probably knew the least about going in and I was blown away. Even the curtain closing is incredible and emotional! When I make a return visit, this will be high on my “must experience again” list.

1:00pm: #10 Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. Posted 75min. Single rider actual: 35min

Nothing can prepare you for the massive scale of this attraction. From the endless queue, to the ride vehicles, to the show scenes – everything is bigger than anything you’ve ever experienced at a theme park. This ride makes Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance look small.

2:30pm: #11 The Untrainable Dragon

The on-and-off rain delays continued, so we headed for another indoor attraction. Another fantastic show with great music and “wow!” moments.

3:00pm: Lunch/Dinner at Pizza Moon

Even the restaurants are well themed!

4:00pm: #12 and 13 Monsters Unchained. Posted 25min. Actual walk on.

The rain continued so we did back-to-back rides on Monsters Unchained. The animatronics are incredible – the amount, the size, the fluid movements are all insanely good. But that’s where all the money went. My one issue with the ride, the thing keeping it from a perfect score (really nitpicking here), is you can tell exactly where the money ran out. For example, after you see Dracula for the first time, you’re spun to look at a black wall with chains and the floor. It took me out of the story every time.

4:50pm: #14 Stardust Racers. Posted 35min. Actual 20min.

It looked like the rain was finally moving out so we headed back to Stardust for another race on the Green side.

5:25pm: #15 Hiccup’s Wing Gliders. Posted 55min. Actual 70min.

Our biggest mistake of the day was getting in the Hiccup’s Wing Gliders queue too soon after it had stopped raining but it was the only major attraction left that we really wanted to do. As for the ride itself, the layout and theming are fantastic, but the trains are just not very comfortable – with the shin guards and the half-back padding.

6:40pm #16 Fyre Drill. Walk on

Was not planning on riding this but when we saw almost no one was we thought, why not? Between lack of riders and wearing a poncho, I did not get wet at all. Other parks (Silver Dollar City, Carowinds, LEGOLANDs) have splash battle rides so this is another one I would put on the low priority list.

7:00pm Butterbeer

Can’t go to Universal and not drink at least one Butterbeer…

7:25pm #17 Mario Kart. Walk on

Even though it would have been a shortcut to go the single riders line, this time we decided to do the standby queue so we could walk through the massive line and see the details we missed earlier. This queue is massive, with room after room after room, but they’re all themed to the max.

#18 Yoshi’s Adventure Posted 5min. Actual 5min.

Cute ride but not worth a long wait. The track should have been longer.

7:57pm: Mine Cart Madness was still posting an hour long wait so we got in the single rider line again. In the morning there were only ~10 people in front of us but now there were more than fifty, so we decided that was going to take a long time and bailed. They close the queue early based on capacity.

8:09pm #19 Battle at the Ministry. Posted 15min. Actual walk on

When I looked at the app and saw the posted wait time for Battle at the Ministry was only 15 minutes, I was in shock, and that’s when it finally dawned on me what an incredible day this was. We must have hit the sweet spot between Christmas and Halloween crowds. At times it felt like we were at an Orlando Informer Meetup.

#20. Dragon Racers Rally. Posted 25min. Actual 10min.

The last ride we hadn’t ridden yet. We usually don’t ride flat rides and don’t love spinning but we saw it only goes around five times. It’s tamer than it looks. If you don’t move your wings, you don’t spin at all. Ride this for a nice aerial view of the park. This is another attraction I would skip if limited time since you can find this same ride at many other amusement parks.

#21. Hiccups Wing Gliders. Posted 10min. Actual 10min. 

#22 and #23 Stardust Racers yellow and green

Finished our day with two more night rides on Stardust Racers. We could’ve rode another time but we had a long drive ahead of us.

We saw a little bit of the Cosmos Fountain Show nighttime finale and went into the gift shops to buy some souvenirs.

10:23pm left the park, 5 min wait for the bus

Universal Epic Universe FAQs

Q: Do you feel like you missed anything?

A: We’re ride people so that’s what we focused on. otherwise we could have spent more time on food or interactive wands instead of re-rides. With all the rushing around, I do feel like we missed out on examining the finer details of the lands. I would’ve loved another day to go slowly, not worry about getting on rides, and just soak it all in.

Q: Stardust Racers Green or Yellow?

A: Green. Those first two airtime hills after the top hat and turn around are incredible.

Q: Where to sit on Stardust Racers?

A: I preferred the Front > Middle > Back. No bad seats though.

Q: Which is better, VelociCoaster or Stardust Racers?

A: Too close to call. We didn’t go to Island of Adventure on this trip; I’d have to ride them back-to-back to decide. Both incredible either way.

Q: Is Monsters Unchained scary?

A: Not at all. I think Disney’s Haunted Mansion is scarier because there is more suspense, creepier music, and a more foreboding introduction. Monsters is loud and in-your-face the entire experience, there’s no suspense.

Q: Which show to see if you only have time for one?

A: If there are young kids in your party (less than 8 years old), see Dragon. If your group is comprised mostly of adults or older kids, see Le Cirque Arcanus.

Q: Which is better: Battle at the Ministry or Monsters Unchained?

A: For me, I give the slight edge to Battle at the Ministry simple due to the sheer scale of it. When you’re on the ride, you can look up, down, side to side and you’re completely surrounded by the story at a huge scale for the entire ride. Monsters has a few moments where you can tell you’re inside of a warehouse style building. But either way, both rides are among the best in the world.

Q: How would you rank the portals?

1. How to Train Your Dragon – The best portal at Epic Universe is not surprisingly the one that is the most fleshed out. Dragons has the most and best variety of attractions, the characters, and the numerous audio-animatronics. The land is the most colorful and has the most movement (are you paying attention Disney?).
2. Ministry of Magic – two of the best attractions in the park
3. Super Nintendo World – so much details and visually appealing but it can be a bit too much – loud, crowded, and overstimulating at times.
4. Dark Universe – I love the theme but I think Dark Universe is the weakest portal because there’s just not enough to do or see. This is the first land I would add to, even if it’s just a walkthrough haunted house or something simple like that.

Even on a less than ideal weather day and without Express, it’s possible to have an epic day at Epic Universe!

Have you been to Epic Universe? How many rides were you able to go on? Got any Epic Universe questions for us? Let us know in the comments below!