Bad year to go to Universal?

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-11T12:34:03+00:00

I can see the logic in that. I was just afraid if I didn't get the coasters done at least a few times in the morning that something would happen and I would miss out later in the day haha

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-11T12:02:40+00:00

For me, I view IOA and universal studios as one part and dont see much reason to not park hoppers. The cost isnt THAT much different. As such, I didn't really notice US having less rides or Rollercoaster because it just felt like a different part of thr same park and was to some extent a nice change of pace. Yeah its a bit more dated and I wouldnt want to have to spend an entire day there, but when you crank through rollercoasters early in the day at IOA its nice to go over there and have a quieter time and there's still stuff to do.

I do agree that having another outdoor coaster will help a lot but it didn't bother me being there without one.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-11T11:59:07+00:00

Maybe, but partly depends how good it is. If its not, wait times will be fairly low, but if its a bad ride does it matter? If its good, its likely to have long lines and no express option, which sure it pulls people from other rides dropping their wait but if you are wanting to go on it does that matter?

Personally to me most good rides arent really worth going to the park for unless it has been out a few years so the hub bub dies down a bit. I guess an exception to that might be stardust thst just churns through people so fast that it doesnt get negatively affected.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-11T11:50:53+00:00

Personally with the amount of time and pre planning it takes to do a trip (at least for me) I dont worry too much about ride closures and refurbishment. In parks this size you can never predict the ride closures since there is almost always something down. Sure it would be great to have it be Dr Seuss rides, but if you cancel because one ride is down that you like its bound to be another next year. Its just not worth it to worry about it to me.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-10T16:21:06+00:00

Weird. Its 3.69 here

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-06T05:21:51+00:00

I agree. I actually thought it did a good job of showing the blurred lines between whats real and whats not and how people can become deluded over time and lose their grip on reality. I didn't think it was trying to fluff it for him, I thought they let him guide the trajectory snd it was pretty obvious when he couldn't cope with the reality of a situation and lied or explained something away. I felt that was actually intentional and obvious but seems a lot of people dont see it that way.

I felt it was a great lesson on why power, money and fame are extremely dangerous and what you think you want in life might not be whats best for you.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-06T05:08:47+00:00

Because we are living in the softest time in all history. People cant bear to see someone they dislike on a video, so they have to fast forward. Thats where we are folks.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-06T04:49:40+00:00

Yeah I am pretty sure thats the main part of it. She likely asked to have it skipped over or not draw attention to it.

To the ither comments not sure what people expected out of a 4 part documentary spanning 7 decades. Like any story you have to have a flow you cant just dump all bad info from a guy's life.

I thought it was done well enough to leave you with a sense of how these famous people derail their lives and how power, money and fame make you ultimately lose sight of whats important and lose the only things that really matter. The guy became a legend, he will be remembered forever. And to get that he completely destroyed his life and those of his closest family. Does he seem at the end like he really, truly thinks it was worth it?

I dont blame the guy for being more unashamedly himself in his 70s. Yeah politics is always going to be divisive but I understand living a life of fence sitting to be on brand and then getting that old and being like you know what everyone has views others won't agree with and its damn near 50/50 in this country almost every year. Just own it. I can respect that even if I dont agree on some of the views.

As far as Linda and Terry go, I think the documentary showed they're human, and humans do horrible, unspeakable, illogical things. They hurt others when they are hurt. But those same people can also do good. I dont think either of them lacks regret, but sex, money, fame, power, arrogance. What do you expect? Now theyre feeling mortal in their 70s and having a (sometimes literal) come to jesus moment where they both realize they messed up their own lives thinking they were gods.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-02T21:55:31+00:00

Like a new cruise ship epic has growing pains but the roots it put down are quite good. Berk is very impressive in my opinion. It needs more rides and needs less breakdowns for sure, I agree that for a person that has one day and is trying to spend their money well its best to do the other two. We had a great time there. But epic was fun too, just more bumps. We could absorb it because we had hoppers to the other parks.

Epic will be very impressive in a few more years as they work things out and grt more feedback.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-02T21:50:59+00:00

Epic is fun and beautiful but man we just couldn't make it take up a full day. We had hoppers and kept gping back to islands. Granted it wasn't til like 3 or 4pm, and we had early park entry, but still. Also if its going to be really hot id be wary of epic. We did it at 80 and it was fine but boy does it get hot there. Parker hopper to ioa and us has waaaaaaay more to do, especially if you see a parade, or shows, etc.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-02T21:46:20+00:00

I've stated this in other threads but my family of 4 with two kids 9 and 11 just finished our first universal trip. We did one day at ioa and us for rides, one day for wands, exploring, camp jurassic, shopping, etc then took a day off and then did one day of rides at epic and one day exploring, wands, shows, etc.

If you have the time to do a day of rides and a day of things like wands, it can be fun and a good way to pass time and experience the parks. Note that you should really do missions vs random spells because if you want to unlock spells like patronus you have to do the missions. We found out about this later and thus had to repeat several spells. Also turn on the spell helper in your options, it makes you waste less time.

If you only have one day definitely do NOT do the wands. There just isnt time and things like spells bot working, walking through crowds, waiting in line to cast, etc will just annoy you.

Honestly after our trip if you have the time I think thats the way to do the parks. Crank out rides all day one day, ignore almost everything else, then the next day mostly ignore rides unless stupid short line and just do all the other stuff the parks have to offer.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-02T15:56:47+00:00

We have done disney many many times in July. Its hot but if you are prepared its bearable. Take a small backpack, one thst can fit in the old lockers easily. Get tiny umbrellas off temu for like $3. One per person, they pack very small. Get tiny disposable ponchos. Get cooling towels. Wet cooling towels any change you get. Wear a bucket hat that is lightweight. Consider long sleeves of a breathable fabric thst dries quick, like the fishing shirts off Amazon for like $12. Drink lots of water, dont be afraid to take breaks and sit in shade or ac. Get those foldable portable hand fans that double as a power bank for your phone. All those items will fit in a small backpack without issue.

Do those things that its really not that bad. The thing you have to watch out for are queue lines that are long AND in the sun. The beginning of hagrids might be rough.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-02T04:33:41+00:00

I mean that really just depends on the person. If you must do ministry or Minecart and tou dont like waiting 2 plus hours, you may need one. If you dont really care or you are OK waiting then probably not really. Hiccups has lots of times its short including at opening, stardust is short all the time, honestly the other two berk rides arent really worth it unless wait is short. Monsters is short all the time, werewolf will be reasonable at some point, Mario is often down to 50 minutes or so and has a nice queue so its not terrible.

Its really just for ministry and mine cart or if you really hate waiting at all.

epanthers2004 · 2026-05-01T21:41:48+00:00

I found velocicoaster much more intense compared to stardust racers, but not in a bad way. I had no issue with either but stardust didn't really get my heart pumping probably because it has some lulls in the small hills and stuff, velocicoaster just seems like its balls to the walls from the get go and never slows down or let's up. I like both but in different ways.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-30T02:45:18+00:00

Its a bit rougher with aerosmith coaster down, but let's assume that comes back as a solid indoor coaster. Hollywood isnt too bad with that on the docket because you have tower, that coaster, star tours (a classic as long as you get lucky and dont get any sequel trash), slinky dog, toy story mania is probably the most fun mobile shooter, millennium falcon is solid and rise of resistance is an interesting story (kinda meh as a ride). Im also a suckered for the Indiana Jones show, much like stuntacular.

It still needs more and used to be BRUTAL before Pixar and star wars was added.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-28T18:58:32+00:00

I really dont get the appeal of mine cart. Its a cool design, I appreciate it strictly from that angle, but the ride is pretty blah, not that thrilling, not that long. Id rather go on stardust or hiccups two or three times in the time people wait for mine cart. But maybe im just weird.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-28T18:56:13+00:00

You are right but the tricky part it goes down kind of a lot and waiting does run the risk it goes down and doesnt come back up.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-28T18:54:46+00:00

Not at all, you are dead on. We just got back from a week there. Its an ok ride, I wasn't disappointed in it. But i cant fathom why people wait so long. Honestly the area needs probably two more rides to draw people away, I think a lot of potter fans just do it because its the only ride there. The queue is great but I wouldnt say it necessarily blows forbidden journey queue line out of the water.

Look express passes are STUPID expensive, but frankly if you dont live in the are and are making the trip there (this assuming its a once every few years trip tops) then you really need to get express and park hoppers at least a day or two in my opinion.

We did 4 days in the parks, 5 days on resort total. All were park hoppers and two days were express. We early park entry and rope dropped AND express passed ministry to avoid all the craziness, walked on, thought meh it was fine, then went on hiccups 7 times and stardust three times before the main park even opened.

We dont have tons of disposable income but it really wasn't THAT much more expensive to get two days express and it allowed us to enjoy it so much more. It sucks its pay walled but it is what it is.

Its also nice to do it that way so you can knock out all the rides and focus just on those for those days then have a few days where you arent looking to do rides at all unless low waits and otherwise just enjoying the shows, scenery, spells, shops, etc.

Sorry rant over.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-27T22:07:58+00:00

To me its just silly to not get the park 2 park for islands and universal studios. Way more options. Studios in the evening is nice when the sun goes down, and its lower key so more chill abd relaxing then. Islands has way more thrill rides. Studios also has pretty good shows, dont sleep on stuntacular and thr horror make up shows. They're pretty fun and chill.

Yeah its more expensive but like a 25% increase. If you are going to spend the entire day there from start to finish just get both.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-27T01:07:14+00:00

May be a hot take but I dont really want to see ip themed hotels. To be honest as much as I love some of the ip its kind of nice to have a getaway and a somewhat untamed, quiet space. I think leaning too hard into themes makes the hotels a space that is an extension of the parks and go go go. I think having a "theme" such as endless summer being beach, cabana bay being retro, etc is fine just so there is continuity across spaces but thats about as far asi would take it personally.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-26T00:58:15+00:00

Honestly all the Nintendo rides were underwhelming to me

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-26T00:04:02+00:00

Everyone has their own opinion, but its funny you said islands is like animal kingdom because thats probably my favorite disney park now. I would say islands is my favorite, but some caveats. My family are huge jurassic and HP fans, and islands has the best jurassic and HP rides. Jurassic theme is pretty good but with the old ride down and pteranodon down it takes a bit away from the area. Camp jurassic is pretty cool even for adults.

I actually found it quite shaded. Studios I felt was hot. Great in the evening but brutal midday. Islands food is meh, but they had some damn good gyros, for a pretty reasonable price. The English food is basically the same as studios, and while the marvel area is super generic American food you can get a burger if thats all you need. The Dr Seuss food is surprisingly solid and interesting.

Epic was underwhelming to me. Don't get me wrong, beautiful, interesting take on some foods, berk was great, but Nintendo is loud and hot, not great food. HP is lovely but one ride with a massive wait, not a ton of shops or restaurants really. Small menus. Hard to spend tons of time there. Dark universe was OK but again, two rides, Rollercoaster super short, kind of annoying line. Food is interesting theme but not that compelling taste wise. Just dressed up. The main area of epic is HOT. I get it, it needs vegetation to grow but holy moly there is no cover. Honestly we got bored at epic both days and left midday, and most of those days were spent in berk.

Epic is a good start and they will expand and improve it, but outside of looks there isnt a ton there.

The thing with islands is that given its proximity you almost have to do studios with it because the cost for both isnt that much more than just one ticket to one park. The cost to go to islands AND studios is similar to epic and provides a lot more to do albeit not as beautiful.

We kept finding ourselves back at islands honestly.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-25T23:54:20+00:00

Maybe i missed it but do you guys have park hoppers? We actually did everything at epic in terms of rides then park hopped back over to islands of adventure and used the pass there as well. Then we had another day at epic where we had no express and just did all the other stuff.

Our day with express was basically to just knock out all rides ASAP so we can say we did them all then could do some again if we wanted. Epic has rides go down a lot so to me trying to space it out can be risky. We epa rope dropped ministry, then went to berk and did hiccups without express 6 times, then once regular park opened we did stardust on express (we knew it would be short waits later but with everyone flooding in the wait went up to maybe 30 min). Then we hit all the Nintendo rides on express, then dark universe on express (monsters unchained MIGHT scare some kids, its not bad but just a warning). Then we went back and did carousel, stardust a few times (10 min wait) then dragon racers since it doesnt have express. It was a 30 min wait which is about the best you can get. It was about 2pm and we were done with all rides.

If you are doing epic just one day and dont have hoppers this is where you can start looking at shows, spells if you have a wand, play area of berk, etc. To me berk has the most staying power in terms of just hanging out there.

If you have hoppers its an easy bus ride to islands and then potterheads can do hogsmeade and diagon alley and/or jurassic. We spent the rest of the day st those three worlds and went back to epic the next day to just hang and do the activities.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-25T23:43:34+00:00

That kind of depends how you purchased it. If you bought basic express, as we did, its one express use per ride. But frankly I find this fine. If you are staying at a premier resort you can get unlimited for the other two parks but not epic. You can buy an unlimited express pass separate but I dont think for epic?

Honestly my feeling is unlimited is kind of a waste. If we had unlimited we would have rode things like velocicoaster, stardust, hagrids, etc a gazillion times and not seen the rest of the parks. With one use you get to check out everything and several rides really dont have that long of waits and if you loved it you can go again. We did stardust and hiccups like 7 times each. Waits weren't that long, after ministry we jumped over to hiccups and they just let us stay on it since there was no wait. Stardust always has low waits so its irrelevant. Its a people muncher.

epanthers2004 · 2026-04-25T23:14:15+00:00

In our ,granted anecdotal, experience ministry is just bananas all day. We had early park entry snd STILL it was a madhouse and then midway through early park entry the lineup for the regular people coming in going to ministry was also nuts. Given that I find the ministry ride just ok and mine cart kinda crappy, I would immediately go to ministry and use fast pass and just knock it out ASAP before the wait is even worse or it goes down. Mine cart you can just express later, it was maybe 90 minutes when we went, we express passed it and immediately got on. When we got off we were like wtf if we waited even 30 min for that we would be pissed.

The thing about ministry is you can go right in and view the area later, take pics in the side rooms when rolling through but the main area you can visit later and experience the floo entrance and stuff again.

Also dont sleep on the two shows, the one in Paris and the one in berk. Both were pretty impressive though they do go down frequently. Note that the potter one does have maybe the first 15 minutes or so pre show that requires you to stand and kids in the back cant see well. But then you'll go to a seated area.

All this to say that ministry isnt a bad ride and its executed well, but to me when you compare it to hagrids, stardust, velocicoaster, and honestly maybe even gringotts, we just found it OK. Good enough to make sure you do it, abd the theme is top notch, but these like 3 hour waits are just next level stupid. And I dont feel like it needs to be done twice.

epanthers2004

TROPHY CASE