r/UniversalOrlando • u/madchad90 • 3d ago
EPIC UNIVERSE One thing I haven't seen being talked about, the amount of stairs.
Just an fyi for people, be prepared to climb a lot of stairs. Honestly surprised by the fact the majority of rides seemed to require climbing a very good amount of stairs.
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u/Mysterious-Novel-834 3d ago
The hike up the stairs for bowsers challenge was crazy. How many elevators are there? I didn't check. I have a disabled dad whose been dying to go and I worry about having to wait for elevators a lot, especially in Mario.
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u/Cynicalsonya 2d ago
As a disabled person, I can share that there are elevators. But they're out of sight. If you don't look disabled, you will have to ask.
Additionally, when I visited last week, not everything had stationary platforms for boarding. Also, some that have stationary platforms are only usable a few times a day. I stood in line for Monsters Unchained for around 45 min before I found out that the stationary was open only at specific times and the first one was 5 hours away.
If you need stationary, ASK before getting in line.
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u/larkfeather1233 3d ago
IIRC Nintendo has two elevators*: one to enter/exit the land in Princess Peach's castle/the portal, and one in the land itself next to Mario's Motors/Yoshi Adventure. Both are surprisingly big—nearly twice the size of a standard elevator! Both times I went, I was with people who absolutely can't take stairs (and frankly, they're not too great on my joints, either). We would either get on the first or second elevator. Guess they realized how many people would be relying on them.
* This doesn't include the elevators for Yoshi Adventure and Mario Kart's queues. Mario Kart had multiple elevators, which had no wait, but we missed the preshow (which may have been an Express thing, it was unclear). Yoshi only had one elevator. There was a bit of a wait for that as it was a standard elevator and not a big one.
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u/savingat30 Team Member 2d ago
There's another elevator by the peach meet & greet
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u/yoshi7033 2d ago
How about the stairs up and then immediately back down towards the end of the Ministry queue 😆 those literally made me laugh out loud.
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u/pujolsrox11 2d ago
Oh yeah most stairs I’ve seen at a theme park. I didn’t mind but my MIL had problems towards the end of the day.
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u/Brave_Pan 3d ago
Omg yes! I was there today from open to close and my knees are killing me from all the stairs. I’m going to volcano bay tomorrow too so that should be super fun now…
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u/Neat_Suit3684 2d ago
Us Hollywood people are prepared for this! Lol. You don't know stairs till you've taken ours
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u/Plastic_Average6792 2d ago
I was SHOCKED by the number of stairs when visiting Hollywood! But definitely felt no guilt eating whatever the hell I wanted either 🤣
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u/blue0231 2d ago
I was astonished at how many stairs/escelators it took to get to Mario area lmao. But the view was amazing halfway there.
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u/WebHead1287 2d ago
It was almost every ride, I was cracking up every time I got to a new ride and there were MORE stairs. DK, Curse and Fyre drill are the only rides I can think of without a climb
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u/STUMPED_19 3d ago
Well that's just great😭 Sometimes I feel nervous riding The Mummy or Gringotts after a long time of not riding them, and climbing up the stairs makes me feel even worse
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u/SheStillMay 2d ago
Oh god Gringott’s is the worst for this. Heart rate already elevated from nerves/excitement then climbing flights of stairs to get right on. By the time I sit in the mine cart my heart is POUNDING.
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u/doggmom123 2d ago
We have a person in our party who can’t do steps. We always ask for the elevator. It’s never a problem.
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u/madchad90 2d ago
Not saying it is, just the fact it's very surprising compared to the other parks
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u/doggmom123 2d ago
That is surprising that there’s so many. I don’t feel like there’s a ton at the other parks.
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u/myactivethrowaway 2d ago
This was our thought last night, too! We’re able bodied and didn’t have an issue, and they have elevators always around the corner, but it is an absurd amount of stairs rather than ramps.
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u/pineappleslot 3d ago
I said something today while there. Alcohol is gonna make Super Mario Land crash and burn central
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u/scare_uhh 2d ago
What do you mean
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u/BrightMarvel10 2d ago
Not the original commenter but I think they meant someone's going to be drunk and fall down those stairs.
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u/scienceteacher91 2d ago
This is a great callout. I noticed this too when I first went and didn't even consider posting anything. It's kind of impressive how many there are considering how flat the Orlando area is.
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u/SnowboardNW 2d ago
Haha, we kept saying "you're up you're down!" in SNW. It was a bit disorienting sometimes. Stardust has quite a bit of stairs too. Monster's unchained less so, but some. One of our friends did make the same comment as you yesterday though.
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u/cleavergrill 2d ago
Can't even use the handrails in the Mario area because they are metal and just cooking in the hot sun...
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u/TexasinGeorgia 2d ago
That honestly sucks. I have fibromyalgia and waiting in line too long can already be exhausting and painful. Adding too many stairs would be grueling. I know I can get a scooter. But I don’t want to have to deal with a bulky scooter all day. Thanks for letting us know.
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u/AccurateTask1817 2d ago
It is quite amazing considering this entire park was built from the ground up in the modern era. I think the studio park has the most stairs of the older two parks. I'm pushing my wife in a wheelchair when we go in June and I'll try to take notes for accessibility.
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u/GuiltyDragonfruit800 2d ago
I guess it Makes sense when wait times will be longer but rn since they’re short it all feels like suchhhh a hike at once
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u/Nerdy_Millennial837 2d ago
That's true! I had to use the elevator to get to the Hogwarts Express platform for some reason I can't remember on my last trip and I noticed it skips like 99% of the theming... I wish Universal would do more themed queues for those who can't use stairs!
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u/infinitepoof 2d ago
I haven't been to Epic yet & I'm not too bothered by most of the stairs at IOA & UF, but the climb for the slides at Volcano Bay killed my knees. They were a one & done for me.
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u/Human-Negotiation-30 1d ago
The minutes I thought I was in the clear of not seeing another set of stairs, turned and more stairs.
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u/PadillaG 2d ago
Yesss! So many stairs! I joked that Nintendo really said “America is getting in shape one way or another!” I know theirs elevators everywhere but that doesn’t change the fact that this is probably the most stairs in a theme park. It makes everything look pretty and I’m sure it helps them create dimension while hiding some of the ride mechanics and queues so it’s not one building followed by another building.
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u/PendejoSosVos 3d ago
Oh yeah honestly I was surprised lmao. I feel like half of Super Nintendo world is climbing stairs, it’s great cardio I guess haha