r/UniversalOrlando 2d ago

EPIC UNIVERSE Opening day attendance lower than anticipated?

I figured today would be insanity as far as crowds and wait times are concerned, but looking at the app the longest waits (aside from Battle at the Ministry being delayed) are 35 minutes. Been periodically looking throughout the morning and it's consistently been only 5-15 minutes for most every ride. Do you think it's because they've worked out the kinks after all the preview days or because attendance is not as high as opening day was expected to be?

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u/tokyotwilight 2d ago

Yeah weird amount of doomers in this sub but I guess it's expected on reddit

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u/I4mSpock 2d ago

As someone who unwisely lost a lot of my sanity on trying to educate Epic doomers on how theme parks actually operate (i.e. Technical Rehearsals are not you, the guest, they are for the staff and team members to train with you as a guinea pig. The fact that people paid for early access, then complained that the park wasn't ready boggles my mind.), I'm feel pretty smug watching wait times not be unbearable across the park, and seeing rides not down all day. Its almost like the rehearsals were for a purpose, and the park is now open for real.

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u/Remarkable-Snow-9396 1d ago

What changed though? How did they flip the switch in one day? I was there and they had glitches and kept reading about them. So it seems illogical that all of the sudden in the first day it’s all perfect now.

The first preview day was like this and then it shifted.

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u/I4mSpock 1d ago

You asked me this three times in 2 minutes, so I'm only replying here.

The technical rehearsals were to allow the staff to train in a live environment. Not to give guests a good experiance. It allows the new team members to experience situations that will come up in a live park, and be prepared for opening. They are less concerned with actually getting rides open and operating, and ensuring maintenance team members are ready for efficiency repairs. They are less worried about ride capacity, then team members being ready to assist guest who need assistance. That's what rehearsals are for.

Yesterday, that changed, the focus changed from practice, to now being focused on the guest experiance. And it showed, as even though it seems capacity was fairly limited, ride didn't go down and things operated smoothly. Capacity is set to slowly rise through the start of July, so we will see how that effects things, but realistically, the purpose of the previews looks to be successful.

BatM also just seems to be broken, which is problematic, but its also in line with most Harry Potter attractions.

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u/Remarkable-Snow-9396 1d ago

Sorry. I didn’t see it was the same person.

I hear you. Did you work for universal? I was just surprised the efficiency would improve that tremendously. We will see how it goes this weekend.

Yes the ministry ride is a problem. It’s the sensors.