My experience at theme parks is that the early bird generally gets the worm. You get to a park early and parking takes less long. Then, you can get through the ticketing line before the park opens and there’s usually an hour or two of blissfully easy ride lines –or at least shorter lines– for the big ticket items before any given theme park starts to fill up. This is a concept that has been my ride or die for the 10+ years I’ve spent at theme parks as an adult, but it's one that was turned on its head by the opening of Epic Universe.
There Are So Many Reasons Why Nighttime Is A+ At Epic Universe
I spent some time at Epic Universe as it was opening recently, and I was able to experience both the park at Universal Orlando during the daytime and the evening time. Both were great, and if you’re an early bird, I’m absolutely not deterring you from visiting Epic while the sun is out in the sky.
However, there are a few reasons I would recommend the evening hours in the park, and this should continue as the sun goes down earlier and earlier later this year.
Epic Universe Is At Its Peak Aesthetic During Nighttime Hours.
It’s been consistently touted that Epic Universe was a park created with nighttime in mind, and it shows in all the little details. It’s likely no surprised Dark Universe is best experienced during the evening hours when characters roam and the Burning Blade tavern catches fire.
It’s not just the highly touted Dark Universe section of the park that obviously is eerier at night, either. The energy in the park stays high during evening hours, as Harry Potter’s Paris section lights up with a circus tone. How To Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk is also more delightfully themed at night when the ships light up and the coaster purrs in the background. And the Stardust Racers dual coasters literally light up like two comets in the sky. The look and feel of the park is more alive as you movie from land to land and adventure to adventure.
Super Nintendo World, admittedly, is better in the daytime hours, in my opinion, but your own bandwidth may vary. Still, most of the lands are better when the sun is not out.
The Shade In Epic Universe Is Lacking.
I’ve mentioned this briefly before when I ran down some tips before visiting Epic Universe, but it’s hot in Florida. One reason I’ve always liked to go to the parks early was to get in and get out before the sun is at its worst. This is true even in parks that have a lot of tree cover, like Islands of Adventure or Disney World's Animal Kingdom.
Epic Universe is a brand new theme park and it's trees and plant life are new, too. While there may be plenty of sun cover at some point in the park's future, right now, the way the landscaping was created in Celestial Park in particular --but also around the rest of the sections -- is very hot.
One way to work around this? Go to Epic Universe in the evening!
Celestial Park Is Worth Checking Out At Dinnertime.
One of the main reasons I've always been a daytime theme park girlie is a I tend to like to show up early, ride whatever I want, and then head back to the hotel for some rest or some pool time. The main reason I love doing this is so that I can go someplace cool for dinner. At the other Universal Parks, I've typically loved to hop over to The Palm at Hard Rock or Big Fire in CityWalk (itself a bastion of great eateries), or sometimes Bar 17 Bistro on the rooftop at the Adventura.
There are a lot of excellent restaurants and shopping and dining at CityWalk, which can be an ideal evening activity. But Epic Universe is a little further away from most of the Universal hotels that aren't Grand Helios or Stella Nova. And besides, one of its big highlights is the dining in the park itself is top notch.
Even the handheld park food is more interesting than usual at Epic Universe, but beyond this, Celestial Park in particular has a lot of great sit down places. I really enjoyed the food at Oak and Star Tavern and the more upscale The Atlantic. Blue Dragon Pan Asian also has a really cute bar space you could sit at if you aren't visiting with kids. And Universal just announced two more restaurants will be heading into the new park soon.
While Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay have steadily been increasing their unique food items, I still feel there are more reasons to come for dinner at this park than many others.
So, How Did I Come To This Epic Universe Conclusion?
Listen, there have been some complaints about Epic Universe only being open until 9 p.m. some nights. This is compared to some of the other theme parks, which stay open until 10 p.m. and easily dump guests into CityWalk (open even later) afterward on their way to cars or hotels.
This is a great experience, but it doesn't have to be your only experience at Universal Orlando. I've visited Epic Universe now both during the daytime and nighttime, and nighttime was my preference so far, even with the parks only being open until 9 p.m. After trying out both ways, my newly planned routine is to wake up early, spend a relaxing morning at the pool and then head to the parks in the afternoon to continue into the evening. Usually parks are less busy at the very beginning and very end of the day, and you can maximize riding if you're willing to hang around late.
Even if the parks do remain crowded at night, there's still so much to see and do I officially declare myself a convert.
In truth, I may continue to be an early morning girlie at many other theme parks, but Epic Universe has undoubtedly changed my mind about the value of staying late through innovative theming and an extraordinary experience. The good news? There's no right or wrong way to theme park, and Epic Universe has so much to check out and try... at any point in the day.
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