Universal Parkgoers Trolled Fans For Stopping To Play Cornhole When Monsters: Unchained Was Closed (But I Totally Get The Move)

Not only has Monsters: Unchained been hailed as one of the best rides at Universal’s Epic Universe, but it’s also appreciated for the fact its queue moves swiftly and smoothly. That is, when the ride is running, which isn’t always the case. In fact, earlier this week some Epic Universe parkgoers were unhappy when the ride was down, but honestly I don’t totally agree with their assessment.

Here’s what went down. Earlier this week, Monsters: Unchained was down. It doesn’t happen a ton, but it’s always a sad occurrence when a ride is down at Epic, given the park is new and there aren't a ton of major attractions. So, what did Universal do? They set up cornhole outside of the entrance to the ride, as evidenced by X (formerly Twitter)'s Coaster101. (Where's the S.W.A.T. cast when you need 'em?)

Apparently, this really offended a lot of people who are frequent theme parkgoers/ had wanted to check out the ride. Like really got offended. Here’s a sampling of some of the responses to the initial tweet.

• The fact that people actually partake in this is crazy to me?
• I get… wanting to give the guests something to do if an attraction is unexpectedly down, but… come on.
• If I were a kid and they offered me this instead of the ride I would just throw all the bean bags directly at the workers.
• There's no way I'm currently looking at people who paid full price to go to Epic Universe and decided it was a good idea to play... *checks notes*... wooden games.
• I mean, they didn't even paint the boards with a Monsters theme! The only way I'm playing corn hole at Epic is if Frankie and Wolfman are playing with me!

The haters got so loud that the ever-amusing Universal Orlando social team even hilariously responded with a tweet of their own.

Classic. Those responders jokingly noted Ygor won, which would have amused me greatly if I’d seen the classic Universal character throwing bean bags in person. But I gotta say, that’s a lot of hate for something that just feels like a well-meaning message for parkgoers.

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen a ride down and a glut of park staff lined up to invariable answer the same “When will the ride be up again?” question over and over. It’s sometimes unclear even if the wait time isn’t posted that the ride is down until you walk right up to the queue, and most of the time even those working the ride can’t tell you much about when a fix will be made.

Once you’ve paid to get in, your day should be all about uncovering random stuff to do. To me offering cornhole or other yard games makes it clear the ride is very much down and also that it’s probably not coming back anytime soon. Beyond the messaging, if cornhole is set up, my husband and I will pretty much always play it, and I honestly wish there were more passive (and free) games like this in theme parks. To me, it’’s a great way to hang out in a fun environment and break up the day with a satisfying 15-minute activity while going from queue to queue.

In fact, I know this because Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens is a great example of a park keeping a big green space for free games, and I’ve really loved playing ring toss and other quick, "included" stuff in between some of the other paid activities I’ve engaged with there. It makes you feel like you’ve gotten more bang for your buck, particularly as theme park prices go up. I, in fact, wish more theme parks would offer a dedicated space for free family activities such as this.

I talked to my coworker about the great cornhole debate of 2025, and he said he would have rather seen characters out than games, which I suppose is fair. But that's at least an opinion, man. Complaining because cornhole was set up and some people took advantage of it feels mind-boggling to me. If you don't want to play, that's cool!

Thankfully, by the time I did research for this article, Monsters: Unchained had already been back up and ready and rearing to go, with about a 45-minute wait – not too shabby on a day when Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge is at 60 minutes and Harry Potter and the Battle of the Ministry is at 120. It’s good timing ahead of the busy Halloween weekend, and I hope everyone gets the chance to ride this spooky season. Unchained is well worth it.