Universal Orlando has finally released more multi-day ticket add-ons for Epic Universe, as well as vacation packages. Although these are targeted at Floridians and U.S. military members, UOR has also teased the release of standalone single-day Epic Universe tickets soon. Let’s start with the announcement and official details, followed by our commentary.
Universal Orlando Resort has launched the next phase of tickets and vacation packages for guests to visit its highly anticipated fourth theme park – Universal Epic Universe – opening on May 22, 2025. Starting today, Florida residents can now purchase specially priced three-day tickets that include one day of access to Universal Epic Universe. Florida residents can also purchase Universal Epic Universe inclusive vacation packages like the “Create Your Own Vacation Package” or “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Vacation Package” to bundle and save.
These new products give guests additional options to choose from to plan their visit to the groundbreaking new theme park when it opens later this year. With a total of more than 50 incredible experiences that range from groundbreaking attractions to breathtaking entertainment to incredibly themed dining and shopping and so much more, Epic Universe will be Universal Destinations and Experiences most ambitious theme park yet – presenting a level of theme park immersion and innovation that is unmatched across five themed worlds: Celestial Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk and Dark Universe.
See below for more details about the latest Universal Epic Universe-inclusive products that are available for purchase now:
Three-Day Florida Resident Epic Universe-Inclusive Tickets
Includes one day admission to Universal Epic Universe and one separate day admission to Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure and/or Universal Volcano Bay. Specially priced tickets and availability will vary by day of visit.
- 2-Park, 2-Day Florida Resident, Plus 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Ticket: enjoy two days of access to Universal Studios Florida or Universal Islands of Adventure, plus one separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe.
- 2-Park, 2-Day Park-to-Park Florida Resident, Plus 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Ticket: enjoy two days of access to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure, plus one separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe.
- 3-Park, 2-Day Park-to-Park Florida Resident, Plus 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Ticket: enjoy three days of access to Universal Studios Florida, Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Volcano Bay, plus one separate day admission to Universal Epic Universe.
Epic Universe-Inclusive Florida Resident Vacation Package
Florida residents can now create their own vacation package to experience all that Universal Orlando Resort has to offer, including Universal Epic Universe. The vacation package includes:
- 4-Night Hotel Accommodations
- 3-Park, 2-Day Park-to-Park Florida Resident, Plus 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Ticket
- $25 Bundle and Save Discount
- Early Park Admission to enjoy select attractions in one of Universal Orlando’s theme parks up to one hour before park opening
Epic Universe-Inclusive Wizarding World of Harry Potter Florida Resident Vacation Package
Florida residents can now create the ultimate vacation package for Harry Potter fans with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Exclusive Vacation Package which includes:
- 4-Night Hotel Accommodations
- 2-Park, 2-Day Park-to-Park Florida Resident, Plus 1-Day Universal Epic Universe Ticket
- $25 Bundle and Save Discount
- Early Park Admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter up to an hour before park opening
- Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Flight in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, featuring four flavors of the guests’ choosing and one Honeydukes Cooler Tote
- Breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron in Universal Studios Florida
- Breakfast at Café L’air De La Sirene in Universal Epic Universe
- One Shutterbutton’s Photography Studio session in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley
Epic Universe Military Freedom Pass Add-On
Active duty and retired U.S. military members with an active 2025 Military Freedom Pass have the exclusive opportunity to purchase a 1-Park, 1-Day Universe Epic Universe Ticket, as an entitlement add-on to their Pass.
Military Freedom Pass Holders can purchase the 1-Park, 1-Day Universe Epic Universe Ticket via their Universal Orlando account.
Speaking of 1-day Epic Universe tickets, Universal Orlando also teased this: “Additional ticket options for Universal Epic Universe – including Single-Day Tickets for the general public – will go on sale in the weeks ahead. For more information, visit www.UniversalOrlando.com/Epic”
Our Commentary
Universal Orlando announced the opening date of Epic Universe, started selling multi-day tickets, vacation packages, Helios Grand Hotel reservations, and single day tickets for Annual Passholders all within quick succession in late October of last year. All of this–from announcement to release–occurred in the span of a single week.
Five months later, Universal Orlando has made its next step–selling Florida resident multi-day tickets and vacation packages, along with single-day military ticket add-ons. If you asked me back on October 24–the last time new tickets were sold–when more multi-day and single-day tickets would be released, I would’ve guessed long before now.
There are one of two possibilities that explain the delay. The first is that Epic Universe vacation packages and Annual Passholder tickets have sold so well that Universal has no incentive to rush to sell single-day tickets. That it’s all upside in pushing the vacation packages with minimal downside risk.
I doubt this. In perusing ticket availability, multi-day tickets aren’t sold out for any dates this summer–including Epic Universe’s opening day. Now, it’s entirely possible that Universal is overselling admission and plans on reaching phased capacity at Epic Universe on May 22, but we’re skeptical of that.
More to the point, there are still hotels available opening night and opening weekend of Epic Universe, from the ~$200 night value resorts to $1,000+ signature hotels. Push the travel dates to the first week of June 2025 and literally every resort is available. And some aren’t even that expensive!
Another possibility is that Universal is playing a high-stakes game of chicken. That Comcast has dumped tons of money into the building of Epic Universe, including billions (plural) more than budgeted. That the parent company wants or needs Epic Universe to be a huge hit right out of the gate, especially as its legacy businesses struggle. That the goal is to capture as much revenue as possible, as quickly as possible to start recouping that massive investment–especially after a slow year for its parks.
There are multiple goals to this approach. In theory, it should increase Universal Orlando’s average length of stay, make guests more likely to book on-site hotels, prevent attendance cannibalization from Universal’s existing gates, and getting people to spend their park days at Universal Orlando rather than Walt Disney World, and also doing hotel stays at UOR as opposed to WDW.
It also controls crowds at Epic Universe and pushes people to the existing gates. It means attendance could be higher at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure than Epic Universe, as there will be more park ticket days in circulation for the existing gates than there are for Epic Universe. Especially once you factor in the outstanding Annual Passes that do not cover Epic Universe. Again, in theory.
In practice, this could backfire.
American families largely plan their summer vacations between Christmas and the Super Bowl, and single-day tickets were not available during that window. While some theme park super fans (disproportionately the demo of a blog like this) might jump at the opportunity to experience Epic Universe as early as possible, they’re not necessarily the norm. Others may worry about opening season crowds, initial hiccups, or balk at all hoops they have to jump through.
These vacation planners might see Epic Universe soft-locked behind bundles with Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, and find these undesirable for their vacations. That they want to spend a couple of days at Epic Universe, and perhaps only a single day (combined) at the two existing gates.
Another possibility is that casual vacation planners could see these ticket packages and conclude that this is being done due to concerns about high attendance. That crowds are going to be so bad at Epic Universe that this is Universal Orlando’s only option to carefully manage massive numbers of people pouring into its new gate.
In both cases, Universal Orlando could simply lose these potential guests. Not everyone is refreshing the Universal Orlando website on a daily or weekly basis, waiting for the next round of tickets to go on sale. Some check once, see options not to their liking, and book elsewhere.
The notion that tons of people will jump over whatever hurdles Universal throws their way because Epic Universe is so exciting is a fan fantasy. That’s not how normal consumers work. As we’ve mentioned on countless occasions (usually when it relates to Disney’s bad tech infrastructure), there’s a reason Amazon invests tons of money to removing all friction from the order flow. Because many people will only take the path of least resistance.
Ultimately, it’s understandable that Comcast wants to capture as much revenue as possible during the opening season of Epic Universe, filling up its overbuilt hotel inventory and not cannibalizing attendance at its existing gates. It’s hard to fault this approach considering how much money has been spent on Epic Universe. There’s a lot riding on it. The third theme park must turn Universal Orlando into a bona fide destination resort that can hold its own with Walt Disney World.
But it’s also silly to pretend that there isn’t downside risk to Universal’s strategy, and I’m honestly surprised they didn’t start selling single-day tickets two months ago. (At the very least, launch them for Floridians before Walt Disney World started running its 2025 resident specials.) Epic Universe will be a smash success for Universal Orlando in the long-term, but I’m skeptical that its opening season approach is going to yield the expected dividends. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if, after the initial fanfare the first couple weeks, there’s a summer lull as a result of this backfiring. What do I know, though. Guess we shall see!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
What do you think? Is it possible pushing vacation packages and multi-day bundles will backfire? Will ordinary tourists who aren’t hardcore theme parks people sit out opening summer to avoid all of this? Thoughts on UOR’s approach to ticketing for Epic Universe? Excited for Super Nintendo World, Harry Potter’s Ministry of Magic, Dark Universe/Classic Monsters, or the How to Train Your Dragon lands and/or attractions? Think Epic Universe will be a third gate that’s a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort…and potentially on par with Disney’s best lands? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below.