Epic Universe
Epic Universe Wait Times in Review: October 2026
A data-centric breakdown of when wait times peak, which days of the week have the lowest waits, and which rides are a risky bet during EPA, all from 49,707 wait-time readings.
The crowds came back
The park median was 35 minutes, up from 25 in September and back to where June and July sat. Waits start around 10 minutes in the first hour, hold at 45 from 11 AM–2 PM, and ease to 25 after 7 PM. Midday ran 1.6 times the evening, the narrowest gap since June.
Early Park Admission opened at 9 AM on most days. It moved up to 8 AM on October 3, 10, 13, 17, and 24, and the cover chart splits those five days out.
The first hour of the day and the last hour before close had the shortest waits.
Wednesday was the bargain
Wednesday had a 25-minute median, 15 less than Sunday, the busiest day of the week at 40. Ten of the 13 attractions had their lowest median on Wednesday. The busiest single day was Friday, October 9, at 55, the highest daily median we’ve recorded. The calmest was Wednesday, October 28, at 15.
Attraction uptime
Uptime is the share of park hours a ride was running. October was dry. Weather delays hit on 5 of 31 days, the fewest of any month we’ve tracked, and every outdoor ride improved. Hiccup’s Wing Gliders rose to 94% from 81% and closed 49 times, less than half its September count. Yoshi’s Adventure and Dragon Racer’s Rally reached 98%.
Mine-Cart Madness was the least reliable ride at 82%. It closed 95 times, on 30 of 31 days, and on October 7 it ran for barely an hour. Battle at the Ministry improved to 89% from 85% but closed 112 times, more than any other ride this month. Most of those were short, at 21 minutes on average.
The EPA gamble, ranked
Battle at the Ministry was again the riskiest EPA bet, delayed on 11 of 31 mornings. Its delays were usually short, with a 15-minute median. Stardust Racers came next at 29%, up from 23%, and its delays ran 51 minutes on average. Mine-Cart Madness was delayed on 8 mornings, about one in four. Yoshi’s Adventure was the safe pick, delayed once. Curse of the Werewolf, Fyre Drill, Monsters Unchained, and Constellation Carousel didn’t open for EPA.
Which rides actually eat your day
Expand any attraction to see how its wait times update across the day.
Super Nintendo World
Bowser Jr. Challenge
Mario Kart™: Bowser's Challenge
Mine-Cart Madness™
Yoshi's Adventure™
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic
Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry™
How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk
Dragon Racer's Rally
Fyre Drill
Hiccup's Wing Gliders
Meet Toothless and Friends
Dark Universe
Curse of the Werewolf
Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment
Celestial Park
Constellation Carousel
Stardust Racers
Notes for October 2026
- Mine-Cart Madness kept its 90-minute median and peaks at 120 from noon–2 PM. The EPA hour had a 65-minute median, the cheapest time to ride it.
- Battle at the Ministry’s median fell to 75 from 90, but it had the worst wait we tracked, 260 minutes on October 6, posted right after a mid-afternoon breakdown. It peaks at 100 from 3–4 PM and drops to 50 in the 7 PM hour.
- Mario Kart’s median rose to 60 from 45. Ride it early: 20 minutes in the 9 AM hour against 85 at 11 AM.
- Curse of the Werewolf had a 50-minute median, its highest yet.
- The park closed around 8:30 PM most nights, so the 7 PM hour was usually the last full one.
- October 3, 10, 17, and 24 were event nights. Rides switched to a special-event status around the regular close and ran until midnight, so we left those evenings out of the numbers.