In a recent change to the Early Park Admission policies for Epic Universe, guests can now ride select Dark Universe attractions during the additional hour.
Dark Universe Added to Early Park Admission

Early Park Admission is a benefit at Universal Orlando Resort that allows guests of select hotels and specific groups to visit the theme parks up to one hour prior to each park’s official opening time. Universal first confirmed that its newest park, Epic Universe, would be open for Early Park Admission while it was still undergoing previews. However, when early admission at Epic Universe was first announced, the only confirmed attractions included Stardust Racers and the three rides located within Super Nintendo World. Constellation Carousel was also added this list a little while later.
However, a recent change has now added both Dark Universe attractions to Early Park Admission. When visiting the webpage that lists all the attractions operating prior to the park’s official opening time, both Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment and Curse of the Werewolf are now included.
Attractions still not included with Early Park Admission in Epic Universe include both Hiccup’s Wing Gliders and Fyre Drill in How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, as well as Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry over in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic. The latter attraction has reportedly still been experiencing some operational issues, with Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry not always opening first thing in the morning along with the rest of Epic Universe.

Some guests are speculating that this change is to help alleviate some of the early morning crowds. Despite being a selective benefit, the lines for all of the attractions in Super Nintendo World and Celestial Park were reportedly long in the morning due to the rest of the park not being open yet. Hopefully, having Dark Universe also open for Early Park Admission will allow the crowds to spread out more and make the benefit worthwhile.
This is the latest addition in a series of Epic Universe policy changes that began earlier this week. Guests booking vacation packages online have also noticed that travel dates after January 2026 are now including an option for a Universal Orlando Resort park-to-park ticket that includes Epic Universe. Previously, guests could only purchase a standalone Epic Universe ticket or add a single day at the new park to their regular Universal Orlando Resort ticket.
If you want to see more of Dark Universe in the morning, we recently added a full Dark Universe Daytime Walkthrough video to our channel:
Are you glad to see Dark Universe added to Early Park Admission? Let us know if this will effect your trip in the comments.
For more Universal Studios news from around the world, follow Universal Parks News Today on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. For Disney Parks news, visit WDWNT.