Open Hub Concept Coming to Epic Universe?

Would you be able to ride Stardust? lol I doubt it. I'd totally go to Oak & Star, Pizza Moon, or The Atlantic and watch the fountain show at night.

I've heard apparently that there are always dining reservations available for Atlantic and Blue Dragon... that might be driving this somewhat.

This is an interesting rumor. I dont think any theme park has done that before have they? We'd prob take advantage of it once in a while not too often, its not a long drive but we are much closer to WDW

I hate this idea, but its because the facial recognition never works for me. I even had guest services delete my photo and did it again and it still doesn't work for me. TBH, I'm wondering if their facial recognition is racist 🤣

If it is only after 6pm maybe it won't be so bad - but I'd hate to have to fish for my park ticket every single time I enter a portal. I've also had tons of issues when scanning my Univeral Annual Pass which is supposed to automatically link to my Epic Universe AP One Day ticket. Half the time they tell me I bought a child's ticket and when I show them that I have an Epic ticket in my name and it is an Adult ticket - they always are puzzled. Sometimes they throw their hands up and let me go, sometimes they need to bring over a manager who throws their hands up in the air and lets me go.

I would hate doing that multiple times per day each time I go through a portal.

My thought on this is Crowd Control. They can keep track of the number of people in each area and limit entry based on volume during peak seasons. This could also open up the world of 'entry time' so you get basically a time slot to enter? There are so many possibilities with this. I'm definitely interested to see what they do with it.

This has been in the works since day 1, and I've never been much of a fan of the concept. I think it opens the door to overcrowding in Celestial, which is such a lovely space overall, as well as guest confusion on where they can/can't go. I could see some crowding outside the portals due to it.

That being said I understand why they want to do it. The park still can't handle being above half its intended capacity, Helios patrons probably want more places to eat, and Blue Dragon/Atlantic are struggling to get people through the door.

Talking to a few of the bartenders on my recent trip, it seems this is indeed in the works. Of course, nothing is official until it's official, but it seems very plausible. I saw them testing the facial recognition at Harry Potter portal on Monday (May 4). When the scanners aren't there, if entering the portal you can see the spots in the ground where the scanners are mounted. These same mounts are at the entrance to Stardust and the carousel. So if this does happen, I'm pretty sure the Celestial Park rides will also have them.

I can confirm these places were empty nearly every time I entered on my most recent trip. The Plastered Owl also was quiet outside of the lunch rush. I agree though, as a non-local and infrequent traveler to Universal it would be unfortunate to see Celestial Park overrun. But I also get it.