On Tuesday, October 28, 2025 the brand new “Monsters Unchained” ride in the Dark Universe land of Epic Universe was down. Universal Team Members were quick to provide an impromptu solution during the ride’s down time: a game of cornhole (along with other wooden games).
Monsters Unchained will be closed all day. There are wooden games set up outside. #EpicUniverse pic.twitter.com/QYvITJrjXL
— Coaster101.com (@Coaster101) October 28, 2025
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Coaster101.com posted the following on X: “Monsters Unchained will be closed all day. There are wooden games set up outside.”
A Light Set Of Games In The Dark Universe
With the attraction down, this was perhaps a clever solution to provide an activity for guests visiting the area to participate in. Not much information was given in regards to the wooden games setup, but it appears from the photo Universal’s team members were actively participating with the guests.
While we weren’t able to confirm if many guests were upset, this decision to put up these games to detract from the ride closure drew a fair amount of ire from “fan critics” in comments on the X post.
Oh I would’ve been LIVID! I’m going to universal Orlando tmr and this week, flying in from LA and imagine going to this park, paying all that money for the ticket and you can’t even ride arguably their heaviest hitter.. pic.twitter.com/r9zaFdiOGT
— DatBoyJaden 🐦⬛ (@DatBoyJadenn) October 29, 2025
X User DatBoyJaden commented: “Oh I would’ve been LIVID! I’m going to Universal Orlando tmr [sic] and this week, flying in from LA and imagine going to this park, paying all that money for the ticket and you can’t even ride arguably their heaviest hitter..”
Was there today and saw this. Yeah $167 to play cornhole.
— Dan (@joviacdan) October 29, 2025
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While X User @joviacdan was apparently witness to this as he posted: “Was there today and saw this. Yeah $167 to play cornhole.”
The “Doctor Disney” X account chimed in with: “I get…wanting to give the guests something to do if an attraction is unexpectedly down, but…come on.”
I get…wanting to give the guests something to do if an attraction is unexpectedly down, but…come on.
— Doctor Disney (@Doctor_Disney) October 28, 2025
However, this comment from from an account with “Disney” in the name is particularly ironic in light of one interesting fact: Disney does this too.
Ride Down? Setting Up Games Is A Common Theme Park Solution
In this very same thread of comments it was pointed out that Disney implements this exact same strategy as a solution to a ride going down.
X User John Dickson posted: “Pirates of the Carribbean: Hold my beer.”
Pirates of the Carribbean: Hold my beer pic.twitter.com/i5gHjgme8m
— John Dickson (@JohnDic66934707) October 29, 2025
The photo depicts a game of cornhole set up by Disney cast members to appease guests wanting to ride Pirates of the Caribbean, which was apparently down at the time that photo was taken.
A game of Cornhole outside Pirates of the Caribbean in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in July 2025 – Photo Credit: Follow The Bradleys’ Fun
We here at That Park Place have indeed witnessed this at Magic Kingdom’s Pirates of the Caribbean as well, as shown in the above image from July 2025.
Epic Universe Criticism – Fair? Or Fairly One Sided?
In this 2025 inaugural year of Epic Universe’s operations the park has experienced it’s fair share of issues.
The Harry Potter “Ministry of Magic” area and its technologically forward “Battle at the Ministry” has fought a number of issues and a good degree of downtime. Monsters Unchained showcases some of the most advanced audio animatronics in the industry to bring the experience to life for guests of the park.
The Dark Universe Soundtrack cover – Universal
It’s no surprise, therefore, that these attractions have experienced their share of glitches and down time in this opening year of Epic Universe. The line wait times can exceed hours. All of these issues are fair game for appropriate criticism.
They should be pointed out and hopefully corrected by the teams at Universal. However, when a park is overly criticized, that too deserves to be called out, especially when it’s being criticized for a practice meant to appease guests during attraction down time that is the very same strategy put in place across town by Disney.
How do you feel about Epic Universe using Cornhole games while Monsters Unchained was down? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
