Flying To The Mushroom Kingdom Or The Wizarding World? Get Ready To Pay More.

Super Mario, Harry Potter: An inside look of Universal Epic Universe

Universal fans have new worlds to be fully immersed in as Epic Universe is unveiled with its five, unique worlds, ahead of its official opening.

• Airlines are increasing flight capacity to Orlando in anticipation of the Epic Universe theme park opening.
• Round-trip airfare to Orlando is currently averaging $209, a 17% increase compared to last year.
• Southwest Airlines has the most planned flight capacity to Orlando this summer.

Epic Universe is poised to be a main attraction in Orlando’s theme park landscape when it opens to the public next month. The already popular city for amusement park seekers will become an even bigger draw with five new lands of entertainment.  

Orlando’s Airport underwent a major expansion a few years ago, so the facility can certainly handle increased demand. And now that demand seems to be showing up. Airlines are adding more capacity to Orlando as opening day approaches and ticket prices are higher this spring and summer than they were in 2024.  

Here’s what the data shows. 

According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, airlines do appear poised to fly more capacity to Orlando this spring and summer than they did last year. 

The numbers in this section discuss cumulative totals from 12 major airlines unless otherwise noted: Alaska Airlines, Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Avelo Airlines, Breeze Airways, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and United Airlines. 

In May 2024, those carriers flew a combined 2,511,148 seats to Orlando. In May of this year, they are upping the capacity by nearly 11,000, to 2,522,033 seats. 

Similar increases are planned for the summer months as well, with the peak in July at 2,528,208 seats, a 4.4% increase from the previous year. Orlando's summer capacity peak for 2024 also occurred in July with 2,419,796 seats. 

September 2025 will see a sharper drawdown in capacity compared to September 2024. Last year, the same group of airlines sent 1,961,900 seats to Orlando in September. This year, they are expected to send 1,908,624 seats. 

Southwest Airlines has the most capacity of any carrier planned for Orlando this summer, with a peak of 666,477 seats planned for July, according to Cirium.

Travelers looking to head to Epic Universe should expect to pay a premium. 

Fares to Orlando around the Epic Universe opening average $209 round-trip, compared to $179 around the same time last year, according to data from Hopper, an online booking platform. 

“Prices for flights to Orlando from U.S. cities for the first 10 days of Epic Universe are 17% higher than the same 10 days last year,” Hayley Berg, Hopper’s chief economist, said in a statement. “This is not surprising, as airfares to Orlando are higher for all dates in May compared to last year.” 

From June to August, airfare to Orlando averages $217, about 8% more than last year, according to Hopper.