Incoming spike in crowds.

[brich330]

Given how slow Universal has been, does anyone else think there will be a spike in crowds come July (Maybe during Disney’s reopening week)?

 

[fabfemmeboy]

It could well be, but I'm skeptical. While APs are chomping at the bit to get back in, other people don't seem to be (compare the difference in crowds between AP soft-open and other days). It doesn't help that people don't seem to be comfortable with the other parts of vacation yet, including and in particular flying. I expect it might tick up a bit when Disney opens, as Disney APs may spend a day or two at "the dark side," but I'm guessing that "spike" would be an overestimate. Just a guess, I could well be proven wrong.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

It could well be, but I'm skeptical. While APs are chomping at the bit to get back in, other people don't seem to be (compare the difference in crowds between AP soft-open and other days). It doesn't help that people don't seem to be comfortable with the other parts of vacation yet, including and in particular flying. I expect it might tick up a bit when Disney opens, as Disney APs may spend a day or two at "the dark side," but I'm guessing that "spike" would be an overestimate. Just a guess, I could well be proven wrong.

For when they cant get a park reservation

 

[atricks]

It spiked yesterday as Volcano Bay, Aquatica and Universal Studios Florida hit the newer reduced capacity. So lots of weekend road trippers maybe. I did hear hotel occupancy is much higher than last week at Universal also, and Father's day weekend + July 4th week is also up. (Not anywhere close to normal year numbers, but way up from the past week)

But I think the pattern of much less crowds during the week and weekends being slammed will hold until there's a lot more out of town/travelers coming in. (July 4th week exempted)

 

[tony67]

I suspect it will pick up come July.
The weather from what I have seen has not been great.
People are still keeping an eye on things.
Some people are waiting for the mask requirements to be gone.
There are some other things going on right now that are probably keeping people from traveling

If you watch some of the vlogggers - they are afraid of doing rides indoors, doing rides with indoor queues, afraid of eating food in the parks and just generally paranoid to a point I cant watch some of them anymore.
Yes you need to be smart - but calm down - your healthy and under 50.
Still they do represent a portion of the population - but the vlogging is their job and they need to go to the parks to get paid - people who feel the same and dont have to go to the park wont go.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Plus those who will be flying in or coming from a distance are most likely waiting to see how the first few weeks go. I think there will be an increase within the next few weeks and then through July. People are stircrazy for stuff to do.

 

[tony67]

Plus those who will be flying in or coming from a distance are most likely waiting to see how the first few weeks go. I think there will be an increase within the next few weeks and then through July. People are stircrazy for stuff to do.

Yeah - people are stircrazy no doubt - if it was not for the mask requirement id be down for a weekend.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

And I agree about waiting for the mask requirement to disappear. If not for that requirement, I would be there this coming mid-week; instead I am white water rafting with no mask. It hurt my soul to cancel the dirt cheap flights I had been sitting on, but I can't see doing a mask all day in FL in summer.

I feel so bad for the cast members who have to be wearing a mask their whole shift. I hope they drop the requirement for guests and staff ASAP (except probably for food service staff because people will be all up in arms with needless worry).

 

[counselormom]

I’m hoping the increased crowds will result in park hours being extended. 6:00 closing on most days is too early in the summer heat.

 

[soniam]

I just booked a room at HRH for 7/18-21, pool view 2 queen with AP discount, in case we get cancelled from our WDW hotel reservation. We will already be at UO 7/8-12 then WDW

 

[soniam]

I just booked a room at HRH for 7/18-21, pool view 2 queen with AP discount, in case we get cancelled from our WDW hotel reservation. We will already be at UO 7/8-12 then WDW DVC 7/12-18. There seemed to be plenty of availability at HRH, even for cheap rooms.

 

[RamblingMad]

No idea.

However, when flying becomes less restrictive, it makes sense that it will pick up. People still need to get there psychologically.

 

[yorkieteacher]

If you watch some of the vlogggers - they are afraid of doing rides indoors, doing rides with indoor queues, afraid of eating food in the parks and just generally paranoid to a point I cant watch some of them anymore.
Yes you need to be smart - but calm down - your healthy and under 50.
Still they do represent a portion of the population - but the vlogging is their job and they need to go to the parks to get paid - people who feel the same and dont have to go to the park wont go.

I am perplexed by this-at least two vloggers have had what I would call a "gottcha" attitude. One complained that a small child ran up next to her-well, duh, its a small child in a theme park. She didn't comment on whether or not the parent then retrieved said child as soon as they could catch them! This same vlogger and another keep talking about people getting closer to them than six feet-they appear to be either passing in the street or in a store, and all had on masks. What are the odds of passing another person briefly on the street, or in a store for that matter, with both of you wearing masks, and passing covid to each other? Or seeing a couple of people sitting on a bench well away from everyone who had pulled down their masks-while this is wrong, if you don't get close to them you won't catch anything. Stay away from them, they aren't chasing you down. Some vloggers have at least commented on the team members they see reminding people to keep their mask pulled up. . The vloggers need to stay home if they are going to spread unreasonable fear. No one is going to a theme park if they aren't aware of the risks, and take precautions. I actually think in some of the Sea World shows, where one vlogger was complaining about the lack of masks, when people were more than six feet apart and outdoors, masks aren't necessary. And going on an indoor ride, with everyone wearing masks and using hand sanitizer and being six feet apart, seems safer to me than going into a grocery store where everyone is not wearing a mask.

 

[tony67]

I am perplexed by this-at least two vloggers have had what I would call a "gottcha" attitude. One complained that a small child ran up next to her-well, duh, its a small child in a theme park. She didn't comment on whether or not the parent then retrieved said child as soon as they could catch them! This same vlogger and another keep talking about people getting closer to them than six feet-they appear to be either passing in the street or in a store, and all had on masks. What are the odds of passing another person briefly on the street, or in a store for that matter, with both of you wearing masks, and passing covid to each other? Or seeing a couple of people sitting on a bench well away from everyone who had pulled down their masks-while this is wrong, if you don't get close to them you won't catch anything. Stay away from them, they aren't chasing you down. Some vloggers have at least commented on the team members they see reminding people to keep their mask pulled up. . The vloggers need to stay home if they are going to spread unreasonable fear. No one is going to a theme park if they aren't aware of the risks, and take precautions. I actually think in some of the Sea World shows, where one vlogger was complaining about the lack of masks, when people were more than six feet apart and outdoors, masks aren't necessary. And going on an indoor ride, with everyone wearing masks and using hand sanitizer and being six feet apart, seems safer to me than going into a grocery store where everyone is not wearing a mask.

There is a lot of confusion on the masks - problem is every state is different - is some places every county or city. In my state you have to wear a mask when you cant social distance or are in a store. Other states are all the time. So that does not help. I dont think masks are required at all in much of Florida. One of my employees was complaining that he was the customer wearing a mask when he went shopping.
Let's not even get into the flip flops on masks every other week from the "experts" - I can say with 100% certainty more than one nurse has dropped at the local hospital from wearing the masks for an extended period.

I've said it before but I think some of this is the Disney fanboys that are annoyed Disney is waiting so long to open.
same with all the articles talking about low attendance when there were tropical storms and bad weather for a week - of course it was slow.

 

[SmittS]

I am perplexed by this-at least two vloggers have had what I would call a "gottcha" attitude. One complained that a small child ran up next to her-well, duh, its a small child in a theme park. She didn't comment on whether or not the parent then retrieved said child as soon as they could catch them! This same vlogger and another keep talking about people getting closer to them than six feet-they appear to be either passing in the street or in a store, and all had on masks. What are the odds of passing another person briefly on the street, or in a store for that matter, with both of you wearing masks, and passing covid to each other? Or seeing a couple of people sitting on a bench well away from everyone who had pulled down their masks-while this is wrong, if you don't get close to them you won't catch anything. Stay away from them, they aren't chasing you down. Some vloggers have at least commented on the team members they see reminding people to keep their mask pulled up. . The vloggers need to stay home if they are going to spread unreasonable fear. No one is going to a theme park if they aren't aware of the risks, and take precautions. I actually think in some of the Sea World shows, where one vlogger was complaining about the lack of masks, when people were more than six feet apart and outdoors, masks aren't necessary. And going on an indoor ride, with everyone wearing masks and using hand sanitizer and being six feet apart, seems safer to me than going into a grocery store where everyone is not wearing a mask.

I'm 100% on the "wear a mask" train. The testing and science is there to support they do lower the risk of transmission, especially when social distancing is difficult or impossible. That said, I agree with you that in some cases it should be ok to remove the mask and we shouldn't freak out about it. If sitting at a show and everyone is appropriately distanced, then it should be ok to remove the mask. Things like kids running around are bound to happen, which is why the mask requirement is in place. People are going to pass by each other walking around, especially in shops, so this is the reason for masks. Let's be honest, people simply aren't responsible enough to know themselves when it's necessary to wear and mask and when it's not, so with that, 100% mask usage, 100% of the time is really the only way.

 

[wareagle57]

How have the Virtual Queues been the last week or so? Unless it has gotten better since opening week, they need to either add several rides to the system or take Mummy/Gringotts/HPFJ off the system. The crowds were lovely and I only saw a few bad apples all day. But not being able to get on those rides unless you arrive with a group at park opening to all make different reservations was annoying. Everything was mostly walkon, yet it was impossible to ride 3 or 4 of the best rides. I understand Hagrids being gone within minutes, but not the others.

 

[tony67]

How have the Virtual Queues been the last week or so? Unless it has gotten better since opening week, they need to either add several rides to the system or take Mummy/Gringotts/HPFJ off the system. The crowds were lovely and I only saw a few bad apples all day. But not being able to get on those rides unless you arrive with a group at park opening to all make different reservations was annoying. Everything was mostly walkon, yet it was impossible to ride 3 or 4 of the best rides. I understand Hagrids being gone within minutes, but not the others.

I was under the impression they released these thought the day - at least with Hagrids

 

[wareagle57]

I was under the impression they released these thought the day - at least with Hagrids

Is it at a set time? I was able to grab one for Hagrids on the preview day, but never after that. And Mummy/FJ/Gringotts were only ever available at opening.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

they release them throughout the day, depending on line size. Saturday - HPFJ was over 40 minutes so it switched to VQ at that point. Also - the VQ portion of the app doesnt list all the rides - you have to tap on the ride on the wait time map, and then hit the vq line to see if its active or not. the VQ page never seems to change to include all the rides using it.

 

[tony67]

Is it at a set time? I was able to grab one for Hagrids on the preview day, but never after that. And Mummy/FJ/Gringotts were only ever available at opening.

I'm just going with what I've seen in vlogs.

The app itself is pretty iffy to say the least.
I did see people getting times offered when the scanned a QR code near the ride that did not come up when they used the app directly, but then they had issues actually booking it.
To be fair its a bit of a work in process and they had to rush it I am sure

Not sure what will happen if they try to increase capacity - but they have to at some point