Parks in the evenings

[sadossey]

We are leaving on July 11 for a week at UO. We are staying at RPR and have 3 park unlimited tix. Was looking at the wait times the last week or so and it looks like the parks really clear out in the evenings. Since we have EP and can go in the parks every day I was thinking we should do maybe a couple of mornings but mostly go in the evenings when it's less crowded and not blazing hot. We could spend the days by the pool or pool hopping and go to wet n wild one day. Any reason not to do it like this? Seems like a no brainier.

 

[damo]

That's exactly what I would do. To me, getting up that early really isn't a vacation!!!!

 

[Mouskemom]

We'll be there in a couple of weeks and I'm wondering the same thing. Looking forward to hearing from those who have been there in the summer.

 

[vatmark]

Yes with the later park hours the last hour to two hours before park close are really good. We were there June 14-19 and rode FJ with barely a wait in the evening. There were nights where we were walking into the park around 7:30 with a 9pm close and so many people were leaving. The Potter Areas really clear out. I will say though that DM still had long waits so you may want to do that at early entry.

 

[ZiggyGod]

I live close to the parks and I highly recommend this method. Whenever friends and I are bored we go in the afternoon around 5-6pm. The parks are starting to die down by then. The rest of the night is really enjoyable and we get to ride the rides we want without waiting long. Seriously sleep in and enjoy those extra hours of sleep.

 

[macraven]

do have to agree with the others that have posted on this subject of doing the parks for rides in the evening.

but for those that only stay one night onsite or offsite, and have a day and a half for doing the parks, it might not be wise to avoid the parks in the morning.

i have read a few times where their hearts were broken as the ride was down in the evening and this was the only opportunity they had for the ride.

it is always unknown when a ride breaks down and doesn't go back up while you are in the parks.
or have bad weather come in and some rides are shut down due to lightening.

for my fall stays, i am there onsite for a couple of weeks and can play around with when i will be in the parks.
if a ride shuts down, i catch it another day.
but if i only had a few days at the most to enjoy the parks, i would be upset if i missed rides due to them being down.

 

[RMulieri]

This works well in the summer.We did it too.Keep in mind that if Harry Potter is a big draw, make sure you try it at least ONCE during the days.If any of the rides go down for technical issues ( and they do since Universal doesn't take their rides out of commission for weeks at a time for rehabs like Disney does ) , they may not reopen in time for you to ride before park close..I have heard some very upset people that saved certain rides till late in the day, only to find that the ride was down and they weren going to get to ride. Once the major summer traffic ends around late August, this strategy doesn't work all that well anymore since the parks close earlier and everyone tends to hang around till closing

 

[KatieCharlotte]

The best times in the parks are the morning and evenings, although things didn't really die down until after 8 p.m. last weekend. I would definitely recommend swimming in the afternoon heat and then going to the parks in the evenings. But I would still take advantage of early entry at least twice, for Gringotts and Despicable Me.

 

[Bluer101]

This works well in the summer.We did it too.Keep in mind that if Harry Potter is a big draw, make sure you try it at least ONCE during the days.If any of the rides go down for technical issues ( and they do since Universal doesn't take their rides out of commission for weeks at a time for rehabs like Disney does ) , they may not reopen in time for you to ride before park close..I have heard some very upset people that saved certain rides till late in the day, only to find that the ride was down and they weren going to get to ride. Once the major summer traffic ends around late August, this strategy doesn't work all that well anymore since the parks close earlier and everyone tends to hang around till closing

Rides do get closed down for weeks on slow season for rehabs especially older ones. Rides can have failures any time or day reguardless of a rehab.

Most of the technical rides at universal are serviced after hours to keep them running day after day, but crap happens and is out of anyone's control.

 

[holcomb-mania]

We were there 6/19-6/22 and the parks were almost dead at night. There were storms every day and people bailed, but offsetting that was the closure of the "outdoor" rides funneling everyone "indoors". The MIB/Simpsons area of the UO was almost completely empty.

With a full week on-site with Express Pass? Forget it. You're golden.

We started our trip at UO and then went to WDW. HANDS DOWN, UO was a much more pleasurable experience. I found myself looking longingly at the Universal app wait times while we were at WDW. With lower crowds, FP+ limiting the times on headliners at WDW, and EP for on-site guests, it's really not even close anymore. And we're DVC members.

 

[ForMyBoys]

Thanks for this post! We go July 18th and like you are on-site w/ 3 park unlimited passes. I know the first day we will hit the park at opening (even thought it is very early for us - coming from a diff time zone too), but my son is so eager to see HP we just have to. But I think we'll bail early afternoon and return late at night. Then the rest of the days I'm not planning on rushing or waking early. Since we have a week and are not planning on hopping over to disney (or really anywhere else) I figure we can take it easy. That's what I'm paying all this money for right?!

 

[canadiankim]

We are going August 6 & 7th with a one night stay at RPR for the FOTL passes. We are planning on checking in super early on the 6th to get the extra hour then get as much as possible done by around 2-3pm, head back to the hotel pool and chill out then maybe have some dinner and head back in for the longer hours in the evening. Next day do the same but maybe without the early start - depending on how the first day goes?

Sound like a workable plan?

 

[macraven]

We are going August 6 & 7th with a one night stay at RPR for the FOTL passes. We are planning on checking in super early on the 6th to get the extra hour then get as much as possible done by around 2-3pm, head back to the hotel pool and chill out then maybe have some dinner and head back in for the longer hours in the evening. Next day do the same but maybe without the early start - depending on how the first day goes?

Sound like a workable plan?

 

[NCDisneyMom]

Thank you so much for this thread, as I was coming here to ask a similar question. Can anyone confirm that both parks are currently participating in early entry (for the HP attractions)? We are heading down in a couple of weeks, and with regular park opening at 8am, that makes for a VERY early morning for early entry.
We may want to try it one morning for Gringott's (since we've never been on it), but if we can get on these attractions in the evenings with even a 30 minute wait, we may try that, instead (we've been on Forbidden Journey before), as we are NOT morning people. lol Besides, having a short queue on these attractions can actually be a good thing, so we can see all of the details instead of walking straight through them.

 

[macraven]

Thank you so much for this thread, as I was coming here to ask a similar question. Can anyone confirm that both parks are currently participating in early entry (for the HP attractions)? We are heading down in a couple of weeks, and with regular park opening at 8am, that makes for a VERY early morning for early entry.
We may want to try it one morning for Gringott's (since we've never been on it), but if we can get on these attractions in the evenings with even a 30 minute wait, we may try that, instead (we've been on Forbidden Journey before), as we are NOT morning people. lol Besides, having a short queue on these attractions can actually be a good thing, so we can see all of the details instead of walking straight through them.

both parks will have early entry when you will be there.
potterland will be open at that time for you.

go ahead and try for the potter rides in the evening if that is your plans.
do it that way on your first day in the parks.

if you find the ride is down for any reason, go with the early entry the next day so you won't be disappointed in missing those rides.

 

[NCDisneyMom]

both parks will have early entry when you will be there.
potterland will be open at that time for you.

go ahead and try for the potter rides in the evening if that is your plans.
do it that way on your first day in the parks.

if you find the ride is down for any reason, go with the early entry the next day so you won't be disappointed in missing those rides.

I think that is what we are going to do...thanks! We will be arriving late morning on our first day, and will be in the parks early afternoon or so, so I'll try it that night. If we can't get on, we've still got 2 mornings available to us to do the early entry if we need to.