Universal Hollywood Late Aug visit

[poohfan]

My DD17 and I will be in Hollywood Friday 8/23 - Monday 8/26. We want to visit USH. Would it be better to go on Friday or Monday? Should I get the FOL pass? Since we'll only be there one day and I know it'll be hot I'm good paying the extra $$ if it'll be crowded.

 

[WTFetus]

I recommend Monday since that's the week when some schools start.
As for the FOL pass, it isn't necessary unless you want to re-ride the rides. If you get there when the park opens, you should go straight to the bottom area where Transformers is. You'll be able to do Transformers, Jurassic Park, and the Mummy without much wait time. After that, there is the Studio Tour and The Simpsons Ride. Then there isn't really much else to do that requires wait times (watching shows like Water World, or going in the Haunted House).
FOL pass would be helpful later in the day since the Transformers line can get really long.

 

[Thumper_Man]

DW and I went last year during this time frame. I would also recommend Monday. We found there was no need to upgrade to FoTL passes. We got there early and were allowed in early. The only thing opened in the park at the time was the Studio Tour. This was probably our longest wait of the day and took us about 30 minutes to get through the line.

After the tour we went down to the lower level and wait times were long. We thought about going back up and buying the FoTL pass. When we went back up, wait times were short up there so we did the top portion. Later in the day, wait times had actually gone down considerably at the lower level. Transformers went from 60-minutes down to 10 minutes.

We're going back again this year, and will probably pick a Monday or possibly Tuesday to go back.

 

[pigby]

DW and I went last year during this time frame. I would also recommend Monday. We found there was no need to upgrade to FoTL passes. We got there early and were allowed in early. The only thing opened in the park at the time was the Studio Tour. This was probably our longest wait of the day and took us about 30 minutes to get through the line.

After the tour we went down to the lower level and wait times were long. We thought about going back up and buying the FoTL pass. When we went back up, wait times were short up there so we did the top portion. Later in the day, wait times had actually gone down considerably at the lower level. Transformers went from 60-minutes down to 10 minutes.

We're going back again this year, and will probably pick a Monday or possibly Tuesday to go back.

This is useful info - we are also planning on going on a Monday - only in September.

So if the park opens earlier than expected and we do the Studio tour first then stay on the top level to do Simpsons etc and then go down to the lower level later on, do you think that this would be a better strategy?

 

[Thumper_Man]

This is useful info - we are also planning on going on a Monday - only in September.

So if the park opens earlier than expected and we do the Studio tour first then stay on the top level to do Simpsons etc and then go down to the lower level later on, do you think that this would be a better strategy?

The day we went, the park hours were 10-7. By the time we parked and got to the front gate, it was close to 9:30. They let us in and we stopped to see how much it was going to cost us to upgrade to FoTL tickets. When we learned the price, I told DW we'll play it by year. As we started walking towards the park, you could see the other parts of the park still roped off. We learned quickly that the Studio Tour was already running. Getting this out of the way helped tremendously as it the longest attraction and still some what cool in the morning.

This wasn't a strategy we had planned, but just seemed to work out that way.
This will hopefully work for you. Keep an eye on the tote boards. They display wait times and show times. They are by the escalators. One at the top and one at the bottom.



These really helped us out a lot.

 

[pigby]

Those times look better than expected - last time though we went on a Wednesday in July. Transformers looks a bit long for me - probably an 'early in the day' one.

Was the photo taken just before 1pm ish? Just looking at the times of the shows.

 

[Thumper_Man]

Those times look better than expected - last time though we went on a Wednesday in July. Transformers looks a bit long for me - probably an 'early in the day' one.

Was the photo taken just before 1pm ish? Just looking at the times of the shows.

I looked at the time I took the photo and yes, it was at 1 pm. Later on in the day, the wait times stayed about the same for Mummy and Jurassic Park, and came down considerably for Transformers. Unfortunately neither DW or I took a picture of the boards after this. Transformers had come down to 5 minutes. We managed to ride Transformers 3 times within 30 minutes. Wait time was up to 15 minutes when we decided to head back up to catch the last Blues Brothers show.

 

[poohfan]

Thanks for the great info