1st timer with kids- crowd level question

[mesathemom]

We are doing universal for the first time with our kids (age 6 and 8) in a week. We are staying off site. Just wondering if anyone can tell me what to expect with crowds, esp on Hh nights. Will we be fine without an express pass?

 

[kohlby]

I have had luck with the Orlando Informer crowd calendar. I went to check today and couldnt get it to work though I don't know if the issue was my device or their website. You can but express pass while you are there if needed so I'd wait. I don't know what crowds should be like without consulting the crowd calendar but my guess would be moderate due to some fall breaks going on. Many schools don't get fall breaks though so my hunch is that it wouldn't be high. I'll be in the parks tomorrow and then 1-2 more days this week. So I can let you know how they are this week. (Tomorrow is Columbus Day so I'm not sure if that will be a good indicator, but Wednesday might be).

 

[2Gma]

We were just there 9/25-10/3. The crowds were light in my opinion (as compared to previous Sept trips). We stayed offsite and did NOT have express pass and didn't need it. We went to IOA on Monday and US on Friday. I've heard its best to avoid the weekends as those tend to bring more locals and AP holders. We got there right at opening at most things were walk on until 11am. Then after that waits ranged from 15-30 minutes depending on popularity of ride.

 

[Patch'sD]

Was there Sunday October 2nd and Monday October 3rd. Crowds on Sunday were heavy. And I would say on Monday Moderate. On Sunday Universal Studios shut down at 5 PM due to HHN. Waits for Rides were between 20 minutes and some up to 30 minutes. King Kong was up at 75 Minutes. Harry Potter FJ sat at about 20 minutes around noon. Hogwarts Express was about 20 Minutes. Monday was a tad more crowded than I expected I would say between 15 to 30 minutes. King Kong was again about 75 Minutes and it broke down twice Once after we completed the ride and Once during the ride where some of the screens went blank. This week may be better as all schools on the east coast are back in session after Hurricane Matthew.

 

[schumigirl]

We were there from 16th Sept till Oct 3.

We had EP with staying at RPR and we wouldn't have been without it. But, we hate to queue for anything and won't if we don't have to. Some folks don't mind a 30-45 minute wait.

Yes, there were some rides that didn't have huge queues.......Dragon Challenge for one, but some queues were long, very long. Some days queues were much worse than others.

Despicable Me always has waits, even first thing we went in at 9.10am and park had just opened and it was already 40 minutes. We walked straight on everything time.

Don't buy them ahead of time though, wait till you're in the parks and decide what the crowd Level and queues are........

 

[kohlby]

I'd say yesterday's crowds strattled the moderate/high line. It was more crowded than I like but luckily we have another day and will be back in a month or so too. It started out pretty empty though. One side opened at 8 am and the other at 9am. I'm guessing the 9am side was likely the early hour side, encouraging on-site people to do that park. DEspicable Me was a walk-on when we arrived a little after 8. By the time was made it to Gringotts after that, the line was still only 20 minutes. Things got rather crowded after that. It was Columbus Day yesterday so I'm hoping tomorrow is better. We did a lot and made use of single rider line on some rides. I heard a lot of foreign accents though so I'm not so sure it will be less crowded tomorrow. We shall see. Monday was also a day without HHN so I wonder if that increased the crowds with people wanting more hours for the parks.

* Forbidden Journey and even Hippogriff had 30 minutes or longer waits every time we checked to give you an idea. Mummy was 40 minutes when we did it - but we did single rider line and it was a walk-on doing it that way. We didn't do Transformers or Spider-Man since the line was too long. (30 minutes or more is too long for us. I don't remember how long those were other than Transformers was a lot more than 30 minutes fairly early in the day).

 

[mesathemom]

Thanks! So I guess it would be no worse than a moderate day at Disney really. I can handle 15-20 min wait times, anything longer than that and the kids start to drive me bananas!