Anyone done New Years Eve at Universal - highlights please

[jacquellie]

This year will obviously be different - but I’m looking ahead to 2022. Could someone give me an idea of what New Year’s Eve is usually like at Universal studios Orlando?

 

[Mzpalmtree]

We spent NYE at Universal several years ago—probably 2014 or so. It was pretty bad. I would not go again without an Express Pass. Lines were extremely long and we waited 2-3 hours for any headliners. We are usually not people who wait in line for longer than 45mins to an hour but it was the only way to do anything without express pass. The worst part was leaving. The crowd was funneled through city walk (obviously) but the walkways were not wide enough to support the mass exiting. It was jam packed, shoulder to shoulder and we were being pushed by the crowd from behind. My family was separated and I was afraid my young daughter would trip and get trampled—it was literally that bad. Probably one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had.

 

[jacquellie]

We spent NYE at Universal several years ago—probably 2014 or so. It was pretty bad. I would not go again without an Express Pass. Lines were extremely long and we waited 2-3 hours for any headliners. We are usually not people who wait in line for longer than 45mins to an hour but it was the only way to do anything without express pass. The worst part was leaving. The crowd was funneled through city walk (obviously) but the walkways were not wide enough to support the mass exiting. It was jam packed, shoulder to shoulder and we were being pushed by the crowd from behind. My family was separated and I was afraid my young daughter would trip and get trampled—it was literally that bad. Probably one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had.

That’s so helpful - thanks so much - sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I think we’ll just stay at WDW after all.

 

[Mzpalmtree]

That’s so helpful - thanks so much - sorry to hear you had a bad experience. I think we’ll just stay at WDW after all.

We only went once so our experience might have been an anomaly. We haven’t done NYE at Disney so I don’t know how it compares and we actually did make the best of it and enjoyed ourselves (other than the crush of people at the end) but if we did ever do it again we would never go without Express Pass and we would leave earlier than park closing for sure. Good luck with what you decide to do!

 

[hrdperry]

I would love to see any additional feedback on this as well. We will be at Universal over New Years this year, and while I know things will be different I would love to hear if there are other experiences or tips.

One thing that I am interested in knowing is the parks close at 10 but city walk closes at 12. Is there anything additional going on in that time in city walk since there are no concerts or headliner events? Will they do anything at the actual 12:00 new year? I just don't know what they would have going on, and I was working to set our expectations and plans with two completely mobile (but younger) kids in tow.

 

[imnwkr]

We have been there over NYE a few years in a row and will be there this year as well. There's just two of us and no children so we might have a different experience and we also stayed onsite with the EP. I didn't think the early hours were bad at all. It was really nice to see HP in the morning when it's not crowded because you can actually stop and look around. The afternoons did get crowded but we never waited more than 25 min with EP. Exception was a HP ride that didn't have EP at the time, can't remember which one. First year we did the show at midnight, I think it was at the original Universal. That was extremely crowded and took over an hour to exit the park. Also finding a place to eat at citywalk was difficult but staying on site helps because you get (or did get) priority. The next year we stayed at Hard Rock and did the party they have on NYE. Mostly kids dancing so we had some drinks and left early. We also did the NY day buffet at Hard Rock (need reservations). The next year we went to the parks early on NYE and left early and ate at that Chocolate place (sorry can't remember the names of anything). So I guess for us it was a pretty good experience since this is our 4th time going over NYE. This year we have no plans at all, just going with the flow when we get there.