Avoiding Night of Joy/Rock the Universe crowds

[meower13]

Hey guys!
my fiance and I are youth ministers and we happen to be honeymooning the same weekend as Night of Joy and Rock the Universe oh dear!! I think we would both like to avoid as many teenagers as possible throughout the weekend and are NOT planning to attend either of the events. Our initial plan was to go to Universal on the Friday, AK on the Saturday and back to Universal on the Sunday. this was before we had heard about the Rock the Universe dates. Has anyone been during these concerts? can anyone make a good park recommendation? we were considering a water park on the Sunday but have also learned that Night of Joy ticket holders will also get free water park passes which I would guess mean Sunday will be nuts at the water parks. Should we totally re arrange our plans? for reference we are there from Labor Day through the 15th, have Park Hoppers with the water parks and more option and are planning to get 2 day park to park passes for Universal.

any guidance/ suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[kelleybean]

We went weekend after Labor Day last year. Wait times were very low and we had zero issues with it. In fact, we didn't know anything was going on until we happened to meet someone by the pool who was participating. One caveat though is that we are annual pass holders and go to Universal often, so we get there at opening and leave once the midday crowds get there. So we may have had a different experience than some as it's possible the teenagers weren't there yet.

 

[johde]

I have never been to Night of Joy. I've been to Rock the Universe a couple of times, but it was several years ago. Based on my experience, Universal should be fine on Friday especially in the morning through midday when the local youth will be at school. Late afternoon and evening you will probably want to head over to IOA since the concerts are at USF. Saturday, IOA had a few more youth than expected and maybe a bit more crowded than expected but not bad and it got less crowded again later in the afternoon as times for the concerts got closer. Only a couple of counter service restaurants were really swamped but this was during the old "all you can eat" dining plan and they had offered a great deal on concert tickets, theme park tickets, and dining wristbands. Sunday especially in the morning was really quiet in the parks.

As far as tickets to Universal go, even though you don't plan on going to the concerts, if you're sure about going that weekend you should check out concert deals. Last year, the "Rock your Weekend" deal that included the concerts both nights and park to park tickets Friday, Saturday and Sunday were $160+tax. a 2 day ticket is $175 + tax on Universal's website. So, it was $15 cheaper, you could go Saturday if you wanted to, and if there was a group you really wanted to see, you could slip into the concerts for a little bit (if you wanted to).

 

[meower13]

thanks for taking the time to reply and for all the advice Jeremy! you are a star!