Avoiding Night of Joy/ Rock the Universe crowds

[meower13]

(cross posted on the darkside forum)
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 (we love em but not on our honeymoon!) 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 around the parks during these concerts? can anyone make a good park recommendation? are the other Disney parks going to be busy due to everyone else avoiding MK? 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 will 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!

 

[canadiandisneynut]

Hi there
We were there during last years Night of Joy. The park was crowded during the two days that it was happening at MK so I would certainly avoid the park those two days. You will also maximize your tickets because they kick you out early on those two days anyway. We did find that the day after, a lot of people were checking out so it didn't impact our stay apart from the Friday and Saturday. We went to MK on the Sunday and had no issues.

 

[alicat130]

My family bought the rock the universe passes last year, because they were a cheap way to do universal. The youth group crowds started showing up Friday afternoon and were still there on Sunday. We did go to Downtown Disney that Friday night and it was really crowded, but I'm not sure what part of that was due to construction and normal Friday crowds.

This year we'll be there the same time and not attending the events. Thanks for including that part about the water parks, that was our plan for Sunday, but we might rearrange for another day.

 

[meower13]

thanks guys!

 

[meower13]

Alicat did you guys stay for the concerts or did you head over to Islands of Adventure during the concerts? I was hoping to at least keep Friday in the plans with the morning at at Universal Studios and the evening at Island of Adventure but if it's going to be miserable ill re arrange!

 

[alicat130]

We didn't get the hoppers, so we left when the crowds started showing up. My brother went back for some of the concerts. We did Universal on the Friday and the crowds weren't bad until whatever time the YGs could get in (around 4 maybe?). We even rode the gringotts ride 4 times that day, about 2 months after it had opened. We did IOA that Saturday and the crowds were heavier, but still not unbearable. The YGs were around IOA on Sunday, but again the waits weren't terrible.

 

[meower13]

thanks making me feel a bit better about it!

 

[Fratthouse]

We go to WDW for NOJ every year (DH has a work event associated with it) and it is a GREAT time to visit the parks. First, you are looking at one of the lowest crowd weeks of the entire year. Second, with the exception of the NOJ event itself, crowds will be low at all the parks (at least at WDW - I've never been to Uni). Friday and Saturday are GREAT days to visit MK during the day. Crowds are really low in the morning / early afternoon - the bulk of WDW vacationers will choose to visit elsewhere because of the reduced park hours and no nightly entertainment. You can have a great experience in the parks that day if you arrive in the morning and then hop somewhere else in the mid - late afternoon time. NOJ attendees are let in at 4, but it doesn't start feeling really crowded until closer to 6.

I haven't ever been to the waterparks, so I can't speak to how crowded they will be....

 

[meower13]

thanks!

 

[Megsmachine]

Question for all of you NOJ experts. We want to avoid NOJ too. We really want to do MK on that thursday but by easywdw.com it is not a good day to be at MK. Being as it's a low crowd time, even though it is the WORST park to be at, do you think it will be ok? It is just dh and I.

 

[bochnikm]

Question for all of you NOJ experts. We want to avoid NOJ too. We really want to do MK on that thursday but by easywdw.com it is not a good day to be at MK. Being as it's a low crowd time, even though it is the WORST park to be at, do you think it will be ok? It is just dh and I.

We did Magic Kingdom that Thursday evening when we went to our first Night Of Joy in 2012. Like everyone else this was our only day to see the night time parade and Wishes fireworks. You won't have the incredibly low crowds but you will be OK; not as bad as a summer crowd but dont expect a front row seat for the parades. After the Electrical Parade passes there was plenty of room to move into the street to view Wishes.