Best Month to Visit US/IOA

[rlduvall]

My bestfriend and I have been given carte blanche by our families to go to Universal, without them, anytime from January to April of 2005, staying four nights. Definitely staying onsite and hope to stay at PBH. What is the best overall time of those four months for weather, crowds (even though FOTL certainly eliminates some of that concern) and price, including resort pricing. My friend has never stayed onsite and I want it to be a really great time. I assume I should avoid holiday weekends, springbreak (but who knows when certain schools are out) Easter, etc. I know WDW attendance history and peak seasons like the back of my hand and through websites that give WDW historical patterns, but I don't know of one like that for Universal. Thanks.

 

[macraven]

i have been to universal/ioa in four different months.
mid to late may i found low crowds
early thru mid june had crowds more after june 5 and waits were ok, less than 30 minutes.
late sept thru early october (up to the 10th) no lines in sept/great weather.

my favorite time would be late sept/early oct.

i have been to univ/ioa 12 times,
the last 4 visits i have stayed on site at hrh and used the fotl key.
wow, what a difference.
in june we had no more than 10 minute wait with fotl key as the express line is the same that hotel guests use.
the counter and sit down resturants are more managable in the fall from my experience. even with fotl for rides and attractions, i avoid the summer periods as i hate walking thru the crowds/ rr crowds and food area crowds.

the weather is great early may and in the fall.
whatever time period you pick will be great.
you are going to a fun park
raven

 

[BarbaraMB]

If you can handle the heat then I would say during the summer when the parks are open later. You also won't feel cold getting wet on the rides that soak you and you can enjoy the pools at the resorts later as well. Crowds should matter as much with FOTL.

 

[robvia]

Late February is my favorite month to visit.
The place is a ghost town.
Temps are a low of 55, going up to 75 in the afternoon.
I've been on Popeye, it was cold, but bearable. I'd wear two t-shirts in the morning, and then switch to one in the afternoon.
If you like hanging out by the pools, then coming in March or April might be better since the water would be warmer.

 

[AlexandNessa]

We went the last week of March this year (24th-30th), which was Spring Break/Mardi Gras time, but I think the first week of April was when Spring Break was really in full spirit. Had wished the weather were just a bit warmer, but temps have been off a bit this year anyway.

The crowds were certainly manageable, and with FOTL by staying on-site, you won't have any worries at all. If those are the only 4 months you can go, you might as well enjoy Mardi Gras. Book early to get the best discounts, and keep checking hotelkingdom.com. We were able to get a deluxe room at the PBH for $199/night.

Good luck!

 

[4greatboys]

We have been at the end of Sept x 2, early Oct x 1 and early Dec x 2 and never had any crowds. My favorite time to visit is OCt because my my oldest boys and myself love HHN.
Our last trip was June 4-7 at RPR and boy could we see a difference in the crowds at Universal and at Disney. Waits were longer than we had ever seen--of course we had FOTL so we just breezed right on

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Any month!!!! as long as I have FOTL access!