Crowd levels in August

[APB513]

Hi all -

I'm thinking about doing US/IOA for a few days before our WDW trip. Looking at going on Tuesday, August 12th, Wednesday, August 13th and Thursday 14th.

What are the crowd levels like for this time of the year? Should we do the Express Pass?

Thanks

 

[Darcy03231]

We were there last August during this time. Get to the parks when they open. We found from opening until about 11 am there really weren't any lines. Around 11 lines started forming for the more popular rides. By noon the lines were about 40 min and by 1 they were at least an hour. We also found that by 1 the parks were getting really hot. We left and went back to our vacation home for a swim/nap and something to eat. We went back at night and rode whatever didn't have long lines (ie one night Spiderman had a 35 min wait when at 1 the wait was 75 min). We opted not to get the express passes as we were in the Orlando area for 16 days. We spent 6-7 days between US/IOA. We did/saw everthing at least once and some things a lot more than once.

 

[APB513]

We were there last August during this time. Get to the parks when they open. We found from opening until about 11 am there really weren't any lines. Around 11 lines started forming for the more popular rides. By noon the lines were about 40 min and by 1 they were at least an hour. We also found that by 1 the parks were getting really hot. We left and went back to our vacation home for a swim/nap and something to eat. We went back at night and rode whatever didn't have long lines (ie one night Spiderman had a 35 min wait when at 1 the wait was 75 min). We opted not to get the express passes as we were in the Orlando area for 16 days. We spent 6-7 days between US/IOA. We did/saw everthing at least once and some things a lot more than once.

Thank you for the response!!! We usually get there when the park opens so we should be OK!

 

[disneyoverload]

Last year in August, we would go to disney during the day and universal at night. After about 6, the crowds were very quiet and we were able to walk on all the water rides, and there were very short waits for other rides. We also went during the day once or twice, and the crowd levels were still pretty low.

 

[APB513]

Last year in August, we would go to disney during the day and universal at night. After about 6, the crowds were very quiet and we were able to walk on all the water rides, and there were very short waits for other rides. We also went during the day once or twice, and the crowd levels were still pretty low.

Thanks!

 

[macraven]

if you are staying off site and have a car, be in line for the parking garage by 7:45.

the garage will not be open until 8 but if you wait until then to get in that line, you will have a much longer wait in your car.

park your car, get to the turnstile around 8:20.
chances are good that the park TMs will let you enter earlier than 8:45.

not all rides will be open but you will be able to cover more territory for the ones that are.


when i stayed off site, i made the mistake of leaving the hotel after 8ish since it was only about 6 blocks to the park.
the line was so long for the parking garage as i ended up there around 8:15.

it took more time to move forward before i even was at the entrance of the parking garage then.

since you will be going on multiple days, try to get there early the first day. then judge for yourself how the parking garage line is at that time for future reference for your other days going to the park.

 

[APB513]

if you are staying off site and have a car, be in line for the parking garage by 7:45.

the garage will not be open until 8 but if you wait until then to get in that line, you will have a much longer wait in your car.

park your car, get to the turnstile around 8:20.
chances are good that the park TMs will let you enter earlier than 8:45.

not all rides will be open but you will be able to cover more territory for the ones that are.


when i stayed off site, i made the mistake of leaving the hotel after 8ish since it was only about 6 blocks to the park.
the line was so long for the parking garage as i ended up there around 8:15.

it took more time to move forward before i even was at the entrance of the parking garage then.

since you will be going on multiple days, try to get there early the first day. then judge for yourself how the parking garage line is at that time for future reference for your other days going to the park.

Thanks!

 

[macraven]

tues, wed, thurs are usually lighter crowds than the other days of the week.

on most days, the IOA will allow you in around 8:30.
do the hulk first and you will experience the fog/mist at the bottom of one of the drops. you will feel this effect early in the morning only.

also, do front row, the wait time will not be long.
you can also repeat this ride right away with no crowds.

do the highlights of all the main rides in IOA and try to finish by noonish time.
then move over to the studios for the rest of the day.

if you like coasters, do the same start up each day.
if you finish the next day around 10ish at ioa, move to the studio side then.

jaws opens around 10 each morning.

the nice thing about doing the studios side when it first opens which will be before 9 is for the picture taken events.

you will not have a lot of guests in your pictures and the streets will probably be wide open for you to take pictures of just the buildings and entrances of the rides.
with simpsons opening, you may have to use a little strategy after the first group gets into the park for doing pics of empty streets though.

 

[APB513]

tues, wed, thurs are usually lighter crowds than the other days of the week.

on most days, the IOA will allow you in around 8:30.
do the hulk first and you will experience the fog/mist at the bottom of one of the drops. you will feel this effect early in the morning only.

also, do front row, the wait time will not be long.
you can also repeat this ride right away with no crowds.

do the highlights of all the main rides in IOA and try to finish by noonish time.
then move over to the studios for the rest of the day.

if you like coasters, do the same start up each day.
if you finish the next day around 10ish at ioa, move to the studio side then.

jaws opens around 10 each morning.

the nice thing about doing the studios side when it first opens which will be before 9 is for the picture taken events.

you will not have a lot of guests in your pictures and the streets will probably be wide open for you to take pictures of just the buildings and entrances of the rides.
with simpsons opening, you may have to use a little strategy after the first group gets into the park for doing pics of empty streets though.

Thanks again macraven!!!

 

[holcomb-mania]

tues, wed, thurs are usually lighter crowds than the other days of the week.

I'm planning the same thing as APB, only for 2009. Unfortunately, I'll be there on Thurs, Fri, Sat. We will have FOTL, but I'm still worried about crowds.

Our experiences at UO/IOA have been in late Oct and early Dec (which were awesome). Are weekends bad in August? Including at night. We haven't been able to enjoy UO at night yet (didn't do HHN).

 

[tim17]

Isn't an Express Pass only available to those people staying at a Universal property or as an additional cost when purchasing day tickets?

 

[LuvOrlando]

-

 

[macraven]

Isn't an Express Pass only available to those people staying at a Universal property or as an additional cost when purchasing day tickets?

express pass plus aka epp, can be bought at guest services or at the stores in the parks.

it allows the holder to use the express lane one time only for each ride/ show/ attraction. there is a cost to it. the cost varies per date.

the epp is only valid for the date stamped on it.


a perk for staying on site at the loews hotels is the FOTL aka front of the line privilege
you use the express lane and you show your hotel key to the tm at the end of the fast lane.

you have unlimited usage of the express lane for everything in the park except pterdorn flyers.

the room key is also valid for express usage on the day you check out of the hotel. you get the extra day for the park fotl as a perk.