Crowd levels this week

[NYHeel]

My brother and his family are likely going to drive up from Miami this week to go to universal. They’re not Florida residents so they’re looking at the Black Friday deal.

Does anyone know how crowded the parks are recently (with the exception of thanksgiving weekend of course)? They’re trying to figure out if they should forego the Black Friday deal and stay at an express pass hotel.

 

[SquashBanana]

How many days are you planning to go? I was there over Thanksgiving week and 3 of the 5 days reached capacity. Even on capacity days, we were able to do a ton because we rope dropped every day and the wait times were roughly 50-70% of the posted time. We did not have express pass. Weekends will probably reach capacity but weekdays would likely not, though I couldn't say for sure.

 

[cfoxga]

Just got back from Thanksgiving week. We had 5 days with EPs (from HRH) and 3 days without (from ESS). Because PBH was closed, the number of EPs is down, which made the lines extremely short. Many times we just walked on to rides with an hour wait.

I would think with school back in session, it would be very quiet during the week. But the weekend will likely be busier with local residents.

There are more benefits to the deluxe hotels than just EPs. ESS was ok, but it really didn't hold a candle to HRH except for room size (we had a 2 room suite at ESS):
- Being able to walk to US in 5 minutes or take the ferry to CityWalk/IOA was way better than having to take the bus and deal with CityWalk security.
- The ability to sleep in because of the EPs makes things more relaxing
- The nicer rooms, restaurants, and pool was icing on the cake.

Well worth the extra $150 per night for our family of 4. But if the cost is too high, then just make sure to take advantage of EE. You can get a lot done in the first couple hours on a busy day. We definitely took advantage of it when we were at ESS.