Crowds the first two weeks in October?

[Mom loves Disney]

Do you think express pass is a need or not? Thanks, newbie to Universal.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

How many days will you be in the parks? If I was only going to be there one day, I would get the express pass to maximize my time. If you will be there a number of days, you have time to wait in some moderate lines, but it won't be bad. If you want EP more than one day (and sometimes with only one day), it is probably cheaper to get a room that includes the EP.

 

[Mom loves Disney]

We were planning three days.

 

[JustCallMeMommy]

You'll be fine without it - it isn't a necessity for 3 moderate days. If you want to play it safe, you could set aside the money you would have budgeted for the EP, and if you get there and crowds are heavier than expected, you could buy it in the park.

 

[keishashadow]

jmho and coming from one staying onsite w/FOTL, but the crowd calendars have been under estimated for the Columbus Day weekend the last few years. first two weeks are busier than most think

As a comparison, i see from your siggie you've been to disney in October...think of Epcot F&W crowded.

On HHN the mornings are slower but many start their days off early afternoon.

If staying offisite, be @ gates before rope drop. Having three days to work with will allow you to catch everything at least once

 

[Milla4Prez63]

Honestly, during the day in October is a pretty "slow" time for Universal standards. When the sun goes down and it's HHN time, the park is PACKED as heavily as ever though. So if you're looking to spend 3 days in the parks during the day, don't bother with Express IMO. Everything should be reasonable and if you want 3 days in the 2 parks there you may run out of stuff to do if you Express everything at once.

I would keep in mind though that each park both just lost an attraction so the capacity isn't at 100% in the resorts so it is possible some lines swell up in the parks. Dragon Challenge for example I haven't seen over a 15 minute wait in years, but with Hulk down for refurb it's safe to bet that the lines for that ride will go up.

 

[Mom loves Disney]

Ok, thanks. We might just stay at cabana bay then and play it by ear.