Crowds this week

[Seeker615]

I will be at Universal Thursday-Saturday.

We won't be at the parks until a bit later on Thursday. The studio side is open until 9 so we plan on heading there around 5 to closing. I want to see the new Potter area in the evening.

Friday and Saturday we will be there at opening. The parks are closing early due to grad night....(bummer)

Do you think the parks will be crowded? We do have express pass and are staying onsite. I'm hoping for 2 pleasant days in the parks. Also - how will City Walk be? Has anyone experienced grad night and the effect it might have on the parks?

I did make a reservation for dinner on Saturday. do you think we will be okay Friday?

 

[macraven]

If I am not sure of crowd dates, I look at the ep date price chart

If ep is high/ costly, that means more crowds in that park

 

[schumigirl]

I will be at Universal Thursday-Saturday.

We won't be at the parks until a bit later on Thursday. The studio side is open until 9 so we plan on heading there around 5 to closing. I want to see the new Potter area in the evening.

Friday and Saturday we will be there at opening. The parks are closing early due to grad night....(bummer)

Do you think the parks will be crowded? We do have express pass and are staying onsite. I'm hoping for 2 pleasant days in the parks. Also - how will City Walk be? Has anyone experienced grad night and the effect it might have on the parks?

I did make a reservation for dinner on Saturday. do you think we will be okay Friday?

If you leave the park at closing Citywalk restaurants will be busy........you'll get in somewhere.......but if there's a place you really want to eat at, won't do any harm to make a reservation......you can probably do it on the Friday morning.

Grad nights have no effects on the parks.........no worries there........they're local and don't go in till park closes.......hope you have a fabulous time!

 

[jollygreen]

I use the EP rates to figure out how crowded it will be. I'm going there this weekend and before the rate for the unlimited EP was $85/day. I just checked yesterday and it's up to $120/day. Not to mention that almost all the hotels have no availability. So now I'm a bit worried about the crowds this weekend. I'll only have 1.5 days in the park and was looking forward to it being a slower time but now it looks like it might not be. I'm wondering why it's suddenly more crowded, schools aren't out yet and spring breaks should be over.

 

[CarrieAP]

We leave tomorrow, staying at Sapphire Falls through Monday morning. Had been keeping an eye on express pass costs but didn't catch that they jumped up. Given we have 4+ days and plan to get the parks early think we'll be ok. Does seem crowds may be higher than the predicted low levels though. We're doing 4 day Disney cruise next week and that caught me off guard when there was sudden spike in bookings before I had finalized my reservations.

Not a fan of crowed a but am super excited for my first on-site trip. Visited the parks for a day 11 years ago but staying onsite should have a whole different feel.

I'm sure it will be fabulous- enjoy!!

 

[schumigirl]

We leave tomorrow, staying at Sapphire Falls through Monday morning. Had been keeping an eye on express pass costs but didn't catch that they jumped up. Given we have 4+ days and plan to get the parks early think we'll be ok. Does seem crowds may be higher than the predicted low levels though. We're doing 4 day Disney cruise next week and that caught me off guard when there was sudden spike in bookings before I had finalized my reservations.

Not a fan of crowed a but am super excited for my first on-site trip. Visited the parks for a day 11 years ago but staying onsite should have a whole different feel.

I'm sure it will be fabulous- enjoy!!

Have you have a fabulous trip too! Hope you really enjoy your onsite stay.......SF is lovely........

 

[macraven]

You will have a great time at the darkside
Take advantage of the srl when available

 

[Seeker615]

Yes - we picked this time because we figured it would not be so crowded. When we booked it looked like a slower time. Now express passes are the highest I have seen them and hotels seem to be filled up. What is up? We only have Thursday, Friday and Saturday to enjoy the parks. I hope it isn't too awful. Glad I have unlimited express pass but still...

 

[macraven]

You will be fine since you have the
Ep

I have been in the parks many times when hotels are full and parks crowded and no bad waits for rides

Longer ride wait I have had was only 20 minutes when parks are packed

 

[pcstang]

Might be lots of coventions going on too. That will cause the hotels to be sold out but doesn't affect the park crowd levels.

 

[Seeker615]

Might be lots of coventions going on too. That will cause the hotels to be sold out but doesn't affect the park crowd levels.

That would be nice. I always panic before a trip. I hope to utilize early entry and my express pass. My main goal is the new Kong ride and the newer Potter section.

 

[pcstang]

That would be nice. I always panic before a trip. I hope to utilize early entry and my express pass. My main goal is the new Kong ride and the newer Potter section.

Totally understand. I'm doing a short 3 night trip in may and it's the same thing. Probably conventions. Royal and Sapphire are setup as convention hotels. PBR and HRH also host them. Portofino has a very large convention area.

 

[Seeker615]

Totally understand. I'm doing a short 3 night trip in may and it's the same thing. Probably conventions. Royal and Sapphire are setup as convention hotels. PBR and HRH also host them. Portofino has a very large convention area.

I never thought of that. I hope your trip is wonderful.

At any rate I will be at Universal and I am sure to have a great time. Plus we can relax on our cruise!

 

[pcstang]

I never thought of that. I hope your trip is wonderful.

At any rate I will be at Universal and I am sure to have a great time. Plus we can relax on our cruise!

We always do! I'm sure you will too!
Get the official app and it will show wait times, a map of the entire property etc. As others have said, you'll have express so no worries.

 

[FlipHipster]

Totally understand. I'm doing a short 3 night trip in may and it's the same thing. Probably conventions. Royal and Sapphire are setup as convention hotels. PBR and HRH also host them. Portofino has a very large convention area.

Ok you're making me feel a lot better. Our trip is in 17 days. I couldn't get a room at RPR when I booked. Now RPR and HRH are sold out and I was starting to get a little worried that it was going to be a lot more crowded than I expected.

 

[macraven]

Rpr is a convention hotel
It keeps the hotel bookings busy

Last October I tried to book a suite for the next October but none were available

I waited a week and tried again and suites were available

A convention had cancelled and many rooms were open then

 

[kohlby]

Agree that hotels fill up easily due to conventions. With having an express pass, you won't have to worry that time of year. (Having express still means long lines during extreme crowd times but I'd guess you're going during moderate crowds). We were just in the parks yesterday and Sunday. I was surprised how crowded IOA was to walk through on Sunday. BUT - that was the first day that power pass/seasonal pass could go after the two week Easter block-outs so I wouldn't be surprised if that made the surge. We had express so waits weren't an issue. They still weren't terrible though. Having express allowed us to do the Tonight Show ride easily as well as Minions easily. Those are two that take far more planning if you don't have express. We never made the early extra hour. Monday's crowds were lower but still higher than I had expected as far as walking around in some areas. Again, not high crowds, just higher than I had expected for walking around. Oh, and another reasons rooms can be taken quickly is because TM's get a discount but only so much in advance and only if there's room.

 

[Seeker615]

Thanks everyone. Looking at crowd calendars it shows this weekend to be pretty mellow. As long as I can get in my faves and enjoy the HP areas I will e happy. I did make some dinner reservations as well. (Just to be safe).

I know we will have a great time. I just tend to overthink before a trip!

I did get the Universal app as well!