Day after Thanksgiving

[bbangel]

Trying to plan a day at Universal prior to a cruise next year so my mom can experience the Harry Potter attractions. Trouble is that the day before the cruise turns out to be the Friday after US Thanksgiving (completely forgot about this when booking the cruise as it isn't a holiday weekend here!)

Thoughts on how busy it will be that Friday? Hoping it will still be enjoyable for my mom.

We will likely stay on site, maybe at the new hotel, so will have early entry. Since we are not big thrill ride people we mainly want to see the Harry Potter areas, see some shows, and do Christmas stuff (does Christmas start that early at Universal?)

Feel free to throw in other advice about successful days at Universal. Really enjoying reading the threads in this part of the forum!

 

[cleopenn]

We were there last year for Thanksgiving. We spent actual Thanksgiving day at Sea World and went to Universal the day after as well as the balance of the weekend.

I remember the parks being decorated for Christmas.

We had express passes and early entry. I thought the crowds were fine. We never felt it was overly crowded except in the Harry Potter areas. Because we had multi-day park to park passes, we revisited the Harry Potter areas at night after the crowds left.

Early entry turned out not quite as I expected. Someone correct me if my memory is wrong but only one park has early entry at a time. We went early to Universal, thinking we could get on the train to Islands of Adventure and enjoy early entry over there, beating the crowds to Hogsmead and Forbidden Journey (is that the right name for the ride in the castle?).

What happened was we were allowed to stand in line for nearly an hour until opening, when we boarded the train at the designated opening time of Islands of Adventure. We were the first off the train and barely got ahead of the people sprinting (I am serious, grown adults running full speed) into the Harry Potter area after the gate of Island of Adventure opened.

Since you aren't going so much for the rides, what I described above might not matter to you. Early entry will give you time to wander around the Harry Potter areas. Even though it was crowded during the day, there was so much to see and take in that I didn't mind the crowds and I HATE crowds.

If you are really into Harry Potter, get a park-to-park tickets. We rode the train several times just for fun and to take in the wonderful theming. We loved seeing the differences between day vs. night at Diagon Alley and Hogsmead.

 

[bbangel]

Thank you for your report. It sounds about like I was expecting and we should be able to enjoy our time there. I will be watching for reports of this year

 

[klo1335]

We stayed offsite last year Thanksgiving, had no early entry, or express pass. We did 4 days park to park and has a great time. The crowds were tolerable and not nearly as crazy as Disney. Hogsmeade seems to be the most crowded but you can navigate with no problem. Have fun!