Dec 26-31 options

[desertJake]

Hello all! Planning for our family's first trip to Universal/Disney. Unfortunately it's during the dreaded week between Christmas and New Year's. We arranged this all with another family and traded some timeshare weeks before I knew that it was the worst week of the year for crowds! Serves me right for not researching ahead of time.

So, my question is this. Given the crowds I'm considering booking a one night stay at one of the on-site resorts even though we already have a place to stay and they are extra expensive that week ($339, but still cheaper than buying VIP tickets or express passes for 4 of us for 2 days) because I'm thinking it will be a nightmare without the early entry and express passes.

The question is, even with them will it be so bad anyway that it won't be worth it?

 

[Metro West]

I never go that week and I live here. It's CRAZY busy at all theme parks in the area. Staying onsite will help some but you can still expect to wait 30 minutes in the Express line for some attractions. I hate to think what WWoHP will be like that week!

 

[desertJake]

So I gather. If I could change the dates now I would...

 

[Metro West]

So I gather. If I could change the dates now I would...

That would not be a bad idea.

 

[saskdw]

We stayed at the Hard Rock from Dec 22nd-Dec 28th this past Year. The crowds were crazy, but the FOTL perk was great. We normally didn't wait more than 5-10 mins for any of the rides. There were a few exceptions, but for the most part there was very little wait. I wouldn't have gone there at that time without staying onsite though. Regular waits were 90-120 mins for the popular attractions and my family doesn't have the patience for that. The only exception to this is WWOHP. The only way to get to get anywhere near this place is to use the 7am on-site early entry privilage. It was unreal, people were packed in that area like sardines in a can. There were 2 hour waits just to get into the WWOHP area so you could wait to see anything...lol. But, HP aside the FOTL passes made our trip, well worth the cost of the room.