Do Universal crowds essentially track Disney crowds?

[PeterP]

We are Disney veterans but have never been to Universal. We are considering a Universal trip (likely the second half of May). Can anyone offer opinions regarding whether crowd sizes at the various times of year (and I guess, in this case, in late May in particular) at Universal essentially mirror crowd sizes in Disney? And also a follow-up question: Even if crowds are large at Universal, how much difference does the Universal "express pass" (if I have the name right) make?

Thanks so much.

 

[wagman67]

Yes, the crowds may not be as actually large is WDW, but the 'crowd level' mostly mirrors WDW.

Express Passes make a lot bigger difference than WDW FastPass...especially the Unlimited Express Pass. You can use them at every ride that accepts Express Pass....and do so when you want to, not when you are told to.

 

[Marc D]

If you are willing to walk fast and be there at opening, especially if you can enter one hour early by staying at a UO resorts, the Express pass is not worth the cost IMHO. I once was there in July and was able to do all the rides with little or no wait (except for Minions) without the Express pass. If you plan on entering the park later than at opening, it will make a big difference.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

We are Disney veterans but have never been to Universal. We are considering a Universal trip (likely the second half of May). Can anyone offer opinions regarding whether crowd sizes at the various times of year (and I guess, in this case, in late May in particular) at Universal essentially mirror crowd sizes in Disney? And also a follow-up question: Even if crowds are large at Universal, how much difference does the Universal "express pass" (if I have the name right) make?

Thanks so much.

We were there in late May of 2015 (Memorial Day weekend) and were very pleased with crowd size as compared to Disney. That was our first trip and we were Disney vets. We really only needed the express passes for Despicable Me and the water rides (which got very crowded in the afternoon and evening). For those, the express passes were awesome. The water rides had over an hour each wait and we waited probably five minutes. Many of the rides had very little wait and the express passes only cut off a few minutes (but we didn't do Hulk or Rip Ride Rocket and Kong was not yet open- probably the express passes are very helpful for those, also).

That being said, when we were there, there were no express passes for the HP rides. We did those during early entry and had very little wait.

After that trip, I decided that express passes were invaluable to us because we have two children who are not very patient. Even a difference of 30 minutes vs. no wait can make or break a trip for us with young kids.

I would stay on site for at least a night or two at a deluxe and get the express passes.

I loved Universal even more than I thought I would, and we are heading back next week. Might go again in May, also. May is a great time to go, in our experience.

 

[keishashadow]

Several times I've scheduled split trips to specifically avoid WDW on race weekends to avoid crowds & traffic.

IMO U is typically more crowded those days. Likely locals know to avoid also.

OP google one of the free crowd calculators for info

 

[Robo56]

I take my grandchildren to Universal Orlando during the last two weeks of May every year. The crowds during this time have grown every year for the last three years.

We always stay onsite and always have Unlimited Express because we stay at one of the resorts that includes the passes.

I would not do Universal during this time of year without Unlimited Express.

 

[Lothlórien]

It seems that Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are the lightest days for Universal....similar to Disney.

 

[luvsJack]

We went in late May in 2016. It was hot and far from "empty parks" but the crowds really were not that bad. We did not have express pass and honestly didn't feel like we were missing out on anything. The crowd was definitely manageable.

 

[glamdring269]

We're going to be there during Christmas and for the first time we're doing Disney then Universal. Staying at RPR so will have Express Pass. Have a feeling it's going to feel ridiculously either relative to the madness we will be leaving behind at WDW, primarily thanks to the UEP.

 

[mikejuliestl]

We've been to WDW during Christmas a few times and its been so packed we would leave around Noon for the resort and the pool. We had scheduled WDW again this Christmas but having experienced USF and the RPR with unlimited express pass it was a unanimous decision to canx Disney and go with a week at USF.

 

[kohlby]

I wouldn't worry about express for that time of year unless you only have one day and so every minute counts. The very last week of May will have higher crowds than the week before it - FL schools have started to get out by the last week. A lot of the country is still in school though so that makes it manageable still as long as you have more than one day.

The bigger the crowds, the more difference an express pass makes. I was in the parks on December 30th last year and did not have express. I saw one express line that was an hour long - but the regular line was over 3 hours long. Usually, the express lines were much less than an hour though! On a moderate crowd day, you won't have to tour smart when it comes to the more popular rides if you have express. (Otherwise, plan rides like Kong and Minions carefully). I would not recommend doing the parks on very high crowd days without express unless someone is a local who can go whenever or has a very long vacation planned. You won't run into that in May. Those going the week between Christmas and New Year's will run into that.