February 10th, 2009 Crowd Report

[IndianaSPEED]

I just got back from my long day at Universal Studios in Orlando for my Birthday and the crowds were very very light!! Islands of Adventure opened 10 minutes early, so I got in around 8:50am. There was absolutely no one in line for the Hulk for about 20 minutes or so after park opening. In fact, the Hulk ride never had more than a 5 minute wait all day! Spiderman ride was a bit more popular and usually had about a 10 minute wait for the majority of the day. Dueling Dragons coasters had a average wait time of 5 minutes. For the front row, wait times were around 10 minutes or so and other rows were immediate walk-on's. Ripsaw Falls flume ride featured a 1 minute wait time on average. Jurassic Park was closed due to rehab and they have the outside "splash" areas all blocked off with big benches. Fearfall drop ride had an average wait time of 10 minutes due to limited loading because it is a drop ride.

Universal Studios Florida had about the same crowd levels. I timed both Terminator and Shrek shows just right and walked right into the preview area on time. (SHREK was incredible!) The mummy had absolutely no one in line. The Mummy ride is known for its quick loading and I can definitely tell that this ride was developed very well for high crowd days. Nicktoon's Blast had about a 15 minute wait time. Disaster had about a 20 minute wait between shows. Men in Black had about a 10 minute average wait with single rider lines at about 10 seconds (If you can run fast!!). The Simpsons Ride had about 25 minute waits for the majority of the day. The Jaws ride was closed today! E.T. Adventure would have been complete walk-on's, but waiting for different rooms to open up made the wait at about 25 minutes.

I went to IOA/USF around New Year's in December and the crowds were awful. Ride times were at about 2 hours for the majority of the rides. Today, the parks felt incredibly empty compared to just a few weeks ago. In my personal opinion, early February is the best time to go to theme parks. No waits makes it incredibly more enjoyable. I had ZERO waiting for food at Dino Digs and had absolutely no problem finding a seat unlike a few weeks ago.

Universal Studios rules!

*ALSO* The new Hollywood coaster is shaping up very nicely and the track looks almost done on most parts besides the parts closer to City Walk. Crews were working on the Loading Building all day long and I saw no work being done on the coaster track itself.

Just thought that I would post how my day went.

 

[Metro West]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[ZenMickey]

Thanks for the great trip report.

I was there that day as well: but I got to the Studios at 5pm! (I have a AP). Got 3 rides on Mummy (single rider line), and one ride each on MIB and The Simpsons. Low crowds and great picture opportunities. Studios looked great with the Mardi Gras decorations.

 

[Mad Hattered]

Thanks for the update. Sounds just like the crowds we had in mid January. Speaking of RRR....when are they going to start on the lift??

 

[Metro West]

Thanks for the update. Sounds just like the crowds we had in mid January. Speaking of RRR....when are they going to start on the lift??

I don't know but I'm curious too...I can't wait to take pictures of that!

 

[Abysse]

I was there that same day and was really glad that i choose that day since we've waited a maximum of 10 minutes for a ride. We've waited 10 minutes for the simpsons, no waiting for the hulk and dueling dragons, and we went 2 times in the spiderman ride since the waiting time was of 5 minutes. In the Popeye's and Bluto barges, we were the only ones in our boat! lol At first i wanted to do just one park (the universal) but when we had done everything by 3, we decided to upgrade to the IOA. What a perfect day it was!