How Busy Really

[TigerLilly's Mom]

We will be down Aug. 3 -7. Planning on spending one day at each Universal Park and one day Sea World. Will Probably go back to whichever park we liked best on last day. How busy is Universal? I have never been, only gone to Disney in Dec. and it was not busy at all. Is there anyway to bypass the lines other than to stay onsite? Is the Kodak offer worth doing or not? I know Disney is just not that busy anymore, no matter what the season - is Universal like this?

Also, what are some absolute don't miss attractions - we have an 8 year old who loves coaster and a 5 year old who doesn't. Are the fireworks worth doing? Thanks for any info!

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Hey!! Universal is usually pretty crowded during the Summertime. However, the beginning of August things START to slow down a little since school is starting back up. Many FL students start in early to mid August. But I still think crowds may still be a bit of an issue.
But, with your tickets go to the Express machines near the ride you want to get express for and you can scan your ticket and reserve a time slot to enter the Express line. This is free and any ticket can get express passes. I recommend getting Express passes BEFORE lunch time. It gets more crowded near the lunch hour and soon after some rides start to run out of Express passes.
I haven't tried the Kodak offer so I do not know for sure. I also know you can purchase one Express pass for each ride at the park. It's expensive especially if more than one person is going. Not worth it, IMO.

Don't Miss:
Jimmy Neutron (US)
Shrek (US)
Ghostbusters Show (US)
Men in Black (US)
Animal Planet Live (US)
Spiderman (IOA)
Popeyes (IOA)
Cat in the Hat (IOA
Hulk and Dueling Dragons (if the "coaster lover" meets height requirement (IOA)

Hope this helps!!

 

[Bubbles25]

Right now the lines for the attractions are not too bad. Expect to wait long for the new Shrek 4-D and the new Jimmy Neutron ride. Shrek has been up to a 95 minute wait and Jimmy Neutron lately has gone up to a 60 minute wait. Since everyone wants to see those new attractions the waits everywhere else at USF have been pretty short not surpassing a 30 minute wait during different parts of the day. You don't have to stay on site to get front of the line access. You can use your regular admission ticket to get express tickets for the attraction. You can only get one at a time though but they also introduced a new Express plus program. If you want to pay 25 dollars to purchase an express plus ticket you will have access to pretty much every attraction. The plus side of this is you can visit each ride once throughout the day at any time you wish through the express line. If your going to both parks you can get a combo pass but I'm sure of the exact price on the combo ticket. With the Kodak offer I believe you only get express access to 5 rides at both parks. Also you said you don't want you children to miss any attractions but you might want to check out the universal web site for all the height restrictions. At the studios there is a height requirement for Men in black (42"), Back to the future(40"), and the Woody woodpeckers nuthouse coaster (36"). I don't remember all the restrictions at Islands of Adventure though. Well hopefully this information helped. Have a good vacation.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Shrek and Jimmy Neutron have consistent 45-75+ minute waits, and everything else can be anywhere from 30-90 minutes, but generally stays around 30-60.

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Thanks Everyone! Your replies were really helpful. I am kind of disappointed to hear about the long waits though. We are definately Shrek lovers, so will wait for that and Jimmy. Also, is the Jurassic Park ride too scary for my five year old? She meets the height restriction, but she would not go on Dinosaur at Disney and to tell you the truth, my (then) seven year old who loves Rock and Roll Roller Coaster, was freaked out by it too. Also, how about the T3 show, is that too scary? Thanks if anyone knows.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

T2:3D is outstanding! It's the best action show in USF! It might be scary because there's gunshots, but that's it.

Jurassic Park and Dinosaur are totally different. In Dinosaur, you get chased by a giant dino. In JP, you do encounter mean dinosaurs, but not till the halfway point. The first part of it is fun and you see all the herbivores.

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Just a tip: When you go to the park right when it opens get in line for Express Passes for Shrek right away(located across the street from Shrek...at the Jimmy Neutron building on the far right when facing it)!!!!
I got the the park about 20 minutes after it opened and there was already a line for Express tickets (sometimes there are no lines...but since Shrek is new...)!! I waited in line for about 5 minutes (since getting express tickets doesn't take long). And guess what! When I went up (near 9:30 AM by now)...the reservation time was for 6:10PM!!!!! We had to wait that late to go on Shrek ecause the earlier reservations were taken already...and get this...for Shrek there wasn't an hour time slot like normal Express passes...you only had a 15 minute slot to go in!!

But after you get the express pass (you'll be thankful for it...time went up to at least 100 minutes on Monday) go straight to Men in Black. Everyone in the morning is still hanging around the new rides and haven't made there way to Back to the Future and MIB...you can go in regular line and have maybe a 5 minute wait. My mom went in regular line once then did single riders 4 times afterward and went on right away each time. No wait! Then we left to go on BTTF and had a longer wait...but since there were only 2 of us...they were looking for 2 people to fill a spot and we got to pass lots and lots of people. After that we went to Ghostbusters Show (hehe) and then to the next GB Show and when we went back to MIB...after lunch time...line was pretty darn long!

What really bugged me is the lady who takes Express Passes made people go into the single riders line if they went into regular (guess so regular line didn't get too long...???)!! YES! She told them to go into the single riders line. She had no common sense because a little girl around 6 or 7 was in a group that was told to go into that line! A employee that worked in MIB had more common sense and let the dad go on with the girl. Thank goodness!!

But I was mad about the single riders line! She was making the line pointless! The wait was at least 10 minutes...FOR SINGLE RIDERS!!

So beware of that Begins to die down in the late evening...