Is massive planning/booking required for Universal like it is for WDW?

[Ikaikalani]

We're doing a 7 night Fantasy cruise followed by a week at the parks. In case we test positive and cant cruise, were thinking about an alternate. After quarantining for 5 days, we thought we might head to Universal for a day before starting our week at WDW. It's been years since I last visited Universal. Is it possible to do a last minute trip? I mean, if we book a room next to the park along with their version of Fast Pass, would we be good to go? Or would we be shut out of good restaurants because we didnt reserve 60 days out like you need to do with WDW? Would we spend 2 hours in every line because we didnt book/pay for them ahead of time like WDW $LL? What kind of experience can we expect if we book a room/FastPass just 5 days before arrival?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Might want a dinner reservation for traditional dinner times and/or around park closing - however you can get that 5 days out easily. You can even do day of, depending on the restaurant.

Probably want a general plan to hit Hagrids.

Depending on your date, there also may be limited premier hotel availability.

Otherwise - show up and enjoy!

 

[emcarle27]

It really depends when you're going. I would like up the crowd calendar to see what kind of crowds are projected about the time you're going. I went in June last year and I hit everything I wanted to do in the morning.

But by the afternoon there were long lines for everything. I think I stood in a 40 minute wait for Shrek. I think it's gone now so I'm glad I went but still.

 

[_19disnA]

We don't find that excessive planning ever reduces the number of other people at Disney, so all of that talk about advance planning seems overblown. Disney tends to be busy most of the year, so there aren't many times when you can expect to have 'small' crowds. Expect it to be crowded and the most popular rides to have the longest lines. Early or late in the day will probably have fewer people at a park. Lots of threads about Genie and the various paid options, some find it helpful, others don't.

No 3rd party has any magic 'formula' that lets them accurately predict future crowds. Before Disney started having daily park reservations, even they had no idea how many locals with AP's would just decide to show up some day. We haven't been to Universal in several years, so can't compare how crowded they might be compared to Disney.

 

[fsjking]

Obviously "when" matters for how crowded, but, no you don't need to plan like Disney. If you can get into one of the express hotels(or buy the express pass), that pretty much eliminates the lines you would have to wait in other than Hagrid and Velocicoaster. We went right before Christmas and didn't bother with a single restaurant reservation. I think the worst wait we had was an hour. And you can make those reservations from your phone, so you don't have to go stand in line.

 

[cfoxga]

Prior to 2021, we would do zero planning for UO. We'd book a room at a deluxe resort for the EPs, show up, and do whatever we felt like. If we wanted to ride Hagrids without a long wait, we'd go in the morning for EE.

The labor shortage combined with larger crowds changed things (We typically go during peak dates). We now make reservations for every dinner, and some lunches. VC added a second popular ride that did not take EPs, so we have to choose between that an Hagrids each day.

That said, the planning needed is still much less than Disney World. With only two parks which are both close to CityWalk, it is easy to bounce around...

 

[kbelle8995]

No excessive planning. Book your hotel and do what you want to do. You might want to make a restaurant reservation but other than that.

 

[Kit Jackson]

I would reccomend booking a hotel that includes the ExpressPass (Universal's version of FastPass). It is usually less expensive to book a hotel room that includes two days of ExpressPass (for everyone staying in the room) instead of paying for it (per person) each day you are in the Universal parks.

As others have said basic planning like booking a hotel room and buying tickets in advance (it's less expensive to buy tickets in advance instead of buying more expensive tickets day of at the park) is all that's needed. Maybe making dinner reservations depending on where/when you want to eat.

Last time I went to Universal Orlando, we made a list of everything we wanted to do before we arrived. Each day we would look at the list and figure out what we wanted to do that day. We were not planning day by day or hour by hour months in advance like people do for WDW.

I hope your trip goes well.

 

[jaceraden]

Went Christmas week this year and did zero planning - no express pass or dining ressies either. It was a great trip!

 

[namelessoracle]

Short answer no. Express means you can just get on whatever ride you want except for Hagrids and Velocicoaster. Velocicoaster has a pretty quick single rider, and you can just wait till it ebbs down. Hagrids stays pretty long. All you really need to do for either ride is just wait till close at end of day or very beginning of day and just hit them. Veloicoaster seems like it ebbs down more often than Hagrid (i saw wait go to 20 mins during my trip in September)

For dinner reservations, you can book them now if you want, and they dont require park tickets to make. (not even Mythos). We were able to find dinner slots the week before for even the popular restaurants (but you wont necessarily get the reservation slot you want, you might have to do a 5pm dinner)