Just back, small review . . .

[mikeyg1479]

Thank you for all the impressions. I have an end of Nov/1st week of December trip planned for Royal pacific, and I'm hoping some of the problematic elements ease up some by then (better staffing in dining, housekeeping, etc.) and hopefully the crowds won't be as dire (though I hear express pass eases most of the ride waits, anyway)

I am worried about the food situation. I greatly enjoy dining as part of my vacation experience, and my first "pure" Universal trip was a revelation (vs. Disney) in how you could just eat where you wanted, the VERY DAY you wanted, without fighting with a million people six months in advance of your trip over online reservations. Yes, I had to wait 30-45 mins to be seated for cowfish/Marguaritaville/Toothsome's at peak dinner-times, but... whatever. I could live with that. That's no different than trying to eat at a popular place around home.
But yeah, food waits are the thing my kids have the absolute hardest time with, more than anything, when things go above and beyond normal with staffing issues, so I hope in the next 5 months, these things will normalize some..

 

[Erica Ladd]

Thank you for all the impressions. I have an end of Nov/1st week of December trip planned for Royal pacific, and I'm hoping some of the problematic elements ease up some by then (better staffing in dining, housekeeping, etc.) and hopefully the crowds won't be as dire (though I hear express pass eases most of the ride waits, anyway)

I am worried about the food situation. I greatly enjoy dining as port of my vacation experience, and my first "pure" Universal trip was a revelation (vs. Disney) in how you could just eat where you wanted, the VERY DAY you wanted, without fighting with a million people six months in advance of your trip over online reservations. Yes, I had to wait 30-45 mins to be seated for cowfish/Marguaritaville/Toothsome's at peak dinner-times, but... whatever. I could live with that. That's no different than trying to eat at a popular place around home.
But yeah, food waits are the thing my kids have the absolute hardest time with, more than anything, when things go above and beyond normal with staffing issues, so I hope in the next 5 months, these things will normalize some..

I think if you make reservations, at least a few (and they don't have to be 180 days out lol, maybe a week or two) you should be fine. I know Universal is known for not having to plan, plan, plan, but a little bit of forethought and anticipation will probably alleviate or even eliminate any long waits. Good luck!

 

[dropzone9]

Just completed two days at Universal. We opted to book a throwaway room at Royal Pacific to get Express passes (already had a house rented for the week). I highly recommend Express passes, because the regular lines were very long! We rode everything we wanted multiple times. Lines to pay for parking and security check were unreasonabl, especially after 3 days at Disney. We left our villa 35 min away and 2 hours later finally walked into the park. Parking and security were major choke points. I second what others said about long lines for food. Try eating early and mobile order when possible. A lot of places did not show up for mobile ordering so that was a challenge. The rides themselves are amazing and we enjoyed them. Wasn’t expecting the large crowds but we did wear masks in indoor areas.

 

[yesman70]

Just got back, was there Monday to Thursday this week.
The parks were crazy busy, but we had an express pass which IMO, is worth every penny.
We chose to ride Hagrids with early entry. It took about 45 minutes each time. We rode Velocicoaster twice. The way we did it was we got in line just as the rain would end in the early evening. Waiting about 30-45 minutes each time.

we definitely did food reservations in city walk each day. We ate at the off times too. Lunch around 1130 and dinner late around 9-10pm.
We also did the grub hub thing a few times at our hotel. Didn’t use much fast service in the parks but the lines were long for sure.

overall had a great time.

 

[yesman70]

It was interesting observing the customer service while I was there. The nicest, most friendly workers were the security people and the boat captains. Great customer service!