Just back with my observations - any questions?

[Cinderella822]

I spent last week at USO and just loved every minute of it. I found it, however, to be unusually crowded for this time of year. Not sure why. The weather was much warmer than a typical November week too. We stated at PBH and had a wonderful stay as usual. The newly renovated rooms were very nice. We took advantage of early entry, which was only IOA the whole week, and managed to do Harry Potter several times before park opening. As the day went on, the crowds in both parks at Harry Potter were insane! Hard to even walk through the areas due to crowds. The rest of the parks were manageable, however. Even the regular lines were not too long, but with Express Pass, we hardly waited for anything. Had some really nice meals, Tchoup Chop, Bice, Cowfish. Overall, just a really enjoyable trip and sad it's over now. I'd be happy to answer any questions if you have any.

 

[Robo56]

Glad you had such a nice time. As you probably noticed on here we lovers of Universal always like to welcome those who have fallen in love with our favorite destination. PBH is my favorite resort there. I think some of the uptick in crowds at Universal is more people are giving WDW a rest a finding Universal a awesome alternative.

 

[Cinderella822]

I fell in love with it years ago, right after my first trip to Universal, and I was a WDW freak! I did notice a lot of people in the parks with the new Disney wrist bands on, so I'm sure they snuck over for a peek! LOL

 

[snoopboop]

I was there last week too! :-D Perhaps we saw each other. We stayed at RPR... I, too, noticed that the parks were significantly busier than they had been in past years when we've visited during this same time frame. And it was so stinking warm! We thoroughly enjoyed the water rides at IOA on Thursday....

 

[saskdw]

I think some of the uptick in crowds at Universal is more people are giving WDW a rest a finding Universal a awesome alternative.

No, that's not it. The Disney section has all kinds of reports of insane crowds. Resorts and parks are full there as well. There seems to be more people making 1 or 2 day excursions over to UO, but WDW's business is not down in anyway.

 

[dixonsontour]

Sounds like a great trip. What did you try at cowfish, not been hoping to go next year.

 

[kohlby]

Glad you had a great time! I hope the crowds were just a fluke and not the rule from now on. (Though our Nov/Dec trip will have us with Express half the time, our April trip will not). There was a very large homeschool group that went last week, but that alone shouldn't impact crowds all that much. (And some just do Disney).

 

[schumigirl]

Glad to hear you had such a lovely trip Cinderella..........

 

[twinklestar22]

The crowds might have been heavy because of "Jersey Week." Here in NJ, a lot of families head to WDW because schools are closed for the state teachers convention. I know several people who went last week and the week before. Also, I think Food and Wine ends this week.

 

[snoopboop]

The crowds might have been heavy because of "Jersey Week." Here in NJ, a lot of families head to WDW because schools are closed for the state teachers convention. I know several people who went last week and the week before. Also, I think Food and Wine ends this week.

Ha! We actually did chat with one family from NJ!! :-D

 

[Cinderella822]

Sounds like a great trip. What did you try at cowfish, not been hoping to go next year.

I had the fusion bento box at Cowfish. It was an interesting mix. I really enjoyed it.

It might have been leftover crowds from Jersey week, but that was the week before we were there, so not sure why the crowds. Still much less than summer when we used to go!

 

[dixonsontour]

Bento box sounds good

Crowds were higher for us Oct 15 compared to out trip same week 2014.. I think attendance is up overall at theme parks but it feels like word s definitely out about Universal eg 2014 only a few children were doing the interactive wands, this year nearly everyone had one.

 

[samheatherwhite]

We were there last week too. The weather was super warm and it was considerably more crowded than when we went in September 2014. It's snowing here today and I am sure missing that sunny weather!

 

[HHMcG]

Responded to wrong thread.

 

[zebsterama]

Curious - what are the Gringotts wait times like early on in the day (during the extra morning hour)?

Cheers!

 

[Cinderella822]

During the time we were there, only IOA had early entry. So we went to Forbidden Journey at 8:00, then did Hogwarts Express to get to the Studios by 9:00 opening and got in line for Gringotts then. At that me, we waited about 10 to 15 minutes. As the day went on, the wait times showed up to 45 minutes.

 

[Cinderella822]

Curious - what are the Gringotts wait times like early on in the day (during the extra morning hour)?

Cheers!

During the time we were there, only IOA had early entry. So we went to Forbidden Journey at 8:00, then did Hogwarts Express to get to the Studios by 9:00 opening and got in line for Gringotts then. At that me, we waited about 10 to 15 minutes. As the day went on, the wait times showed up to 45 minutes.

 

[dixonsontour]

In October when Universal studios was EE we found Gringotts to be a walk on. We were at the gates about 20 mins before 7am opening and were let in about 5 or 10 mins early. I know we entered diagon alley itself at 7am and went straight on the ride.

 

[zebsterama]

During the time we were there, only IOA had early entry. So we went to Forbidden Journey at 8:00, then did Hogwarts Express to get to the Studios by 9:00 opening and got in line for Gringotts then. At that me, we waited about 10 to 15 minutes. As the day went on, the wait times showed up to 45 minutes.

In October when Universal studios was EE we found Gringotts to be a walk on. We were at the gates about 20 mins before 7am opening and were let in about 5 or 10 mins early. I know we entered diagon alley itself at 7am and went straight on the ride.

Thank you to both -- that's great news! What a difference a couple of years makes. Can't wait for our trip.

Cheers

 

[TommyJK]

Question. When only 1 park has EE (like IOA in your case for the whole week), how early does the Hogwarts express start running to hop over to Diagon Alley? Would it have been feasible to get over there prior to UO's opening?