Labor Day or later in September

[KateDrake]

Hi all! We went to Universal for the first time last October and absolutely LOVED it! But we realize that since it was during COVID, we didn't have a typical experience. We ended up purchasing APs and want to squeeze in one more trip before they expire. We're looking at either going over Labor Day weekend, or the weekend of Sept. 23-26.

My first instinct is to avoid the holiday (and warmer weather), but looking at crowd calendars, it looks like it actually might be more crowded later in the month? We would not be doing HHN, which I'm assuming is the reason crowds ramp up?

Anyway, would love your thoughts on which weekend would make for a better experience. TIA!

 

[macraven]

My choice would be the later time period in September
23-26
I avoid those weekend holidays as it brings in more crowds (Labor Day)
And your one choice will have the warmer weather still

Hhn starts early September this year

 

[sandam1]

We've gone late in September at least three times and the crowd levels are usually great. That being said we currently have a trip booked to arrive on Labor Day. I'm hopeful that two things will combine to give us low crowds:

1. With the craziness with schooling over the past year and a half, I cannot see many parents taking their kids out of school (for those that start in August) or for one last vacation just prior to school starting (for those that start post Labor Day). Yes, some locals with kids may go to the parks that weekend, but it should cut down on the number of out-of-town families.

2. There is no HHN on Sunday (the day before Labor Day) and there isn't another on until Thursday, 9/9. So very few HHN people are going to schedule their vacation during this time frame.

Right now the hotel prices for our dates are dirt cheap - like $69 for Surfside or $89 for Cabana Bay - which, to me, is a pretty good indicator that the demand just isn't there.