LINES in Early May

[cookiemonstermommy]

...Specifically the 2nd-7th? I am going there with my 2 sisters on those dates, and have no idea what to expect.

Also, since we'll be hitting both parks all days-does one tend to be more empty at a certain time of day (ie would I be better off going to IOA in am, then US later, or vice versa)?

Thanks! I've been there once, with my son and there were literally no lines on most rides. Well-no more than 5-10 minutes on line anyway.

Kelly

 

[robvia]

Welcome aboard.

Crowds will be moderate, kids are still in school but some have field trips and there's no way to tell when the groups are going. The good news is that most school tours arrive at 11am and the kids have no way of getting FOTL. So if you arrive at 8am, you'll beat the crowds.

I usually start at IOA, take a lap, then head over to USF.

 

[tikkipoo]

Hope you have a great time. We will be down there some during those days. Looks like the weather is going to be nice!

 

[cookiemonstermommy]

Thank you for your welcome!

tikki-I hope so about the weather! When i went with my son, it was very nice except for a cold day, I think in the 50s? (still nicer than in NY!) Maybe I'll see you there!

 

[damo]

This past Saturday was absolutely insane at the parks. They were filled with school groups. Dr. Doom had a 90 minute wait and the express lanes were filled to the entrances. It was terrible. The other days (Thurs, Fri, and Sun were fine) Friday was busier again because of school groups but manageable.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Damo, welcome back! Sounds crazy, but hope you had a great trip. We'll see what crowds are like this weekend, when we go. I have become adept at cutting off the Brazilian Tour groups because they have tried to cut in front of me and Mike with 16 people before. Was it mainly school groups this time? I find that they usually don't have Express Passes (usually).

 

[robvia]

Thanks for the updated crowd report. Only way to win is to show up early and do all the popular rides before 11am. The tour groups usually don't have express unless they buy the booklets. Now that would be something, if a large tour group showed up, and many of them decided to buy the express booklets on their own. Technically there's nothing stopping them from doing it, just the extra money.

 

[Motherfletcher]

You need to be a little flexible as well. We have arrived to see busses unloading school groups and when we caught up saw they were going to Islands of Adventure so we chose the Studios for that day.

 

[damo]

Many of the kids bought express passes. There was a battle of the bands going on Saturday night and all of those kids invaded IOA during the day. It was jam packed by 10 am. Thankfully the school groups tend to prefer IOA so you can just change your schedule a bit. I didn't find the kids to be rude or anything, it was just totally packed.

 

[cvjw]

We were there last week and have never seen so many groups of teenagers.
The parks were manageable, we had FOTL, so we didn't have much of a wait. We only saw the kids breaking over into the Express line on one ride. At this ride, there wasn't a worker checking for your passes at the end of the line, so there were no consequences for cheating. I would expect groups of kids next week as well.

 

[LEO_Magic]

Oh boy! We'll be there this weekend & thank god, we are staying on-site at the RPR.

 

[Marjol]

Reading this, I'm pretty glad I bought the express tickets for my visits on May 8 and 13 for only $15 each.