Low Crowds

[Raidra]

Is there a good crowd calendar for Universal, or good general recommendations?

And what counts as low crowds? On a low crowd day, what could we expect for wait times? Is there ever a time when the Harry Potter lands are NOT wall to wall people?

We're so used to Disney, and as locals we love having our three FPs, going in for two or three hours and getting our rides done, then going home. We know when the best times are to ride which rides. We are total novices at Universal, though, and I'm hoping we can figure out a way to be able to ride three rides and not have it take six hours. And viewing the HP areas without hordes of people shoulder to shoulder with us would be amazing.

Thanks!

 

[vatmark]

If you stay on site with express passes crowds really are not a problem. We went in June twice now during what is considered busy and never waited long for anything. If you do early entry for the Harry Potter areas it is a lot less busy. June had park hours until 9pm and we found the Harry Potter areas after 7:30pm were low crowd as well. Crowds really cleared out. Try orlando Informer for crowd calendars and touring plans. They have lots of good information.

 

[Raidra]

Well, we're local, so we're not going to be staying at a hotel. Since I am too overweight to ride many of the rides, even if we did have Express Pass, high crowds would impact my enjoyment, at least, since the draw for me is enjoying the non-thrill ride parts of the park (theming, etc).

The last few hours before closing sounds doable, we'll try that soon. And thanks for the website rec!

 

[kohlby]

For time of year, Universal is similar to Disney so you can look at those calendars to get a general idea. As for specific dates, I haven't found a crowd calendar I loved yet. We went the week after Thanksgiving and crowds were quite manageable. Even in the middle of the day, Forbidden Journey was pretty much a walk-on. Gringotts was a wait in the middle of the day, but we had no problems getting on it. The HP areas do get crowded with people. Keep in mind that the stores stay open as long as the area stays open. That means, if there's a line for FJ and it's closing time, those people in line still get on - and the stores stay open a little longer. There are some other rides that get crowded - but even Minions was a walk-on in the morning. It really depends when you go, of course! Just think off-season and you should be okay. You can also tell how busy it's supposed to be by seeing how much express pass costs for that day. The cheapest express pass days will be the lowest crowd days. (The Universal hotels also list the different seasons on the website. However, we didn't go during the cheapest hotel time yet the crowds were light.

 

[pigby]

I subscribed to Touring Plans for a small annual fee - they give historic and predicted wait times and how busy it was or may be for your trip. I will look up specific dates for you, if you tell me what dates you are planning.

 

[RMulieri]

When its low at Disney, it is generally low at UNI..HOWEVER, the Harry Potter areas are always lots of people. The rides can have minimal waits, but the areas themselves still usually have lots of people.

 

[audrey2580]

Hey Pigby - could you please look up June 14th and 15th on touring plans? thanks

 

[angierae]

We were just there on a crowd level "2" day according to Touring Plans. Ride lines weren't that bad, but yeah, the HP areas are still wall-to-wall people, with everyone wanting to stop and take photos.

We walked on Gringott's and Forbidden Journey once we used the single rider lines, but yeah, there's just people EVERYWHERE in there. Even if the crowds are low.

 

[Squirlz]

We were just there on a crowd level "2" day according to Touring Plans. Ride lines weren't that bad, but yeah, the HP areas are still wall-to-wall people, with everyone wanting to stop and take photos.

We walked on Gringott's and Forbidden Journey once we used the single rider lines, but yeah, there's just people EVERYWHERE in there. Even if the crowds are low.

Today was our 3rd day here and yeah, crowds everywhere but wait times are reasonable. We have Express with the resort which helps a lot. Many many Brazilians. Touring Plans had predicted 2-3 but afterwards they said they observed 5-6. At least tomorrow we might finally see mid 60 degree temps!

 

[RMulieri]

Today was our 3rd day here and yeah, crowds everywhere but wait times are reasonable. We have Express with the resort which helps a lot. Many many Brazilians. Touring Plans had predicted 2-3 but afterwards they said they observed 5-6. At least tomorrow we might finally see mid 60 degree temps!

Yeah, this week and next has a lot of tour groups. Last year the crowds calendars were wrong too with their 3-4 predictions.It was more of 5-6 and a lot more people than we expected and a lot more than we experienced the year before during the same time period

 

[keishashadow]

undercover tourist has a crowd calendar that is good as any & price is right - free

 

[HM]

We do the mornings in the park and then the evenings. Even during busy times, those are the lowest crowd times. Tour groups start coming in aroun 10:30-11am but usually leave around 5pm. We don't have to see much of them this way. And....we get pool time and vacation relaxation in the afternoon.

 

[angierae]

Today was our 3rd day here and yeah, crowds everywhere but wait times are reasonable. We have Express with the resort which helps a lot. Many many Brazilians. Touring Plans had predicted 2-3 but afterwards they said they observed 5-6. At least tomorrow we might finally see mid 60 degree temps!

I will say that while we _saw_ multiple tour groups, they never caused any inconvenience for us at all - no chanting, no groups all getting in line in front of us or anything. They were there, but they didn't impact our trip at all.

 

[Squirlz]

I will say that while we _saw_ multiple tour groups, they never caused any inconvenience for us at all - no chanting, no groups all getting in line in front of us or anything. They were there, but they didn't impact our trip at all.

I agree, we saw none of that. But there was a bit of trying to get through them as they stood in the road or at the entrance of an attraction. Overall they've been pleasant and happy.

 

[SuperTink]

Just got back. Crowd calendar called it a Level 2 day, but there were wall-to-wall people in HP lands. And a 60 minute wait for Spiderman, for example. Mostly Brazilians, but we had no problem with them personally.

 

[Ombo]

www.orlandoinformer.com

Lots of free information, including crowd calendar.