October - What to expect?

[MyGirlLovesTink]

We are going to WDW in mid-October and plan on doing two days at Universal this time. My DD will only be 5, so we don't plan on doing any of the coasters or major thrill rides. What can I expect for crowds at that time of year? Do I need to plan out as carefully as I do for WDW or do you think most rides will be walk on? We will probably spend a lot of time in Seuss Landing and any other parts of the park with the same age range attractions. We want to see WWOHP, but only to check it out. We will probably only want to ride Hippogriff in this section of the park. We just want to explore that area. I'm so used to making very detailed touring plans for Disney, is this necessary for Universal?

My dad likes to ride coasters, is there a fast single rider line that he can go on if he decides to do some?

 

[macraven]

We are going to WDW in mid-October and plan on doing two days at Universal this time. My DD will only be 5, so we don't plan on doing any of the coasters or major thrill rides. What can I expect for crowds at that time of year? Do I need to plan out as carefully as I do for WDW or do you think most rides will be walk on? We will probably spend a lot of time in Seuss Landing and any other parts of the park with the same age range attractions. We want to see WWOHP, but only to check it out. We will probably only want to ride Hippogriff in this section of the park. We just want to explore that area. I'm so used to making very detailed touring plans for Disney, is this necessary for Universal?

My dad likes to ride coasters, is there a fast single rider line that he can go on if he decides to do some?

if i calculated correctly from your siggie, i am guessing your trip will be monday the 15th and tuesday the 16th.......??

you should be fine on those two dates.
Hell week could begin on that next wednesday which will possibly bring more into the park later in the day.

wait, i see you are planning a disney trip and doing a couple of universal days.
stay away from the weekend as HHN will bring more people into the park in the later afternoon.

the parks will be closing early during that time period when hhn is held
studios will close at 5 and ioa at 7 on the hhn dates.

go early and do potter ville when you get there. if you are there early, you can get some great pics and take your time checking out the store fronts.


have the spouse do dueling dragons, hulk for a coaster ride and the RRR and the Mummy at the studios. Most of the coasters have single rider lines.

check out www.universalorlando.com and get a lay of the parks and the rides/shows they have to offer.
you can use this to plan your day at the parks.
you will find the layout for everything by using it.

you will enjoy seuss a lot.

there are play areas at the studios side also.
will you be buying 2 park 2 day passes?
do you have an idea of which two days you plan on universal>

 

[MyGirlLovesTink]

if i calculated correctly from your siggie, i am guessing your trip will be monday the 15th and tuesday the 16th.......??

you should be fine on those two dates.
Hell week could begin on that next wednesday which will possibly bring more into the park later in the day.

wait, i see you are planning a disney trip and doing a couple of universal days.
stay away from the weekend as HHN will bring more people into the park in the later afternoon.

the parks will be closing early during that time period when hhn is held
studios will close at 5 and ioa at 7 on the hhn dates.

go early and do potter ville when you get there. if you are there early, you can get some great pics and take your time checking out the store fronts.


have the spouse do dueling dragons, hulk for a coaster ride and the RRR and the Mummy at the studios. Most of the coasters have single rider lines.

check out www.universalorlando.com and get a lay of the parks and the rides/shows they have to offer.
you can use this to plan your day at the parks.
you will find the layout for everything by using it.

you will enjoy seuss a lot.

there are play areas at the studios side also.
will you be buying 2 park 2 day passes?
do you have an idea of which two days you plan on universal>

Our dates are flexible right now as we don't have anything booked. We could go a week earlier if it works out better for crowd levels. We will be buying 2 day park passes.

We can definitely avoid the weekend and save those days for Disney parks. Are there specific days that are better to visit Universal?

What exactly is HHN? Is it okay for young kids or is it more geared towards older kids/teens?

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Our dates are flexible right now as we don't have anything booked. We could go a week earlier if it works out better for crowd levels. We will be buying 2 day park passes.

We can definitely avoid the weekend and save those days for Disney parks. Are there specific days that are better to visit Universal?

What exactly is HHN? Is it okay for young kids or is it more geared towards older kids/teens?

HHN is definitely not okay for little kids! I wouldn't let a kid younger than middle school go (I remember I had to fight to be able to go when I was 14!). It's very intense and scary.. although a great event!

 

[Metro West]

HHN is definitely not okay for little kids! I wouldn't let a kid younger than middle school go (I remember I had to fight to be able to go when I was 14!). It's very intense and scary.. although a great event!

 

[macraven]

stay away from the weekends.
tue and wed (even mondays) are ideal days for october for your family.

hhn is a hard ticket event that runs from 6:30 pm to 2:00 am.

no children tickets are sold.
it is not for children due to the atmosphere and intensity of it.
scare houses, scare zones and lots of beer carts.

(MMSSHP is geared towards children and families.)


i'll be there at the darkside from the 2nd thru 11th and enjoy the weekdays w/ low crowds.
the week prior, i'll be at the motherland.

this is the time i have been going to the darkside for many years.

 

[zack123]

I was there the first weekend of October last year.

Crowds were very low - I had absolutely no plan, except for that I wanted to visit WWoHP and ride Forbidden Journey. It was nice to just wander around, and when I walked by something that looked interesting, just got in line.

In Suess Landing, for some strange reason Cat in the Hat had a long-ish wait - 45 minutes. Maybe it had been down earlier in the day? Everything else there was either walk on or less than five minutes to wait.

In WWoHP, lines for FJ ranged from walk-on to 60 minutes. Single rider line was never more than 20 minutes. The other two rides were less than five minutes. Ollivander's occasionally stretched to 30 minute waits, but that is normal.

Everywhere else in IOA had very low crowds - I don't think I waited more than five minutes for anything. I used the single rider line for Hulk, it was pretty much walk-on. ETA: I think I did wait 15-20 minutes for Ripsaw Falls, but it was 85+ degrees that day - everyone was looking for a way to cool off.

On the US side, it got busy in the afternoon on nights when they had HHN. The rest of the time, most attractions had very short waits or were walk-on. On MIB, they combined the single rider and express lines because the crowds were so low. Mummy also had very short single rider lines. RRR was only about 10 minutes from the single rider line. The longest I waited for anything on that side was 30 minutes for Simpsons.

If you go on a day when there is no HHN, the only crowds you will see will be at WWoHP - and even those are relatively minimal.

I did not go to HHN, but from the info I got, it is NOT appropriate for young children. It's designed to be very scary and with older teens and adults in mind. You might check out Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party if you are looking for a more child-friendly Halloween theme park experience.