October's a better idea isn't it?

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I had planned on taking my son and his best friend to US this summer to see HP, as both are huge HP fans. However, when I made those plans I was assuming that HP would have been opened for months, and the initial frenzy would have died down.

Now it turns out that the only dates we could go are a week after the grand opening.

The boys and I can get a 4 day weekend in October, when their school is closed for a teacher's conference, and mine is closed due to our year round schedule. It would be weekend before Columbus day.

But we'd get 4 days (probably fly down on a Wed. night, fly back Sun night) instead of the 5 to 6 we'd planned.

I'm assuming that the crowds will be enough reduced in October, and that we'll have more stamina from the lack of heat, so that we'll actually see more in October than we would have in June/July. We'll stay on site.

Do other peope agree? Or woud you choose the end of June/beginning of July?

 

[mom2aandj]

we're going in October for 4 days when our kids are off school for conferences, so clearly I think that's the right way to go!

 

[patster734]

In October, Universal has a halloween event called Halloween Horror Nights (HHN). This event is a hard ticket event that begins a couple hours after normal park closing, in the evening. This year will be it's 20th anniversary. Normally, HHNs doesn't impact the day crowds too much, but this year could be different, especially with the Harry Potter opening. Still, I would expect October crowds to be less than June/July crowds.

As for temperatures, they can vary greatly from year to year in October. Last October, it was warm that weekend, with the highs in the 90's. A few years ago, it was cool enough, that some of us purchased sweat shirts to stay warm.

 

[Metro West]

we're going in October for 4 days when our kids are off school for conferences, so clearly I think that's the right way to go!

I would much rather go in October than in the summer. Even though it's hurricane season in October, the weather is usually better than the summer...but not always. Last year it was very hot/humid in October which made walking in the parks very uncomfortable. The crowds should be down since school will be in session so not as many families will be around.

 

[christophfam]

I'm going in October too for many of the same reasons, BUT park hours are greatly deminished in Oct. Parks will be open until 10ish this summer, but in Oct. may close as early as 5-6PM. Still I prefer the lower crowds and better weather.

 

[mjohnson96]

I would stick with October and if HHN are going on try to get some tickets to see that, it is a blast. We arriving on the 19th of June insane but that is the only week my DH had where he was not on call for the SWAT team here.

We figured the parks will be insane, so since we are staying onsite we will just relax and see what we can. Take one day and get to the park as soon as they open for onsite guests and head over to WWOHP.