Official open at 8am; when do gates actually open at US?

[princessebird]

A newbie here. We will be at Universal in September, staying onsite at a deluxe, and not taking part in HHN. We will be taking advantage of the early entry at IOA one morning (9am open, so 8am EE). For the next day, at US, the open is listed at 8am. I've read here-and-there that US opens the gates as early as 30 minutes before the official open. Are they likely to do this on a morning they open at 8am? Or is that "opening the gates 30 minutes early" thing really only for 9am opens?
TIA, and forgive me if this has been answered elsewhere.

 

[macraven]

if the crowds in line waiting to get in are huge, UO has opened the gates to that park earlier.
a few times when that has happened it was about 8:50 when that happened.

it all can be different times based on what UO wants.
if employees are in place early, that's a good sign for earlier opening.

 

[PrincessMama605]

We have been lucky and been let in early at US a few times in the past. It was 10-15 mins prior to actual opening and only parts of the park have been open. Just Minions, Transformers and RRR were open and there were team members preventing people from going any further into the park.