park hours august it closes early

[timallen]

seems realy early for august 17th and 18th IA closes at 6 and US closes at 7
how does it work do all the rides close at that time can i enter just before it closes any help please

 

[phamton]

The rides close at park closing. If you are in line at park closing, you will be able to ride. Some shows like T2 close before the park closing time though.

 

[timallen]

thanks for the reply will have to rethink my plans a bit

 

[troobabiee7]

I wonder why the parks close so early?? We'll be there the first two weeks of August when IOA closes at 8 and Universal at 9. Seems kind of crazy when Disney's open until 2AM on some nights.

 

[Metro West]

I wonder why the parks close so early?? We'll be there the first two weeks of August when IOA closes at 8 and Universal at 9. Seems kind of crazy when Disney's open until 2AM on some nights.

WDW is out in the middle of nowhere and Universal is within Orlando city limits and has to abide by the noise ordinance. I agree that 8pm is early but there are residential neighborhoods directly behind the parks.

 

[bucket o' butter]

We just got back from Universal and wondered why it closed so early. It was open until 9 and I still thought that was early as compared to Disney. I guess that makes sense as far as noise limits in residential neighborhoods.

 

[mousey]

Boy 6pm sounds awfully early for August. They must be expecting low crowds.

 

[troobabiee7]

WDW is out in the middle of nowhere and Universal is within Orlando city limits and has to abide by the noise ordinance. I agree that 8pm is early but there are residential neighborhoods directly behind the parks.

But how can that be if CityWalk's still open all night with the music blasting and live bands playing? When we were at Universal back in the summer of 2007 the parks were open until 10. It seems more like cost-cutting measures. My dad works for NBC and GE has been cutting corners everywhere

 

[Jonny_Duck]

But how can that be if CityWalk's still open all night with the music blasting and live bands playing? When we were at Universal back in the summer of 2007 the parks were open until 10. It seems more like cost-cutting measures. My dad works for NBC and GE has been cutting corners everywhere

Thats interesting I never rly thought about Citywalks noise before. I always thought it was cost cutting also considering I doubt its a noise problem before 8pm. I had to deal with the 6 o'clock closing a cpl times last year and think its pretty ridiculous, I don't even get out of bed till 6.(Slight over-exaggeration) But it just makes me either spend more money on dinner having it out at citywalk and leaves me with nothing to do for hours before bed.

 

[Metro West]

But how can that be if CityWalk's still open all night with the music blasting and live bands playing? When we were at Universal back in the summer of 2007 the parks were open until 10. It seems more like cost-cutting measures. My dad works for NBC and GE has been cutting corners everywhere

I don't know...maybe CityWalk is far enough away from Dr. Phillips High School and the surrounding houses that noise isn't much of a factor. I don't think there is any question the shorter hours are cost cutting which I prefer over laying people off but I don't think it's the main reason. Even during HHN back in the days when it was at IOA (2004/2005) the roller coasters would close before the park would so I think the noise is the more deciding factor.

 

[macraven]

I wonder why the parks close so early?? We'll be there the first two weeks of August when IOA closes at 8 and Universal at 9. Seems kind of crazy when Disney's open until 2AM on some nights.

We just got back from Universal and wondered why it closed so early. It was open until 9 and I still thought that was early as compared to Disney. I guess that makes sense as far as noise limits in residential neighborhoods.

it depends on the season and date you go to the parks on the hours for closing.
also, universal does change the closing time on some dates depending on crowds.
check the website for changes prior to your leaving for universal parks.


all parks are cutting back hours. it is not only universal.
i am doing the motherland for 9 days prior to heading to the darkside.

i looked at the disney calendar for sept/oct and was taken back at the early closing times for when i will be there.
dhs and mk closing at 7 some nights.

on the emh nights, some are closing an hour early thus making the emh one hour less for the resort guests.
i also noticed less emh days for the parks. a lot different than from last year when i stayed there.
less dates for fireworks and the finale at dhs/fantasia (sp)

traditionally, universal cuts the hours somewhere around the 3rd week of august. many of the tourists have kids that start school at that point.
less people in the parks.
our schools go back the 3rd week that month also.

universal has 2 parks. a lot can be covered in the day at them.
there is no down time to move from one park to the other.

at disney and with their 4 parks and water parks, you do need more days to see it all.
the distance between and the use of the bus system there, cuts into time.

But how can that be if CityWalk's still open all night with the music blasting and live bands playing? When we were at Universal back in the summer of 2007 the parks were open until 10. It seems more like cost-cutting measures. My dad works for NBC and GE has been cutting corners everywhere

orlando has a noise ordinance that prevents the Hulk and a few at ioa to operate past a certain time during the week.
when HHN was at ioa some years back, universal was able to work out with the city for that ride to run on the weekends up to about 10:30 or so.
that is the only time i can recall of the ride extended to a later time period.

the noise from operating a ride is far greater than the noise you get from city walk. the sound from the outside bands on the weekend, does not carry that far to the residential area. most of the sounds are inside buildings for the entertainment.

i have stayed at rph and could hear the swooshing of the hulk early morning when they tested it. i have never heard any sounds from city walk when staying at the rph or the hrh. even at 1 or 2 in the morning, still did not hear city walk noises from any of my hotel rooms.

universal has a residential area surrounding it.
disney is far from the residential area.
when walt created dw, he learned from dl of how to have his parks far away from commercial and residential settings. a smart move on his part.


btw and this is off topic, i saw where you posted about your upcoming trip, (remember me from kings of leon?) and stated about your dad's employment.

did you know there are some discounts that NBC employees are entitled to at universal?

 

[troobabiee7]

btw and this is off topic, i saw where you posted about your upcoming trip, (remember me from kings of leon?) and stated about your dad's employment.

did you know there are some discounts that NBC employees are entitled to at universal?

I never knew about the noise factor but it makes sense. I know we were on The Hulk at just before 10:00 back in 2006 so I guess it depends on whether it's during the Orlando school year or not.

Of course I remember you! We've used the NBC discounts before and they're definitely helpful Ticket prices are the same but we get free parking, 35% off merchandise, 20% off at in-park restaurants and 10% off at CityWalk restaurants. We'll have to compare those savings to the ones in the coupon books their offering and see which is the better deal!

 

[macraven]

don't forget those huge onsite hotel discounts for nbc employees....

 

[troobabiee7]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]don't forget those huge onsite hotel discounts for nbc employees....[/FONT]

I wish we could stay onsite! We bring our dog and they're pet friendly too, but we usually go for at least two weeks and rent a house. I can't imagine paying all that for two weeks and all being in one room

 

[macraven]

i totally understand....

too bad you didn't enter into the super bowl contest for tickets.
in the mailer the voucher came in, was a special booking code for discounts on site.

i used that code and got 5 nights on site for $152 a night.

i'm sure you are paying less for your condo.

 

[troobabiee7]

i totally understand....

too bad you didn't enter into the super bowl contest for tickets.
in the mailer the voucher came in, was a special booking code for discounts on site.

i used that code and got 5 nights on site for $152 a night.

i'm sure you are paying less for your condo.

We did! I got a ticket and my aunt got a ticket. I figured my dad probably couldn't win so I put in for myself. It was a great deal and what got us to go to Universal in the first place. All along we were planning on getting 10-day passes to Disney but I know my parents and brother like Universal better, and my aunt and 8-year-old cousin are coming for the first time and all my cousin talks about is wanting to ride ET, so we switched it. It was hard to pass up the parks the year they were handing out free tickets, so with my free ticket and the great 7-day deal, we wound up saving $635 on tickets It was an amazing deal!

The vacation home is a lot cheaper. The four of us, my aunt and cousin are all staying together so we have 3-bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a full kitchen, a big living room, washer/dryer, etc all for $1050 for two weeks. The resort looks gorgeous too. That being said, the huge savings are counteracted by the location, which is around a half-hour away from Universal. If I was just going with friends for a few days I'd definitely pay a little extra for the convenience of staying onsite