Reaching capacity?

[MinnieS11]

I’m terrified of my trip in April. I’m going to attempt to do both parks in one day and parks have been reaching capacity a lot. I’m wondering if it’s just because of the holidays? I really just want to do Hagrid’s. Everything else is a plus. I guess this is a statement more than a question lol. Any tips?

 

[J'aime Paris]

I would plan on doing rope drop to get into a park.
Use the Hogwarts Express train to transfer from one park to the other. That way you won't be denied access to the other park.
If you are a Universal hotel guest, then you'd get priority entry or re-entry to the parks when they reach capacity...something to consider.

 

[gumbypee]

I would think it is mostly due to holidays

 

[helenb]

If your'e doing both parks in 1 day, make sure you have Express Pass.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Which day of the week? Holidays aside, it is Saturdays that are most likely to reach capacity.

 

[hezell123]

Are you trying to go the week before or after Easter. That could be quite crowded so keep that in mind.

 

[DurangoJim]

If you’re staying at a universal resort will they still let you in even if they’re at capacity like the tiers at Disney?

 

[MinnieS11]

Definitely can’t afford express pass. I’m going to Disney right after, and that squeezed my money dry. I’m going the week after Easter.

 

[bchbetha]

I'd still consider staying at whatever hotel you can afford onsite. At least you will have early entry and priority access to the parks.

 

[fredandkell]

Definitely can’t afford express pass. I’m going to Disney right after, and that squeezed my money dry. I’m going the week after Easter.

Truly not trying to offend, but there is no way you’re going to get to do what you want to do in both parks in one day without express path. April is a mob scene, especially the week before and after Easter. If there is anyway you can squeeze it express pass is so worth the money. I second other peoples recommendations to stay on site, especially at Royal Pacific which is usually the cheapest hotel that includes the express pass. Or if you do a cheaper onsite hotel at least you can do rope drop at early entry and make a beeline for Hagrid‘s.

 

[tony67]

Express pass wont help with Hagrid’s and if its that busy it will be a virtual queue - so the main thing is to get their very early and have everyone in your party use their phones to try and get a virtual queue spot.

It possible this will change by April - but unlikely IMO

Considering how busy the holiday season was I'd expect more of the same in April - there is a lot of pent up demand and there will probably be even more by April

 

[cfoxga]

Every time we try to consider both Disney and Universal in a single trip, we come to the conclusion that it is just too expensive for a rushed experience. To do both parks in a day without EPs would require a very low crowd. Our Spring Break in GA is April 5-9 which is the week after Easter, which will have huge crowds. Hopefully, that is not the week you are planning...

 

[MinnieS11]

Every time we try to consider both Disney and Universal in a single trip, we come to the conclusion that it is just too expensive for a rushed experience. To do both parks in a day without EPs would require a very low crowd. Our Spring Break in GA is April 5-9 which is the week after Easter, which will have huge crowds. Hopefully, that is not the week you are planning...

Let me rephrase the week after April... I guess it would be considered 2 weeks after. The week of the 12th. We have both been before, just looking to ride Hagrid’s and do the HP train between the parks , since we haven’t before. Everything else would be a plus. We went during what we thought was a busy time back in 2018. We rode everything by 1 pm and had time to roam around...this was a day a park. So , especially now, I’m guessing crowds are unpredictable.

 

[cfoxga]

The big issue will be if schools are still on Spring Break that week or not. Thanksgiving was not too crowded this year, I suspect because many of the hotels were closed. We did hit capacity a couple of times. Wait times got to be more than an hour for most rides after 10:30 am, unless you had EP.

It sounds like Christmas/New Years was very crowded, with most of the hotels opening back up. As the vaccine starts making its way into production, I suspect more people will want to go out for Spring Break.

The good news is that this isn't your first visit, so you really aren't trying to do everything. Since you mentioned Hagrids specifically, I will say that the key is to know when the virtual queue tickets drop. When we were there, it was 8am, 11am, 2pm and 4pm. They were all snapped up within a couple minutes, so don't miss them. You can also go at rope drop to and do standby to make sure you get to ride once.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Considering how busy the holiday season was I'd expect more of the same in April - there is a lot of pent up demand and there will probably be even more by April

I've seen a lot of people in various threads commenting about the "pent up demand" leading to higher crowds. In my opinion, i would guess that the lack of international visitors more than makes up for any domestic demand increase. Wondering what others think about this.

 

[cfoxga]

I've seen a lot of people in various threads commenting about the "pent up demand" leading to higher crowds. In my opinion, i would guess that the lack of international visitors more than makes up for any domestic demand increase. Wondering what others think about this.

The parks have been plenty busy without international visitors. We were there at Thanksgiving and the non-EP lines were quite long, even though several hotels were closed. When some of those hotels re-opened in Dec, the parks started reaching capacity quite early on some days. I think that tony69 is correct that this is the "new normal". President's Day weekend for Feb 12-15 might be a good barometer.

Now if schools cancel Spring Break and keep kids in class, or there are significant changes in the course of the virus, things could change.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

The parks have been plenty busy without international visitors. We were there at Thanksgiving and the non-EP lines were quite long, even though several hotels were closed. When some of those hotels re-opened in Dec, the parks started reaching capacity quite early on some days. I think that tony69 is correct that this is the "new normal". President's Day weekend for Feb 12-15 might be a good barometer.

Now if schools cancel Spring Break and keep kids in class, or there are significant changes in the course of the virus, things could change.

You may be right, but i still don't think i'm buying it. I was always amazed at how many people were speaking different languages in the ride lines, and i think the December capacity had more to do with the deal on the Florida resident buy a day get the rest of the year. It's always crowded Thanksgiving week, end of December and President's day weekend. I'd say the better barometer will be the few weeks leading up to Presidents Day and the few weeks after.

 

[cfoxga]

Good point about the FL resident discount, as that would definitely bump up the attendance through the end of 2020. So if that goes away and the only hotel changes were re-opening PBH and swapping DSD for DSS, then President's Day might not be too bad. I hope that is the case, as we are booked for that weekend.