Recent crowd levels + predictions for end of June

[maxsmom]

We are considering a last minute trip. Will the resorts give us an idea of how crowded they are at the end of the month? How soon before the 4th would crowds pick up? What have the crowds been like recently? Thanks

 

[Mr. Drauer]

the resorts have been limiting capacity. No one knows what that is, or how long it will continue at those levels. No one knows what it will look like in 3 weeks. They are limiting capacity at the parks, but again, no one knows to what level. At Volcano Bay Saturday, it reached capacity before 12:00, but most slides (not Krakatau) were 10 minutes or Ride Now all day. Last weekend, on Sunday we rode Hagrid at 9:15, 9:30, and 10:00 with VQ. waits for rides were anywhere from 5 minutes to 40 minutes, and most that got to 40 minutes switched over to VQ at that point.

 

[ToyStory3]

If we have a resort reservation are we guaranteed entrance into the parks?

 

[Wreckem]

If we have a resort reservation are we guaranteed entrance into the parks?

Yes. The only day I would be worried about capacity this summer is Saturday July 4.

Saturday’s are the busiest for sure and that will be the busiest Saturday all summer. Week days a exceptionally dead. Sunday’s aren’t as busy as Saturday’s and yesterday wasn’t that busy but I think weather played an issue part of the day.

 

[miksilver]

Go!

I just got back from 3 nights at Sapphire Falls with old (from 2015) Park to Park tickets that I had lying around from a cancelled trip and it was AMAZING! From start to finish on Universal property I felt safe, socially distanced and on vacation!

Parks close early. Not everything is open. You have to plan for dinner if you don't have a car. We rented a car and ate off property each night using Open Table reservations so that I knew the restaurant was open for a table service and not get caught with a take-out only restaurant.

There's no valet parking (but still a $26/day parking charge), but the covered parking garage was close to the resort and not busy. There's no bell services, be prepared to get carts and bring up your own luggage -- tons of carts were available. There's no housekeeping, so be prepared to call or text for anything you need for your room and it will be delivered in plastic bags.

Nothing was busy. Nothing was crowded. Universal has socially distanced marks everywhere and are taking temperatures and are enforcing masks.

CityWalk was closed at 10pm prompt and the resort at or before 11pm. There wasn't a bar open at the resort at 10:30pm. I just wanted one drink outside of the room to relax before bed and couldn't find it.

The resort pool was never busy, even at peak times and there were chairs/loungers to be found at all times during the day and night.

It was one of the best park experiences my daughter and I have ever had. We modified a bit and went with the flow and had a great time.

 

[eeg]

Go!

I just got back from 3 nights at Sapphire Falls with old (from 2015) Park to Park tickets that I had lying around from a cancelled trip and it was AMAZING! From start to finish on Universal property I felt safe, socially distanced and on vacation!

Parks close early. Not everything is open. You have to plan for dinner if you don't have a car. We rented a car and ate off property each night using Open Table reservations so that I knew the restaurant was open for a table service and not get caught with a take-out only restaurant.

There's no valet parking (but still a $26/day parking charge), but the covered parking garage was close to the resort and not busy. There's no bell services, be prepared to get carts and bring up your own luggage -- tons of carts were available. There's no housekeeping, so be prepared to call or text for anything you need for your room and it will be delivered in plastic bags.

Nothing was busy. Nothing was crowded. Universal has socially distanced marks everywhere and are taking temperatures and are enforcing masks.

CityWalk was closed at 10pm prompt and the resort at or before 11pm. There wasn't a bar open at the resort at 10:30pm. I just wanted one drink outside of the room to relax before bed and couldn't find it.

The resort pool was never busy, even at peak times and there were chairs/loungers to be found at all times during the day and night.

It was one of the best park experiences my daughter and I have ever had. We modified a bit and went with the flow and had a great time.

I'm really glad to read this. We are thinking about a last minute trip July 13-18. We've been meaning to do Universal in the next couple of years (have not been to the Orlando parks) and WDW not worth visiting right now for us because of the park reservation system and entertainment cuts. It seems like now is a good time to visit Universal - my sense is there are some cuts but since Universal is more about rides for us, that's fine.

I had looked at booking on-site for the admission perks but it doesn't seem like those are particularly valuable right now anyway so we'll use our DVC points to stay at WDW and maybe buy express passes there if it's feeling crowded.

I swore we would never visit Orlando in July but everything else we've tried planning (including Disneyland where we have passes) has been cancelled. I think we'll do 2 days at Volcano (my kids LOVE water parks) and 2 in the parks.

 

[ToyStory3]

Go!

I just got back from 3 nights at Sapphire Falls with old (from 2015) Park to Park tickets that I had lying around from a cancelled trip and it was AMAZING! From start to finish on Universal property I felt safe, socially distanced and on vacation!

Parks close early. Not everything is open. You have to plan for dinner if you don't have a car. We rented a car and ate off property each night using Open Table reservations so that I knew the restaurant was open for a table service and not get caught with a take-out only restaurant.

There's no valet parking (but still a $26/day parking charge), but the covered parking garage was close to the resort and not busy. There's no bell services, be prepared to get carts and bring up your own luggage -- tons of carts were available. There's no housekeeping, so be prepared to call or text for anything you need for your room and it will be delivered in plastic bags.

Nothing was busy. Nothing was crowded. Universal has socially distanced marks everywhere and are taking temperatures and are enforcing masks.

CityWalk was closed at 10pm prompt and the resort at or before 11pm. There wasn't a bar open at the resort at 10:30pm. I just wanted one drink outside of the room to relax before bed and couldn't find it.

The resort pool was never busy, even at peak times and there were chairs/loungers to be found at all times during the day and night.

It was one of the best park experiences my daughter and I have ever had. We modified a bit and went with the flow and had a great time.

Thank you so much! This is very helpful! Can you clarify why you went off property to eat? Were there open restaurants on property that were open? We were thinking about eating at 3 Broomsticks for lunch and Margaritaville for dinner. Do you happen to remember if they were open? Thanks again!

 

[Prof_obvious]

My 16 year old son and I arrive next Wednesday, July 1. We're excited.

 

[helenb]

Thank you so much! This is very helpful! Can you clarify why you went off property to eat? Were there open restaurants on property that were open? We were thinking about eating at 3 Broomsticks for lunch and Margaritaville for dinner. Do you happen to remember if they were open? Thanks again!

We were there in early June and both 3 Broomsticks and Margaritaville were open. Our favorite place to eat ended up being the Hard Rock Cafe, which was taking reservations through Open Table and had excellent food. You can also make reservations for the in-park TS restaurants (Finnegan's, Lombard's, Mythos, Confisco Grille) on Universal's website. Honestly, we didn't have much trouble finding places to eat dinner... the places at CityWalk were pretty much walk-in during early evening hours (5-7 pm). We ended up eating at Bubba Gump's one night (because my husband had a hankering for shrimp) and it was much better than I remembered from previous visits. The longest wait we had at CityWalk was VooDoo Donuts.

For those considering a trip, GO! This was our best trip ever to Universal and we had a fantastic time! The resorts safety measures were good and we felt protected the entire time. I can't say the same for SeaWorld and Busch Gardens (which we visited on the same trip), unfortunately.

As for crowd levels, I don't think they are very high. I actually got an email from Universal this morning telling me that the blackout dates on my seasonal passes were being suspended for the summer.

 

[disneydreamer1970]

Thank you for this post! We were scheduled to go to Disney July 15 - 20 but will all going on have decided to go to Universal instead and purchase Annual Passes. We are sooo excited!!

 

[eeg]

We'll be going too. Who knows whether crowds will pick up more by the end of July with more schools being out but I am hoping will still be relatively low. Thanks for the info & review!

 

[miksilver]

While I was there I was not able to make on site dining reservations through the app. The one time we ate at Finnegan's, I called the dining reservation line and asked what was available in the park for lunch/now. They had tables available and I booked one a few minutes before our dining time. When I walked up I overheard the people in front of us there was a 45 min. wait time, but not for me! I had a reservation and my DD and I were able to escape the brutal FL sun and heat for a while.

Mobile Order is the only way to go for the counter service style places inside the parks. We ate at Leaky Cauldron twice for breakfast and both times the restaurant had plenty of seating, with zero wait time to get in. Be sure to ask for EVERYTHING you need. You can't order cups of water through the app, so I got used to asking for them as soon as we were seated. Depending on the food runner for mobile order you may get everything you need for your meal including salt and pepper, or you will have to ask for the condiment needed and they will bring it to your table. There is no grab and go -- be aware. Leaky Cauldron breakfast was surprisingly hot and tasty. My DD and I enjoyed everything we ate there.

We also did mobile order for Fast Food Blvd (Simpsons indoor food court). It was the heat of the day and we needed a short break inside. The place was empty! They seat you, like everywhere else and assist with mobile order as needed. The Hopping Pot (mobile order wasn't working, so we ordered in person) had delicious beef pasties for a snack and the ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour (no mobile order).

Outside of the parks in CityWalk we ate at Red Oven Pizza which has turned into a table service restaurant. If you eat there be sure to bring cash to tip the servers, they weren't set up to tip on a credit card because they weren't a table service style place before. The pizza was delicious. Voodoo Donut has mobile order set up, but we didn't use it and went inside to order the traditional way to bring back some donuts to the room. The donuts are ok, but nothing special. Not my fav. I also ate at the bar area of NBC Sports Grill. I closed the place down at 10pm closing time, when the lights came on. The bar was sectioned off into 4 "stations" of 4 chairs each for social distancing. I was able to order like a regular bar experience there.

In Orlando we ate at Seito Sushi -- delicious food and they had some nice food happy hour specials; Ciao Italia Ristorante -- we were the only people in the restaurant for a 7:15pm dinner time, and we never felt uncomfortable. Very good food and the bread is amazing. The last night we went to Gyu-Kaku and feasted on grilled meats.

We didn't have a bad meal this entire trip. I think that's a first for any vacation!