So, what exactly does "early" mean?

[Granny]

I've read the tips about getting to the Universal Parks early. Just wondering how early that means? We will be driving from off-site, and it seems to me that last summer we arrived at the garage about a half hour before the park was scheduled to open? Or is there a better time?

Thanks in advance for the great help you all provide!

 

[Slacking]

Arriving to the garage 30 minutes early, may cut it a bit close, I'd try 45 minutes.

 

[the kabuki]

That walk from the garage can take almost 20-30 minutes.
45 minutes to an hour early sounds about right.
BTW-Buy your tickets in advance to save some more time

 

[Motherfletcher]

On busy days I've seen the park open 45 minutes early and the parking garage open before 8. I've seen it, too, when we were the second or third car in the queue and by the time we made it to the hub, buses had already unloaded more than 100 people. It kind of depends on when you are going.

 

[robvia]

I tell everyone that the parking garage opens at 8am, and at 7:45am, there is a small group of cars waiting at the booths.

Try to get there at 07:45am, you'll be first into the garage. Then you walk thru an empty city walk, which is fun. When you get to the gate, there may be a couple people waiting. Get in line in front of an empty turnstyle, and sit on the ground if it is not wet.

If you ask me, arriving early is fun, and the time goes by really fast. Your reward for doing this is a front seat ride on Hulk on the first train out.

Check out these two pages to see what I'm talking about.
http://www.nogodforme.com/arriveearly.htm
And in this page, you can see the crowd at 08:30am, that's not early enough.
http://www.nogodforme.com/IOA.htm
Scroll down near the bottom to see a picture of the crowd.

 

[Granny]

Thanks to all for your great advice, as always. Getting DW and two DD's going that early will be a challenge, but well worth it! Another nice bonus is that it does allow us to beat some of the day's heat by getting there so early.

Your comments are much appreciated. Thanks for helping our vacation go smoothly!