Thanksgiving Week Visit - Questions

[TinkerbellSecret]

Hi,
In November we will be doing a split stay between Disney & Universal. It will be our first trip to Universal. From my research I am seeing that Universal is typically less busy/crowded on the days leading up to Thanksgiving than WDW, however Harry Potter can change that. We are arriving Thursday Nov. 17th. I am planning to do 4 WDW days when we arrive (Friday/Sat/Sun/Mon), and then doing Universal Tues/Wed/Thanksgiving Day. We will fly home on Friday. We are trying to beat the crowds a little by going as much before Thanksgiving Day as we can with our jobs.

Going to Universal on those days, I see that the Express Pass is about the middle rate on Tues/Thur, and a lower rate on Wednesday. I am trying to decide if I "need" to get them, or if I should fork over the extra money to stay on site. We were planning to do all off-site this year and rent a car. Harry Potter isn't a huge deal - we'd like to see it and do the ride b/c it sounds amazing, but I don't think we'd be heartbroken if it's too crazy.

I am also trying to decide on park-to-park, or just single park where we'd do one park each day, then go back to our favorite on Thanksgiving Day.

So my questions are:
1) Opinions of express passes for those days?
2) Are those good days to go? (I know it might be better to go even earlier in the week, but I'm just anticipating from my research on these boards that Universal will be less busy than WDW on those days, so doing WDW earlier in the week).
3) Any other thoughts or suggestions?

I am so excited to get to add Universal to our trip this time, and just want to be prepared!

Thanks in advance for any input on this plan.

 

[mesaboy2]

So my questions are:
1) Opinions of express passes for those days?...

I recommend you wait on purchasing express passes until you are there and can gauge their worth to you on the spot. You never know if rain will clear out the lines for you, for instance, and you may find you sunk the $$$ for nothing. The other major disadvantage to purchasing them in advance is that they will only be good for the day you select, thereby locking you into visiting Universal on that day. This type of express is good once per ride. They rarely sell out, so there is little downside to purchasing on-the-spot if needed.

If you decide to stay on-site, you'll get unlimited express automatically included with your room key and it is tough to go back once you've had it. If you can get a rate you like, then I highly recommend on-site. It also includes a one-hour early entry into Harry Potter.

 

[daughertyk]

We are going at the same time...We are only doing one day at Universal though, so I would love to get thoughts on the best days too. We never get the express pass, we get there before the park opens, and the lines don't start to get to crazy till 11ish.

 

[Metro West]

So my questions are:
1) Opinions of express passes for those days?
2) Are those good days to go? (I know it might be better to go even earlier in the week, but I'm just anticipating from my research on these boards that Universal will be less busy than WDW on those days, so doing WDW earlier in the week).
3) Any other thoughts or suggestions?

1.) If you're prior to Thanksgiving, you should not need EPs as the crowd levels will be relatively low. Wait until you arrive to see what the lines are like.

2.) Yes...any day before Black Friday is fine but stay away from the weekend.

3.) Have a great time!