Universal Day trip as a break from Galaxy's Edge crowds

[Nick6300]

Our trip will be 11/28 (Thanksgiving Day) - 12/7 (following Sat), we only booked 7D PH, 1 separate water park ticket.

UT crowd calendar:
https://www.undercovertourist.com/orlando/crowd-calendar/November-2019/

UT has 10/10 for Thanksgiving, Black Fri, 9/10 for Sat, 7/10 for Sun, and basically 5/10 for Mon-Fri, 7/10 on Sat 12/7. I think Sat 11/30 has a chance to be the busiest day with the locals flooding in for GE. Was initially thinking using a water park/DS day on the 11/29 or 11/30, and now considering a Universal day trip on one of those busier days too, hoping that even though busier at Universal too, maybe there will be more drawn to WDW than normal because of GE. The other strategy might be to have the water park day 11/29 or 11/30 and Universal during the week, to be more able to do highlights of park to park in 1 day. Tue and Wed are the late EMH for MK and EP.

Which day would you purchase for Universal and when would you use your water park day? Would you not do park to park ($169 vs. $115), no Hogwarts Express, but maybe too much to cover.

 

[wrestler72]

We usually do one Universal day during our trip. I just pick the day that is expected to be the busiest and book Express passes at Universal for this day. If your budget allows for that, I think this is the best strategy. I actually do not even like Universal but the family enjoys Harry Potter rides...

 

[rwdavis2]

I would do park to park. The difference is not much considering the overall cost of the trip, I assume. You could do both Potter lands and then do what's leftover. Our kids preferred it to WDW when they hit their teens and now it's just a tie. US crowds will probably mirror WDW's in elevated crowd levels but I doubt nothing will match DHS in craziness. So I would pick Black Friday for Universal and Thanksgiving for water park.

 

[FSU Girl]

When I went for Thanksgiving 2 years ago crowds weren't bad at all on that Thursday and Friday. It was the first holiday I spent there and was surprised. Now I think it'll be a lot more crowded. I have a trip planned for then too, debating whether or not to cancel. I think going during the week to Universal will give you the lowest crowds. Weekends will be high with people out of work and school. I think going to the water park on the weekend would be good since most people will be going to the parks then.

 

[Nick6300]

We usually do one Universal day during our trip. I just pick the day that is expected to be the busiest and book Express passes at Universal for this day. If your budget allows for that, I think this is the best strategy. I actually do not even like Universal but the family enjoys Harry Potter rides...

I've never made it to US. I actually felt like a Disney traitor if I even had thoughts of going to US. Can you buy Express passes separate from your tickets? We have the one park to park ticket, and if we buy discounted tickets from Caterpillar, they might not come with any add ons. Are they essentially like a FP for every attraction or more waiting per attraction than that.

 

[Nick6300]

I would do park to park. The difference is not much considering the overall cost of the trip, I assume. You could do both Potter lands and then do what's leftover. Our kids preferred it to WDW when they hit their teens and now it's just a tie. US crowds will probably mirror WDW's in elevated crowd levels but I doubt nothing will match DHS in craziness. So I would pick Black Friday for Universal and Thanksgiving for water park.

Thanks for your input. You wouldn't mind going to a water park on your first day? I guess if we arrive late am, we'd already miss RD. And if room isn't available, could change in bathroom or come with suit under your clothes. We were initially going to try to find a red eye on Wed, arriving, say, midnight and taking a nap at MCO... I know, hardcore. But we actually did this last Aug., and got lucky with our rooms avail at 4-5am. I don't expect many empty rooms during our next stay.

 

[Nick6300]

When I went for Thanksgiving 2 years ago crowds weren't bad at all on that Thursday and Friday. It was the first holiday I spent there and was surprised. Now I think it'll be a lot more crowded. I have a trip planned for then too, debating whether or not to cancel. I think going during the week to Universal will give you the lowest crowds. Weekends will be high with people out of work and school. I think going to the water park on the weekend would be good since most people will be going to the parks then.

We originally booked for Labor Day wknd with the late summer sale, for the lower crowds, price difference and to try to avoid possible GE. But I was out-voted in favor of Christmas decor/celebration. Even though that's now opening wknd for GE, I'd think it still going to be less hectic than Thanksgiving given the holiday, GE still being new, no Rise of Resistance. But, we have to make the best of it as everyone had to approve vacation days early in the yr. I would have preferred a delay into Dec for GE, given how often we go, but not that upset about it.

 

[wrestler72]

You can buy express pass for any particular date. They are for a specific date. There are two types (if I remember correctly) - either to ride each attraction not more than once or any attraction as many times as you want. I have never done Universal without express passes but it appears to me that they are essential for Harry Potter land and not so much for everything else.

I've never made it to US. I actually felt like a Disney traitor if I even had thoughts of going to US. Can you buy Express passes separate from your tickets? We have the one park to park ticket, and if we buy discounted tickets from Caterpillar, they might not come with any add ons. Are they essentially like a FP for every attraction or more waiting per attraction than that.

 

[FrankDIS72]

I would think the holiday would not garner big crowds at Universal and Black Friday would be busy. I would go for Universal on Thanksgiving and Black Friday for the waterpark. As long as it is still warm enough at the end of November, you can splash around to your heart's content!

 

[TommyJK]

You can buy express pass for any particular date. They are for a specific date. There are two types (if I remember correctly) - either to ride each attraction not more than once or any attraction as many times as you want. I have never done Universal without express passes but it appears to me that they are essential for Harry Potter land and not so much for everything else.

On busy days, Express Pass is useful for so much more than just the Potter stuff.

Looking at the app right now (as it's busy for march break crowds):

Kong = 85 min
Spiderman = 75 min
Hulk Coaster = 60 min
Minions (always busy) = 60 min
ET = 60 min
Rip Ride Rockit = 85 min
Men in Black = 45 min
Mummy = 55 min
Transformers = 60 min