Universal during peak times - tips?

[jaceraden]

Hi there.

Wondering if you have any tips or ideas for touring Universal during peak crowd levels? Express Pass and Express Pass eligible hotels are not an option. I have been before but never during high season. We will be packing our patience for our 2 days of touring but I'm curious if there are any tips other than utilizing our 1 hour early entry. Do crowds thin a bit later in the evening or does the Christmas week tend to be heavy all day long?

TIA for any and all info.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We usually go the week of Thanksgiving but we usually have Express Pass so my help is pretty limited and mostly HP related. Yes - early entry. And it does get a little less busy at night. If you’re planning to do spells it’s good to do them at night when there are fewer people around. Also, they will often let you continue to do spells in Hogsmeade after park close (the shops will all be closed though). That was not the case for us in Diagon Alley - they start to clear it as soon as the park closes (when we went anyway). Catching a late Castle show is better than an early one. We also found both leaky cauldron and 3 broomsticks to be much less busy at supper than lunch. In general We found it easier to eat sit down with a reservation at lunch and do quick service for dinner - the lines were much shorter that way if you plan to eat quick service.

 

[keke5656]

We usually go the week of Thanksgiving but we usually have Express Pass so my help is pretty limited and mostly HP related. Yes - early entry. And it does get a little less busy at night. If you’re planning to do spells it’s good to do them at night when there are fewer people around. Also, they will often let you continue to do spells in Hogsmeade after park close (the shops will all be closed though). That was not the case for us in Diagon Alley - they start to clear it as soon as the park closes (when we went anyway). Catching a late Castle show is better than an early one. We also found both leaky cauldron and 3 broomsticks to be much less busy at supper than lunch. In general We found it easier to eat sit down with a reservation at lunch and do quick service for dinner - the lines were much shorter that way if you plan to eat quick service.

Thanks for 3 broomstick dinner tip! We are headed to Universal next week and I am so nervous about the crowds! When you went during thanksgiving did you find that even with reservations you had to wait for sit down places? What about food kiosks for snacks? We will have EP thankfully but I am still not looking forward to the crush of humanity!

 

[AJA]

Arrive at the gates early, even using early entry you want to be near the front of the line.
Watch youtube or study maps if you are not familiar with the layout of the park and where your must do's are.
Have your must do's in mind and try those first and/or last of the day.
Use single rider lines if available
Eat at non peak times, do not head for lunch at 12pm, plan on getting lunch right at 10:59am or around 2pm. Plan on snacks that could fill the hollow spot (like a pretzel etc) and if you are hungry get in any short snack cart line you see that has something you know you'll like, do not walk another 50 feet "to see what the next one has". Those lines can easily be 30 mins long or more at peak times.
The rain is your friend not your foe! If it rains stay in the park as it will empty out some.
Do not take a lot of stuff in the park with you, wear clothes with deep pockets or have a fanny pack. -You wont have to wait in line at the lockers (except for the rides with metal detectors, then you must use a locker for keys/phones/etc).


*if you are a family of teens or older do not be afraid to split up, this is not Disney, it is easy to run between the parks (especially if you are young!) if you have a couple of people that really want to ride every coaster and someone else who really wants to explore harry potter and see all the magic windows, split up!
The ice cream in HP is iconic but unless you are a huge HP fan just skip it, the wait is CRAZY at times and it's just good ice cream, it is not life changing, -but Butterbeer is and is worth the wait. The butterbeer tip is the same as any snack cart, if the line is short get it then!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

Thanks for 3 broomstick dinner tip! We are headed to Universal next week and I am so nervous about the crowds! When you went during thanksgiving did you find that even with reservations you had to wait for sit down places? What about food kiosks for snacks? We will have EP thankfully but I am still not looking forward to the crush of humanity!

We did not go this year at Thanksgiving but have gone years past. Yes - there will be a lot of people there but EP takes a lot of the sting out of it. If you want to avoid the crush of humanity, stay away from Diagon Alley during the afternoon - it’s wall to wall people. You want to be there early morning and late evening. Hogsmeade is also crazy busy the first hour or so of projection shows - go to a later one if you can. The shops in HP are really small and tight and are always really busy but worse in the afternoons. The carts are going to be busy. Like the poster above said, it can be a half hour wait. You may want to have snacks on you so you can decide if you want to wait for things. For restaurants, it just depends on if they’re backed up or not. We’ve waited a few times but usually not bad. Personally I don’t find it too bad to have cart and restaurant waits since the ride waits aren’t bad at all with EP - but your mileage may vary.

 

[Skywalker3]

We've done Universal Columbus day weekend, and Thanksgiving. BUSY, but we did have express. Have also done both those holidays at Disney, but we've never done Christmas at either, so that may be a whole other level of busy. It's good you're already expecting that!
I still think rope dropping super early is very important , Like if opening is 8, be in line by 7:00 or so, if you can. We tend to eat at off times, so maybe eat lunch late, like 2 or 3, with a good snack in the AM. We actually try to eat around 10:30 or 11, right as places are opening, and don't have issues, but that may still be prime riding time for you. Crowds do thin out quite a bit in the evening. Wait times are much lower... usually. BUT the Sunday before Columbus day, in the last hour, lines for things like Butterbeer, Hogs Head, were VERY long, and, all stores were packed. We did do Ollivander's that night, and waited about 20-25 mins.
Not sure if y'all have been before? how old the kids are? do they like thrill rides? It's often said that Universal is not like Disney as far as planning. That's true as far as dining reservations at 60 days, genie+, all of that. BUT it's still very much worth it to do research. Sit down and talk about what everyone really wants to do. We now have 2 teens, and they wanted completely different things, 1 wanted HP exploration, and 1 wanted nothing but rides. We split up! not all day, but some. If there's a ride that nobody really wants to do, like for example, none of us really want Seven Dwarves coaster at MK, so we all know not to waste time there. Also research restaurant menus. So, everyone knows in advance what to expect. And have a backup plan. One morning, Velocicoaster was not running at rope drop, so need to know what everyone might want to do instead, or wait it out, etc. We did enjoy the wand experiences, but most had about 2-4 people ahead of my daughter in a lot of spots. So you might see the spells happening before your turn, or maybe try to just look away, but she still enjoyed it. So glad we finally did the wands.
I do love the Florian's ice cream. The Thanksgiving we were there, Diagon Alley was PACKED. Like we were all holding on to each other's back to stay together, ha. and the florian's line was out the door and wrapped around. I love the more exotic flavors: clotted cream, earl gray, etc. but everyone else wanted butterbeer ice cream.
Hope you have a wonderful trip!! You'll get to be there at an extra magical time for the holidays. Universal does such an amazing job with decorations and holiday touches!

 

[cfoxga]

We've been to Thanksgiving the last 4 of the last 5 years, and this year seemed way more crowded than we ever seen Universal. Without EPs, expect 60+ minute waits for most rides by 10:30 am. The more popular rides will be 120 minute waits in the afternoon, so hitting shows during that period might work out. Typically in the evening, lines get reasonable again.