Universal newbie

[lmw9767]

Son 20, gf19, hubby and me in may
We're planning on going in for 3pm as we do at Disney. Will we encounter long lines then? Our strat was to go in as tired peeps were leaving

 

[Minerva Mouse]

Soooooo you won't go to the park until 3 pm? How late is the park open in May? I personally don't understand that strategy especially for a noob. It's not like you pay per the hour, so I would think you'd want to get your monies worth and experience everything. Universal has several decent shows, great rides, awesome food and beautiful scenery, take your time and enjoy all that the park has to offer. Its so much more than just standing in line, and ridding rides.

If ridding rides is truly the only thing you care about you may want to splurge for the express pass, or stay in one of the resorts that offer the express pass with your stay. Then you can just keep ridding till your hearts content, or get a late start like you want, and not have to worry about lines.

 

[RMulieri]

Not really recommended..First, Universal parks aren't open as last as Disney parks.2nd, unless you are planning on staying onsite, onsite guests get early entry( all resorts) and express pass access ( if you stay Deluxe ).You will be dealing with long lines at that point of the day.Even in low times, things like Despicable me can have 90 min waits. Harry Potter is popular pretty much all year long. There is NO free version of the express pass unless you stay onsite. You can buy it if you are not staying onsite, otherwise you are relegated to standby lines and single rider.

 

[subtchr]

I'm with the others, why in the world would you wait until 3:00 to go to the parks?

Depending when in May you are going, the parks could close as early as 7 or 8, and even very late in the month I believe the latest would be 10.

Have fun whatever you decide!

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I would not pay $100 plus for 4-6 hours at Universal, but that's just me.

 

[DPCummerbund]

I'm also a noob, and I've been researching a similar strategy. Since I've never been, I don't have any experience to offer you about the crowds, but I have looked at the crowd calendards, and it looks like a lot depends on when you're going in May.

In early May, crowds are low, but the parks (especially IoA) are only open until 6:00 pm. By late May, the crowds are listed as Moderate, but the parks can stay open as late as 8:00 or 9:00.

 

[nkereina]

Agree with the others. Not sure what park hours are that time of year, but we just returned last week and two days both parks closed at 6pm, and one day they closed at 7pm. If park hours are similar to this, you won't get much done.

If you purchase express pass or are staying at a resort that offers it, it's a little easier to manage. But you'll still have to contend with long waits at Forbidden Journey, Hogwarts Express, and Gringott's which will eat at the little time you have. And FWIW, we thought Universal's Express Pass lines didn't move quite as fast as FP+ lines at WDW do, and we also thought the pre-shows were really long. Most of the attractions were not quick experiences, even with Express Pass. Granted, Express Pass was still faster than waiting stand-by.