US/IOA park hours?

[nkereina]

Just noticed that they have scaled back the US/IOA park hours for our week in November - originally, they were all 9am-7pm, but now a few days show 9am-6pm. Is it common for them to shorten the hours like this or could it be indicative of a special event maybe? How often do they change hours like this? Thanks!

 

[jeanico2000]

Just noticed that they have scaled back the US/IOA park hours for our week in November - originally, they were all 9am-7pm, but now a few days show 9am-6pm. Is it common for them to shorten the hours like this or could it be indicative of a special event maybe? How often do they change hours like this? Thanks!

Wondering the exact same thing! Disney just extended their hours for the first half of our stay, and now I see Universal has cut back theirs... 6PM seems awfully early to close a theme park

 

[RMulieri]

In lower crowds/slower season, the Universal parks can and do close as early as 6pm..not sure if the crowd projection changed or there is a special event but it is not unusual

 

[nkereina]

In lower crowds/slower season, the Universal parks can and do close as early as 6pm..not sure if the crowd projection changed or there is a special event but it is not unusual

Thanks for the info. I'm questioning it because it was originally 7pm and then they changed it to 6pm. With Disney, they extend hours but don't necessarily scale them back. Is it normal for Universal to shorten them?

 

[strycker]

We just were at the parks Monday and Tuesday and they both had hours that closed at 7PM. It is very early compared to the WDW parks.

 

[christophfam]

They changed the already early closing of 7 to 6 the Saturday before thanksgiving. Not a slow day. Not sure what's up with these changes but I was hoping they'd extend their hours. Not reduced them.

 

[damo]

Traditionally the parks empty out very early. I would imagine that if they are finding that there are still a lot of people in the parks later than normal, they will consider extending back the hours. They've done that in the past. That is, if no outside events have been scheduled.

 

[TunaSled]

I now see that one of our four days changed from 7 to 6 pm. That with the exclusion of IOA early entry isn't making me very happy. Thanks for chiseling away at my family's vacation after I've paid for it. Maybe we should have gone to WDW after all and got our money's worth.

 

[macraven]

This just a guess......

If the onsite hotel bookings go up, possibly the park hours will increase.

Early November is a lower crowd period.

 

[RMulieri]

I now see that one of our four days changed from 7 to 6 pm. That with the exclusion of IOA early entry isn't making me very happy. Thanks for chiseling away at my family's vacation after I've paid for it. Maybe we should have gone to WDW after all and got our money's worth.

This is NOT unusual for this time of year, park hours are always earlier than what Disney does.. Universal will extend the hours if need be ( crowds warrant it) , they do it all the time .As for early entry, they never promised that both parks would be open for early entry. They only ever advertised that A park would be open. Diagon alley opened this summer , and it was crowded so they had both parks open( same last year with Transformers opening) Again if the crowds warrant it, or it is peak season they can/may offer it at both.

 

[damo]

I now see that one of our four days changed from 7 to 6 pm. That with the exclusion of IOA early entry isn't making me very happy. Thanks for chiseling away at my family's vacation after I've paid for it. Maybe we should have gone to WDW after all and got our money's worth.

Lines aren't nearly at long at Universal as at WDW in the offseason. Our experience in mid September at both parks had Universal lines way shorter than WDW lines. For example, normal wait for Pirates was 45 minutes in standby. Normal wait for Forbidden Journey was about 20. We waited a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 45 for Gringotts where Seven Dwarfs was always well over an hour. Those are all mid afternoon times. Just because a park's hours are longer, doesn't mean you are getting more ride time.

 

[sharona]

Where are you seeing Nov hours? I can only find October hours on the website. Is it because I am not using IE that I can't find anything???

Never mind. Had coffee, found the calendar link for Nov.

 

[TunaSled]

This is NOT unusual for this time of year, park hours are always earlier than what Disney does.. Universal will extend the hours if need be ( crowds warrant it) , they do it all the time .As for early entry, they never promised that both parks would be open for early entry. They only ever advertised that A park would be open. Diagon alley opened this summer , and it was crowded so they had both parks open( same last year with Transformers opening) Again if the crowds warrant it, or it is peak season they can/may offer it at both.

Lines aren't nearly at long at Universal as at WDW in the offseason. Our experience in mid September at both parks had Universal lines way shorter than WDW lines. For example, normal wait for Pirates was 45 minutes in standby. Normal wait for Forbidden Journey was about 20. We waited a minimum of 15 and a maximum of 45 for Gringotts where Seven Dwarfs was always well over an hour. Those are all mid afternoon times. Just because a park's hours are longer, doesn't mean you are getting more ride time.

Sorry to sound like I'm griping. Just freaking out a little. This is our only week we can get off together and I talked my darling Disney addicted wife into this change (we are first timers). I need to pull through with the value or she'll never listen to me again and we will spend eternity on IASW. Thanks for your your responses to my neurosis, I need it.

She is used to - and LOVES - parks after dark, we are rollercoaster tourists in the summer and Disney freaks in December. We aren't getting night hours during our stay so when they pulled that back even more I maybe overreacted. Sure, we will do Blue Man Group and lurk CityWalk but it's the parks that I wish we could see. I know that there is plenty to do and we will fill our evenings to be sure.

 

[macraven]

Sorry to sound like I'm griping. Just freaking out a little. This is our only week we can get off together and I talked my darling Disney addicted wife into this change (we are first timers). I need to pull through with the value or she'll never listen to me again and we will spend eternity on IASW. Thanks for your your responses to my neurosis, I need it.

She is used to - and LOVES - parks after dark, we are rollercoaster tourists in the summer and Disney freaks in December. We aren't getting night hours during our stay so when they pulled that back even more I maybe overreacted. Sure, we will do Blue Man Group and lurk CityWalk but it's the parks that I wish we could see. I know that there is plenty to do and we will fill our evenings to be sure.

looking at your countdown in your siggie, is it nov 29th that you will be onsite at the dark side?
the period right after Tday will have crowds.
depending on how large the crowds will determine if hours are expanded.

it is a hard thing to predict though.
one night at hhn on a sunday, crowds were very great and they couldn't get to increase the closing date to stay open another hour.
not enough TM to get the job done.

if they know in advance the number of hotel rooms filled, and tickets bought, i'm sure the higher ups could figure that park hours needed to be extented and announced in advance.

if my guess of when you wil be there is really in december, you might not have large crowds at app. that has been the pattern ii they past years
early cropwds are not usually any problem

 

[TunaSled]

December 1st through the 4th are our park days. We will arrive on Nov 30. Everything online points to low attendance. We know how to crush a park, make no mistake but this is our first foray so I'd prefer to smell the flowers so to speak.

 

[RMulieri]

December 1st through the 4th are our park days. We will arrive on Nov 30. Everything online points to low attendance. We know how to crush a park, make no mistake but this is our first foray so I'd prefer to smell the flowers so to speak.

Even WITH shortened park hours at the time of year, we are able to leisurely tour , have downtime and still get it all done.It is the beauty of Universal...It is what Disney was like in the 80's when it was only Epcot and MK, hours were shorter, crowds lower and you didn't need ressies for dining, didn't need to plan everything with a 3 ring binder

 

[TunaSled]

Even WITH shortened park hours at the time of year, we are able to leisurely tour , have downtime and still get it all done.It is the beauty of Universal...It is what Disney was like in the 80's when it was only Epcot and MK, hours were shorter, crowds lower and you didn't need ressies for dining, didn't need to plan everything with a 3 ring binder

So good to hear. I see you are going in December, will we overlap?

 

[RMulieri]

So good to hear. I see you are going in December, will we overlap?

Actually I need to change that ..We are now going in Jan because work wouldn't approve my time off in December..