What are the crowds like in Oct

[CandleontheWater]

DH and I are going to Universal and IOA for the first time Tue and Wed of next week. I'm not planning on buying express pass, and I was hoping that since it is a "slow" time at Disney the crowds wouldn't be too bad at Universal. Has anyone been recently that could give me an average wait time for the more popular rides?

 

[Flyin2MCO]

Just returned from a UO/WDW trip (Sun-Wed) and found Universal to be more crowded than I expected. Now mind you, I'm very sensitive to crowds and long lines, but I had been reading on these boards about the relative lack of recent crowds. It certainly wasn't like summertime or the holidays, but we were grateful for Universal Express via our stay at the Hard Rock. The more popular rides in each park had 20-30 minute waits at midday and late afternoon. As at anytime of the year, getting in early is key...we were able to breeze through rides for the first hour or so each day. By the way, we also went to Epcot and it was jammin....Soarin had 70 minute waits and Test Track was at 40 minutes.

Seems like there was a disproportionately high number of folks from the UK in attendance, so perhaps there were school holidays or something else going on.

 

[rlduvall]

Totally agree with flyin2MCO. We just got back from our vacation and we stayed 2 nights at PBH and went to Universal. I thought the crowds were very heavy, but FOTL made it "priceless." We went to Universal in July of 2002 and we all feel it was just as busy then. Went to DTD Monday night and you could practically stir the people with a stick. It's very obvious tourism is up for Disney and Universal - and I am truly happy for them. We noticed a large number of foreigners and can only assume our weak dollar is making vacations here so much more affordable. I'm jealous.

 

[Lynne1875]

Seems like there was a disproportionately high number of folks from the UK in attendance, so perhaps there were school holidays or something else going on.

Schools were off all this week in Scotland. Can't speak for the rest of the UK though.

 

[SunnyOne]

Lots of schools up north have their fall breaks now too.

 

[brucec32]

All the parks have worked to make there fewer "slow days" over a year. Without the ripoff (paying twice to use the park) Express Pass you have to buy you could have a bad day if you hate even moderate lines. With the old EP we walked right on most rides with no hassles. Earlier this month we basically wasted $200 going only to find no EP's available and hour lines at any popular rides. We'd been 2x before so it wasn't worth the wait to ride something we'd glided on 4 times a day last visit with no wait at all.

EP's are so unpredictable and expensive you're likely to SAVE money by staying onsite and getting true FOTL access.

I won't return. I don't approve of the system. It's not the $20-$50/day they want for it, but the idea of making you pay almost double and not advertising that clearly until you arrive. We had passes paid for online and arrived to find out the old EP (like fastpass) was gone. Bleech.

The parks are not that great anyway except for coaster fans. It is what it is, a second class Disney clone with a handfull of (crowded) top notch attractions.

 

[vinvader]

Me and my girlfriend have just returned from a two week US/WDW holiday and to be honest we both much prefered US over WDW. The crowds were way bigger at Disney and getting home (to idrive) was a total nightmare.

We didnt have any fast passes at US and hardly ever queued over 10 minuites, usually walking straight on.

Don't get me wrong we did enjoy Disney, Animal Kingdom was fantastic and the shows were excellent. But all our favorite rides were at US, Spiderman probably being my favorite.

I am a coaster fan btw and don't have kids.