What do you do after parks close?

[japanese maple]

Seems parks close by 7, even in early December. We are going next December so maybe things will change with Epic but if not, what do you guys do at night?

And now I'm wondering if 7 days is too long for a Universal trip? We were thinking two days a park? Hopefully they allow two days at Epic by next December.

 

[sherlockmiles]

Seems parks close by 7, even in early December. We are going next December so maybe things will change with Epic but if not, what do you guys do at night?

And now I'm wondering if 7 days is too long for a Universal trip? We were thinking two days a park? Hopefully they allow two days at Epic by next December.

dinner.
city walk.
sleep.

 

[japanese maple]

dinner.
city walk.
sleep.

Maybe visit other hotels?
Do you think two days per park?

 

[DisneyMom93]

7 days is great for Universal. We usually do 5 park days. 2 1/2 at each park. We plan to do a longer trip in 2025 to spend 2 days at Epic, but will just do 2 days at each park.

We usually just grab dinner at City Walk and take advantage of the earlier nights to rest up.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Pools, though maybe not so much in Dec.
Dueling pianos at Pat O'Briens.
Mini golf.

 

[Lynne G]

Movie

 

[greeneyedchick]

We did 3 days in the park with Express Passes. I would imagine 2 more if you can go to Epic twice. If you have 7 days, then you can sleep in, enjoy the resorts and take your time (it's the opposite of a Disney vacation). We stayed at Portofino Bay in January and enjoyed the hot tub at night. I think the pool was heated and my kids swam at night. You can go to dinner at City Walk.

You can also take an Uber to International Drive. I recommend Tu Tu Tengos for a meal. It's a fun, artsy tapas place. There's also indoor skydiving, a comedy club, Ripley's, escape rooms and mini golf down that way. The Orlando Science is fun for younger kids. You could also take an Uber to Park Ave in Winter Park. There's a nice canal boat tour and some cute shops and restaurants on Park Ave by Rollins College. I highly recommend the Morse Museum of Art (it has a large collection of Tiffany glass windows there).

If you have a rental car, you could drive to Blue Springs and see the manatees (if the weather is cooler. They only go there when it's cold). Or check out the festivals at Mount Dora. Black Hammock near Oviedo offers air boat tours to see the alligators. The Kennedy Space Center is a fun day trip. Other people like to shop at the outlet malls.

Since you'll be there in December, you could also get tickets to ICE: at Gaylord Palms.

 

[Dakota731]

We leave soon for 7 days - 2 at each park plus water park and Sea World. We plan to eat dinner after park closing, shop a little then hit the pools - hot tub for adults lol.

 

[reddog21]

We usually do 4 days at universal 2 at each park which we think is plenty.

 

[nouvellefleur]

We always do Early Entry when we go to Universal, so by the time the parks close we're usually pretty wiped. We do dinner, then drinks, sometimes the hot tub, and just unwind and relax.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

On long summer days we either go back to our room for a break and return or do 2 long TS for breaks.
On short days we'll do as other mention and book a meal just after in City Walk or 2hour before close for park restaurants.
During Magical Dining Month we'll hit up some of the restaurants on there.
By 9 or 10 we're back in the room.
Occasionally go dancing with the young crowd til 1 or 2.

 

[liamthompson]

Saw this suggested on another board and thought it was lovely but we were too tired to try it: take the water taxi to portofino bay at dusk and watch the lights appear. Stay for the vocal performance, have a nice meal, get some gelato.

 

[Carolynleanne]

I assume were just going to swim. We go next week! As West Coast Canadians we will not be tired at 8pm EST, haha.

 

[MikeNamez]

Bar hop

 

[Annabell]

We do dinner, sometimes shopping or just relax in our room.

 

[sandam1]

Seems parks close by 7, even in early December. We are going next December so maybe things will change with Epic but if not, what do you guys do at night?

We usually wait to eat until after the park closes. A lot of time we eat at our hotel, but City Walk is an option. If you want to eat at City Walk at park close, I would highly recommend getting reservations in advance.

We also do a lot of pool time (which is the perfect way to recover from a park day IMHO) and just chill and chat. We stay at Cabana Bay and have spent hours floating around in a circle and solving the world's problems.

On every trip, we talk about miniature golfing and making s'mores at the hotel fire pit, but rarely find the time to do so. And there is also bowling at our hotel that we've never tried.

The best part is getting a decent amount of sleep so that getting up each morning doesn't require increasing amounts of caffeine.

And now I'm wondering if 7 days is too long for a Universal trip? We were thinking two days a park? Hopefully they allow two days at Epic by next December.

In general, I see Studios and Islands as one big park rather than separating them into "two days per park." Yes, we might start at one park, but we bounce back and forth between the two original parks all of the time depending on where we want to eat, what time the parade is, what the current wait time is on a specific ride (i.e. Hagrids), etc.

With the addition of Epic, I don't think that 7 days is too long for Universal. I expect the new park to take at least 3 days to see everything.

 

[cluvsdisney2]

We have a later dinner then grab some drinks. We usually go to Pat O'Brien's one night while we are there.

 

[Planogirl]

City walk has a great minigolf. Some of the resorts have activities.

 

[maverik85]

The mini golf is a lot of fun and has lots of lighting elements that are great at night. City Walk has lots of good restaurants too to check out.
There is also a holiday themed bar and a dueling piano bar you can check out.
There is also bowling at Cabana Bay.
The pools/hot tubs as well. Sometimes they do special things around the pool areas or have fire pits to hangout at.
Can go see a movie at CityWalk.
If you don't mind traveling Disney Springs is not too far of a car/uber ride. There is a lot to walk around and look at there as there is a lot more restaurants and shopping. Plus Cirque du Soleil has a great show there.