What is the best time of year to visit?

[sdrsdd]

What time of the year has the lowest crowds at Universal? We still want good weather and all rides to be open. T hanks!

 

[mesaboy2]

My target would be mid-September, just after Labor Day. Kiddos back in school and generally nice weather. What rides are open is up to UO, and they--like any other park--have a tendency to refurb them when crowds are low.

 

[PrincessKendall]

I went May of last year, the crowd wasn't too bad, the lines were pretty good !

this is until we entered Harry Potter world... it was the exact opposite.
But maybe because it was just new, we waited 3 hours in line for the ride.

 

[mesaboy2]

this is until we entered Harry Potter world... it was the exact opposite.
But maybe because it was just new, we waited 3 hours in line for the ride.

Because of its small size and immense popularity, WWoHP is pretty much always crowded. I expect only the expansion will help that.

 

[Metro West]

What time of the year has the lowest crowds at Universal? We still want good weather and all rides to be open. T hanks!

My favorite time is early November...crowds are light and the weather is usually very nice.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

My favorite time is early November...crowds are light and the weather is usually very nice.

This.

If you want special decor, early Oct (HHN) or early Dec (Macy's/Grinchmas) are also pretty slow and have decent weather.

 

[RMulieri]

The correct answer is NOT January..LOL..No really the crowds were not horrendous, but ALL of Brazil was there.Thank god we had stayed onsite and had the express pass,or it would have been messy.Will definitely go back in Jan, but I am bugging DH for a trip this Fall so I can go to HHN.Plus weather is hit and miss.We had low to mid 80's whole trip, but that is not always the case.

 

[mesaboy2]

The correct answer is NOT January..LOL..No really the crowds were not horrendous, but ALL of Brazil was there.Thank god we had stayed onsite and had the express pass,or it would have been messy.Will definitely go back in Jan, but I am bugging DH for a trip this Fall so I can go to HHN.Plus weather is hit and miss.We had low to mid 80's whole trip, but that is not always the case.

I would go so far as to say that this is almost never the case. Highs in the 60's are much more the norm. We are having a ridiculously warm "winter", as is much of the country.

 

[loveysbydesign]

This.

If you want special decor, early Oct (HHN) or early Dec (Macy's/Grinchmas) are also pretty slow and have decent weather.

Are there any holiday decorations up mid-Nov. ? We like to go to WDW then to see the dcor and have low crowds, just wondering if US does the same

 

[bowtie7]

I would stay early December for low crowds (Harry Potter 5 times in an hour just before closing one very slow weekday) and Holiday extras (Macy parade with giant balloons at the Studios and Grinchmas at Islands). If I remember correctly, the Holiday events don't start until early December.

 

[Akwafunk]

I as just there this weekend - it was perfect - warm, sunny, pretty deserted. Of course - the weather can be iffy.

 

[MMitchell29]

Do anyone think the last week in April is a good time to go. Considering Easter is the first week in April

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Are there any holiday decorations up mid-Nov. ? We like to go to WDW then to see the dcor and have low crowds, just wondering if US does the same

Not likely. Those usually don't start appearing until late Nov.

 

[Seeker615]

We went the last week of August/early September. We had no problems at all. In fact one day when we arrived at IOA at opening it was so deserted in the marvel and Toon Lagoon section that we spent a bit of time taking pictures and hopping on the rides in that area several times.

The weather was hot but I didn't think it was unbearable. We made sure to stay hydrated and took breaks in the cafe's or popped into a show to cool off.

 

[Metro West]

Are there any holiday decorations up mid-Nov. ? We like to go to WDW then to see the dcor and have low crowds, just wondering if US does the same

Yes...some holiday decorations start going up right after HHN is over. By the end of the month everything is pretty much out but sometimes the decorations come out slowly.

 

[Curoly06]

I'm going with a couple of friends for the first time at the beginning of March. Has anyone been at this time? What are the crowds like on a weekday?

 

[Yoshi]

I expected January to be empty but I went to both parks last year on weekdays during the first week of January and while the Studios was not crowded IoA was. At the Studios than RRR (which had a posted wait of 20 minutes early in the day and later got to 45 minutes), everything else was posted at 5 - 15 minutes. IoA had lines 20 - 45 minutes except Forbidden Journey which was posted between 90 minutes and 120 minutes (it took about 20 minutes with single rider). Olivander's was said to be around 90 minutes in the middle of the afternoon. The other stores had little to no waits to get into but you couldn't walk through them very well. We had Express passes from staying onsite so didn't wait for anything except Forbidden Journey (I used single rider on RRR and waited about 2 minutes since no one else in my family was riding the coaster) but IoA was way more crowded than I would have thought.