What to expect...

[fizz03]

New to the boards. I'm traveling with my husband for our wedding anniversary to the Studios & IOA Aug 17-20. We have two FULL days at the parks (Sat & Sun). I know that August is one of the busier times of year and we are fully prepared for this. We are staying off property within what I believe is walking distance of the parks. Therefore, we will not have what I hear called the "FOTL" perks.
What kinds of wait times can we expect this time of year? I'm seen so much advice already to arrive by 8:30 to beat the crowds that arrive around 11:00 AM and since it's been 10 years since I've visited Universal, I'm a bit overwhelmed. Now I'm actually getting concerned this will be like our dreadful trip to Cedar Point each year where every line is atleast 2+ hours long!

 

[Metro West]

New to the boards. I'm traveling with my husband for our wedding anniversary to the Studios & IOA Aug 17-20. We have two FULL days at the parks (Sat & Sun). I know that August is one of the busier times of year and we are fully prepared for this. We are staying off property within what I believe is walking distance of the parks. Therefore, we will not have what I hear called the "FOTL" perks.
What kinds of wait times can we expect this time of year? I'm seen so much advice already to arrive by 8:30 to beat the crowds that arrive around 11:00 AM and since it's been 10 years since I've visited Universal, I'm a bit overwhelmed. Now I'm actually getting concerned this will be like our dreadful trip to Cedar Point each year where every line is atleast 2+ hours long!

Arriving at 8:30am will be a huge step up on getting into whichever park you want and if you already have your tickets in hand, you can go directly to the gate. Wait times will probably run anywhere from 5-10 mins when you first arrive to possibly 75 mins or more by mid-morning/early afternoon. You might want to consider purchasing the Express Pass that would allow use of the Express Lane one time per attraction. The prices vary depending on the anticipated crowd levels for that day. You can decide once you get there if you want to spend the extra money.

 

[bubba's mom]

i agree...go early and if/when the crowds build, consider buying the Express Pass Plus....good for 1 EP each attraction

 

[courage]

School starts August 20th here in sunny Florida so if you come after that it will be better for you, if not, as a passholder who gets frequent visits from relatives, this is my tour guide route:
- - I know it is your anniversary, but get up really early and get there when the park opens. Go to IOA first and ride the hulk, spiderman and dueling dragons. Bring a swimsuit and ride the wet stuff (Jurrassic, Popeye and Dudley do-right) in the early afternoon. Head over to Universal and head for the Mummy and Men in Black. Single riders is always faster, on the mummy you usually end up in the same car, anyway. (not romantic, but standing in an hour line to sit together isn't either)
- The next day or that evening go back and do all of the stuff that you didn't acccomplish the day before and you should probably get to see a lot. The other attractions have long lines but the ones I mentioned are the worst as the day goes on...
One more thing - you should google-earth your hotel and see exactly how far that walk is......the parking lot alone at Universal is a 10 minute walk

 

[fizz03]

Thanks for all the words of wisdom! Like I said before, we're really used to the 2-3 hour waits at Cedar Point in the height of summer, so an appx. 75 minute wait (praying they aren't too much longer than that) is a cakewalk for us. My husband and I are very early risers. Like to make sure we always arrive at the parks prior to opening as we have in Disney in the past.
We are staying at the Doubltree which I'm led to believe is directly across the street from the maingate of Universal. I'll definitely take EVERYTHING all of you have had to say into account during the final planning stages!