Why does Universal close early

[avic77]

While looking at park hours and planning my days I noticed Universal closes pretty early 6pm for IOA and 7pm for USO. So I went to the Disney side to see if there was a party or special event on any of our nights. I noticed that Disney has much later hours typically about 9pm for our week.
Why does Universal close so much earlier then its compitition?

 

[Jonny_Duck]

While looking at park hours and planning my days I noticed Universal closes pretty early 6pm for IOA and 7pm for USO. So I went to the Disney side to see if there was a party or special event on any of our nights. I noticed that Disney has much later hours typically about 9pm for our week.
Why does Universal close so much earlier then its compitition?

No clue. I noticed that last Dec when we went also and it was a bummer. I still havent rly been able to do much in the dark because of their early closing times.

 

[damo]

In my experience, there usually aren't enough people to support keeping it open later. The parks really empty out in the evenings.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

In my experience, there usually aren't enough people to support keeping it open later. The parks really empty out in the evenings.

Well closing at 6 tbh imo is not "evening". But ya last time I was there when it was open later till 8 or 9 idr it did thin out some but Hulk ride was still a 50 min wait but most everything else was dead. The last few times I been there when it closes early there are still ppl in parks around closing.

Its a bit insane imo to close down the place at 6. It rly is my biggest complaint with Universal.

 

[phamton]

It closes early during the non-peak season because of the lack of crowds. If it has an early closing, most likely it won't be busy that day.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

It closes early during the non-peak season because of the lack of crowds. If it has an early closing, most likely it won't be busy that day.

Ya while on vacation I would love to go into parks later or go back to hotel mid day but with only 8 hours it just isnt possible imo.

 

[avic77]

No it doesnt leave us the option of leaving for an afternoon break. Maybe thats one of the reasons they have short hours then Disney... To make you stay the whole day and not risk you heading off site for lunch
It isnt just that Universal is closing early the week i am there they close early all year compared to Disney from what I can tell from the last years park hours for both places. That IMO would really make people feel like Disney is a better value for their money; 2 additional parks, longer hours, more special shows, parades & fireworks.
The only reason we choose USO/IOA is becuase Disney was going to be twice as expensive for the same number of days and we just couldnt swing the extra $500 bucks for Disney. If we didnt have such a tight budget I think we would have picked Disney becuase of the longer hours, additional parks, and the special parades fireworks and shows. Just seems in the end Disney gives you more for your money at least looking at it on "paper" maybe once inside the parks USO will outshine its compitition with better rides and more "action".

 

[Jonny_Duck]

No it doesnt leave us the option of leaving for an afternoon break. Maybe thats one of the reasons they have short hours then Disney... To make you stay the whole day and not risk you heading off site for lunch
It isnt just that Universal is closing early the week i am there they close early all year compared to Disney from what I can tell from the last years park hours for both places. That IMO would really make people feel like Disney is a better value for their money; 2 additional parks, longer hours, more special shows, parades & fireworks.
The only reason we choose USO/IOA is becuase Disney was going to be twice as expensive for the same number of days and we just couldnt swing the extra $500 bucks for Disney. If we didnt have such a tight budget I think we would have picked Disney becuase of the longer hours, additional parks, and the special parades fireworks and shows. Just seems in the end Disney gives you more for your money at least looking at it on "paper" maybe once inside the parks USO will outshine its compitition with better rides and more "action".

Yeah Disney gives you more but idk about more for your money. They are definately more expensive then Universal. Tbh you should have a great time at Universal. Between the 2 even when I have the money to do Disney I do Universal also. Its a great time and I love their thrill rides and pretty much all their rides. It is definately a different atmosphere then Disney offers. I probably wont be eatting lunch while in parks on my trip and will have breakfast and then dinner after 6 since like you said there is no time to go offsite to find food.

 

[minniejack]

you need the longer hours just to ride the rides at Disney. You have many rides packed into a smaller area at Universal which means less walking time between attractions, less wait time, more fun, less aggravation

And why would you leave an amusement park in the middle of the day to find something "cheaper" to eat? Time=money

And the food is not expensive in the parks--cheaper than Disney, including the #1 theme park restaurant in the world.

If you have never visited Universal don't start doubting your decsion now.
Go enjoy yourself and don't look back. Disney is not Universal and vice versa. You can pack a lot into the time you have and then go and enjoy a great meal in the evening after the parks close--have a real vacation and not feel like you need to take another vacation like you do at the other place.

We love Disney, but once we tried Uni we have never really wanted to return to Disney. We even have free one-day park hopper passes for the family and haven't bothered redeeming them in 4 years.

 

[avic77]

And why would you leave an amusement park in the middle of the day to find something "cheaper" to eat? Time=money

And the food is not expensive in the parks--cheaper than Disney, including the #1 theme park restaurant in the world.

If you have never visited Universal don't start doubting your decsion now.
Go enjoy yourself and don't look back. Disney is not Universal and vice versa. You can pack a lot into the time you have and then go and enjoy a great meal in the evening after the parks close--have a real vacation and not feel like you need to take another vacation like you do at the other place.

We wouldnt leave for Lunch but we did consider leaving for a nap becuase we regreted not doing that at Disney last year. Maybe we wont need it. We didnt need a nap when we went to Six Flags New Orleans when it was still there .

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Are you guys talking about taking an on-site nap or an off-site nap? Because I find taking breaks when you stay on-site to be really easy..

Off-site is a different story..

 

[dpayne1969]

I purchased AMC gift cards for the kids to use when the parks close early. I like to go back to the pool & just sit & relax & just enjoy the hotel & go walking the grounds I thought it would be a big deal the first time we went but I actually ended up enjoying the closing early for a movie night & relaxation

 

[damo]

The people who tend to stay once it gets dark are those who stay onsite. Compare the number of people who stay onsite at Universal and onsite at Disney and there is a monumental difference.

The vast majority of people have done everything they want to do at USF by the time it gets dark where at Disney it takes a lot longer to ride the same numer of rides. Also at Disney, people hang around for the fireworks.

We have found the parks to be practically empty once twilight hits.

 

[GuestServicesMonkey]

While looking at park hours and planning my days I noticed Universal closes pretty early 6pm for IOA and 7pm for USO. So I went to the Disney side to see if there was a party or special event on any of our nights. I noticed that Disney has much later hours typically about 9pm for our week.
Why does Universal close so much earlier then its compitition?

You can't simply look at disney hours and UO hours. You should compare Hollywood Studios hours to UO hours, which are pretty gosh darn similar.

That IMO would really make people feel like Disney is a better value for their money; 2 additional parks, longer hours, more special shows, parades & fireworks.
The only reason we choose USO/IOA is becuase Disney was going to be twice as expensive for the same number of days and we just couldnt swing the extra $500 bucks for Disney.

You answered your own question. $500 more for those extended hours at other non-movie based parks.

 

[avic77]

Im not trying to Bash USO/IOA. They have lured us to their parks becuase of their lower ticket prices and bigger thrill rides. I just understand why some people planning a trip to Orlando would think Disney is a better value with all it's "extras".

 

[macraven]

you need the longer hours just to ride the rides at Disney. You have many rides packed into a smaller area at Universal which means less walking time between attractions, less wait time, more fun, less aggravation

don't forget the hour you waste for using the bus to transport you to a park either from your hotel resort or when you park hop at disney.


i kid you not.
i timed it last year and some of the times to get from one place to another was one hour......

disney closes a park at 7:00pm on hard ticket night events.
when i was there last year, they closed the MK a couple of nights early due to projected low crowds. just one of those things.

AK closes at 5:00 every day.
DHS closes at 7:00 in low season, sometimes it's 7:30 ......

there are some rides that are shut down at epcot in the front of the park at 7 and 7:30 pm.


yes, universal closes the parks in the early evening too on some months.
i check in advance the park hours so i can plan my evenings.

hanging around city walk and catching a flick was very enjoyable for my family.

back in 2005 when HHN was at IOA, the Hulk could not run after 10:30 on certain nights due to the sound ordinance in the neighborhood.
just thought to throw that in.........

 

[keishashadow]

While looking at park hours and planning my days I noticed Universal closes pretty early 6pm for IOA and 7pm for USO. So I went to the Disney side to see if there was a party or special event on any of our nights. I noticed that Disney has much later hours typically about 9pm for our week.
Why does Universal close so much earlier then its compitition?

probably because they can & get away with it, peeps tend to forget amusement parks r businesses & it's all about the bottom line

take heart in the fact that the crowd levels r reported to be much lower than Disney parks (see various guidebooks for details); easier to get it all done in shorter period of time ...go back next day & do over

 

[damo]

Im not trying to Bash USO/IOA. They have lured us to their parks becuase of their lower ticket prices and bigger thrill rides. I just understand why some people planning a trip to Orlando would think Disney is a better value with all it's "extras".

It might appear that way but when you factor in all the extra time spent getting to attractions and waiting in lines or waiting for your fastpasses to take effect or allow you to get another one, you really aren't getting all that you think you are getting. Tickets, annual passes, and hotels tend to be much pricier.

I think about what I actually ride at Disney. There are just so many things that we don't ride or don't go see. It is the opposite at Universal.

This is for my family. It is going to be different for different families. For my family, Universal is a much better value.