Why is IOA scheduled to open at 8am?

[DisMomAmy]

We have our first Universal trip planned for April 19-22. We are staying at the Hard Rock for 3 nights prior to a week at Disney.

The April park hours came out today & the two days we'll be there, Friday 4/20 & Saturday 4/21, the parks are both scheduled to open at 8am! That means we'll need to be there at 7am to take advantage of the extra hour at IOA.

Does anyone know why they are opening so early? They seem to open at 9am almost every other day I've seen. The parks are scheduled to close at 6pm on those two days... not sure if that has anything to do with it.

I guess I can't do anything about it but I'm just curious why they are doing that. Thanks!

 

[PartofDisney'sWorld]

I looked here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/universal/events.htm

It's Grad Bash. Parks are closing earlier for the Grad Bash thing, so they are probably opening them earlier to get that extra hour.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

The parks typically have opened at 8AM during the busier times, like summer and the last two weeks of December. It is kind of strange that they would open and close early...

Edit: Nevermind, mystery solved! And don't worry about it being so early.. the excitement will wake you up!

 

[DisMomAmy]

I looked here: http://www.wdwinfo.com/universal/events.htm

It's Grad Bash. Parks are closing earlier for the Grad Bash thing, so they are probably opening them earlier to get that extra hour.

Yikes! Do you think that will impact our visit at all? Are there going to be a ton of high schoolers around?

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Yikes! Do you think that will impact our visit at all? Are there going to be a ton of high schoolers around?

I wouldn't think so, as they'll be getting into the park after you have left.

 

[DisMomAmy]

I wouldn't think so, as they'll be getting into the park after you have left.

Thanks for the info! I just did a little digging on some old threads & it looks like our only issue might be CityWalk when the parks close at 6, before the events start at 7pm. I'll keep that in mind as we plan our meals.