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Extending UO Park Hours

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Brian G.

Brian G.

Editor-in-Chief
Jan 21, 2008
25,059
56,535
Orlando, FL
With the coming addition of Diagon Alley, should Universal look into extending park hours beyond their average closing time of 6pm?

Discuss away!
 
The way I see it is like this, the only park people consider to be a full day park at WDW is TMK and both UO parks have the same hours as the other three WDW parks.
 
It'll be all but needed. The land is going to be packed and there will not be anywhere close to enough time for anyone to make it through HE, Gringotts, Ollivanders, and still have enough time to browse the shops/ see the shows. Also, factoring in the down times that will most likely happen with both new attractions. I think 10 should be the gold standard for them until about early August. Then hike it back down to 6 or 7.
 
kingcooger said:
The way I see it is like this, the only park people consider to be a full day park at WDW is TMK and both UO parks have the same hours as the other three WDW parks.
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Not really. During the offseason DHS is open until at least 7, Epcot is always open until 9, and even DAK has been open later than 6 a lot recently

The_Bled said:
It'll be all but needed. The land is going to be packed and there will not be anywhere close to enough time for anyone to make it through HE, Gringotts, Ollivanders, and still have enough time to browse the shops/ see the shows. Also, factoring in the down times that will most likely happen with both new attractions. I think 10 should be the gold standard for them until about early August. Then hike it back down to 6 or 7.
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Well, the park is open until 10 during the summer. Pretty sure BriMan meant after the summer.
 
JungleSkip said:
Not really. During the offseason DHS is open until at least 7, Epcot is always open until 9, and even DAK has been open later than 6 a lot recently
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Sorry, that was sort of my point (which I explained poorly). The lesser hours make people feel like you are not a full day park. To make people feel like they are a full day experience (like TMK) the hours need to be longer. Now, I am not saying they need to be open until 1am like TMK is, but 11pm seems like a good starting point.
 
JungleSkip said:
Not really. During the offseason DHS is open until at least 7, Epcot is always open until 9, and even DAK has been open later than 6 a lot recently



Well, the park is open until 10 during the summer. Pretty sure BriMan meant after the summer.
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Ahh, brain fart. I think 8 of 9 should be sufficent after summer then. 6 or 7 won't really be acceptable after Potter II opens.
 
We discuss this briefly on the podcast for this week, but it should be interesting to see how they handle this with HHN and the 5pm closings.

People planning their trips in advance can't see the park hours yet, and first timers coming down who are unaware of Horror Nights and how it is operated would have every right to be annoyed, IMO

It's not like the usual case of an early closing where the park closes at 6 but you can stay in the area in line or whatever... HHN is a separate ticket event and the park needs to be cleared. So you may even see the lines in Diagon for Gringotts atleast be closed at about 3:30-4pm. Kinda crappy.
 
Extended hours would be nice, maybe test it on people staying at the resorts with extra hours after closing instead of before opening. I know when I'm on vacation waking up early is not something I want to do, and some of these rides take a on a whole new life of their own at night. The coasters/Fear Fall offer totally different views and experiences at night with all the lights on, and if you get lucky with River Adventure the fog can sit absolutely perfectly on the water giving it a much more primeval effect.

Even Space Mountain offers a vastly different experience at night, since your eyes don't have to adjust from extreme sunlight to near pitch black.
 
Couldn't they add extended hours for on site guests in the same way they do early park admission. Giving people staying I site an extra hour or two in park on select night. Similar to extra magic hours. Gives people even more incentive to stay insure as opposed to off
 
Move HHN to Islands. People just wouldn't be able to ride the HE from Universal. Unless they can keep the train stationary throughout the ride and say its going to be a round trip and coming back to Diagon.
 
Ad0niS8 said:
Extended hours would be nice, maybe test it on people staying at the resorts with extra hours after closing instead of before opening. I know when I'm on vacation waking up early is not something I want to do, and some of these rides take a on a whole new life of their own at night. The coasters/Fear Fall offer totally different views and experiences at night with all the lights on, and if you get lucky with River Adventure the fog can sit absolutely perfectly on the water giving it a much more primeval effect.
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Last November I went to IOA late and loved it, because at night it indeed becomes something new, JP especially is much better in the dark, it looks much more real.
Also, storm force accelatron, with the strobe lights ... awesome!
 
Thanks for the new thread :lol:

Heres the way I see it...Universal is still not on Disneys level in terms of visitors, therefore comparing their hours to Disney's is a bit pointless. The culture of a Universal visit is very different. With the on-site hotels offering Express pass, out of town visitors can experience both parks easily in one day. Other out of towners staying off-site generally dont tend to visit Universal with the same urgency as at Disney (evident by the low crowds very early in the morning ad thinning of crowds well before closing). While Diagon will be a huge addition that will rake in tons of crowds, that wont change people's state of mind for visiting Universal. And like I said in the other thread, by shortening hours youre ensuring people dont leave too early or arrive too late, meaning theyre guaranteed to eat in the park, spend time shopping while they wait for their return times for Diagon to roll around, etc. Shorter hours also may promote multi-day visits.

As far as when HHN rolls around, I dont see that being a huge issue. Despite all the massive hype HP 1 received, IOA was dead as usual in the off-season and didnt get crazy busy again until Christmas. Sure, FJ sported a 45-minute line most of that first year, but at the end of the day one ride doesnt warrant extension of hours, especially when the rest of the park is empty. I dont think crowds will be an issue September onward. Like I said, theres a different culture to visiting Universal, and people will simply put off visiting until their major holidays roll around.
 
I would guess Universal will want to see how much park attendance increases before they make a decision on hours. If the attendance warrants, I would think the hours will be increased. They've already extended the Studios' hours since they started this new lagoon show. Myself, I love the parks at night, so I hope HP2 brings in a 15% plus attendance increase, which would probably translate into later hours. The bottom line is usually economic issues.
 
Drew said:
One way to accommodate longer hours for USF during HHN could be to have the event star at IOA.. and the path to USF open at say.. 7pm.
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Ugh the dual park thing was so awful..I would rather them just start/close the event later altogether
 
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