Memorial Day Crowds?

[sporadic]

We're headed down next week for our first family trip to Universal. We've been doing WDW for years, but decided to switch it up this year (not very happy with the way they've been running the parks). Anyways, curious as to how the crowds usually are on Memorial Day? We check in to Royal Pacific on Monday and are there for the week. Original plan was to drive down on Memorial Day (Monday), about a 6-7 hour trip for us, and just relax at the hotel. Well, the itch is strong and I'm ready for some vacation.... thinking about heading down Sunday, staying offsite, and hitting the parks Monday. Am I insane for this?

 

[sjago13]

We're headed down next week for our first family trip to Universal. We've been doing WDW for years, but decided to switch it up this year (not very happy with the way they've been running the parks). Anyways, curious as to how the crowds usually are on Memorial Day? We check in to Royal Pacific on Monday and are there for the week. Original plan was to drive down on Memorial Day (Monday), about a 6-7 hour trip for us, and just relax at the hotel. Well, the itch is strong and I'm ready for some vacation.... thinking about heading down Sunday, staying offsite, and hitting the parks Monday. Am I insane for this?

With the lost capacity and huge crowds it will likely be packed with huge waits across the board. However since you check in Monday I think you can go to the hotel early in the morning and "check in" so you can get express even if the room isn't ready. So at least if you want to try and hit the parks you can have express to help.

 

[Mad Dog]

Yes, you can check in & get your hotel express pass, even if your room isn't ready. Also, use early entry for the Potter area. That way, you'll get a jump start on Monday.

 

[Brian G.]

We're headed down next week for our first family trip to Universal. We've been doing WDW for years, but decided to switch it up this year (not very happy with the way they've been running the parks). Anyways, curious as to how the crowds usually are on Memorial Day? We check in to Royal Pacific on Monday and are there for the week. Original plan was to drive down on Memorial Day (Monday), about a 6-7 hour trip for us, and just relax at the hotel. Well, the itch is strong and I'm ready for some vacation.... thinking about heading down Sunday, staying offsite, and hitting the parks Monday. Am I insane for this?

Not really.

Memorial Day will be busy but a lot of schools are still in session, especially Florida s0 after Memorial Day, the craziness will die down. Good news is you're staying on-site so Express Passes should help combat all the waits. :thumbsup:

Hope you have a great time! Make sure to really take advantage of the hotel and spend a half (or full) day in the pool. Since you're a hotel guest, you can even check out other Resort pools!

 

[Mad Dog]

Not really.

Memorial Day will be busy but a lot of schools are still in session, especially Florida s0 after Memorial Day, the craziness will die down. Good news is you're staying on-site so Express Passes should help combat all the waits. :thumbsup:

Hope you have a great time! Make sure to really take advantage of the hotel and spend a half (or full) day in the pool. Since you're a hotel guest, you can even check out other Resort pools!

Yep, that's the way we do it. With Express Pass we take it slow, easy & leisurely. And, during the hot humid afternoons, we're almost always in the resort pools.

 

[deathcab4cutie]

just expect 30-45 min waits for most rides.The two potter rides will have around 75min waits.Withe the express you will really only wait for two rides everything else you will pretty much walk on to.

 

[Mad Dog]

just expect 30-45 min waits for most rides.The two potter rides will have around 75min waits.Withe the express you will really only wait for two rides everything else you will pretty much walk on to.

And you could do the Potter rides single rider to get on quicker. But you need to do the queues at least once. Both FJ & Gringott's queues are better than some E ticket rides in other parks.

 

[sporadic]

Well, we waffled around and finally decided to head down early yesterday since Bonnie was giving us a hard time back home. We're on the other side of I4 but headed over to our hotel soon as rest of the family gets moving and we get some grub in us. Was out front sipping coffee and Dr. Doom towers are in sight. Forgot bananas, hope Kong makes it out this week!

 

[sporadic]

Wow, crowds aren't near as bad as I had expected. We're used to Disney.... In line for Gringotts at 1:30 with only a 30min time posted, and we've express passed everything else so far. This is sweet!!

 

[Mad Dog]

Wow, crowds aren't near as bad as I had expected. We're used to Disney.... In line for Gringotts at 1:30 with only a 30min time posted, and we've express passed everything else so far. This is sweet!!

Yeah, Express Pass, even on a holiday, is pretty quick. Much shorter lines than Disney's Fast Pass. Plus, come tomorrow, they'll(Express Pass) be even shorter. You can get a heck of a lot of stuff in when you have Hotel Express Pass. And you can change your plans on a whim.You get spoiled real quick when you stay on site at Universal. And, Universal is easier to traverse without strollers clogging everything up. Plus, even with the attractions that are closed, Universal Studios & IOA have much higher attraction capacity than DHS, Epcot, or AK. (Don't forget, you can do Gringott's & FJ single line once you rode a couple of times enjoying the great queues)

 

[BBL]

I'm here also, and I agree yesterday wasn't too bad! We don't even have express passes, but we got to the parks early (they opened the studios at 8:25), and we had finished Gringotts before 9:00. Between early arrival and single rider lines, both parks were very manageable. Today crowds have been lighter than yesterday.

 

[GAcoaster]

SeaWorld and Aquatica were both packed (Aquatica reached capacity). MK was busy too but not at capacity by any means.

 

[Nick]

Not really.

Memorial Day will be busy but a lot of schools are still in session, especially Florida s0 after Memorial Day, the craziness will die down. Good news is you're staying on-site so Express Passes should help combat all the waits. :thumbsup:

Hope you have a great time! Make sure to really take advantage of the hotel and spend a half (or full) day in the pool. Since you're a hotel guest, you can even check out other Resort pools!

Orlando schools are out today. Considering about every other person I talk to has passes to at least one of the resorts, that's a big deal.

 

[Mad Dog]

On Touring Plans, for what it's worth, the Universal crowds for Sat. & Sunday were pretty far above TP's original projections.

 

[sporadic]

We just got back to the room and the waits seemed really low to me. We were in queue for FB with 20min wait time , but had to evac due to a fire alarm. Will see what it's like tomorrow. Have a feeling it'll be even better rest of the week.

 

[UNIrd]

On Touring Plans, for what it's worth, the Universal crowds for Sat. & Sunday were pretty far above TP's original projections.

Wait times weren't too bad but there were times over the weekend when EVERYTHING at Universal was over 45-60 min (except for Shrek but it still had a 30min wait). We need them new attractions to open sooner rather than later.

SeaWorld and Aquatica were both packed (Aquatica reached capacity). MK was busy too but not at capacity by any means.

I was actually headed to Aquatica but the traffic to get in was so bad at 9am, I just got back on I-4 and went to Typhoon Lagoon instead. It wasn't bad at all.

 

[Mad Dog]

Agree on the attractions needing to open. I was there on that crazy crowded Saturday a couple of weeks ago and even Express, which is rarely ever long, was backed up on some attractions. I thought I was in some WDW Fastpass lines.

 

[UK-Trigg]

@sporadic quite a few are making the jump from WDW to Uni, I'll be skipping Disney next year.

Hope you and the family have a fab time with minimal waits. Oh and be sure to let us know what you all thought of the resort :thumbsup:

 

[sporadic]

Just got back from our trip on Saturday after spending 5 days at the parks... and we loved it. We ended up converting our 4 day passes to annual passes and are already planning return trips. So glad we decided to come down early and hit the parks on Monday, as it felt like the slowest day of the week. The crowds seemed to steadily increase throughout the week (lots of tour groups). I'd say the biggest difference between this vacation and our typical Disney vacations, is that I actually feel relaxed after this one. Aside from deciding where we wanted to eat, we didn't plan a single thing until the night before or day of. I think we ended up at the pool sipping Mai Tai's every evening, except for the one that we caught Universal's closing show. And that day even, we lounged around having lunch poolside and hitting the parks late. We were so relaxed, we didn't even take advantage of the early hours. We were doing good to be in the parks by 10. The Royal Pacific is good about making you feel pampered The express passes just flat out spoiled us, not much else to say. Express is the only way to fly! The convenience of being able to walk or take the boat to the parks was very nice as well, a welcome change from being crammed onto a Disney bus.

The parks themselves were a joy as well. I really like how they control seating during busier hours at the more popular quick serve restaurants to combat the typical table squatting you see at Disney parks. We did both potter restaurants and attempted to finish off the family feast at Three Broomsticks, but just couldn't do it. So good, just a lot of food! Did Mythos as well, excellent food. Not being stroller rammed and ran over by scooters was a welcome change as well. As for the rides, we thoroughly enjoyed them all. The 3D on T2 wasn't working that great for me, and ET looks like it could be freshened up (still rode it 3 times). I didn't get to do rip ride rock-it, dragon challenge, or fear fall. Have some neck issues so me and the 8yr old did other rides while mom and her sister rode those. I'm a big boy as well (280 5'10") and was a little worried I'd miss out some rides. Wasn't the case though. Had my manhood crushed on Gringott's and Mummy (twice each). Talk a little funny now, but was worth it. They did the double team bounce on my Forbidden Journey restraint and squeezed me in. What an amazing ride, probably my favorite.

So yeah, we thoroughly enjoyed it and plan on getting back soon as we can! Probably this fall and spring to squeeze some value from our passes. Looking forward to Hulk and Kong when we come back!

 

[Mad Dog]

Just got back from our trip on Saturday after spending 5 days at the parks... and we loved it. We ended up converting our 4 day passes to annual passes and are already planning return trips. So glad we decided to come down early and hit the parks on Monday, as it felt like the slowest day of the week. The crowds seemed to steadily increase throughout the week (lots of tour groups). I'd say the biggest difference between this vacation and our typical Disney vacations, is that I actually feel relaxed after this one. Aside from deciding where we wanted to eat, we didn't plan a single thing until the night before or day of. I think we ended up at the pool sipping Mai Tai's every evening, except for the one that we caught Universal's closing show. And that day even, we lounged around having lunch poolside and hitting the parks late. We were so relaxed, we didn't even take advantage of the early hours. We were doing good to be in the parks by 10. The Royal Pacific is good about making you feel pampered The express passes just flat out spoiled us, not much else to say. Express is the only way to fly! The convenience of being able to walk or take the boat to the parks was very nice as well, a welcome change from being crammed onto a Disney bus.

The parks themselves were a joy as well. I really like how they control seating during busier hours at the more popular quick serve restaurants to combat the typical table squatting you see at Disney parks. We did both potter restaurants and attempted to finish off the family feast at Three Broomsticks, but just couldn't do it. So good, just a lot of food! Did Mythos as well, excellent food. Not being stroller rammed and ran over by scooters was a welcome change as well. As for the rides, we thoroughly enjoyed them all. The 3D on T2 wasn't working that great for me, and ET looks like it could be freshened up (still rode it 3 times). I didn't get to do rip ride rock-it, dragon challenge, or fear fall. Have some neck issues so me and the 8yr old did other rides while mom and her sister rode those. I'm a big boy as well (280 5'10") and was a little worried I'd miss out some rides. Wasn't the case though. Had my manhood crushed on Gringott's and Mummy (twice each). Talk a little funny now, but was worth it. They did the double team bounce on my Forbidden Journey restraint and squeezed me in. What an amazing ride, probably my favorite.

So yeah, we thoroughly enjoyed it and plan on getting back soon as we can! Probably this fall and spring to squeeze some value from our passes. Looking forward to Hulk and Kong we come back!

Great review. You said so many of the same things that I've always said about staying on site. It's really something you need to do to fully understand. Yes, the Universal on site vacation becomes a vacation of rest, leisure and relaxation. It actually renews your spirit. And, there's nothing comparable to Hotel Express Pass. FP+ isn't even in the same conversation. No reservations needed at restaurants, no planning required, change your plans at a whim or weather change, and the convenience of everything being so close are such great pluses, I can never emphasize enough. And, I haven't even began talking about the fun & ambiance of the theme parks, especially Diagon & Hogsmeade. Like you, we converted over to AP holders, even though we live all the way up here in Pennsylvania.......I am so glad you had a good time, great experience and came home relaxed. :thumbsup: