# Universal Orlando on Christmas?



## presley (Feb 28, 2013)

Has anyone done Universal Orlando on Christmas?  I know Disney is crazy busy at that time and wondering if Universal is less busy or about the same.  

Are there other ideas for killing 2 days in Orlando which happen to be Christmas Eve and Christmas day?  I am not a fan of big crowds, but am trying to price out a family trip at that time and area.


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## got4boys (Mar 2, 2013)

Yes, we have done it. Follow the same rules as Disney as you would Universal.

Go in the morning when it first opens. Go to the most high demand rides/attractions first.

Islands of Adventure side - Harry Potter is the busiest. Go there first. For Universal side, Rip Ride and Rock it is the busiest.


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## Sandy VDH (Mar 2, 2013)

Universal was awesome on Christmas.   We were there in 2011.  We got through most of the lines in minimal time.  No locked out areas because of attendence levels.  We went a few days later and it was a zoo.  Potter area was completely restricted with a 2 hour wait just to get in the area, never mind the rides.  We bailed it was soo bad. 

Christmas was great though.


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## presley (Mar 11, 2013)

I'm having a really hard time planning this.  I can stay at HGVC, but my main purpose for this trip is to go to Harry Potter/Island of Adventure.  If we stay in a hotel onsite, we get to enter that area an hour early.  But, Holy Cow, that gets super expensive when I have lots of HGVC points available.  

How important is it to get the hour early entrance?  We are only going to Orlando to see Harry Potter and if we have any extra time, we'll do other stuff, but we are scheduling everything around HP.


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## justnosy (Mar 11, 2013)

*Christmas 2012*

We (family of 5) stayed at Royal Palms but booked one night (12/24) at a Universal onsite hotel (Royal Pacific) just to get the front of the line pass - I think it was over $300 for the night. The place gets pretty crowded if you're not there first thing in the morning. 

On Christmas eve we got a late start so by the time we got to Harry Potter it was crowded. I noticed when we were at the entrances to the parks that there were massive lines at the ticket windows and long lines to buy the express pass (even after noon time!)  

We didn't do much else since it was our 2nd visit (we had gone earlier in Aug) We got on the line for Grinchmas and waited on that for the next show.  After that we headed over to Universal Studios. My favorite show is Despicable Me and the wait on the Express line was over an hour! Needless to say we skipped that and went to check out other rides.  

On Christmas day we got an earlier start and hit Harry Potter during the extra hour for hotel guests and did most of the rides there. When the park was opened to regular guest there was a massive influx of people and it got crowded really fast.  We headed over to the Studios and did Despicable Me with minimal wait time (on the express line)

When we left around noon time - again there were massive lines at the ticket windows and to purchase the express pass.

So, if you're not staying onsite and even if you were the first people through the "gates" - you'll still have a wait in Harry Potter for FJ (no express line but you may get on quicker if you use single rider?) If you hit FJ then you'll be in for a really long wait for Ollivander's.  

I don't know if the lines get better late (near closing) during Christmas but it did in Aug. You may want to go over to wdwinfo.com and read the Universal boards. That's what I did when I planned my Christmas trip. Just in case you didn't know, you can book one night and check in really early (before the early entrance time) - get your passes and hit the park so you'll essentially get front of the line for two days (all that info can be found on the Universal boards.)

Hope this helps...


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## presley (Mar 11, 2013)

justnosy said:


> Just in case you didn't know, you can book one night and check in really early (before the early entrance time) - get your passes and hit the park so you'll essentially get front of the line for two days (all that info can be found on the Universal boards.)
> 
> Hope this helps...



Your post did help.  Looking at the ticket prices/front of the line prices, it actually looks like if I book one night on site (concurrent with my Hilton stay), I'd be about even vs. buying front of the line passes and not booking on site.  Great to hear that we can get 2 full days of front of the line with a one night stay.  Sounds like the early entrance to HP would be best.


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