What are the best days to visit Universal Studios Orlando?

[rsackett]

I will be making my first visit to Universal Studios Orlando the first week of April. Are any days better to go than others to avoid crowds?

Any tips for a first time visitor?

Thanks, Ray

 

[Talent312]

Mid-week (Tue-Thr) is best... go early in the AM for better parking.
Arrive after 11AM on a weekend, and you will be miserable.
...BTW, this is universally true at any theme park...

 

[ronparise]

I dont know if this is the best way to handle parking. I havent tried it any other way. Heres what worked for me.

We went to Universal with friends that were staying at the Portofino Hotel. I drove to the hotel, parked in their garage and we all took the boat to the park (free). The parking fee was supposed to be $17 a day, but by the time we returned the attendant was gone and we just drove out,

By the way there is a good kid friendly restaurant at the Portofino that serves up a really good breakfast buffet. and on Friday night (maybe other nights too; Im not sure), an all you can eat Pasta feast. You pick the ingredients for your sauce and the type of pasta, and the chef cooks it to order while you watch. Really good and lots of fun. Shrek and Scoobie-Doo were walking around to entertain the kids (and me too)

 

[pedro47]

Tuesday and Wednesday are the best days to visit when the attendant to the amusement park is very slow.

 

[miketv]

I spent 2 days at Universal last week - if you are going to the Harry Potter section of the park go early and get a time to enter the area. It is very crowded and you need an alloted time just to enter then you will be lining up for each ride. The kids loved it and i went on a Monday and Wednesday and the crowds were ok, the rides were a 30-60 minute wait.

hope this helps

 

[bankr63]

We also just returned from March Break. Had a 3-day multi-park pass, so we did both US and IOA; visits were all on week days. The ONLY busy area we encountered was WWOHP. We got there about 10 am on a Wednesday, went directly to WWOHP and were the absolute last people admitted before they started handing out return times. We waited about 90 minutes for the Harry Potter ride, but there is lots to see on the way in. The shops all had admission lines, but all of the merchandise was available at other shops in the park. Dragon Challenge was a walk on even at noon - but you have to have nerves of steel to ride. I have NEVER felt g-forces like that, and 7 inversions (holy sh**!!) on the easier Hungarian Horntail side. And forget about getting a butter-beer. They take longer to pull than a proper Guinness, making for very LONG lines. If you must have one, try the stand by the Potter ride, line up on the bridge side of the cart. For some reason this line was about half the length of the others when we were there.

Outside of WWOHP, most rides were walk-on to 15 minute waits early in the morning, but still reasonable by afternoon. We did wait about 45 minutes for Rip Ride Rocket at 3:00 in the afternoon, and the Jaws ride had about a 45 minute wait too at noon. MIB, and Mummy were under 10 minutes in mid-afternoon.

For March break we were impressed with how small the crowds were everywhere except WWHOP, especially in comparison to the throngs of people over at the Disney parks. Unless you are there Easter weeks, April should be pretty good.

Have a great time!

 

[mwwich]

We've been several times including busy spring break...always go after lunch (saving a meal out) and find quite a few people departing as we arrive, stay until closing time. Hang around the pool for half day, then the them park for afternoon/evening....miss the morning rush to get there. Works for us....

Been 3 years since we were there, remember then they had an online special on a 4 or 5 day pass that was not much more than a daily ticket, but you had to buy it online, was not offered at the park. Don't know if they still do that.

 

[Margariet]

We had a two day pass - received after a timeshare presentation! - and went during the week, I think on Monday and Tuesday or Tuesday and Wednesday as early in the morning as possible. That gave us proper time to see everything we wanna see. I remember that it got busier during the day and that the lines got longer. But we were off season so I don't know about spring but I guess it must be more crowded.

 

[enma]

We are planning to go to Universal Studios in late October. We would be going there Sat, Sun and maybe Mon morning...you think it's going to be really busy then? Other than getting passes online any suggestions where to get them?

 

[Talent312]

We are planning to go to Universal Studios in late October. We would be going there Sat, Sun and maybe Mon morning...you think it's going to be really busy then?...

Yes. On weekends, you need to there early. You want to to follow the initial rush, but not by much. By 10:30, it'll be crowded.

 

[fholdaway]

We were there about a week and a half ago and found that first thing in the morning was good for Harry Potter, but also if you went after 5 p.m. people were starting to clear out and the lines were shorter. Extremely packed late morning through mid afternoon, but after that not bad at all. We ended up doing the Forbidden Journey ride about 8 times. A couple of times early morning, and the rest in the evening when the line was shorter. If we really didn't want to wait, we did the single rider line, which bypasses some of the cool castle features, but gets you right up to the front of the line. We tried this strategy on several days, including a Friday and Saturday, and it worked just fine.