BUSIEST AND LEAST BUSY DAYS AT UNIVERSAL ORLANDO
Fred Hazleton, one of the wizards behind TouringPlans.com, published last week a blog post on the most busy and least busy days at Universal Orlando.
On average over the course of the year Sunday is the least busy day, and Thursday the most busy day.
However, as the commenters on Fred’s post noted, this can vary depending on the week of the year and on special events happening at Universal.
Dan from the Orlando Informer had a particularly thoughtful set of comments on how your results may vary!
For Fred’s views on the rest of the days of the week at Universal Orlando, and for all the comments, including Dan’s several entries (writing as the OrlandoInformer), see this.
I’m seeing that you don’t recommend going universal studios or ioa on a Thurs . We are scheduled to be there mar 27th for first time visit seeing both parks in a day. We are staying at disneyworld. This was only day we could go. Any tips to make things easier to avoid lines? Have a 13 and 9 year old. We are avoiding the bigger rollercoasters like hulk as kids are not thrill seekers. We do want to see harrypotter, Spider-Man , dr. Suess etc.
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Mary, there’s no way to avoid lines other than showing up before park open, and/or buying Universal Express passes or staying a night at a Universal hotel…See this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2009/12/17/where-to-stay-during-your-visit-to-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/
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BTW Miara, the best choice is to double book at a Universal hotel for the night of the 21st. That’ll get you into HP an hour early both the 21st and 22nd, and avoids the need to buy UX passes. See this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2009/12/17/where-to-stay-during-your-visit-to-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/
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Thanks Dave! Hope the crowd isn’t as bad as I’m anticipating but I’ll make sure to come well prepared for them if ever! 😀
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Hi Dave!
We are having one extra day on our Disney World vacation in December and I was planning to visit Universal Orlando. Which date do you think is preferable? December 21 or December 22? I’m leaning towards the 22 because it is a Sunday but the holidays being closer might make it busier than the 21st? We’re staying at Disney World resort and have no Early Admission for WWoHP but I do want to see that one and it is our main focus. My sister wants to see Despicable Me in the morning though. Which do you suggest we do first? USF or IOA? We only have 1 FULL park day to do both parks. Should I buy universal express pass to make touring easier for us? Or just buy it at the park itself?
Thank you! Sorry for the mountain of questions. ^_^;
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Miara, the massive holiday crowds in Orlando hit beginning the 21st. I dunno that either day will be any good at Universal, but Saturday might be better than Sunday (since a lot of people arrive Saturday). The express pass will help with Despicable Me, but not Harry Potter, so do Harry/IOA first, and use the express pass for the rest of what you want to see at Universal
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We’ll be in Disney (4 adults, 3 kids) from 9/9-9/17…which days would be the best to see harry potter?
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Hi Pat! The Disney parks tend to be busiest Saturday-Monday, which makes those days the best days to see the non-Disney parks like Harry Potter at Universal’s Islands of Adventure. See this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/31/the-best-and-worst-days-of-the-week-to-see-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/
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Hi Dave,
My sister and I will be in Orlando aug 10-18(I know worst time) what days do you recommend to visit universal and island of adventure(we love Harry porter and universal)We are also planning to visit Disney parks …have I haven’t bought the park tickets yet. Also our hotel doesn’t offer shuttles to universal is a taxi the best was to go? Thanks in advance 🙂
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Hi Michelle!
Universal is generally best Sat-Mon–see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/31/the-best-and-worst-days-of-the-week-to-see-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/ I can’t comment on the best way to get there, not knowing your hotel but see this: https://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/01/10/getting-to-harry-potter-from-walt-disney-world/
Hope this helps!!
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many thanks Dave
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You bet, Matt!
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My family (wife, 2 boys ages 5&7) are in Orlando on the 28th Oct – 11th Nov and have tickets for both Universal & Disney. From your site I see that that the first week there should be less queues than the 2nd week (busier due to Jersey week) – should I therefore visit Harry Potter world/Universal week 1 and Disney week 2, (as Harry Potter seems to v busy)?
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Hi Matt! From the ages of your kids, I doubt you’ll spend a lot of time at Universal beyond Harry Potter. The least busy days at Universal are Sat-Mon (see https://yourfirstvisit.net/2011/07/31/the-best-and-worst-days-of-the-week-to-see-the-wizarding-world-of-harry-potter/ ) so I’d target Universal Saturday the 2nd–which will be before the Jesrsy week crowds come in.
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Here’s the link to our WWoHP reservation times & return ticket post: http://www.orlandoinformer.com/harry-potter-reservation-times-return-tickets-tips-secrets-guide/
You may also be interested to know that just this morning we launched our OI Universal Orlando crowd calendar. You can check it out here: http://www.orlandoinformer.com/universal-orlando-crowd-calendar-park-hours/
Thank you.
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This is Dan from OrlandoInformer.com. I just wanted to say thanks for linking to my site. If anyone has questions about Universal, or anything else in Orlamdo, we’re here to help! In fact, if you are planning a trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you will definitely want to check out our completely updated post we just finished on Harry Potter reservation times and return tickets (did you even know you might need one of those if your going to the Wizarding World?). Check it out: http://OrlandoInformer.com
Thanks again!
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Hi Dan!
Glad to link to you–your comments on the TP post were very helpful, and there’s lots of great stuff on your site.
Please comment back if you get a chance with a link to the updated Harry Potter post you mentioned!
Dave
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