June 5
And we're back! For the moment that I had been waiting for since March. Universal Studios announced an opening date of June 5. While Disney is ingrained in my blood, I have enjoyed being a Universal Passholder. Shortly after I moved to Orlando I bought a pass, being only about 20 minutes away.
I actually did get an AP ticket for a June 4 preview but due to work and early closings at Universal, I wasn't able to make it. Honestly, looking at the videos and pictures from that "preview" I was glad I didn't go. It looked a bit more crowded than I expected, and due to that I thought there was no way I would be visiting opening weekend.
As I sat at home on Friday morning and afternoon (continuing my work from home), I looked on the app and was shocked at what I saw. 10-15 minute waits for most attractions. In the early afternoon I decided I was going to try and head over, if only for a little as the parks closed at 7.
I parked at 5:15, back into the Jaws parking lot!
While I was in city walk I grabbed a virtual queue for Gringotts that started in a mere matter of minutes. The temp check and security was quick, and a few minutes later I was entering the gates.
It was a bit of a rainy weekend and that continued for the next several days, but these crowds were amazing! Walking down the "Main Street" was nothing like a typical June day at Universal. I have to say I took several minutes walking down and just
looking at everything. The buildings, the stores, the designs. I know in the grand scheme of things most people go much longer than a few months between trips. But somehow knowing that everything had been completely closed made the arrival much more emotional.
By now, it was nearly time for my Gringotts virtual queue. I realize now that my Express after 4pm would have also worked, but there was no real difference this evening. I have never seen Diagon Alley so empty, maybe not even during horror nights. And yes, the dragon is still breathing fire!
And I was doing it. My first ride in almost 3 months. First thing of note are these markers all throughout the queue. Neither of the preshows are operating currently, and there was literally no line as I walked straight onto the ride. From entering the queue to exiting the ride was probably about 10 minutes in total.
After that, I continued my walk around the park, noting both the markers and the extreme lack of crowds as more rain clouds loomed in the background.
Last fall I upgraded my AP to the top level, this includes prime parking but most importantly, express pass after 4pm. So far I am loving this perk and I hopped onto ET. Including myself, there was 3 people in my car that typically holds 12. They are completely skipping a row between parties. I sat in row 3 while two others were in row 1. They aren't taking names right now, ET just says "Goodbye Friends."
When I got out of ET, there came the rain. It was pouring but this was my first time back in a park in months! I wasn't about to let that slow me down with a half hour left. I threw on a poncho and trudged my way to Mummy.
The park continued to clear out as we neared park close and more rain. I used Express once again for Mummy and discovered I was the only one in the Express line. This attraction has a separate load area for Express, so I ended up having the entire car (16 people) to myself. I gotta be honest it was almost a little creepy but it was such a cool experience.
When I got off Mummy, it was 6:45 and still raining. I figured there was still time to squeeze in one more ride and walked back to MIB which was incredibly empty. Once again, markers in the queue throughout.
I walked straight up to the loading zone and was quite literally the only person in line. So, I had another private ride of MIB before making my way out of the park. At some moments, it felt like the park was only open for me. It was truly incredible. I realized that, what I had thought would be a crowded weekend with capacity issues, was actually quite the opposite. I had planned to gauge crowd levels on the app over Saturday and Sunday and if they looked anything like today I was content on going back. Everything felt clean and controlled and I honestly felt more comfortable walking around the park than I do walking around Publix. All in all, even though it wasn't even 2 full hours, it was so good to be back.
Next: Islands of Adventure