October Crowds at Universal?

[JillC LI]

Hi all. We are going to DW for the third week of October and we plan to make a day trip to Universal/IoA. I know that the crowds are expected to be relatively low at DW that time of year, but is it the same for U/IoA?

I usually make smart use of FPs to get on all the rides I want in a day at DW. However, I don't plan to spring for the passes that get you on the quick lines at U/IoA. Without them, do you think we could hit most of both parks in one day? All of one park? Or will I be waiting on lines most of the day? :veryconfu

 

[Captain Hank]

Crowds have been, on the whole, very light at Universal this summer compared to Disney. I'd expect this to continue on into the fall, though keep in mind that crowds can swell on Halloween Horror Nights days--schedule at http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/eventinfo.html

 

[timeman]

My friend has gone the last two years in October and I will be going the first weekend of October this year. He has told me that the crowds have been very light both years that he has gone during the day on the weekends.

You will not have to worry about the crowds that are going to HHN as most people that are going to that will not be showing up until the park closes for the day and before it reopens for HHN.

The crowds for HHN will be big and if you do it, expect to only see a couple of the Haunted Houses as the wait times for them usually run close to 2 hours.

 

[JillC LI]

Thank you both for the info. We just want to go for the day since I am an even bigger chicken than my 7 and 9 year olds when it comes to horror! LOL Hopefully we will be able to hit everything we're really interested in at both parks by the early 5pm (U) and 6pm (IoA) closing times for HHN.

 

[Mukta]

You can do both parks easily. I get there early. Even if it advertises opening at 9, I get to IOA at 8:30. I ride everything once in both parks. Some years I have time for one or two repeats. I eat lunch at Mythos (yummy). I usually leave right around 6 pm (when it closes).
When you get there, pick one direction and just do everything in order. You should be fine. I try to go on a Wednesday to avoid crowds even more.

 

[Zip-a-Dee Do Da]

We went last year the second week of October, on a Friday, which also happened to be the night of Halloween Horror Nights.

We did both parks in one day. No fast passes either.

The crowds were really light. We pretty much did everything we wanted, skipped a few things we could live without. Although towards the end of the day, on a Halloween Horror Night, the crowds will begin to pick up as those guests arrive. So for instance, if your fav ride is spiderman, and you do US first, then hop over to IOA and plan on doing Spiderman last, don't, ha ha. It was like a 30-45min wait, the longest of the day, because of the HHN guests. So just plan accordingling. But I would say everything else was a 0-20 min wait.

My advice would be to just plan accordingling. Sit down ahead of time with the fam and decide what are must do's, try to's, ok to skip's, and skip's, ha ha. And plan to do your favs before the end of the day.

Have fun, we had a great day and did almost everything in both parks, but still everything we wanted to!

 

[JillC LI]

Thanks again

Especially glad to hear that Wednesdays are particularly light in October because we're going on a Wednesday! And I have made a list of all the rides that we want to make sure not to miss, so we'll aim for those first. Thanks!

 

[Skip]

Especially glad to hear that Wednesdays are particularly light in October because we're going on a Wednesday! And I have made a list of all the rides that we want to make sure not to miss, so we'll aim for those first. Thanks!

The crowds will be very light until at least mid-afternoon if you're going on a Wednesday. The only rides that'll garner a lengthy wait that I can think of are Hulk, Spider-Man, Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, Revenge of the Mummy, and maybe Men in Black... so try to hit those first if you're interested in any of them.

 

[bigjoe827]

Ive been going the last ten years for trips the last 2 weeks in october,it has been very busy due to the number of people visiting for halloween and epcots food and wine festivals on the weekends.Make sure you have express passes just in case,it will save you a whole bunch of drama.