Universal Capacity

[MisterPenguin]

Oh, EVERYONE is showing up first thing to try to get in before the capacity is hit causing shoulder to shoulder MOBS!

Universal: We expect to hit capacity early in the morning tomorrow. Please consider attending some other day.

Guests: We all need to get there hours before opening so we can beat everyone else in!! All of us!!!

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

I am wondering what crowds will look like in the coming weekends now that those buy a day get the rest of the year tickets will expire.

 

[macefamily]

We were down there in September, and I said we would ABSOLUTELY not be returning until the covid cases started declining. It was madness. Not as many Universal management present and watching over things like we saw at Disney, which led to many people wearing their masks around their necks.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I fail to see how walking through CityWalk during a pandemic is worse than walking through the TTC and having to sit in an indoor monorail with other parties in the next cabin over, or being herded onto a boat & surrounded by a ton of other people.

MK is the biggest pain in the butt to get into, followed by USF and IOA. But, the difference right now is that if you are at the TTC and have a reservation, you know you are getting into the park.

 

[JT3000]

Read themepark insider if you need help in understanding the difference. Plus, with no park hopping the TTC is only used for MK. if you want to go to one of the other 3 parks or Disney Springs you would park at one of the other 4 parking areas and not the one parking lot for all 3 areas at Universal. I wonder why Universal set up their parking the way they did because the Flue Season comes every year and hopefully all themeparks will keep temperature screaming all year long forever. People get sick and spread diseases all year long and not just during pandemics.

MK is still a mob scene at opening & closing, even with reduced capacity and no park hopping. I know this from recent experience.

Like it or not, having garages that lead to both parks was by far the most efficient way of setting up a 2-park resort, rather than having everything separated. Disney agrees, as they did something similar with Disneyland. The only reason you aren't seeing the same issues there is because it isn't open.

If the crowds bother you, go to one of the hotels and take a water taxi or a short stroll along an uncrowded path to the parks. People are acting like the parking garages are the only way to get in, and they're not.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I am wondering what crowds will look like in the coming weekends now that those buy a day get the rest of the year tickets will expire.

This was a huge mistake and I hope they realize it and don't bring it back. Weekends at Universal have become a nightmare even without it being peak.

We were down there in September, and I said we would ABSOLUTELY not be returning until the covid cases started declining. It was madness. Not as many Universal management present and watching over things like we saw at Disney, which led to many people wearing their masks around their necks.

It's a shame because back in June, July, August, Universal was doing an exemplary job. Then, once they released the buy a day, get the rest of the year promo, locals came flooding in, packing the parks. Ever since this, they have clearly been paying lipservice to their covid procedures whereas Disney, while still not a great experience, seems to still be taking them pretty seriously.

Let me be clear, it's not even that I'm that scared of getting COVID, I wear my mask, most people are wearing theirs too. The difference is the level of control. Disney, despite also having larger crowds, is by default more equipped to handle them with infrastructure designed to handle it, wider walkways, etc. You still get a sense that they're only letting in enough people to have some control over and despite a few bottleneck moments, it works okay. The cast members are consistent with enforcing the covid procedures in place.

At Universal, they're letting in what is very obviously too many people to fit on these narrow walkways. What makes it worse is there is no consistency to the enforcement of their procedures. You'll run into tons of situations where they're simultaneously forcing you into these makeshift queues they set up (and will scream at you to do it, literally, only to not actually enforce the queue and dump everyone into the area. This was the situation at every locker queue I went to - no point to the queue at all because the team members were just shoving everyone directly, shoulder to shoulder, into the lockers anyway. Yet they still barked orders at the guests to properly use the queues. In other words, these special queues are set up for show so they can say they did something, then blame the guests for not following the rules when it is in fact their own procedures and lack of control that is making the queues useless.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I don't understand either why people choose to vacation during the busiest week of the year. Pandemic or not.

Come back in January and the parks are a ghost town.

You must not be a teacher.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Was there week before last. Saturday we got to the park at 1pm. (My schedule with Uni is different than Disney as I get there later and stay later due to the AP Express Pass 4pm time). Was At Capacity.

There are basically 2 tiers. First - At Capacity and we aren't going to open back up. Second - At Capacity and we expect to let people in later this afternoon. Long story short, got into the park at about 3pm and stayed til close.

I've found that usually the capacity closures are relegated to Saturday's and this is now compounded by the holiday period. I'd expect that beginning next week, this will ease the closures for a bit.

As a remedy, Dockside Inn is now open. So there are 2 very affordable UNI hotels (with the FLA Res rate it is very affordable). You're pretty much guaranteed entry if you are staying on property. So book a FLA Res rate at $129 (or a non-FLA Res rate that is not much more) and don't worry about it.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

if Disney operated like Universal is they would be destroyed.

Disney isn't operating much better. Sure, they've got a park res system. Which I don't find exactly fair and efficient either.

There is no "perfect" solution here. The real crux is that both resorts are having issues in the COVID world, with the COVID capacity regulations and enforcement - and during a time period that traditionally lends itself to a higher demand. And they're having to do this with less staff and cost cutting measures that have been rolled out at both properties.

 

[rangerbob]

Our governor has said that they can open up to full strength. Universal is doing that. Disney is still being smart and limiting it to 35%. I'm not sure what SeaWorld is holding capacity at but it is limited too. I think they need a visit from the Orange county strike team to take a visit and slap them with a fine like they are doing at other businesses in the county.

I don't agree with them doing this just saying that our governor doesn't care and he just wants money flowing into the state and around the state.

 

[JT3000]

Our governor has said that they can open up to full strength. Universal is doing that.

No, they aren't.

 

[Tom Morrow]

Based on everything I saw, heard, and from people who work there, there is absolutely no way in hell that Universal was limiting crowds to 35% over peak.

 

[rangerbob]

Based on everything I saw, heard, and from people who work there, there is absolutely no way in hell that Universal was limiting crowds to 35% over peak.

Easily 50% or greater from the pictures that I saw.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I don't know how accurate this is, but I've been told that IOA and USF, separately, have a max capacity of 50,000 each. So, 35% would be about 17,500 people. An average light day at the parks is around 10,000-15,000. So, if they were limiting to 35%, we should be seeing something slightly above a light crowd day. Perhaps a low moderate day. But what we were seeing was only marginally less busy than a pre-COVID peak day.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

We were there 12/25 to 12/29. During the afternoons, every day was shoulder-to-shoulder people in the narrow pathways.

 

[Frankenstein79]

Universal seems to not care about safety. They're just cramming in as many people as possible.

 

[Pooh'sBuddy]

Universal seems to not care about safety. They're just cramming in as many people as possible.

and ignore any criticism/complaints about it.

 

[tirian]

School systems are notoriously strict with attendance. For many families, holiday weeks are the only time to vacation... except also during the unbearable Summer Florida heat.

That could all change if enough parents wanted it to. They can run for school boards or vote in those who sympathize with off-cycle vacations.

Maybe the practice so many have had with remote schooling could change that.

But yeah, I plan my WDW vacations for the first weeks of Oct, Dec, and Feb.

Idk about other places, but where I live, school policies became stricter specifically because of off-cycle WDW vacations.

 

[tirian]

I agree that Universal is showing they only care about money and not safety. As the article stated, having everyone park in the same garage. go through the same security check and walk through City Walk is clearly to get people to spend their money at one of the parks and if they can't get in fine. they spent money on parking and will end up buying something at City Walk.

In my opinion, I am shocked they get a pass on these threads because if Disney operated like Universal is they would be destroyed. Just another example of the double standards here. WDW should be closed because of Covid19 no matter how WDW operates but Universal can have unsafe conditions and they can stay open with no complaints.

Many Disney-centric fan forums roast you alive if you say positive things about Universal. Fans can’t be appalled if they refuse to go or won’t admit they went.

 

[tirian]

This was a huge mistake and I hope they realize it and don't bring it back. Weekends at Universal have become a nightmare even without it being peak.


It's a shame because back in June, July, August, Universal was doing an exemplary job. Then, once they released the buy a day, get the rest of the year promo, locals came flooding in, packing the parks. Ever since this, they have clearly been paying lipservice to their covid procedures whereas Disney, while still not a great experience, seems to still be taking them pretty seriously.

Let me be clear, it's not even that I'm that scared of getting COVID, I wear my mask, most people are wearing theirs too. The difference is the level of control. Disney, despite also having larger crowds, is by default more equipped to handle them with infrastructure designed to handle it, wider walkways, etc. You still get a sense that they're only letting in enough people to have some control over and despite a few bottleneck moments, it works okay. The cast members are consistent with enforcing the covid procedures in place.

At Universal, they're letting in what is very obviously too many people to fit on these narrow walkways. What makes it worse is there is no consistency to the enforcement of their procedures. You'll run into tons of situations where they're simultaneously forcing you into these makeshift queues they set up (and will scream at you to do it, literally, only to not actually enforce the queue and dump everyone into the area. This was the situation at every locker queue I went to - no point to the queue at all because the team members were just shoving everyone directly, shoulder to shoulder, into the lockers anyway. Yet they still barked orders at the guests to properly use the queues. In other words, these special queues are set up for show so they can say they did something, then blame the guests for not following the rules when it is in fact their own procedures and lack of control that is making the queues useless.

Just remember, the mask is safety layer #2. Safety layer #1 is maintaining distance, and these crowded conditions make that impossible.