Week after Christmas crowds and Universal Express

[CyForDisney]

Hi all, we scored cheap airfare to Orlando for the week between Christmas and New Years! I have never been to Universal Orlando during this week but I have been to Disney and it was awful for crowds! Is Universal just as bad? Would you recommend buying the Universal Express pass?

We were thinking of one of the following:
Buy 1 day park to park pass with Universal Express
Buy the 2 day single park (with 2 days free) from Undercover Tourist without Universal Express and wait out the lines.

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Lynne G]

It will be very crowded too. If you are not staying onsite, CityWalk is crazy. Give plenty of time to park, go through security and then wait to get in the park. Once the parks close, CityWalk is a sea and I mean a thick sea of people. I would expect express lines to be 20 or so minutes for the most popular ones. The app shows a pretty good idea of ride times.

Have fun, we will be there too, and staying onsite. Cannot wait to see all the new holiday stuff.

And yes, I would buy express passes. Note though, day and park specific, and no refunds.

 

[macraven]

The Darkside is crowded between Christmas and New Years.....
expect long line waits

Express pass will be worth it

 

[Metro West]

We locals call that week "Holiday Hell Week" for a reason.

 

[CyForDisney]

Good to know! I actually decided to book the Loew's Royal Pacific resort through Undercover Tourist for the last night of our trip to get the Express Pass. It was literally the same price as the two express unlimited passes and our other hotel for one night. We'll just switch hotels for our last night. A couple more questions..

Is the Express pass good for both the check in date and check out date or just one of the dates?

Is there a way to get free resort parking?

We are regulars to WDW but pretty inexperienced with Universal's resort perks. Thanks for your help!

 

[macraven]

The hotel ep is valid for check in and check out day

Since you have a two night stay, can you change your date for rpr to be the first night so you will have the ep for your two days at the parks?

No way to get free hotel parking
Have a car, the charge will be on your bill


Deluxe hotel parking is higher than the moderate and value hotels

 

[Lynne G]

And you can leave your car there until midnight on checkout day. They will charge per night. Most find the hotel with the free express pass a good deal when the unlimited express is high in price and there are 2 or more in the room. Plus, early entry is worth it too when crowds are crazy.

 

[glamdring269]

OP, I'm going to piggyback here but hopefully no problem since the topic is similar.

We will also be visiting Universal during the same time period (12/27 - 12/29 to be exact). We're staying at RPR the nights of 12/27 & 12/28 and intentionally have a late departure on 12/29 so we can take advantage of Express Pass on the check out date.

If we rope drop, and take advantage of any type of extra hours offered to on site guests, should we have much trouble hitting pretty much any rides we want each day? I'm assuming that Express Pass basically makes everything simple, even dining, so figure 20 min or so max wait in line for the most popular rides shouldn't be too bad. Just trying to get my mind in the right place.

 

[macraven]

For your dates, some rides even with express will have some waits

Longest wait time I have had was 45 minutes

 

[kohlby]

YES - do not even think about going without express.

I went on Dec 30th this past year and the crowds were horrible. I was solo and planned on single rider lines but even those kept getting shut down due to being too long. It was difficult to even walk around by the time I got to the IOA side at about noon. I overheard one express line was at an hour wait that day as I walked by. Most will be less - but be prepared that express won't be as express as usual.

 

[CyForDisney]

Thanks for your help all! 45 minute express line waits on select E ticket rides don't scare us. We just don't want to deal with 90 minute waits on every ride. RPR reservations with free express pass sounds like will work great.