The Very Best Times to Visit Universal Orlando in 2023 and 2024

We've been thinking of enjoying our Columbus day weekend at Universal. I'm already dreading the weekend crowds. Also, if I'm reading right, the park closes early the entire month of October for Halloween Horror Nights?? Do you think it will be worth it considering we won't be going to that event?

Hi there! Firstly, I am so grateful for your website. Thank you! We are planning a trip to Universal and Disney World over 11-21 January 2019. Grom your crowd calendars it seems best to do Universal first then Disney World? Can you please kindly advise. We are from Australia and so I don't really know about the US holidays. And I think there is a Marathon Weekend in there too? Huge thanks!

We will be staying at sapphire falls and going to the park May 29, 30th and could do some of the 31st (2018) if necessary. With the current storm, weather will be horrible - heavy rains and thunderstorms. Any suggestions for a game plan? (besides not going - LOL) Harry Potter is our main interest. Will we still need to purchase ultimate express passes - what's the best strategy with finances, rain/storm, attractions, timing. Thanks!!

Great tips! Very helpful for my family's upcoming trip to Orlando...

I would love to visit during the holidays, but I am very wary about the crowds.

We were thinking of going February 15-19, 2019. Can you tell me why that week is one of the worst times of the year please? Thanks!

Am I looking at the park hours correct, does the parks really close at 6pm on Friday night May 11 and at 7pm on Monday May 14?

Hi,

we are a family of 4 and plan to visit Universal Studios in Orlando at October 10th / 11th with 1-day per park ticket. Your calendar show moderate crowds. Do you recommend also an unlimited pass?

Thanks.

Hello ????

My husband and I are pulling out our hair trying to figure out the best time to visit Universal without pulling the kids out if school. I would like to go the end of August when it’s less expensive and less crowded. My husband says the end of June because it won’t be as hot as August. But we are also kicking around the week before Easter. What are your recommendations?

We are going to universal on the 14th & 15th jan 2019. Do you recommend express passes? Also can we do 1 park a day or are park hopper the way to go?

We will be visiting in July and we will have Express Passes which will allow us to skip the lines. With that said, will we be able to see both parks in one day? Family of 5. Thanks

We are a family of 4 staying in cabana bay from Feb 7th 2019. Should we buy separate express passes? If so how much would we be paying ? Thanks

We are debating which day would be the best for less waiting and crowds at Universal and Island of Adventure. We are debating between Mothers Day 2018 or the Monday after Mothers Day.

Question- I know why Easter (April 21st 2019) is a high crowd week, but why is the 1st week of April of 2019 so busy?

We are thinking of going the last week of August when the crowd levels are pretty low. One deluxe on property hotel is 600 more for the four nights, but comes with the express unlimited pass. With it being lower crowd, should I save the 600?

I will be going to Orlando April 21-25. What day would be best to visit Universal Island of Adventure, and is it worth getting an express pass if I will be going only one day

Hi there, we are planning a trip Thursday/Friday January 10th/11th. We want to do almost all the rides. Do you think its necessary to get an Express pass? Or should the wait this time of year be short enough to do everything without it? Thanks!

Thinking of going Friday April 13th 2018. Should I expect larger than usual crowds or fairly average for a weekday?

Hi there! I love all the great information and discounts on your site! Thank you!

My question is I purchased 2-park 3-day Park to Park Universal Studios tickets. On the tickets, it says they expire six days from first use. I would like to use the first day on Sunday. Can I use the last day on the following Saturday, or is Friday the last day I can use them? Maybe I am being silly, but it seems a bit unclear to me. Man, six days is not much time at all! Hope you can help me out! Thanks again!

Hi! My son and I will be in the area May 22-27, 2018. We were going to do one day at Disney and two at Universal. I was wondering if the crowds would be very bad. Since we have to days at Universal should we do Disney that Wednesday? Wondering about Friday crowds especially. Thank you!

I am thinking about taking my children to Universal and Islands of Adventure on the Monday and Tuesday after Easter. Is that a terrible idea? I was only planning to pay for the express pass for one of those days (Tuesday).

Hi my name is mrunal, my family and I are planning to go to universal studios in the second week of June and I am someone who hates crowds so is it the right time to visit?

Hello,

My husband and I are going to Universal April 21st and 22nd. We plan on getting the park hopper passes for both days so we can leave one park when it closes and go to the other to spend the rest of our day there. It says on your crowd calendar that it's expected to be a 6/10 day, do you think we need the express passes unlimited or would you think it's going to be a waste of money? We've never been and we're really excited to ride all the rides and go see all the attractions! We just don't like super long lines and being too hot!

Thanks!

So are your calendar recommendations based on last year or do they take into consideration this years events like spring break etc. I’m not sure how you come up with your light average and heavy days and most importantly your green check days!

Thanks

Hi, we are planning on going on May. I saw in the aricle that weekends in May are not good? Why is that? How is that different from other weekends? We have fast pass will that be okay?

Thanks.

Hi, I am thinking about planning a trip to Universal at the end November 2018. I feel that the pricing at Universal is significantly higher than Disney. When I am on the website, they always have a spot for a promotional code. I started entertaining this trip in the spring of 2017 and yet to see any promotional codes. Any suggestions? Thanks!

We are going to universal studios orlando, march 28th-april 7th 2018 staying at sapphire falls do they do anything for easter

Hola! I planned a very short trip and have been stressing out about being able to actually enjoy it. We will arrive May 1st but probably won't make it into the park until 1pm. We will be there a full day on the 2nd. Staying at Cabana so early access to HP. Would it be smart to do non HP stuff the day I arrive then after closing at 7pm hop over to the other park that's open until 10? Then the next day HP early access then before general opening run to the other side where despicable me is and get on those rides then work our way back to HP before 10PM closing? Im hoping all the spring break crowds will be cleared and it won't be so busy. Thank you! -Stressed out mama

Valuable info but very hard to read with this font! Too small and light.

I'm bringing a group of friends to Universal somewhere between Feb 20 and Feb 24. All the crowd calendars say this is an extremely busy time, but wondering why. I know President's Day weekend (Feb 17 & 18) as well as the Friday before (Feb 16) and Monday after (Feb 19) are busy since a lot of people are off. But that Tuesday through Friday (Feb 20-24) isn't any type of holiday or spring break for anybody. So why is it so busy then?

I took my daughter in 2017 the week after April Vacation and it was absolutely the BEST time ever!! No lines, no crowds and the weather was fantastic. I am surprised April isn't on your list at all!

Thinking of doing Universal March 2-9th, is this a bad idea as I do not like long lines or crowds. We would be staying at Lowes Royal Pacific.

Thanks.

Thinking about booking a quick trip through Costco for 2/9 - 2/13. Looks like crowds will be moderate to low. Should I worry about Express passes? We would be staying off site.

My daughter is a huge Harry Potter fan and I'd like to take her to Universal Orlando to see the Harry Potter parks. How many days should we spend in the parks for her to have plenty of time to see everything? We won't be interested in the non-HP stuff. I know we definitely want to do the express passes too--financially are we better off to spend more money to stay in one of the hotels that includes those? Or stay in Cabana bay and pay the extra for tickets-or is it a wash? Thanks so much and love your site!!

Is it worth including volcano bay in our trip. Definitely want the two day universal but not sure if the weather will be god enough for waterpark. Jan 29th to Feb 3rd thanks

Hi there we are thinking about going to Orlando on May 25 for about 4 days do you think we would be able to get a 2 day visit to Universal Studios?

Hi there... It is stated that Feb 16-25 and Mar 4 -Apr 6 in year 2018 are the worst times to visit Universal Orlando. Can I understand why?

I was just wondering why the week of January 13-16 is a bad time to go to Universal. We are looking at coming down from Canada that week.

Thanks

My daughter will be 11 on March 2, and we are thinking about surprising her with a trip. Our main interest is Harry Potter. We won't visit the water park. How many days would you suggest we plan to stay? I'm thinking maybe 4. Which hotel would be best for us? We're a family of 3. Thanks.

Hi, I am planning a beach trip week of week of April 23, 2018. We were planning on going to Universal Studios either the beginning or end of our trip, so April 23rd or April 29, 2018. We are mainly gong for Harry Potter World but also would want to hit up some of the key attractions. DO you think it would be better at beginning or end of week? Also, is 1 day enough? Thanks for the help! Sara

Hi there

Which of the Harry Potter rides would be the busiest

Please

We are planning to go to Universal Studios on April 20th and IOA on April 21st 2018. Not sure express passes are in the budget and the crowd calendar has it at 5 or 6. What should I expect? Is this enough time to do each park? Or should I consider doing Volcano Bay on 20th and do park to park at Universal Studios and IOA on 21st? Going with my wife and 10 year old son. Curious pros and cons. Thanks.

We are planning a last minute trip next week for 4 days to Florida will the crowds okay for just two days mid week to see both universal studio and Adventure Island

Hi,

I was wondering why the week after New Year's (when every public school kid is back from Christmas break) is still red. What am I missing? Also, will it be warm enough to swim and enjoy the pools/water parks at that time?

Thanks, Emily

We are considering going to Universal Feb 2 and 3, 2018 Our main purpose is Harry Potter world with the kids. Do you think we need to stay on property to skip the line and have early access on these dates? Or can we save our money and stay off property? I'm trying to go over a weekend with fewer crowds, we are flexible on dates, but it has to be a Friday/Saturday. Thanks!

Hi, my family of 4 will be staying in Orlando the week of Feb.5-12, 2018. We are not staying at the Universal hotels but outside the park. It looks like this is a good and quieter time to go from looking at your Crowd Calender. We are planning to purchase ahead Harry Potter and Islands of Adventure (2 day park to park pass), so we were wondering whether we should also add the Express Pass as well? Will it be busy enough to justify the extra cost? What are the hours of the park in February since we are obviously not getting into the park with an early admittance like the people that are staying onsite. Any advice with this would be great, thanks!

We wanted to celebrate our 1 yr anniversary but being that it is on April 1st & so is Easter, we are going to skip that idea & now thinking the first week in May? I dont see this as a heavy crowd ti.e but are the evenings warm enough to enjoy the water rides & the pools? Or should we push it towards the last week of May

Yesterday we visited island of adventure and it was so much fun.The only thing that was chaotic during thanksgiving were the people working there.Everyone was trying to go one way while the workers(which were collage student) were trying to move everyone the other way.

Hi, I appreciate the valuable information. I am planning on visiting Universal and Islands of Adventure Jan. 2-4 2018, with express passes would you say that it would still be as enjoyable as when the parks are empty? With it being a weekday especially?

We will be in Florida for the Disney Cup the week before New Years and we were hoping to do Universal but it looks like it might not be a good idea... What are your thoughts?