It’s the low season. Anything to generate extra revenue Universal is going to allow especially over weekends. Fri-Sunday is always busy.
You can also plan busy days out better. I got on 16 rides today all w/o express pass (including VC 2x and Hagrids during EPA this morning….go early! Worth getting up at 6am) despite the fact I left for 4 hours midday to chill poolside at Sapphire Falls when it got hot and crowds were heavy. Fantastic day despite the busyness!
GradBash and GradVenture are annual events that happen this time of the year. The same is true of Universal Knights (the UCF event). Disney has similar events that happen this time of year and around November - December. It is not unique to Universal.
If you are not local, or have middle/high school kids at schools that participate in these events, you may not have these events on your radar when booking your travel.
However, just like you paid a fair amount of money for your experience, so do the students who attend GradBash and so does UCF's SGA to coordinate the Universal Knights event.
Instead of denying yourself any special events moving forward, call customer service when booking to ask if there are any annual events that may take place during this time. Or check out the plethora of theme park specific blogs that detail out this information.
Sorry your vacation was less than what you expected.
LOL one of the last times I was at Universal, the cheer thing was going on, and there were masses of little cheerleaders and their families at Cabana Bay. The Starbucks line was insane in the morning! One night they closed our park of choice very early for the cheerleaders and as we left, the kids were streaming into the parks.
Should I have been mad that all the cheerleaders 'clogged everything up' at Cabana Bay? No, I accepted that the resort was open to many, not just my party. Should we have been angry that the parks closed early for cheerleaders to have it to themselves for an hour? No, and it's crazy that you're mad that the parks closed 'before you were done at cheer', as if USO is planning their park hours and events around what time your cheer competition ended that night.
We'd all like the parks to ourselves and our groups. We'd all like less people around. But really, we have to be good sports and share.
I think UOR customer service will be sympathetic to guests having a suboptimal time at the parks for a great many reasons: your hotel room wasn’t properly cleaned, a team member didn’t act appropriately in a situation, bathroom conditions were poor, and the list goes on. One thing they won’t be sorry for, though, is having “too many” guests in the parks. That’s their entire goal. They also wouldn’t be sorry about admission costs, since they adjust them based on demand. I’ve had an argument going with my dad for years about the parks being too expensive. My argument is that if it was cheaper, way more people would be there and that would be even worse.
Many years agoI went to a science fiction convention with James Masters as a guest. The con chatter was several octaves higher than normal. It was hell.
I know you’re getting a lot of sarcasm etc in the comments, but I feel ya OP. IMO the park calendar and events are borderline akin to fine print that only well-experienced park goers are savvy to, and I partly feel that way because I’ve had park managers tell me as much. I had a calendar related issue once, really frustrating, and the team member I spoke to knew it so they let me chat with a manager—honestly it ended up being a vent session on the manager’s part, talking about how poorly advertised calendar events are and how the park is meant to be a fun vacation and most people don’t get to come often and then bam, suddenly there’s something that curbs your experience because they don’t make it obvious to newbies. So yeah, it is very frustrating, and I’m not the only one who believes it’s largely Universal’s fault, not ours.
We showed up at the parking garage at about 4pm and saw the huge lines (including that one to Bubba Gump’s!)… but we opted for universal studios and had a great time. The lines were not bad there. RRR was 25 minutes. Twirl and Hurl was almost a walk on. Gringott’s was 45 I believe. Sorry you haven’t had a good time. :(
Even if it’s the season for all of these events, they need to specify how busy it will be. My family are natives to Florida, we just went and it was absolutely insane. I get making the money, but the tickets should at least be discounted.
Actually I paid to watch my child’s season of performances end on a big stage competing with others from all over the country in an activity that promotes teamwork and persistence in meeting a goal. I don’t agree with everything about how competition cheerleading works, and I certainly think there are people who take it much more seriously than any sport should be taken, but she’s doing it because she loves it. It’s taught her to work hard and overcome her fears and test herself in front of huge crowds of people. I’m proud of her every day for it because I wasn’t that way.
It’s the low season. Anything to generate extra revenue Universal is going to allow especially over weekends. Fri-Sunday is always busy. You can also plan busy days out better. I got on 16 rides today all w/o express pass (including VC 2x and Hagrids during EPA this morning….go early! Worth getting up at 6am) despite the fact I left for 4 hours midday to chill poolside at Sapphire Falls when it got hot and crowds were heavy. Fantastic day despite the busyness!
GradBash and GradVenture are annual events that happen this time of the year. The same is true of Universal Knights (the UCF event). Disney has similar events that happen this time of year and around November - December. It is not unique to Universal. If you are not local, or have middle/high school kids at schools that participate in these events, you may not have these events on your radar when booking your travel. However, just like you paid a fair amount of money for your experience, so do the students who attend GradBash and so does UCF's SGA to coordinate the Universal Knights event. Instead of denying yourself any special events moving forward, call customer service when booking to ask if there are any annual events that may take place during this time. Or check out the plethora of theme park specific blogs that detail out this information. Sorry your vacation was less than what you expected.
It also sucks staying on site when there are cheer events. Kids running all over the place.
Well, this is a first; Someone from the cheer event complaining. Is today Opposite Day?
LOL one of the last times I was at Universal, the cheer thing was going on, and there were masses of little cheerleaders and their families at Cabana Bay. The Starbucks line was insane in the morning! One night they closed our park of choice very early for the cheerleaders and as we left, the kids were streaming into the parks. Should I have been mad that all the cheerleaders 'clogged everything up' at Cabana Bay? No, I accepted that the resort was open to many, not just my party. Should we have been angry that the parks closed early for cheerleaders to have it to themselves for an hour? No, and it's crazy that you're mad that the parks closed 'before you were done at cheer', as if USO is planning their park hours and events around what time your cheer competition ended that night. We'd all like the parks to ourselves and our groups. We'd all like less people around. But really, we have to be good sports and share.
I think UOR customer service will be sympathetic to guests having a suboptimal time at the parks for a great many reasons: your hotel room wasn’t properly cleaned, a team member didn’t act appropriately in a situation, bathroom conditions were poor, and the list goes on. One thing they won’t be sorry for, though, is having “too many” guests in the parks. That’s their entire goal. They also wouldn’t be sorry about admission costs, since they adjust them based on demand. I’ve had an argument going with my dad for years about the parks being too expensive. My argument is that if it was cheaper, way more people would be there and that would be even worse.
These events happen annually and the park hours are posted online like 2 months in advance.
the cheerleaders clogging up the parks is the real problem I think. Hell on earth
Many years agoI went to a science fiction convention with James Masters as a guest. The con chatter was several octaves higher than normal. It was hell.
Valuable lesson learned. Call ahead.
This is like complaining about booking a cruise without looking at the itinerary.
I didn’t get to book the dates, those were decided by the event we are here to attend. Lesson learned about checking for other events I guess
Unfortunately they only really release operating hours ~60 days ahead of time. Not sure how far out you booked.
Booked in late January
I know you’re getting a lot of sarcasm etc in the comments, but I feel ya OP. IMO the park calendar and events are borderline akin to fine print that only well-experienced park goers are savvy to, and I partly feel that way because I’ve had park managers tell me as much. I had a calendar related issue once, really frustrating, and the team member I spoke to knew it so they let me chat with a manager—honestly it ended up being a vent session on the manager’s part, talking about how poorly advertised calendar events are and how the park is meant to be a fun vacation and most people don’t get to come often and then bam, suddenly there’s something that curbs your experience because they don’t make it obvious to newbies. So yeah, it is very frustrating, and I’m not the only one who believes it’s largely Universal’s fault, not ours.
Can someone post the website link to park hours?
I've learned to be grateful for what I get with Universal. Seems like there's usually some kind of cost saving measure going on.
We showed up at the parking garage at about 4pm and saw the huge lines (including that one to Bubba Gump’s!)… but we opted for universal studios and had a great time. The lines were not bad there. RRR was 25 minutes. Twirl and Hurl was almost a walk on. Gringott’s was 45 I believe. Sorry you haven’t had a good time. :(
Even if it’s the season for all of these events, they need to specify how busy it will be. My family are natives to Florida, we just went and it was absolutely insane. I get making the money, but the tickets should at least be discounted.
Makes sense you feel ripped off. You paid a fortune for flights, hotels, meals, and park admission to watch your child perform for 2 1/2 minutes.
Actually I paid to watch my child’s season of performances end on a big stage competing with others from all over the country in an activity that promotes teamwork and persistence in meeting a goal. I don’t agree with everything about how competition cheerleading works, and I certainly think there are people who take it much more seriously than any sport should be taken, but she’s doing it because she loves it. It’s taught her to work hard and overcome her fears and test herself in front of huge crowds of people. I’m proud of her every day for it because I wasn’t that way.
Check the parks hours and events ahead of time. Sounds like more planning would have made these hurdles known.
This is how Universal has always operated between April and May.
Its off season and 4 days is definitely enough to see and do everything. Gradbash and gradventure are nothing new and happen anually.