Early closing (6pm) at both IOA and USO, worth it?

[Ella Princess]

Hello! My sister and I are doing a Disney vacation with one day at universal. We checked universal park hours back in February and saw that both parks were open to 9pm. I was finalizing things today and saw that now that both parks are only open 9-6!!! Frustrating! We are staying at a Disney resort so we do not have extra morning hours.


We are debating to still go to IOA only or purchase another day at Disney instead. Is 9 hours worth it? Feedback appreciated.

 

[macraven]

Many talk about doing one day only at the parks and report it was worth it for them

Make a plan on what you want to do and see in advance

 

[bchbetha]

I think if you start by making a list of 3 must dos in each park, hitting those right away and then filling in your day with your other "want to dos" that you can have a successful day. You'd do better if you 1. bought express passes or 2. booked a hotel on site the night before for early entry (and included express passes if deluxe hotel). But, otherwise, do try and roll up into the parking lot an hour before opening time and already have your tickets in hand so you save $ (gate prices are higher) and save time. They sometimes start letting people in a few minutes early. Don't forget that you can often get into ride lines right up to the very end of the day so you don't necessarily need to be walking out the gates at 6. Even if you aren't in a ride line, you can still linger a bit. We did that on Diagon Alley- they couldn't close the area down because there were still a ton of people in the Gringotts line. All the stuff closed but we could still walk around and be enveloped in the cool magic that is HP.

 

[pattyw]

I'd go for it! Be there early- go in with a plan. Check wait times, use single rider line when available. You can't do it all- but you can do a lot!!

 

[slpeters]

We're planning a trip for December and I was initially a little put off by the fact that our hours are very similar to yours. I think ours are 9-7 but still, when you're used to WDW hours of say 7-8am until 9-11pm or even later it seems a little mehh. But when I really thought about it I think it will be fine. The fact of the matter with those 8am until 10pm Disney days is that we had breakfast in the park (a half hour to an hour and not really that good),a relaxing dinner in the parks (another hour to an hour and half) and still we ended up taking an afternoon break to make it though the whole day. Plus, some of our most entertaining moments were when we actually took the time to sit at Nomad or Hollywood Brown Derby and have cocktail hour. Bearing that in mind I decided to just look at Citywalk as a real extension of the park, it's the part where we grab breakfast and later sit down to dinner and then maybe wander out for drinks and if we aren't tuckered out yet where maybe we do a round of nighttime miniature gold. Taking in all that you're back up to a 12 hour day--in my book that's plenty, I mean we are on vacation.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Are both parks closing at 6pm only on the day you have planned? Or is it multiple days? What's the date you are considering going?

If hours are shortened, and both parks closing at the same time early like that, I'd hazard a guess and say park buyouts/special event which is why I asked if there were any other days that closed early.

 

[Ella Princess]

Don't forget that you can often get into ride lines right up to the very end of the day so you don't necessarily need to be walking out the gates at 6. Even if you aren't in a ride line, you can still linger a bit.

This is what we were wondering about. We knew that was the rule at WDW, but not sure at Universal. Being one of the last to leave HP sounds pretty cool.

 

[Ella Princess]

Are both parks closing at 6pm only on the day you have planned? Or is it multiple days? What's the date you are considering going?

If hours are shortened, and both parks closing at the same time early like that, I'd hazard a guess and say park buyouts/special event which is why I asked if there were any other days that closed early.

May 8th. Both Parks are closing at 6 pm. We figured that it is probably a park buyout because I looked for a special event to attend and did not see any. Unfortunately, with all of our fast passes and dinner reservations already set at WDW, we only had this day as an option for Universal. Thanks!

 

[Ella Princess]

We're planning a trip for December and I was initially a little put off by the fact that our hours are very similar to yours. I think ours are 9-7 but still, when you're used to WDW hours of say 7-8am until 9-11pm or even later it seems a little mehh. But when I really thought about it I think it will be fine. The fact of the matter with those 8am until 10pm Disney days is that we had breakfast in the park (a half hour to an hour and not really that good),a relaxing dinner in the parks (another hour to an hour and half) and still we ended up taking an afternoon break to make it though the whole day. Plus, some of our most entertaining moments were when we actually took the time to sit at Nomad or Hollywood Brown Derby and have cocktail hour. Bearing that in mind I decided to just look at Citywalk as a real extension of the park, it's the part where we grab breakfast and later sit down to dinner and then maybe wander out for drinks and if we aren't tuckered out yet where maybe we do a round of nighttime miniature gold. Taking in all that you're back up to a 12 hour day--in my book that's plenty, I mean we are on vacation.

This was great advice! Using City Walk as an extension is something that I overlooked. Being a primary Disney visitor, your explanation made sense. Thank you for sharing!

 

[atricks]

May 8th is a corporate buyout I think.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

May 8th is a corporate buyout I think.

Universal's website only lists May 4th,11th and 18th as Gradventure.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

May 8th. Both Parks are closing at 6 pm. We figured that it is probably a park buyout because I looked for a special event to attend and did not see any. Unfortunately, with all of our fast passes and dinner reservations already set at WDW, we only had this day as an option for Universal. Thanks!

Ah, well darn that's a bummer. In relation to your original question I do think you will have enough park time though I would admit more is welcome. When I've gone it's been HHN that closes the Studios down at 5pm but then IOA stays open a few hours later and we get park-to-park tickets allowing us to hop on over there til closing time. It's a bit harder when both sides close at the same early time. It's still doable though for sure. If you're still planning on going I'd just make sure to get there early since walking from the parking garages takes a bit of time and you go through CityWalk on the way to the entrances of each park. That way you can maximize your park time by being able to enter the parks right when they open. If you go have fun!

 

[GoldmanTrust]

What about going to Volcano Bay?

 

[nkereina]

I would do it but if I were only going to do one park, it would be Universal over IOA. IMO, there are more attractions at Universal so it would be more worthwhile. I think you could get through most/all of the park in the amount of time you have, even with a 6pm closing.

 

[rlduvall]

I totally understand your dilemma OP.

Due to AP hotel discount rates, I moved my 3 nights at Universal from 5/26/ - 5/29 [Memorial Day weekend] to 5/16 - 5/19. Then I saw the shortened hours compared to my original plan and realized I would not have a chance to be at Universal Studios when it was dark - something I really enjoy. I was disappointed, but then AP rates finally came out for Memorial Day weekend so I moved back to the original plan with longer hours. We like to go back to the resort midday and relax until about 6:00 p.m. then hit the parks again. If I stayed at the parks all day, I would be a raving . . . [rhymes with rich]