Universal Studios Florida: What Do We Think About It?

[IzzyB]

Just came back from my first visit in a few months…I gotta say, this thread kind of documents death by 1,000 cuts but going there more sporadically really amplifies things. I do still empathize with Universal and Comcast as a business but they really do not do a single thing better than Disney besides make thrill rides. Parking is still a disaster, the TMs (outside of the bartenders who are all fantastic) seem a lot more miserable than usual, ride wait times are wildly inaccurate to the point that they may as well not even exist, and there were several downtime/reduced capacity issues we noticed throughout the day.

Still a fun time, I can’t lie…but a lot of concerns in this thread are pretty valid. I’m cautiously curious to see how staffing/service quality looks after Epic.

The TMs is probably my biggest complaint overall. Especially in food service. Next biggest complaint would be reducing capacity on days that are still fairly busy. I feel the waits are fairly high at Universal compared to other parks and that they really have no intentions to lower them. Whether it be restaurant short staffed or rides not operating at full capacity. I just don't know how in a years time they hire enough to staff a whole other park if they can't properly staff their now parks.

My brain automatically thinks of the empty rotting theatre venues (FFL, Sinbad & Toon) all 3 of which would help decrease waittimes on busy days if they had active shows

I've seen talent from USH go on to Disney+ (HSM series), Power Rangers (1 to it, another from it), even Broadway. Then of course the Waterworld cast takes pride in their screen credits, so there is some acknowledgement

And this gets to my above point about capacity. They don't seem to want to lower wait times. Shows in large theaters would help a ton but they shuttered 3 of their 4 large theaters shows which are meant to eat people lowering waits.

 

[Mad Dog]

The TMs is probably my biggest complaint overall. Especially in food service. Next biggest complaint would be reducing capacity on days that are still fairly busy. I feel the waits are fairly high at Universal compared to other parks and that they really have no intentions to lower them. Whether it be restaurant short staffed or rides not operating at full capacity. I just don't know how in a years time they hire enough to staff a whole other park if they can't properly staff their now parks.


And this gets to my above point about capacity. They don't seem to want to lower wait times. Shows in large theaters would help a ton but they shuttered 3 of their 4 large theaters shows which are meant to eat people lowering waits.

Can't sell lots of Express Passes if lines are reasonable and/or short. It's just not the ride lines though. It's nice to have a sit down show in a large theater to relax and pace yourself through the day. I refuse to ride commando. I want to enjoy my day at a leisurely pace. That's one of the main reasons my theme park vacations are generally 10 to 14 days, though I'll sometimes do a short 7 day spur of the moment one like I did for Mardi Gras, which, incidentally, Universal did pretty well. Slow it up and smell the roses.

 

[IzzyB]

Can't sell lots of Express Passes if lines are reasonable and/or short.

I mean post potter it worked for me, I won't do an AP without the express after 4. If they ever get rid of that option I would have a hard time getting an AP. I am not a fan of long lines and the express after 4 is the reason I did Uni and not Disney.

 

[Wesker69]

Can't sell lots of Express Passes if lines are reasonable and/or short.

Causing the Express lines to be just as long requiring the need for express pass for express!!

Slow it up and smell the roses.

Sorry. Roses aren't in the budget. Allergy inducing weeds is the best they're willing to splurge on!

 

[Mad Dog]

I mean post potter it worked for me, I won't do an AP without the express after 4. If they ever get rid of that option I would have a hard time getting an AP. I am not a fan of long lines and the express after 4 is the reason I did Uni and not Disney.

It's a good deal for locals. But for me it wouldn't work well since I always choose a slow to moderate week to vacation and Universal generally closes parks early those weeks. But up until they raised their Deluxe hotel prices so high, I usually stayed at Portofino or Royal Pacific with their unlimited Express.....But I really don't need it when I go. I basically know the park's trends so well that I can almost always avoid long lines. Or we just use single rider, which is way better at Universal than it is at Disney. That's one advantage of studying Touring Plan's actual wait line charts, that generally show posted waits are inflated by at least a third, and when the historical line times are best. Historical times are pretty reliable. But I just refuse to stand in long lines anywhere for anything. My time's too valuable to me for that.....But, tourists that don't have the schedule flexibility that we have, are in a bad spot. They often have to go at high crowd times. One of the main reasons I quit going for a couple years is that post covid the lines were long most every day of the year since they didn't have the capacity to deal with that huge attendance. Now that things have settled down, there's still opportune times to visit....except for Saturdays that are always overcrowded.

 

[Eckert]

I just don't know how in a years time they hire enough to staff a whole other park if they can't properly staff their now parks.

I suspect they'll send the A-Team to Epic Universe and the two existing parks will suffer because of that...

 

[Mad Dog]

Universal should be busier starting this week, with Spring Break getting into full speed. Their last two weeks were a bit slow, with some of their largest hotels in the low 40% occupancy levels.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Universal should be busier starting this week, with Spring Break getting into full speed. Their last two weeks were a bit slow, with some of their largest hotels in the low 40% occupancy levels.

I'd love to see what that looks like. Cabana Bay always feels packed to the brim during HHN season lol

 

[Mad Dog]

I'd love to see what that looks like. Cabana Bay always feels packed to the brim during HHN season lol

Cabana started getting busy Thursday with a ton of teenagers coming in for a Volleyball tournament. Dockside was at 44% for two weeks. Supposedly they're back at high occupancy through Easter week (which is early this year). It will be interesting to see what attendance is after Easter week, with Mardi Gras ending early this year due to Easter calendar. Portofino had some $279 days listed after Easter week, which is like the good old days pricing.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think this summer might be quiet. Florida resident deals have been working their magic, but I'd imagine people are done making trips in the summertime.

It felt like 90 yesterday and I don't even want to imagine what July will be like.

 

[Wesker69]

It felt like 90 yesterday and I don't even want to imagine what July will be like.

It'll be a Frozen Empire/Summer

 

[OrlandoGuy]

Yea sounds like maybe this is an abridged show if she’s out that day or something. Show seemed fine last month for me.

Let’s hope it’s not an always thing now.

The flu is going around in Windermere so would check out that someone staying a consecutive 5-7 days would miss a specific performer completely.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think this summer might be quiet. Florida resident deals have been working their magic, but I'd imagine people are done making trips in the summertime.

It felt like 90 yesterday and I don't even want to imagine what July will be like.

Good chance it projects attendance soft. It's been that way since April 2023. Disney indicators are showing soft hotel demand also. I also think all those long lines at Universal and Disney in 2021 and 2022 turned off a lot of tourists for future vacations. Both park systems need better capacity. As I said before, those long lines every day of the year in 2021 and 2022 even turned me off visiting, and I used to vacation at Universal twice a year for long vacations. Both systems got greedy, didn't try to alleviate capacity issues then, and now they're paying for it. Disneyland and USH aren't suffering from soft demand, so it's kind of an Orlando problem. Lesson: Don't underestimate tourists' displeasure with long attraction lines. ....Of course there's probably a few other issues, but I'd bet that overcrowding in those two years was the biggest turn off.

 

[SeventyOne]

Of course there's probably a few other issues, but I'd bet that overcrowding in those two years was the biggest turn off.

Don't disagree, but pricing right up there as well. Bright Suns video comparing Disney trips pre and post-pandemic seems to be getting a lot of social media traction, I think it hit a nerve. Throw in the price of everything at home rising, too, Orlando trip the most obvious thing to cut.

 

[Mad Dog]

Don't disagree, but pricing right up there as well. Bright Suns video comparing Disney trips pre and post-pandemic seems to be getting a lot of social media traction, I think it hit a nerve. Throw in the price of everything at home rising, too, Orlando trip the most obvious thing to cut.

Yep. Also, canary in a coalmine with Dockside at 44% occupancy for two weeks. That resort is always packed. Tourists don't know about Epic yet, so that's no excuse. People can afford only so much. Touring Plans was just saying that Genie+ demand is leveling, or even falling. People can't afford it and are strongly complaining about having to use their phones constantly in the parks.

 

[IzzyB]

Good chance it projects attendance soft. It's been that way since April 2023. Disney indicators are showing soft hotel demand also. I also think all those long lines at Universal and Disney in 2021 and 2022 turned off a lot of tourists for future vacations. Both park systems need better capacity. As I said before, those long lines every day of the year in 2021 and 2022 even turned me off visiting, and I used to vacation at Universal twice a year for long vacations. Both systems got greedy, didn't try to alleviate capacity issues then, and now they're paying for it. Disneyland and USH aren't suffering from soft demand, so it's kind of an Orlando problem. Lesson: Don't underestimate tourists' displeasure with long attraction lines. ....Of course there's probably a few other issues, but I'd bet that overcrowding in those two years was the biggest turn off.

I agree long lines are going to turn people off. I mean I waited in express lines during peak season for over 30 minutes some times. That is ridiculous. But even in the "dead" season some rides are still really really long. There just seems to be a major capacity issue at most Orlando parks.

Don't disagree, but pricing right up there as well. Bright Suns video comparing Disney trips pre and post-pandemic seems to be getting a lot of social media traction, I think it hit a nerve. Throw in the price of everything at home rising, too, Orlando trip the most obvious thing to cut.

My co-worker said she could get $29 one way tickets to Orlando during her spring break (march 29th to april 8th) which tells you how tourism in Orlando is going, but Disney tickets would be 3k for her family and that was just way too steep for her family of 4. I thought that was crazy, but a 6 day no park hopper pass is a little over 3k for a family with 2 adults and 2 kids. That doesn't even include hotel or food that they would need for the trip.

 

[Jake S]

Yeah, I can regularly find good flight and hotel deals if I shop around, but there’s no getting around Orlando’s biggest expense: theme park tickets.

(Well, there are — but I’m no longer in touch with any employees that I could travel with )

 

[Mad Dog]

Spring Break started with a big bang on Monday, at both WDW and Universal. Touring Plans had both resorts rated at a 10 (the highest) crowd level. But a very early Easter will have this as a fairly short span. Bad time to visit the parks unless you like long lines.

 

[IzzyB]

Spring Break started with a big bang on Monday, at both WDW and Universal. Touring Plans had both resorts rated at a 10 (the highest) crowd level. But a very early Easter will have this as a fairly short span. Bad time to visit the parks unless you like long lines.

Which is why I don't understand how Studios is closing at 8PM all next week. While the least amount of schools will be on spring break next week, all the local ones are going to be on spring break including the county Universal sits in. Right now some Georgia, some TN, some FL, and some SC are the ones on spring break and look at how it already exploded. When the other half of the state along with a couple counties from each of those states is on Spring break I expect crowds to be just as bad. I am not sure what Universal was thinking with those hours. It should be 10 PM both parks all nights during spring break weeks.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Which is why I don't understand how Studios is closing at 8PM all next week. While the least amount of schools will be on spring break next week, all the local ones are going to be on spring break including the county Universal sits in. Right now some Georgia, some TN, some FL, and some SC are the ones on spring break and look at how it already exploded. When the other half of the state along with a couple counties from each of those states is on Spring break I expect crowds to be just as bad. I am not sure what Universal was thinking with those hours. It should be 10 PM both parks all nights during spring break weeks.

Hey, be grateful for no 6PM closures in favor of private events for the next two weeks!

But in all seriousness, USF was ridiculously packed last night thanks to the parade as well... so they definitely have no issues with incentivizing folks to stay late.