How were the crowds at IOA/US this March? Anyone go? - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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How were the crowds at IOA/US this March? Anyone go?
Hello!
we are planning our first trip to Universal for mid-March, 2012 which is our (Ontario , Canada) spring break. We'll be driving through to Sanibel Island so we'll be at Universal for the weekend. Planning to stay on-site now after reading other's experiences, but really wondering what to expect crowd-wise. We have been fortunate to have been many times to WDW and always go in the slower seasons so I know that crowds are going to be a big shock to us but someone just posted that they just returned from WDW and found the crowds were less than they were expecting. Dare I hope that March at IOA is not going to be wall-to-wall people??
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If you are staying onsite, you shouldn't have too much problems with crowds. Your room key allows you "front of the line" access to the rides. I was just there last weekend for a cheer comp, and even with the zillions of cheerleaders around, the park wasn't too bad. If you are there midweek, it shouldn't be as crowded as the weekend, either. Mornings are quieter in those parks, too.
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
I was there on March 27 and the crowds were pretty much non-existant except for the HP area which was mobbed - 90 minute waits for most rides in that area throughout the day. US was pretty much empty - 5-10 minute waits for even the most popular rides.
We also travel during slow times, but this year we could only go during Spring Break. I knew it would be crowded, but I was quite surprised at the level. We were there Mar 16th (a Wed). It was miserably crowded! We arrived at IOA at park opening and went right to HP. We managed to do 2 of the rides there (Journey and Dragons) without much trouble, but by the time we made it back out to the rest of the park, the waits were 90 mins+ for just about everything. Fortunately, my children(15 & 13) don't mind doing the single rider line, which were the only rides we did. I felt like I was being herded the whole day-it was almost too crowded to walk. It was so awful that my DD and I left early and came back to pick up DH & DS.
We were at DHS the day before(a Tu). It was crowded there too, but Disney did such a better job handling it. We were able to do everything we wanted there and not be frantic. It was a much more pleasant experience than IOA. I would definitely recommend staying onsite.
Wow - Wed the 16th being busy sounds about right - that was right in the middle of our March break, so lots of the mob were probably Canadians. Hope they were polite!
We have re-jigged our plans and will be arrivinig on the Thursday evening pre- break so it sounds like we should head into IOA and do Harry Potter on the Friday morning and hopefully get that out of the way before most people arrive on the weekend. I am assuming that the majority of people will keep their kids in school until Friday afternoon and then fly south.
All in all - was it worth it, though? It looks so cool.
I think I am right that everyone who stays on sight gets an early hour admission to the parks too, which should help. I am not an early bird by nature but for fun stuff, I can do it and I'll be the boys will jump up no problem when I whisper "Harry Potter" in their ears...
Hey Judi--I was in USO/IOA on the 27th! Although I was in the Fear Factor venue most of the afternoon watching the kids cheer...
Harry Potter is always crowded. On Friday (25th) we had to get a return ticket just to get into HP world. Thank goodness for single riders lines, because we didn't wait that long for FJ.
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
Wishes - the return ticket is something new for me...is that something they use when crowd levels are high? I am imagining that they stop letting people into the area and give them a ticket that allows them to return after a certain hour, right?
But then they would still have to wait in line for the rides....wow. I guess we'll get prepared for a lot of standing in line.
Thx
I was surprised they were giving out return tickets. And this was at 11:00 in the morning! HP World that day was packed. DH & I got a ticket to return about a half hour later. And yes, you have to then wait in line for the rides, butterbeer, and the shop! We found the single rider line for FJ to be a godsend. Also, if someone is not going on that ride, leave your bags with them, because there is also a line just to get a locker. DH & I went back later and just did the "castle tour", to walk through the queue & see what you miss going on the singles line.
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
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! We arrived at IOA at park opening and went right to HP. We managed to do 2 of the rides there (Journey and Dragons) without much trouble, but by the time we made it back out to the rest of the park, the waits were 90 mins+ for just about everything. Fortunately, my children(15 & 13) don't mind doing the single rider line, which were the only rides we did. I felt like I was being herded the whole day-it was almost too crowded to walk. It was so awful that my DD and I left early and came back to pick up DH & DS.
Dacy
Hope they were polite!
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