Universal Orlando Resort’s two theme parks, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, have been hitting capacity almost every weekend lately, often by noon. Weekdays, however, have seemed to be a pretty safe bet for visitors who want to show up to the park and feel confident that they will be able to enter. Well, that was until the holidays arrived.
With Christmas only days away, many vacationers have headed to the Orlando theme parks over the holidays and crowds have become quite large. This year, with the pandemic changing the way theme park operations work in terms of capacity, piling guests into parks is no longer possible. We now can see a direct result of what happens when more people are visiting while capacity is still capped at Universal Orlando. This consequence is that the parks are hitting capacity faster than normal.
Mondays at Universal do not typically hit capacity, and if so, not before 11:00 am, but today it seems that this is exactly what is happening. Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) tweeted:
Today, December 21st at 10:55 am, Universal Studios Florida & Islands of Adventure have reached capacity. We anticipate reopening later this afternoon. For updates, please call our capacity hotline: 407-817-8317
This does not mean that the parks will be restricting new guests from entering all day, but for now, it seems that is the case.
Today, December 21st at 10:55 am, Universal Studios Florida & Islands of Adventure have reached capacity. We anticipate reopening later this afternoon. For updates, please call our capacity hotline: 407-817-8317 pic.twitter.com/qllWqGY9FR
— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) December 21, 2020
Considering that yesterday on the weekend, Universal hit capacity at a later time of 11:20 AM, it is clear that the theme parks demand is increasing this week.
Today, December 20th at 11:20 am, Universal Studios Florida & Islands of Adventure have reached capacity. We anticipate reopening later this afternoon. For updates, please call our capacity hotline: 407-817-8317 pic.twitter.com/nHvuQAmSA0
— Universal Orlando Resort (@UniversalORL) December 20, 2020
We know that Universal typically expects lower crowds on weekdays since they recently sent out a notice to their Annual Pass guests asking them to visit on weekdays if possible, to try and free up some more space on the weekends since they continuously hit capacity. But as we have been discussing, it seems that with the holidays, everyday is a Saturday as the guest count increases from locals to visitors on vacation.
It seems Annual Passholders at Universal are not happy about the capacity limits after following the instruction to stay away on weekends, and still having to arrive to a capacity filled park on a Monday. Bernard Pettiford (@bmusic84) stated:
So I am finally inside IOA. As an annual passholder, I am not happy how UOR is handling the at capacity issue. First off, I waited until a week day to come per their instructions and they don’t have any concessions or plan for APs that visit and they are @ cap
So I am finally inside IOA. As an annual passholder, I am not happy how UOR is handling the at capacity issue. First off, I waited until a week day to come per their instructions and they don’t have any concessions or plan for APs that visit and they are @ cap. #universalorlando
— Bernard Pettiford (@bmusic84) December 21, 2020
If you want to ensure that Universal Orlando is not at capacity prior to your visit, make sure that you check their app, or give the capacity hotline a call (407-817-8317). It is a fast, automated service that will quickly tell you whether of not the park is at capacity. Of course, things change moment to moment in terms of capacity levels at Universal, so make sure that you are checking as often as possible to avoid any disappointment!
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Will you be at Universal over the holidays?Â