Universal beginning of Dec?

[Darthmickey]

Looking to go to Universal from the 4th to the 22nd of December.

We are thinking about hotels; Thinking a suite at Dockside would be great. But How busy are the parks at this time of year? Is it worth staying at a premium hotel for the fast passes? Also what is the journey time from Dockside to the parks?

Matt

[captain-codeye]

Can’t help with the hotel as we always have a villa but the parks will be fine until about the 17th, it’s really quite for the first couple of weeks.

We’re going on the 4th as well, that Saturday is our usual departure day!

It gets crazy after then though and we tend to stay away after the first couple of weeks.

[lizzie145]

Busy last year but as a combination of reduced capacity and the offer to locals on admission that they made use of.

[Zellotape]

Travel time from Surfside was max. 7 mins when we went in 2019. and Dockside is across the road, so cant imagine it will be any longer/shorter.
The only consideration would be if they are sharing busses, but as Surfside is currently closed its not obvious if they will be sharing.

[Scaramouche]

We didn’t need the express pass in 2018. I think I used it once to be honest.

[Picalily]

Hi, we went Dec 2019 and the Universal parks were very quiet, only Hagrid had big queues, Most rides were less than 30 mins wait and the Universal studios were even quieter.

[steph1]

We went 6-22 Dec 2019 and it was great. The first week was lovely and quiet and in the second week found the closer we got to Christmas the busier it started to get. I would definitely go at this time again.