Any chance of Universal Studios extending their closing time in June? We will be there in Mid June and the schedule still shows US closing at 8 and IOA closing at 9. 
Thatâs a good question. With no nighttime shows at the moment, they might not see a reason to stay open laterâŚunless just to alleviate crowds.
Unlikely because the current crowds are no where near where they were a year ago.
Example, the past week has been about 3CL lower than the same week last year.
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They donât extend USF to 9pm until closer to July. Then theyâll lower them back down in August
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They did in June last year. But that was probably because of the revenge travel crowds.
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Universal tested a standby only queue for the Krakatau Aqua Coaster at Volcano Bay the past couple days.
If it tested good and they implement, visitors wouldnât be tied up for hours not being able to join a different VL because of the many hours wait for Krakatau.
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The issue is that while you can only have 1 Tapu Tapu it doesnât expire. There are ppl who leave the park, lose their wristband, wait all day to return & etc⌠The system doesnât remove them. They are counted as âin queueâ all day. If there was a 1 hour return window it would fix thisâŚjust sayin!
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The Mummy wanted their extended queue back. Notice how the area in front of the entrance is now clear again.
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I thought for a second you were there! Good morning to you as well.
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Only in my 
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Tribute Store Previews have started for TMs. APs can come in after 12pm and everyone else tomorrowâŚ
Also⌠in what I think is BIGGER news!
The HE is testing audio announcements after boarding to speed up the process. Previously, after guests boarded the Hogwarts Express, a porter would go to each cabin and give guests the safety spiel, telling them to remain seated, pointing out the switch under a seat for emergencies, and closing the door.
Today, they are loading the Hogwarts Express cabin and the porter immediately closes the door. A TM then makes the safety announcement over a speaker to all cabins at once. This should speed up the entire process.
I love the HE as a way to go between parks. As a former Ops person, I can tell you having to go cabin by cabin and do that spiel 4 - 5 times each load does slow it down a couple minutes. If every hour I can shave 10 minutes off the loading time thatâs another HE loading cycle you can complete!
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I have never had that happen.
100% didnât happen on our trip last year.
Iâm about 95% certain it didnât happen on previous trips either.
On board, in the past, weâve had TMs help us park a stroller and Iâve seen them count people.
One time, when we were in a booth on our own, DS lay down on the seat and a TM came in (mid-ride) to tell him to sit up.
Apart from that, Iâve never seen or heard a safety briefing.
Thatâs more like what Iâve experienced.
Maybe because of stroller concerns you arenât there when they do it?? Or you are focused on family / kids and donât notice???
The Porter pops their head in and points out the switch under the seat and where the emergency kit is located. I get the safety spiel every time. I can recite itâŚlol!!
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Only had stroller on first three trips. Havenât had stroller for the last two.
Maybe, but I donât think so.
I mean, given how many times Iâve been on the HE and until today I didnât know there was any kind of switch or anything under the seat 
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Thatâs weird. Iâve never ridden the HE where they DIDNâT do the safety spiel. It is shorter now than it was in 2020, though, because they also made a huge deal then of letting you know they were watching you (to make sure everyone kept their masks on). Obviously, that part is gone.
Having said that, the safety spiel is VERY shortâŚmaybe 10 seconds, so this probably wonât practically have much improvement on the wait times. But it will make the jobs of the TMs easier.
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You do that spiel over & over while having to address the concerns of every new guest and along with answering other park questions like, âWhat time does the train stop running?â because the guests feel like this is a good âone-on-oneâ moment with a TM. Then tell me it only takes 10 seconds!! LOL!! 
It doesnât seem like much to the guest, but for Ops every second counts. Do I think this is going to make peak times suddenly drop?? Of course not! I do think that it will speed up the whole process and allow for a couple extra cycles and make the overall process simplier.
Just in the same way that VC was doing the âtripleâ check on the restraints for a few weeks ago. That caused throughput to go downâŚnot so much that an âaverageâ guest would notice, but fanatics like us notice those things!! LOL!!
I have expect that it is less about improving throughput, and more about trying to do more with less. If they can get away with 2 or 3 fewer TMs to run the train by doing this, they will.
When we were there, they were not even loading an entire car of the train each cycle. Sure, CLs were lowâŚbut it makes me wonder if staffing still is an issue at times.
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It is entirely possible. I have been loaded with only 4 TMs at the station and Iâve been loaded with 6 - 8 TMs.
Itâs also a possible legality issue. If something were to happen & a lazy TM didnât do the spiel that is an issue. This way the entire train is âcoveredâ in one quick spiel
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Iâve never seen this happen either, and Iâve never been on it with little kids or strollers.
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