Mid-way through 2026 marks the first full year of the new Epic Universe theme park operating at Universal Orlando, and it is already influencing guest crowd patterns. Early data is providing valuable insight into which days at Universal are consistently the busiest. We just updated our Mickey Visit Universal Orlando crowd calendar through December 2026 with crowd-level projections for each day of the year. The calendar also includes all special events announced so far for the year.
In our Universal Orlando crowd calendar, we take into account a variety of factors, including our own personal experience visiting the resort, along with 1-day ticket prices, Epic Universe availability, annual passholder blockout dates, Express Pass pricing, school breaks, and holidays to make crowd calendar determinations. Let’s look ahead to the Universal Orlando crowd patterns for the remainder of 2026 and a few notable differences we expect in crowd levels this year. Mickey Visit brings you the latest Disney news and planning resources, including EPCOT festival changes and a look at every new Disney restaurant.
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Universal Orlando 2026 Crowd Calendar Ratings
If we look at the crowd calendar data for 2026, we see crowd trends that are often predictable, especially around school breaks like spring break. One especially helpful thing is that now we can look at the dates of the year that tickets to Epic Universe are selling out to help us predict peak crowd days.
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For example, Presidents’ Day week is going to bring extremely high crowds to Universal Orlando, which is one of the most popular holiday weekends for travel in the spring, and we see this reflected in the days that are sold out for Epic Universe.
Crowds return to normal before spiking again for spring break, when we see another extended period of Epic Universe tickets selling out during the busiest weeks of the season. Crowds die down again after spring break ends, also offering some of the lowest prices of the year. In fact, we see some of the lowest crowd ratings of the year after spring break season ends and stretch through most of the summer months, except for the month of July when crowd levels will spike again.
For the remaining months in 2026, you’ll find that August and September are a much slower time to visit, with significantly lower crowd levels, but this is largely due to visitors avoiding vacationing due to the hot, humid weather and the potential for hurricanes during this time.
Fall break is a consistently busy period in Orlando, and early indicators already show elevated crowd levels, with another wave of Epic Universe dates that could sell out. As expected, we also see what we classify as “massive crowds” during major holidays, including Thanksgiving and the final stretch of December surrounding Christmas and New Year’s. This year’s crowd ratings clearly reflect those patterns.
You can see our Mickey Visit Universal Orlando crowd calendar for crowd ratings into December 2026. This is especially important to track, as we know now that Epic Universe tickets are being sold in lower capacity, meaning popular times of the year can and will sell out. If you notice a date you want to visit is ranking as Above Normal or Massive Crowds, you should not delay in purchasing your tickets to Epic Universe.
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