Sunday, the 15th of March was the day prior to Universal and Disney closing due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.
That day, Thursday, I was looking at news apps WESH 2 and WFLA 8, two NBC affiliate stations, the former located in the Orlando area and the latter located in the Tampa Bay area. They said that the 16th of March, all theme parks in the State of Florida, that includes Disney, Universal, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, Legoland and their respective water parks will be temporarily closed. Being me, this made me curious, so the same day, Thursday, I booked a DoubleTree by Hilton near Universal to go into the parks before they closed on Sunday.
Sunday comes around, and for the first half of the day, I was spending several hours having fun and laughing with family members. My mom and I drove to Universal Studios after we spent time with our family, getting there at at around 5 o’clock giving us at least 3 hours to have some fun before it closed.
We got into Islands of Adventure and I noticed that even though it was the last day of park opening, it was very quiet. I know it was 5:30, and people were probably there earlier in the day, it was almost dead. Me, wearing my Gryffindor robe, tie and wand in hand, went into Hogsmeade Village, and noticed it was very quiet. I noticed though that Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure posted a 120 minute wait, which was very unusual for the park being so quiet. I went to grab a frozen Butterbeer at the Butterbeer cart, and it literally took me about 5 minutes to obtain, which was unusual because it would take around 30 minutes or so.
We take some pictures at Hogwarts Castle and after that, we walked on the Hogwarts Express that took us to the Universal Studios Florida. We got off at Kings Cross near the entrance to Diagon Alley, walked in to Diagon Alley, and was shocked. Diagon Alley was quieter than Hogsmeade. I took some pictures in Diagon Alley, at 12 Grimmauld Place, and the Knight Bus, then proceeded to the Shrek 4D Experience. It was hilarious as usual, but not crowded at all.
At around 7:30, we left to get our hotel room, and at around 8, we walked from the hotel to Universal CityWalk. We ate at BigFire, which was not very busy at all, but the food was excellent. CityWalk was average that night, with shops being somewhat busy, and the restaurants being somewhat busy as well.
The next day, Monday, felt very strange. Our hotel was very empty, even during breakfast. There was only a few people around. Our room had a view of Universal, and even South Kirkman Road, where the hotel was located, was not even busy. At around 12 that day, we went to CityWalk and it was dead. The parking lot was dead, the shops and restaurants were dead, and even Voodoo Donuts was not busy. The donut place had a line out the door the night before, like always, but Monday, no such luck. We got 4 donuts, took some pictures, then left Universal property.
It was a very surreal experience, and something that should not be taken lightly. I was actually scared on how dead it was, which is something I never feel when in a big area like Orlando.
Thanks for reading this and remember to social distance and stay at home so we can get through this ordeal.