Must-sees in one day include:
In Islands of Adventure:
-Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
-Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
-Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges
-Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls
-Jurassic Park River Adventure
In Universal Studios Florida:
-Universal Horror Make-up Show
-The Simpsons Ride
-Men in Black Alien Attack
-Revenge of the Mummy
-Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit
With the Express pass, you could do those rides in that order, as you walk around the park, starting at the Wizarding World in IOA, then moving to USF. You'll be quite wet after the IOA rides, so the walk over will give you time to dry off!
1.First, start out with Universal studios Florida. Gates open about 10 minutes early, so arrive about 30 minutes before park opening then get in and do Shrek 4D as soon as possible.
2. After Shrek is over, the rest of the park should open, and everyone will be lined up for Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit, so head directly for Revenge of the Mummy.
3. After Mummy, hit Disaster and Jaws as quickly as possible.
4. Men In Black will be next, which will most likely be a walk on at this time of day. After Men In Black, get in line for The Simpsons Ride, which will have about a 15 minute wait.
5.Next hit up ET Adventure, Terminator 2D, Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit, and finally Jimmy Neutron in that exact order.
6.the time should now be around 1 o'clock. Please note that you should get an Express Pass to do this successfully. I would also place a lunch break right here.
7. Enter Islands of Adventure and go right into Marvel Island. Hit up Hulk first thing.
8. Next get Doctor Doom and Spiderman in that order.
9. After these rides, go into Toon Lagoon and ride Popeye and then after that, Dudley Do Right Ripsaw Falls.
10. While you are already wet, go for a ride on Jurassic park River Adventure.
11. After Jurassic Park, make sure you take the bridge straight into Lost Continent and not the birdge that takes you into WWOHP.
12. Watch Sinbad once entering lost contienent.
13. After Sinbad, go for Poseidon's Fury.
14. After Poseidon's Fury, enter Seuss Land and hit up any of the smaller rides there, but definitely Cat In the Hat.
15. Finish up the night with WWOHP. Dragon Challenge and Hippogriff will be nearly walk-ons with Express Pass and the park will not kick you out of HPFJ line when the park closes, so as long as you enter that line about 20 minutes before park closing at 10, you will be able to experience the entire line and ride experience to make for a great ending of your day!
We went to Islands of Adventure first.
1. Went immediately for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey when the park opened, still about a 20 minute wait. (Ride did break down as we were swinging downward, hanging to the right, began working 2 minutes later.)
2. Went over to Spider-Man, walked right on. WWOHP gets all of the attention in the morning, afternoon, and haven't seen at night, but as Nick before me said and others, it is a good time to go then as well if not immediately at park opening.
3. Incredible Hulk coaster, walk on.
4. The Cat in the Hat, walk on... yeah, we did that because while we would have loved to do the 3 water rides (Dudley Do Right, Popeye, and Jurassic Park, it was in the 40's and 50's in terms of weather and I saw people walk off the rides soaked, must have been a horrible feeling).
We then headed over to Universal Studios Florida.
5. Got on The Simpsons Ride, about a 10 minute wait.
6. Men in Black, about a 15 minute wait, we had to go through the preshow which was the first time in forever, usually I get right on.
7. Revenge of the Mummy, walked right on.
8. Rode it again, 5 minute wait this time.
9. We ate lunch at Mel's Diner. Nothing special, just burgers and chicken sandwiches. They do have milkshakes which looked good though.
10. Animal Actors on Location show, fun animal show.
11. E.T. Adventure, 10 minute wait.
12. Twister, 5 minute wait.
13. Jimmy Neutron Nicktoon Blast, 10 minute wait.
Then, we decided to head home around 4 PM and called it a day. We skipped Hollywood, Rip, Ride, and Rockit in the morning, then it broke down again. I don't trust that ride.
Also skipped Jaws, many times on it. Disaster, too long of a wait, 30 minutes, and too long of an attraction after seeing it 3 times.
I would have liked to do Shrek 4-D again, but I've seen it a bunch of times, and the wait was about 15 minutes, I was content with the day.
The only caveat (sorry if this was already posted) is teh room key won't give you express to FJHP or RRR (when it is running) which means you do have to plan a little.
It is well worth staying on-site at USF. These are excellent properties and the perks are great!
