My husband and I are headed to Orlando in October. (Definitely looking forward to the shorter lines/smaller crowds!!)
I've posted something about suggestions on the Disney World section but thought I'd post it here as well for suggestions at Universal.
From what I've read, everyone says that you need more than one day at Universal, but I just don't see that being possible right now. I think we will only have enough time for one full day at Universal.
SO with that being said, any suggested iteneraries for a day at Universal? Where to start/go first/can do without seeing/where to eat/etc. Just anything will help! :)
Also - what is your opinion on the Halloween stuff at night? Definitely go or miss it? Just how SCARY does it get?!?! :)
FYI - I've been to Universal and Disney multiple times, but haven't been in the past 6 or 7 years.... so obviously, a LOT has changed!
Thanks in advance...
I am such a baby when it comes to 'scary things' lately! ha ha! I am 30 years old but just 4 minutes of a scary movie and I'm having nightmares for weeks! ha!
SOOO -- that may not be the best thing for me to do! Ha! Either way I know we'll have fun!
You made me feel a lot better by saying you think we can do the park in one day... I've been really worried about that lately b/c I knew there was a great chance we'd only have one day... just won't be able to squeeze things around enough for 2 days at Universal.
Thanks for the tips on starting elsewhere from the long lines. That is definintely the information that I need to know/am looking for from this site! So thatnks again! :)
Orrin - Do you have favorite places to eat while at the park?
For dining, we never really care about lunch so we grab something quick to make the most of our time in the park. We always eat dinner at the Latin Quarter in CityWalk. It is simply the best!
HP should be your first stop, and then you can work your way counter-clockwise around the lagoon. If you're on a time crunch, I would probably suggest skipping JP and Comic Strip lands, and just make your way around to Spiderman. Again, take advantage of the single rider queue if the line is over 20 minutes. The Spiderman queue is not as critical as the HP queue, so you're not really missing too much by using the single rider line. Once completed with that, make your way around to Hulk, and ride as much as you'd like. The lines will probably be around 20-30 minutes by the time you make it around. The single rider line is a bit inconsistant (sometimes open sometime not), but can definitely speed things up if the wait is more than 20 minutes.
By the time you've made it back around to the entrance of IOA, it will probably be around lunch time. If you wanted to eat a sit down lunch, you could walk over to Mythos or just pick one of the CityWalk restaurants before heading to USF. If you just need a bite to eat, grab something on your way out of IOA or when you first get into USF. You probably should be in USF by at least 2 PM (park is typically only open until 5 PM in October because of HHN). Once in USF, I'd start at the back at MIB, and make your way to the front. Again, the single rider line on MIB can really speed things up, unless of course you've never been on before, which means you should probably go through the regular line at least once to get a feel for the story. I would probably ride MIB for an hour or until I hit 1,000,000 (but that's just me because I LOVE the ride), but you can ride until you're satisfied. If you're a Simpson's fan, you should take a ride on that, but if not, I'd probably skip it. Then make your way along the back side of the park to The Mummy. Again, the single rider line can really speed things up here, so take advantage of it if lines are over 20 minutes (no too much necessary story in the regular queue). You will probably only have enough time for one of the story-shows, so it will be up to you. Shrek 4-D, Twister, Terminator 3-D are all about the same to me, and all take about the same amount of time. Despicable Me is brand new, so I can't really vouch for it in comparison to the other 3. Finally, there's Rip Ride Rocket, which is an unremarkable coaster that you should probably save until last. That will probably put you at around 5 PM. At that point, if you bought a Stay and Scream pass for HHN, you just stay in the park leading up until 6 PM when HHN starts, or head over to IOA and enjoy another 2 hours over there.
Doing both parks in a day is possible, but you have to make a lot of sacrifices by using single rider lines and skipping attractions and shows.
First everyone else does and the lines are longer earlier in the day, second alot of people find the rest of the day anti-climatic
Do Spiderman Hulk first and the Toon Lagoon & Jurassic Park, and bring a change of clothes (you will be soaked) then go see Mr Potter and then lunch at Three Broomsticks and do you shopping
If you have the youngsters enjoy Seuss Landing and head to the Studios
MIB,Simpsons,Rip Rockit, Horror Make Up Show, Mummy, ET, Desp Me, and Shrek would be the priorities
I can certainly see the contrarian side of the argument here, but in reality, holding off the most popular attraction in Orlando until "lunchtime" is just a recipe for disaster, particularly for someone on a time crunch.
If IOA and Harry Potter were handled the same way any other park, that would be true
But as the Wizarding World is the only part open for over 2000 hotel rooms so figure 5000 guest before anyone not staying onsite arrives
Therefore FJ will be and is always on a 60 minute plus wait when the park opens
While you total wait for Spiderman, Hulk, Dudley Do Right, Jurassic Park and Popeye will be less than one hour if you follow starting in marvel superhero island first.
And arrive in Hogsmeade still on the same hour wait as the hotel guest move on and note Spiderman , Dudley Do Right can often exceed FJ's wait. While Hulk and Jurrasic Park will be close, only Popeye will stay under 30 minutes.
Not to mention that FJ is a better line to be stuck in with AC and better viewing.
Other thing to check is go on a Wednesday as UOR will normally be open later to balance out HHN schedule
I can certainly see your point about the lines for the other attractions increasing throughout the day, but that's going to happen for every attraction as the day progresses, including FJ. My experience has been that if you arrive at rope drop and walk straight to FJ, you will not wait more than 10 minutes to ride, but when you come out, the line will typically be about 30 minutes, and by the time lunch rolls around, the wait will be close to 60 minutes. I think holding off on Hulk and Spiderman until after HP is definitely wise, espicially since the single rider lines (if they are needed and open) do not bypass critical parts of the queue and can save a person trying to see 2 theme parks in one day (in October when USF is only open until 5 PM because of HHN) a LOT of time. The FJ line is certainly not a bad line to get "stuck" in, but if you're trying to see both parks in about 10 hours, you cannot afford to get stuck in any lines longer than about 30 minutes.
Any doubt check foursquare for every park, land, playground of note, bar plus the mini golf.
Go to the left and visit the five E ticket rides then harry potter, we do it multiple times a week with no fast passes and do almost all major rides in one day every time.
Also bring a change of clothes for after the water rides and wear sandals.
And on MIB aim for Aliens on the second floor and once you are hitting an alien keep hitting him for more points, also good viewing area for the night show is on the rocks in east green park
Any doubt check foursquare for every park, land, playground of note, bar plus the mini golf.
Go to the left and visit the five E ticket rides then harry potter, we do it multiple times a week with no fast passes and do almost all major rides in one day every time.
Also bring a change of clothes for after the water rides and wear sandals.
And on MIB aim for Aliens on the second floor and once you are hitting an alien keep hitting him for more points, also good viewing area for the night show is on the rocks in east green park
Any doubt check foursquare for every park, land, playground of note, bar plus the mini golf.
Go to the left and visit the five E ticket rides then harry potter, we do it multiple times a week with no fast passes and do almost all major rides in one day every time.
Also bring a change of clothes for after the water rides and wear sandals.
And on MIB aim for Aliens on the second floor and once you are hitting an alien keep hitting him for more points, also good viewing area for the night show is on the rocks in east green park