The guys and I will be in Orlando for twelve days in late October and into November. Our plan is to do WDW's Halloween and Christmas parties, and go to Universal Studios. I haven't been since 1998, when IOA was being built. How many days should we plan on spending there to be able to ride everything at both parks? I was thinking possibly two days during the first week of November. Could we easily do this in one day? Any input would be appreciated.
Tweet
I'd say three days if you want to take your time as Diagon Alley will almost certainly be packed, but two should be fine.
Three days.
Two days, two nights. You really want to have a half day dedicated to experiencing Harry Potter by starting your morning at the Studios for opening at Diagon Alley, see the sights, do the attractions and have a meal then hop the Hogwarts Express and spend time at Hogsmede, shop and do the attractions and then return on the Express back to Diagon Alley. A half a day dedicated specifically for Harry Potter, in that order, and live like a witch or a wizard for the morning! Then enjoy the rest of the Studios for the second half of the day.
It only takes two days
2-3 days depending on crowd levels.
Staying on site? Two days is plenty of time to enjoy everything, with multiple rides, thanks to early entry and Universal Express (for the three deluxe hotels).
HHN will be over by then, so early closes at USF won't be an issue. But if you're not staying on site, I'd give the resort three days for a proper first visit.
I would say three days comfortably. Since you are an Old Disney pro, you should be able to tackle the parks and go back for more. Plus, you wouldn't really be missing out on anything at Disney.
I was planning on going the 4th and the 5th of November to USO. I don't forsee a problem schedule wise to also spending the 6th there. Gotta admit, I'm getting excited about visiting. This is the first year that all the guys have agreed to going.
We weren't planning on staying at a USO resort. I am using our DVC points and staying at Bay Lake for the trip. I wonder though if we should stay a night at one of the resorts just to take advantage of early entry and such. Those perks of Universal's are really tempting.
We just got back from 3 days at Universal and did 1 day at MK...
You can plan 2 days for Universal especially since you mentioned Nov 4th and 5th which are in the Middle of the week...
We stayed late one night to see the night show\fireworks at the Studios side. Show is at 9:00 pm... You might also want to check the times both parks open and close. Times do vary from park to park.
Plus Diagon Alley looks great all lit up an night.
If you can swing it budget-wise, I can't recommend spending at least one night onsite at Universal highly enough!! Check out Royal Pacific -- it's my personal favorite of all the Universal resorts and the most affordable of the ones that include unlimited express pass.
If you come over early on the day of your reservation, you can go ahead and check in to get your express pass, even if your room isn't ready. And the express pass option will work for the full day you check out as well. With the express pass, you'll be able to do everything at both parks multiple times if you like, except Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey at IOA and Gringott's at USO. But these, especially the time of year you'll be going, will be easily accessible either by early entry or being able to be at the park near closing.
Try it out if you can -- you won't be disappointed :-)
This discussion has been archived and is no longer accepting responses.
Unless you want to rush in all the attractions, two days is a good number to be able to take everything in and appreciate all that the parks have to offer.