Game plan for USO/IOA 2 Park,1 Day.

Universal Orlando: We plan to be there from opening to closing (9-9)

Hello! My 6 year old son and I are staying in WDW for 6 days but have reserved 1 day for USO/IOA. We have the 2 park, 1 day pass. We are going the last week of September, 2011. I have not purchased Express passes. From what I have researched, crowd levels should be relatively low?

We will be visiting USO/IOA on a Thursday and would love a game plan to get us through both parks in one day. My son is only 47 inches to date and hoping he gets to be 48 by this trip so we can experience WWOHP, etc. We plan to be there from opening to closing (9-9).If anyone out there can help us out we would really appreciate it!

First off know that Universal Closes earlier than IOA. Halloween Horror Nights will be going on if you're going the last week of September so crowd levels will start increasing at US towards the end of the day and the park will close early.

With that said, my advice is:
Arrive at Universal city walk 30-45 minutes early. It will take about 10 minutes, depending on your group, to walk to the parks. You will want to be at the gates of IOA at least 20 minutes early. Once the gates open head straight to WWOHP and get in line for Olivander's. After Olivander's head straight to FJ. Then you can head to the roller coasters, butterbeer stands, or shops. Owls Post will get very busy very quick because of how small it is. Honey Dukes and Zonkos are also pretty crowded. Number one rule, do not leave Harry Potter until you have done everything, and I mean everything you want to do. You can arrange for merchandise pick up or purchase a family locker at the front of the park for all of your belongings that you buy or change of clothes.

After Harry Potter it will be about time or nearly time for lunch. You can either eat at IOA or head to US and eat. After lunch I would advise heading to US and working your way from Rock-it around to Horror Make-Up show. The park closes at 5 and IOA closes at 7 just remember that.

USF shouldn't take you too long to do. Rock-It, Mummy, and MIB will be your main lines. Around 3 I would advise heading back to IOA so that you have atleast 5 hours to complete the park. Start off in Seuss Landing and work your way around towards Marvel. With the addition of HP most of the other parts of the parks have minimal crowds. The water rides here will get your soaked hence my mention of clothes earlier. Once your get to Jurrasic Park head to WWOHP and see if lines have shrunk any. It should be close to closing by then and most lines should be diminishing.

Don't forget you can always add on Express Passes once you arrive at the park. Currently prices are the lowest price possible for Express Passes which means they expect low crowds.

Terri-
Thanks for the detailed response. We will take your notes with us and I'm sure it will help greatly.

Just keep in mind that this isn't Disney. At that time of year you can pretty much just go without a set game plan with the exception of WWOHP. Just relax and have fun!

I think Terri's plan sounds great, but also I have been at that time of year and the longest wait I had in any park including Disney was 20 minutes (Splash Mountain).
This was prior to Harry being there though....

If at all possible pick a day that doesnt have a Halloween Horror Night scheduled just to ease up on the lines that bit more.
My plan for the 2 Uni parks in a day (late Aug/early Sept)is pretty much the same as Terri's advice - get there early, head to Potter first and get outta there to the Studios. (or choose a day with a $25.99 express pass)

Terri can you advise me too please - if I am not a Potter fan but really want to get on the ride - am I going to be confused with the storyline? I know the basics...Hermione/Ron/he who must not be named etc...

Kelly,
There really ISN'T a story! If you have watched the movies you will just see a bunch of highlights from all the movies...If you haven't you will still enjoy the ride. I hadn't seen anything but the 1st and 3rd movies before riding. The park actually turned me into a "fan" (I just finished all the movies... not reading the books anytime soon). The theming is stunning! It helped that my boyfriend and his brother were with me who knew when I had questions, but it still is a great section of the park!

The story is, (SPOILERS)
That Hogwarts has allowed Muggles to come into the castle along the way Harry, Hermione, and Ron sneek you out to go to the Quidditch match and along the way you find lots of... stuff. Just keep your eyes open or else you'll miss what lies beyond each turn.

Well seeing as I am THE Muggle(ton)... I should fit right in! :-)) Looking forward to it already!
Thanks Terri!!!!

Make sure to let us all know how everything goes. The only way we all can keep up with everything are reports from you all. I hope you guys have a wonderful trip. Oh, and incase you didn't already know this is the list to the Express Pass.
The higher the price the higher the crowd. The lower, the lower.

Sorry, I accidentally posted a response in the wrong section. As to the plan, I would recommend doing Universal first and waiting until the evening to experience potter. If you do this, you will have Universal to yourself for about an hour (even in the summer). That is plenty of time to get in some of the rides your son might enjoy without the giant wait that would normally exist (e.g. Shrek, ET, Men In black). If you wish to ride Jaws or Disaster, you should wait till about ten as they do not generally open until then anyway. After you get everything in US done that you want to do, grab some lunch and head over to Islands. Go in the direction of Seuss landing and do whatever in there he wants to do. After that, head into Potter, you will probably experience some wait at Forbidden journey, but this is bound to happen whenever you visit and the lines move pretty fast(unless there is a break down). I always enjoy eating dinner here at the three broomsticks before moving on. At this point it will probably be getting late. This is the prefect time to knock out Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, and Marvel, especially since your son wont be tall enough for Hulk, etc. This usually makes for a great day, and I have had success using this plan many a time.

If this doesn't seem right for your needs, Universal and Islands aren't that hard to get done in one day, just try to avoid riding rides like potter at the worst times of the day (e.g. 10-12).

Have fun!

Then again, Terri's plan sounds better than mine. Just remember to above all, enjoy the day...

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