Glad I could help! At one point years ago I would have said you could do both parks in one day with express passes, but with two HP lands now, that is out of the question if your a big HP fan!
I'm glad you don't mind rope drop at Disney. Getting up early is hard for me so doing HP for the hour early entry was rough but well worth it! While riding the water taxi back to the hotel the night before you HP day, ask the boat captain what time they start in the morning. If I am remembering correctly, if the park opens at 9am for normal guests, the boat service would start at 7am giving you an hour to get to the parks before the early entry starts. The boat ride is just a short little trip. I would plan on leaving the room at 7am to walk down to the boat dock and wait for the boat. They won't let you into the park until around 7:45-7:50. Once inside the park, you have to follow the set path (no going to explore on your own) that will take you to Diagon. Shortly after entering the park, EACH person must show their room key to a team member. They don't check these at the gate, so make sure each person in your party has their own key with them.
As far as things to avoid, there is not a lot. Universal has a lot of great rides.
Islands of Adventure:
If you want to avoid getting wet, skip Popeye and Dudley Do-Right. These will get you soaked! They offer lockers (paid) to store dry clothes if you want to change after. They are both great water rides except for certain body types, Dudley Do-Right can be a nightmare with the "newer" lap bar system. Check out the test car before you make my mistake. I am not that overweight, but my height was the issue. I thought I would become a permanent feature of the ride because it took me forever to get out of the log
Jurassic Park River Adventure is another water ride but you don't get soak on it if your not in the front row or back row. They are big boats so you should be fine. It's another awesome water ride. Inside Camp Jurassic they have a "kid" ride with really strict height requirements and slow moving line. It's best to just avoid Camp Jurassic if you have little ones because you will waste a lot of time here.
Depending on how your doing with time, you could skip Poseidon's Fury. It's a walking/standing "show". The last show room (and the tunnel leading to it) are both really cool, but this experience can take a lot of time depending on how many actors they have that day.
Things not to miss at IoA:
- Spiderman!!
- Hulk (if you enjoy roller coasters)
- Jurassic Park
- Harry Potter
- Dragon Challenge (if you enjoy roller coasters)
- Sindbad Stunt Show
- Cat in the Hat
For food options at IoA, you have Mythos which is an awesome Table Service restaurant without the high prices you except at Disney. If you want a great meal and have some spare time, check this place out!
If not, there are counter service places all around IoA and most generally serve the same type of food (burgers, chicken, salad, pizza, etc). The exception is the Three Broomsticks at Harry Potter. Great counter service location that serves food you normally don't find in theme parks (Sheppard's Pie for example). Just note that NO soda products are sold in any HP location. However, you have Butterbeer which can not be missed!
Universal Studios:
This park has a lot of great rides/shows but they can be time consuming. Your express pass will help with the lines, but it doesn't help you skip any pre-shows.
A few things to avoid here while on a time limit. Beetlejuice Graveyard show can be skipped without fear. It's not extremely popular and not really worth your time when on a time schedule. The same thing goes with Animal Actors Live on Stage. Unless you have a major animal lover in your family, you can skip this show. The Horror Makeup Show is another show you can skip unless you want to learn about Horror Makeup. It's a short show (roughly 20 minutes) but not really worth the time if your running low. Finally, the kid area (including the Barney show) unless you have some little ones, you can avoid.
Things not to miss at Universal Studios:
- Shrek
- Dispicable Me
- Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (if you like roller coasters)
- Twister
- Mummy!!
- Disaster
- Diagon Alley
- Men in Black
- Simpsons
- ET
- Transformers
- Terminator 3D
Twister and Disaster on this list because they are rumored to be on the chopping block soon. Twister's days are numbered and would be surprised if it managed to stay open all year. Both of these "shows" have long pre-shows (disaster being the longest). If you are short on time, you can skip one or both. Terminator is another long show but is one of (if not the) coolest 3D show every made (imo). Live actors on stage with 3D movie screens make for an awesome, thrilling show experience. Try to make time for this one but note that it can take upwards of 40-50 minutes depending on when the last show started when you enter the line.
As far as food goes at Universal Studios, it's a lot of counter service. Simpsons is a great option because of the wide selection they offer. It's more of a food court with sections for healthy salads/sandwich's, pizza, chicken, burgers, etc. Of course you have Leaky in Diagon. Finnegan's is a great table service location offering Irish pub style food for standard prices (think Chilies or Fridays pricing).
A note about Roller Coasters:
Hulk and Dragon Challenge both go upside down. If you are not a fan of coasters, avoid them.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit appears to have a loop, but the car turns and goes up over the loop instead of going upside down. The worst part of this ride is the lift hill which goes STRAIGHT UP. EMPTY your pockets before this one. I thought my big phone would be fine, but I nearly lost it. The lift hill is no joke and you will lose items left in pockets. Use the FREE lockers to store all your items rather than risk losing something!
Mummy is another roller coaster. It is indoors but has a lot of set details. The first portion of the ride is like a standard dark ride without any coaster elements. Be warned that you will "launch" at a certain time but you never go upside down. The coaster is tame but with it being in darkness, it seems a lot more thrilling than it is. Oh, and it uses a lot of real special effects (something you don't see a lot of at Disney).
If you are not big on coasters AT ALL, then sit in the FRONT ROW on the Gringotts ride. It is a "coaster" but EXTREMELY mild in the front row. Biggest drop in the front row is maybe 10 feet. Don't want to spoil it as to why the back row has a bigger drop...
A note on motion sickness:
Motion Sickness can be rough at Universal. A lot of rides use fast motion and video screens. If you suffer from motion sickness, you will want to bring some med's. Spiderman, Harry Potter, Despicable Me, Transformers, Gringotts, and Simpsons are the worst offenders for motion sickness but other rides can cause it too.
One final note
If you can put off dinner until after the park closes, Citywalk has a lot of great locations! The recently opened Cowfish is getting RAVE reviews and Vivo is a place I have personally eaten at and loved if you enjoy Italian. Eating at Citywalk after the park closes is a great option because you will be able to enjoy a nice, sit down meal to relax and unwind without feeling rushed or like your missing out on valuable riding time. Citywalk connects both parks and is where you will pick up your boat to reach the hotel. The last boat leaves the dock when Citywalk closes at 2am each night so you don't need to worry about missing your ride back to the hotel. Enjoy the sights and sounds of Citywalk and have an awesome meal. Menus of each table service location (both inside the park and in Citywalk) can be found on the Universal website. Just go to the main page for each restaurant and the menu will be right there to click on.
Sorry this post is so long! Want to make sure you have as much information as possible since it's your first visit and only have a day and a half to see it all! If you have any questions or want more details on a certain ride or restaurant, just ask. Happy to help anyway I can! Enjoy your Universal trip! I think you will be blown away when you see HP. The attention to detail is unlike anything you have ever seen (tops Disney in every way possible and this is coming from a huge Disney fan).
