1 day for both parks, doable?

[row]

We are trying to squeeze in one day of our WDW vacation to visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It'll be one day during the first week of September. We initially were only going to do IoA but I just read that the new Diagon Alley is located in US. Can we experience the majority of both parks in just one day? Roller coasters/thrill rides and the Harry Potter stuff is our priority. We can skip the 3-d and 4-d rides and shows like Shrek and Terminator and anything that either park has in common with the US in California.

 

[Metro West]

We are trying to squeeze in one day of our WDW vacation to visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. It'll be one day during the first week of September. We initially were only going to do IoA but I just read that the new Diagon Alley is located in US. Can we experience the majority of both parks in just one day? Roller coasters/thrill rides and the Harry Potter stuff is our priority. We can skip the 3-d and 4-d rides and shows like Shrek and Terminator and anything that either park has in common with the US in California.

If HP is all you're doing then its definitely possible...but doubtful. There's no telling how the lines will be for Gringotts so it's anyone's guess. One thing is for certain...unless you have an AP, it won't be cheap.

 

[sonofanarchy]

With Express, possibly, though you certainly won't have time to stop and smell the roses. Though as Metro said, if your primary focus is Harry Potter, doubtful. You're going to be waiting for either Gringott's or Forbidden Journey since neither of those takes Express. If you don't have Express, not a chance.

 

[glocon]

One day would be so stressful and rushed... I think that instead of enjoying the moment I would be worried about if we could get to the next thing.

Is there any possibility you could change the last day of your reservation to onsite at UO? With one night onsite you get two days of ep and ee (both check in and check out day). That would tremendously help you enjoy your UO portion of your trip and not be quite as rushed. The ee would help with the lines at FJ and EFG, also help to explore the shops and lands before everyone else was let in. The ep would help you explore the rest of the parks.

Could you get some stuff done in one day? Sure. Would you get most or all of it done? Probably not, and it sure would be rushed, and maybe even stressful. And a two day ticket is not that much more than a one day in the grand scheme of things.

 

[fabfemmeboy]

I'm going to go against the consensus and say you can almost certainly do both parks in one day, especially if you're not trying to hit every single ride/attraction in both parks. It depends entirely on length of the lines, but September is a lower season than summer and usually has very small lines because so many people are back in school. Sure, weekends will still probably bring out a bunch of people for DA, but if you go on a weekday morning, show up right at opening, and make a beeline for DA, I would be stunned if you have a huge wait for Gringotts. Of course there's some degree of uncertainty because it's the first year/a new attraction/etc., but that doesn't change that very few people can take their kids out of school the first week of September.

Let's put it this way: when we went a few years ago during slow season, it took us less than half a day to do IOA, and that was moving slowly and spending literally an hour and a half taking pictures of details in Hogsmeade. And while there was a bit of wait for FJ, it was nothing like during the busy season - summer had lines of 4-6 hours routinely, I think we waited 30 minutes. So I think it would absolutely be doable if you're going that week.

 

[row]

Thank you all for your input. We have decided to go on 9/5 (Friday). I'm not sure how accurate touringplans is, but they rate US a 2.0 and IoA a 1.9 (out of 10) on their crowd calendar. The parks close earlier on that day, so that is also going against our odds of enjoying both parks. We'll probably just end up doing IoA.

 

[kwdw]

I've done both parks in one day - I did this right after Hogsmeade opened - and I skipped FJ. I did the walk through the castle option, but I didn't wait for the ride itself. And there were definitely rides I skipped. My choice that day was to skip the water rides as I didn't want to be wet - and a couple others.

Now - with Gringott's... not so sure you can really do everything in ONE day if you really want to see the HP stuff.

One tip - if you are going to do both in one day - NO BAGS will help. Unlike Disney, alot of the rides require you put your bag in a locker. This adds time. Cargo shorts are my solution to that.

I'm headed there in a bit over a week - I'll try to post a trip report.

 

[MrsPinup]

I do not mean to hijack your thread, but this is the same question I had! I JUST learned that the HP worlds are split into two parks (clever, US, clever....) I have been waiting for YEARS to make it out and see HP.

I'm going to go against the consensus and say you can almost certainly do both parks in one day, especially if you're not trying to hit every single ride/attraction in both parks. It depends entirely on length of the lines, but September is a lower season than summer and usually has very small lines because so many people are back in school. Sure, weekends will still probably bring out a bunch of people for DA, but if you go on a weekday morning, show up right at opening, and make a beeline for DA, I would be stunned if you have a huge wait for Gringotts. Of course there's some degree of uncertainty because it's the first year/a new attraction/etc., but that doesn't change that very few people can take their kids out of school the first week of September.

Let's put it this way: when we went a few years ago during slow season, it took us less than half a day to do IOA, and that was moving slowly and spending literally an hour and a half taking pictures of details in Hogsmeade. And while there was a bit of wait for FJ, it was nothing like during the busy season - summer had lines of 4-6 hours routinely, I think we waited 30 minutes. So I think it would absolutely be doable if you're going that week.

We are going mid-September of next year; everything should die down a bit, right??? We also want to focus on HP worlds and do a few of the other thrill rides in US, BUT the one-day tickets are a so expensive, and then you throw in the cost of a rental and parking. Sigh.....

 

[row]

I do not mean to hijack your thread, but this is the same question I had! I JUST learned that the HP worlds are split into two parks (clever, US, clever....) I have been waiting for YEARS to make it out and see HP.

We are going mid-September of next year; everything should die down a bit, right??? We also want to focus on HP worlds and do a few of the other thrill rides in US, BUT the one-day tickets are a so expensive, and then you throw in the cost of a rental and parking. Sigh.....

No worries! If we do end up attempting both parks, I will try to remember to update this post or let you know how it went.

 

[Metro West]

We are going mid-September of next year; everything should die down a bit, right??? We also want to focus on HP worlds and do a few of the other thrill rides in US, BUT the one-day tickets are a so expensive, and then you throw in the cost of a rental and parking. Sigh.....

Crowds will die down some in September but onsite guests will still be first line during early entry and anyone who has done both parks before DA opened will be in for a surprise. I don't think crowds will decrease as much as in the past but since you aren't going until next year, you will have plenty of time to see and hear what crowds are like this year.