1 day-to-day park to park worth it?

[Tattylou]

We will be at Universal for 1 day in April. My boys are 6 and 8. They want to see HP stuff and probably the minion ride. My youngest is not tall enough for FJ. Originally, I was going to get a park to park in order to ride HE and see HP both sides, but now I'm wondering if we might be better of just doing Universal- take our time in Diagon Alley and ride minions. They seem interested in ET too. I'm torn!! I would save $200 by just doing 1 park, but I don't want to miss out. What would ppl recommend? Should we go park to park? Is 1 day enough time to see HP in both parks? Or is it better to take our time in 1 park? Would 1 day at Universal be better than one day at IOA or vice versa? My kids and DH have never been. I went once in the early days of Universal. So it is all new to us. Thx!

 

[damo]

Not a bad idea to just do one park this time and if they seem to like it, do more next time!

If you are only going for one day, it is really rushed to try and get two parks done. It certainly does not add to the enjoyment.

Another thing to make sure you do is the Curious George play area. Your boys will adore the ball pitt building! It is right beside the ET building.

 

[bchbetha]

Will you be back anytime soon? If yes, 1 park could work. If no, splurge.

 

[Tattylou]

Not a bad idea to just do one park this time and if they seem to like it, do more next time!

If you are only going for one day, it is really rushed to try and get two parks done. It certainly does not add to the enjoyment.

Another thing to make sure you do is the Curious George play area. Your boys will adore the ball pitt building! It is right beside the ET building.

Will you be back anytime soon? If yes, 1 park could work. If no, splurge.

Thank you. I think we are going to do 1 park with express pass and just focus on Universal Studios. If all goes well then we will come back and do more. We will definitely be back to Orlando as WDW is a priority in my vacation life. I think 2 parks in 1 day was being overly ambitious with younger kids and it is Easter week, so I expect the crowds too.

 

[janicept]

If you decide on a one park one day ticket Studios is my favorite but I don't have kids. The HP area is better at Studios. If money is a concern you shouldn't have trouble doing everything you want in one day with good planning - save on express and spend that money on other things. Once you get into the park you can always decide later to buy express since they are sold throughout the parks. I'm not sure how much 6 and 8 years old would ride coasters but if you don't go on RRR the would save time. For me the HP train is not worth the time spent in line on a busy day. Once you're on the train it's just a small train car with a screen in the window that plays a movie.

I went with my niece and nephew 8 and 11 last year. They were originally looking at a 2-park one day ticket but decided on two days of 1-park tickets since the kids didn't care much about the train. The price was about the same. I met with each of them with a list of everything to do at the park and had them tell me what was a must do, do if we had time, and didn't care about doing. Luckily I've been so much I was able to give them good descriptions of how scary things were. We were there at Thanksgiving which was crazy busy and we saw everything w/o express. We spent all day at Studios but not all day at IOA since there wasn't as much they wanted to do there.

My best tip for planning which I know will be really hard if you've never been before but ride the busiest 2 or 3 rides first then go back and look around the HP area. Your first instinct will be to stop and take pics of everything HP but it's not worth the time spent later waiting in line. Also Minions lines always seem to be long. Download the Universal Orlando app to get up to date wait times for rides.

 

[Tattylou]

If you decide on a one park one day ticket Studios is my favorite but I don't have kids. The HP area is better at Studios. If money is a concern you shouldn't have trouble doing everything you want in one day with good planning - save on express and spend that money on other things. Once you get into the park you can always decide later to buy express since they are sold throughout the parks. I'm not sure how much 6 and 8 years old would ride coasters but if you don't go on RRR the would save time. For me the HP train is not worth the time spent in line on a busy day. Once you're on the train it's just a small train car with a screen in the window that plays a movie.

I went with my niece and nephew 8 and 11 last year. They were originally looking at a 2-park one day ticket but decided on two days of 1-park tickets since the kids didn't care much about the train. The price was about the same. I met with each of them with a list of everything to do at the park and had them tell me what was a must do, do if we had time, and didn't care about doing. Luckily I've been so much I was able to give them good descriptions of how scary things were. We were there at Thanksgiving which was crazy busy and we saw everything w/o express. We spent all day at Studios but not all day at IOA since there wasn't as much they wanted to do there.

My best tip for planning which I know will be really hard if you've never been before but ride the busiest 2 or 3 rides first then go back and look around the HP area. Your first instinct will be to stop and take pics of everything HP but it's not worth the time spent later waiting in line. Also Minions lines always seem to be long. Download the Universal Orlando app to get up to date wait times for rides.

This is very helpful. I didn't realize we can wait to get express pass once already in the park. I will gladly buy it if it is worthwhile, but be happy to save the money if it is not. My kids aren't tall enough for RRR so we will just skip it. I think minions, gringotts, ET, and men in black (they love shooting ones) are our top rides of interest. I haven't looked much into shows yet. We definitely want to explore Diagon Alley and they want the interactive wands, but I hear you saying get on the rides first and do that after. I have the app already. I'm used to WDW level planning, but WDW old hat to me and we know exactly where things are and what we want to do there. This will be all new.

 

[janicept]

A lot of people don't realize you can buy express in the park. When I go in the morning I usually leave the parks around 10 or 11 am and there is always a line of 20+ people outside the gate buying express passes. All over the park they have express passes sold here signs.

If you plan the stay all day you won't have any trouble seeing everything you want. If you really want to do well in MIB make sure to search the forum for tips on where to shoot for high scores. It's not as fun to just wing it when you might only ride once. People really get impress when you score super high. I think my best was 800K+. I love beating my husband . I have to admit I've only ridden ET once but with express you miss the waiting in line in this really neat area.

For shows: The pet show is super cute and I bet the kids would love it. Horror makeup show might be a little scary and you may want to check youtube first just to check. Even if you might not go to the show it's worth going into the waiting area to look at some movie props. I've never been to Fear Factor, it just sounds gross to me. Also I don't have kids so other than ET that one time and the wait lines during HHN I've never been in the Woody Woodpecker area.

I haven't been on the new Jimmy Fallon ride yet but I've read that the wait areas are fun for kids. I can't wait for something new when I'm there in two more weeks.

 

[hm8453a]

I would suggest only going to Studios. You know your six year old better than I do, of course, but I would think he would be hurt if you all went to IoA, he saw this amazing ride in the castle, and then you told him he couldn't ride it and big brother could. I think better is to just focus on Studios, not even mention Forbidden Journey, and have a great time with your kids in the one park.

 

[Tattylou]

I would suggest only going to Studios. You know your six year old better than I do, of course, but I would think he would be hurt if you all went to IoA, he saw this amazing ride in the castle, and then you told him he couldn't ride it and big brother could. I think better is to just focus on Studios, not even mention Forbidden Journey, and have a great time with your kids in the one park.

This was definitely part of the concern with IOA bc my 6 yr old is only 47 in and he is the more adventurous of the 2 boys when it comes to rides.

A lot of people don't realize you can buy express in the park. When I go in the morning I usually leave the parks around 10 or 11 am and there is always a line of 20+ people outside the gate buying express passes. All over the park they have express passes sold here signs.

If you plan the stay all day you won't have any trouble seeing everything you want. If you really want to do well in MIB make sure to search the forum for tips on where to shoot for high scores. It's not as fun to just wing it when you might only ride once. People really get impress when you score super high. I think my best was 800K+. I love beating my husband . I have to admit I've only ridden ET once but with express you miss the waiting in line in this really neat area.

For shows: The pet show is super cute and I bet the kids would love it. Horror makeup show might be a little scary and you may want to check youtube first just to check. Even if you might not go to the show it's worth going into the waiting area to look at some movie props. I've never been to Fear Factor, it just sounds gross to me. Also I don't have kids so other than ET that one time and the wait lines during HHN I've never been in the Woody Woodpecker area.

I haven't been on the new Jimmy Fallon ride yet but I've read that the wait areas are fun for kids. I can't wait for something new when I'm there in two more weeks.

I will pass that tip onto my father for Men in Black. He is always about getting high scores on Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear so I imagine he will want to on that one as well.

I know everyone says do rides first and wander Diagon Alley after, but I have a feeling the kids will be hard to drag away from that HP area at least initially. Gringotts will be our first priority. There are actually 11 of us total, but we will likely split into 2 groups throughout the day. It is really only HP that all the kids want to do together. We are traveling with myself, DH, my parents, my 6 and 8 yr olds and then it is my BFF, her SO, and her 3 kids ages 4, 7, and 8. Her 4 yr old is tall though.

Thanks everyone. I'm definitely feeling solidly decided that we are doing 1 day at Universal Studios. I'm basically the planner of the group, lol.

 

[hm8453a]

Sorry, I'm new, and I can't figure out how to quote, for some reason. But yeah, I think you want everyone to be excited and not feel like they're missing out. I'm six years older than my baby sister, and we used to go all of the time when we were little (I grew up in South Florida). My sister was really resentful of the fact that I could do whatever I wanted and she couldn't. On a vacation, you want everyone to be happy. I really suggest just sticking with Studios, and not even mentioning that six year old is missing anything.

 

[macraven]

Do what others suggested and buy the park hopper once there

Parts of April will have crowds and you might need to change parks due to that
Easter and some schools have spring break i early April

 

[Tattylou]

Do what others suggested and buy the park hopper once there

Parts of April will have crowds and you might need to change parks due to that
Easter and some schools have spring break i early April

Yes, We are there over Easter week and it is also Massachusetts (and a lot of New England) spring break. So, I am expecting crowds and know we will likely need express pass.

 

[CPanther95]

I've done Magic Kingdom and Disney Hollywood Studios in a day, and you could probably do Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in a day - but it'll likely be rushed and not enjoyed like it could be.