2 1/2 days at Universal - help me plan

[lisaross]

ok we will be staying at Royal Pacific 2 nights - April 28th - 30th. Will be heading over after 5 days at Disney.

I figure arrival day we'll check in to hotel and get to park about noon - maybe earlier...which park do u recommend we head to first since we won't be arriving early? Husband and kids like Harry Potter - not crazy fans though. Would u do 1 park each day then last day hit stuff we love? I would like to hit pool the 2nd day for a bit - maybe in the afternoon if time permits. The last day we will have to leave parks about 4 to get back to our checked bags and head to airport .

Any suggestions welcome

 

[RMulieri]

Since you are staying onsite and will have express, I would do whichever park you want. The HP areas are always the busiest areas of both parks but the crowds there tend to die down the last hour the park is open. I would hit either park and use your express pass on eligible rides and shows.We usually do 4 days ( 2 for each park) , but people staying 3 days usually do 1 day per park and the last day to re-ride/re-visit favorites or day anything you missed

 

[lisaross]

Thank you. Which park would you say takes longer to go through - we have 2 teenage boys, so will be riding all the big rides

 

[IckyMickey]

Universal takes longer to get through. There are a lot more rides and shows at Universal. We were there 12/21-12/23 and did what you talked about - 1 full day at each and then the last day doing the stuff we missed - I had a list and most were character pictures ! We hit Harry Potter almost 1st every morning even though we aren't the biggest fans - it's just pretty amazing to be a part of. IA has less rides and shows and it has 3 water rides that you may choose not to do as you will get drenched! The express pass is amazing!!!

 

[lisaross]

So I guess arrival day I will get to park about noon so maybe I should hit IOA and do you suggest I do the Harry Potter stuff in the evening? What about the train how did u work that in? Then on Friday I could do universal and Saturday maybe hit both parks for the stuff we missed - we will be in the park last day till about 4

 

[lisaross]

Or universal st and last and IOA THE 2nd day and maybe get to hit pool - how many hours did u spend in each park - opening to close?

 

[princesskimberella]

We had 2 day park to park tickets with express passes and ended up bouncing back and forth in the parks. We did early entry to IOA on or first day and did everything in the park by 1pm and to the train over to US for the night. The next day we started at US and went over to IOA to re ride some of the kids favorites and have lunch then back over to US for the night time show and fireworks. The parks were A lot smaller than I had imagined but I think the express pass really helped !