2 park touring plan

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

Hi everyone,

I'm a US/IOA rookie and need your advice. We have 1 day 2 park tickets, which we will be using November 3rd (according to a crowd calendar I saw this is a slower day, thankfully). I would like advice on which park to enter first and timing of when to switch parks. We are big Harry Potter fans, and our primary reason for going is to see the Harry Potter attractions.

Here are our must dos:
-all Harry Potter rides
-quick visits in Harry Potter shops
-all other roller coasters and exciting rides (such as Rip Ride Rocket, Revenge of the Mummy)
-Jurassic Park land
-a few kiddie rides/play areas

Do you think it would be better to start at the Harry Potter sections at Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure first? At what point should we switch to another park? Is it quick/easy to switch back and forth? (So by that I mean should we do all the HP attractions at one park, ride the Hogwarts Express to 2nd park and do all HP attractions there, then do other major attractions at that park, then go back to first park again?) Or do you think it's better to spend half the day in one park and half in the other?

Considerations:
We will have our 14 month old with us, so we can't be totally flexible. When she's done for the day, she's done. She probably won't like doing a ton of waiting either. We also will have to do ride swap for everything, so that will take extra time. What we be the best plan to maximize our must dos and spend the least amount of time waiting?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[wholesomejoe]

I haven't been in a few years but you're going to be pressed to do everything you want to do in ONE day with a little one with you. When I went my son was 5, and we did the ride swap on everything he couldn't ride, and we went during an even slower period and it still took most of the day to get to everything just in ONE park, and that was before they added the new Harry Potter stuff and Transformers. We started at Harry Potter, did Olivanders first (30 minute wait) then rode the kids roller coaster (30 minute wait) then rode FJ (15 minute walk through the queue but no wait for the actual ride itself, and you'll want to do the walk at least once even if you are a single rider) The dragon challenge was closed so we didn't get to ride it. It CAN be done, but with a 14 month old with you.. it's going to be a struggle and may not be all that fun. If you could stretch even one more day you'd have a lot more fun. Just my 2 cents. To give you an example.. me and my new partner (I'm divorced) are going in Nov. 8-13th and we are doing 4 days just so we know that we have time for every single detail and so we can spend as much time as we want doing what we want to do and not feel rushed. If you only have one day and there is no wiggle room, you MIGHT be able to do it but it won't be easy.

 

[annadreamsofdisneyworld]

We don't have the luxury of staying extra days in the park. This is what we're doing.

Does anyone have advice regarding which park we should start at?

To clarify the first post, we want to see all the Harry Potter attractions, but we wouldn't be spending more than a few minutes in each shop. We do want to eat at at least 1 HP restaurant. Other must dos are Mummy and Rocket coasters and Jurassic Park land. We will be skipping kiddie rides because there are no good ones for my daughter. My husband doesn't ride roller coasters, so he can take her to the play areas or do extra HP exploring while I ride them.