3-Day Universal Itinerary- Which Park to Start With?

[Yorel]

Hi. I will be going to Universal for the first time. We're staying 3 days (DH, DS-13, DS-11 & Niece-21 and I) off property (no express pass). Should we start with USF or IOA? I was thinking splitting the last day between both, since we have park-to-park tickets (I may do an express pass for the last day).

I'd prefer to devote the first 2 days to one park each day, since we'll just be trying to figure out what's what. Also, I'd like to do the Cinematic Spectacular Dinner on one day (probably the last day).

Any thoughts?

Also, as an FYI, we don't have any Harry Potter Fans in our party, although we'll likely take in some of the HP attractions since I hear they are very good.

 

[macraven]

What are your dates?

 

[Yorel]

What are your dates?

Sorry.We will be going August 17th, 18th and 19th. Thx

 

[ConnecticutFlea]

Depends on what attractions you want to do first.

Unlike WDW, the parks are right next to each other making it easy to go from one to the other. IMHO neither park is really big or spread out.

 

[nkereina]

If anyone is a Potter fanatic, I know some like to start with Universal and Diagon Alley before heading over to IOA/Hogsmeade, since that's the way Harry did it in the books since he started in DA first. No reason necessarily to start there, though.

For us as two adults (casual Potter fans!), we start at Universal because it takes us the longest and has the rides we like most. We're super excited when we arrive to get on our favorite attractions. On day 2, we'll start at IOA but it typically doesn't take us a full day, so we'll hop back over to Universal in the afternoon/evening. With this strategy, we're able to do rope drop at each park, and then have time to re-visit things as well.

Have fun!

 

[klo1335]

It honestly depends on which park opens early for people staying onsite. We stayed offsite last August and did Universal for 1 day. We headed for Jurassic Park first just by accident and it worked out well. With Kong recently opened you might want to try that first as lines might be long.

 

[macraven]

looking at the park calendar for august, studios will be open 9-9 during your stay
ioa will be the same.

on the 21st, the studios start to cut back the closing hour to 8:30
ioa on the 20th.

that's due to lower attendance.

could be that you might not have large crowds for your dates as many schools start back up earlier in august, less families in the park then.

check the website for dates that cinema show will be held.
if it isn't every night of the week, they will have select dates for it.
you can also get updated info in the area where you enter the park.
sign will show what is closed that day.

start with the studios and take he to the other potter section at ioa.
seems to work with many that not sure which park to start with.

the walk from one park to another is short.
easy to go back and forth .

the EE listing has not been released yet for august.
i usually hit the park that had the EE of the day as, for the dates i go, most head to the other park to do potter stuff at that time.
but if you enter the area and do not see much of a line for the park that opens to all at 9, go with that park.
start with the rides in the front of the park as the one that are there from EE, would be in the back section of potter then.

 

[Yorel]

looking at the park calendar for august, studios will be open 9-9 during your stay
ioa will be the same.

on the 21st, the studios start to cut back the closing hour to 8:30
ioa on the 20th.

that's due to lower attendance.

could be that you might not have large crowds for your dates as many schools start back up earlier in august, less families in the park then.

check the website for dates that cinema show will be held.
if it isn't every night of the week, they will have select dates for it.
you can also get updated info in the area where you enter the park.
sign will show what is closed that day.

start with the studios and take he to the other potter section at ioa.
seems to work with many that not sure which park to start with.

the walk from one park to another is short.
easy to go back and forth .

the EE listing has not been released yet for august.
i usually hit the park that had the EE of the day as, for the dates i go, most head to the other park to do potter stuff at that time.
but if you enter the area and do not see much of a line for the park that opens to all at 9, go with that park.
start with the rides in the front of the park as the one that are there from EE, would be in the back section of potter then.

Thank you. Very helpful. So to be clear, you usually go to the park that has the EE even if you do not have EE privileges?

 

[macraven]

only onsite hotel guests can enter during EE.
but, the early crowd will hit the potter section and DE before moving on to the other park if they are there to do both potter sections.

many times potter section from the EE period will empty out enough where you could hit DA first.

if potter is not of interest to you, go to the front area of the park and do the rides there first before you move back to the potter area.

 

[Yorel]

only onsite hotel guests can enter during EE.
but, the early crowd will hit the potter section and DE before moving on to the other park if they are there to do both potter sections.

many times potter section from the EE period will empty out enough where you could hit DA first.

if potter is not of interest to you, go to the front area of the park and do the rides there first before you move back to the potter area.

Got it. Sounds good. I wish Universal would post the schedule for Cinematic Spectacular. It only goes out to August 5th. I don't want to get "locked out" of a reservation.

 

[macraven]

i had friends that did that package of the show and food at lombards.
they ate early and were given a ticket to return for the show and snacks later at that dock area of lombards.

they said to go early in order to get the better seating for it all.
some people came to that area about 15 minutes before the cinema show was to begin and no seats left and they didn't have the view of the show as they thought they would.

unless it has changed, people could do this dining plan and do the food earlier in the day and return in the evening with their ticket.

always check in advance of the way it is set up.
UO does make changes and what was valid last fall might not be the same this year.

 

[tortilla24]

My only recommendation would be to plan for IoA on a day when you can easily shower at the end of the day as it has the big water rides. If you're leaving home on the 19th after a day at the park, I'd avoid those rides and try to get them in on the first 2 days.

I just came back from a trip with 2 boys (14 and 8 years old) and they seemed to far prefer IoA.