4 day US/Disney trip advice

[steelersforlife24]

My 44 inch tall thrill seeking (loves rollercoasters) Daughter and myself are going to orlando Jan 11 through 14. Staying at Royal Pacific.

Jan 11: Flight gets in 8 am (carry on luggage only). Take a taxi to Royal Pacific. Check-in, drop of bags then head to parks. Hope to get to parks by 10 am. Tour both parks 10 - 7.

Jan 12: Tour US 8-12, IOA 12-4 then take a taxi to Hollywood Studios. Hollywood Studios 5-10 pm (8-10 EMH courtesy of my throwaway campsite ressie). We will have 6 FP 2 each for Star Tours, TOT, and TSM. Also get to do Disney Junior dance party at the evening EMH.

Jan 13: MK 9 am - 8 pm. 6 FP for this day as well. 2 Space Mt, 1 BTMR, 1 Mine Train, 1 Peter Pan, 1 Haunted Mansion.

Jan 14: Tour both US and IOA 8-6 then check-out take taxi to airport for 9:40 pm flight.

I am not sure if the Hollywood Studios trip is cutting into Universal too much. We will lose 3 hours of park time by leaving at 4 on Jan 12th. My daughter has done disney (just did a 7 day trip in Sept). This is her first trip to Universal. The current plan gives 27 hours of US/IOA park time and 16 hours of Disney park time.

Looking for advice if we should keep the Hollywood Studios leg or drop it.
Thanks

 

[nkereina]

It's an ambitious plan but IMO, I don't think adding DHS is cutting too much time. We just got back from US/IOA and had one full day at each park, and on our third day we park hopped between the two repeating our favorites. We felt that we could have flown out the evening of our second night and didn't really need that third day. We got a little bored, in fact.

We are two adults, no kids, and spent a lot more time at US than we did at IOA. Since you describe your kid as a thrill seeker, I'd suspect she wouldn't care much for Seussland at IOA. We skipped that area entirely, along with Lost Continent. This left us the Marvel area, Hogsmeade, and some random rides like Ripsaw Falls and Jurassic Park which can be skipped if you don't want to get wet.

 

[steelersforlife24]

With having the express pass I figure we will be hitting Desp Me, Transformers, MIB, Shrek, Woody's Coaster, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, RipSaw Falls, Simpsons, and ET the most (probably 3-4 times each over the 3 days). Should be 5 minute wait or less for these. Then take our time in the HP areas and ride Gringotts a couple of times, Hippogriff a few times. We will only be able to do the Journey Castle tour. Spend some time with the magic wand at the magic spots. etc...

 

[TikiGoddess07]

My daughters (ages 11 and 10) and I are doing a similar trip. We're going mid-December for 4 days...

Thurs: flight arrives 9:40am, get rental car, check into Royal Pacific, do IOA
Fri: do US, head to Pop Century in the evening
Sat: do AK in the morning, Epcot in the afternoon (FP+), and Studios in the evening (to see Osborne Lights)
Sun: MK all day until we leave for the airport around 4

I'm glad to see we're not the only crazy people around! It's going to be a whirlwind trip but worth it. I'm still not sure about our 3-park day on Saturday, but we'll play it by ear.

This is our first visit to Universal, but from looking online it seems like we'll be able to see everything we want to see in the two days we have. As long as we see the Harry Potter parts, the rest is gravy.

Question: why did you split up your FP+ reservations for your MK day? Will your daughter not go on certain rides?

Kathy

 

[RMulieri]

With having the express pass I figure we will be hitting Desp Me, Transformers, MIB, Shrek, Woody's Coaster, Spiderman, Jurassic Park, RipSaw Falls, Simpsons, and ET the most (probably 3-4 times each over the 3 days). Should be 5 minute wait or less for these. Then take our time in the HP areas and ride Gringotts a couple of times, Hippogriff a few times. We will only be able to do the Journey Castle tour. Spend some time with the magic wand at the magic spots. etc...

Keep in mind that even WITH express pass, Despicable Me often has a bit of wait( we waited almost 20 mins in low crowds).it is a theater attraction that is very popular

 

[steelersforlife24]

My daughters (ages 11 and 10) and I are doing a similar trip. We're going mid-December for 4 days...

Thurs: flight arrives 9:40am, get rental car, check into Royal Pacific, do IOA
Fri: do US, head to Pop Century in the evening
Sat: do AK in the morning, Epcot in the afternoon (FP+), and Studios in the evening (to see Osborne Lights)
Sun: MK all day until we leave for the airport around 4

I'm glad to see we're not the only crazy people around! It's going to be a whirlwind trip but worth it. I'm still not sure about our 3-park day on Saturday, but we'll play it by ear.

This is our first visit to Universal, but from looking online it seems like we'll be able to see everything we want to see in the two days we have. As long as we see the Harry Potter parts, the rest is gravy.

Question: why did you split up your FP+ reservations for your MK day? Will your daughter not go on certain rides?

Kathy

The 3 Park day will be interesting indeed. Smart to do AK first thing in AM. We did that in sept and makes the safari much more enjoyable as the animals will be out in full force. Epcot in the afternoon makes sense so you can do both Showcase and rides. HS at night is always fun esp if your girls like TOT.

As far as your question: we are using my wife and mother-in laws bands AP holders to get 3 extra FP for a total of 6 each. The list I have is the rides we both will be getting FP for.

I love the commando trips and my daughter seems to enjoy those the most. Have fun!!

 

[steelersforlife24]

Keep in mind that even WITH express pass, Despicable Me often has a bit of wait( we waited almost 20 mins in low crowds).it is a theater attraction that is very popular

Yes you are correct. I am using Touring Plans to get a read on best time of day to do that ride with a min wait.