Advice for a one day visit to IOA?

[Beachlover73]

My boyfriend and I would like to bring our three teenage sons to IOA while we are visiting his family in Daytona. I've only been there once and it was the summer IOA opened, so I have no real experience making decisions here. First, which would be the better time to come (we don't mind the heat but don't want to be cold - needing jeans and a jacket is ok). Would Spring Break, Summer, or Christmas be the best time to come? Also, where is the best place to find information to create an itenerary? I took my children to Disney in 2006 and used these boards, the Unofficial Guide, and an online page that posted up to date ride waits and such... is there anything like that or any must reads for IOA? We can only afford one day and we will be there from open to close. We want to plan the most optimal experience for our money. Please guide me!

 

[schumigirl]

www.universalorlando.com is a good starting point. You can see everything the parks have to offer and where everything is.

If you want to experience HP in both parks you will need park to park tickets........with one day you won't cover everything but use the park maps to decide what's important for your family.

Arrive early and buy the EP. It's not valid for forbidden journey, Gringotts or Olivanders.

Make use of single rider where available.

As for when......anytime is good.

 

[Beachlover73]

www.universalorlando.com is a good starting point. You can see everything the parks have to offer and where everything is.

If you want to experience HP in both parks you will need park to park tickets........with one day you won't cover everything but use the park maps to decide what's important for your family.

Arrive early and buy the EP. It's not valid for forbidden journey, Gringotts or Olivanders.

Make use of single rider where available.

As for when......anytime is good.

Ok, so I was under the impression that Harry Potter was only at IOA... so it's at both parks?? What is the EP?

 

[schumigirl]

Express Pass.

Diagon Alley...the newest part of Potter is in the Studios and the Hogwarts Express goes between both parks, from Kings Cross in studios to Hogsmeade in IOA and vice versa.....it's pretty amazing.

 

[Beachlover73]

Where's the best place to purchase tickets?

 

[macraven]

i would buy the one day tickets now at the ticket sellers that still have the older and cheaper tickets.

prices increased but a few places are still selling what they have available

one of the other threads on this forum has a site that still is selling them at last weeks prices.
when they sell out, they will only have the current priced day tickets to offer.

i've been out of the loop the past 4 days so can't think of which company has been discussed.
do a search and you should be able to find that thread.

 

[sharona]

i would buy the one day tickets now at the ticket sellers that still have the older and cheaper tickets.

prices increased but a few places are still selling what they have available

one of the other threads on this forum has a site that still is selling them at last weeks prices.
when they sell out, they will only have the current priced day tickets to offer.

i've been out of the loop the past 4 days so can't think of which company has been discussed.
do a search and you should be able to find that thread.

Welcome back! I hope all is well.

OP - for single day tickets you aren't likely to find any discounts. If you're going to be staying on site, look into the AP rates and AP discounts on tickets purchased at the gate.

 

[RMulieri]

Out of the 3 time frames you mentioned., they are all busy.Christmas is INSANITY.If you are not staying onsite , I don't recommend this week unless you absolutely HAVE NO other choice. Spring break might work depending on when you go.Spring breaks vary throughout the country and how busy it is depends on WHEN during that timeframe you go.Summer is always busy and incredibly hot and humid

 

[Darcy03231]

The week between Christmas and New Year's and the week before Easter and the week after Easter are the three busiest weeks of the year. I would avoid going during those weeks at all costs! You can search and see some crowd pictures. I would go in the summer and deal with the heat/humidity before I dealt with those crowds. We've been the end of August and crowds were light to moderate and I didn't think it was any hotter/more humid than at home (we live in the northeast).

When my kids were in school our spring break was the last week of April each year and we thought that was a great time to go. Weather was warm, but not too hot.

Our last trip was in August 2013. If you get to the parks before opening and stay until close you can get quite a lot done. If you're really interested in HP, head there first and get in line of Olivanders. It doesn't take a lot of people at one and the line gets long quickly. Use the single rider line for Forbidden Journey (and anywhere else that has single rider lines).

We spent a full day in IOA and managed to do most everything. Spiderman was down so we couldn't do that, and I don't do big rollercoasters so we skipped Hulk, the large double coaster in HP and the teacup type things near Hulk, but we did everything else in IOA in one day.