Best itinerary for 3 days

[Sohappy2bme]

My family of 5 (ages 10, 8, 5) is planning to stay at one of the onsite hotels for three days before a Disney Cruise. This is our first time at Universal and we are Harry Potter fans. What is the ideal itinerary to see the parks in three days and what are the must-do activities?

 

[damo]

If they are staying at one of the hotels that has express passes, they won't need an itinerary. They will have tons of time to see everything and do their favourites several times. Since the major HP rides don't take express passes, they may have to wait in line a bit but the queues are so detailed, that they won't mind!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Take advantage of the one hour early admission for on-site resort guests and go straight to Harry Potter! Then take the Hogwarts express over to the other park and spend time at the Harry Potter attractions (assuming you have park to park tickets). Then, for If you have the express pass you can ride the other rides at your leisure throughout the day, with no worries about planning or lines. Don't know if the time of year you are going, but we loved having the express pass that came with staying at Royal Pacific.

 

[schumigirl]

Check out the website www.universalorlando.com

Since you are first time visitors it will give you an idea of park layouts, rides and shows on offer. Then you can decide what suits your family best.

The stickies on here are full of information too........they're worth a read.

There's an excellent quick access sticky that macraven has created and damo has a wonderful sticky about all things food between the parks, hotels and Citywalk.

If you are staying at one of the hotels that offer EP you're sorted, no planning necessary. As damo says, the main Potter rides and Hogwarts Express don't offer EP access, but if you go early or later in the evening it can be so much quieter.

You need park to park tickets to ride the Hogwarts Express.

If you are staying at Cabana Bay or Sapphire Falls then take advantage of Early Entry.

 

[angryduck71]

Also check out www.orlandoinformer.com

 

[nighttowll]

3 days is great for a first trip. It gives you 1 day to see each park, and 1 day for repeat rides and to catch anything you missed the first time.

If you are staying at one of the 3 deluxe hotels and have EP, you really don't need a plan as far as rides go. Head to the HP section first during early entry each morning and stay until it starts to get crowded. I'd focus on rides one morning, spell casting another, and shopping another. This way you can really experience HP without fighting the crowds. Everyone always wants to rush off to the rides first thing, but sometimes being able to move around the tiny shops freely can be a bigger advantage than a short wait.

See below for a list of things to do in the HP section:

Does somebody have a list of all the "must do" HP things in each park?

As soon as HP starts to get crowded, move onto the rest of the park. With EP there really isn't any need to plan a certain time to do anything. I'd just move around the park in a circle riding as I go to minimize backtracking.


If you are staying at a hotel that does not offer EP, I'd focus on HP one morning, and then the headliners in each park the other mornings.


As far as "must do" activities, there are a number of threads you can read through devoted to this topic, and everyone has different favorites. I'd look through the rides to see which are based on themes, characters, or movies your kids like and go from there. Also, take note of the height restrictions, as your 5 year old may not be tall enough to ride everything.

I'm not going to name any must do attractions, but I will list a couple little known often overlooked must dos for us.

Set aside some time to visit the talking fountain. This is a favorite thing of ours to do. We love to watch the fountain interact with the kids, and kids really seem to love playing with the fountain.

Soak a few unsuspecting riders on the raft ride. If you go up on top of Popeye's boat, at the back, you will find water cannons you can use for free to spray the people passing by below on the raft ride. Kids love this.