Choosing which park on which day?

[Katiecat]

I am trying to figure out the best plan of attack for which park to visit when. Not staying on site, no express pass, not doing HHN. So do we want to go the park that has early entry, or the other one? Do we want to avoid days where there is HHN, or don't worry about it? I am just confused about how these factors affect crowds and attendance. (Speaking of which, I am very confused by crowd calendars which say vastly different things for our dates!)

 

[TheConsciousness]

We didn't have early entry, express pass, or go during HHN, but we wanted to do the parks in order. Started at Universal Studio for the first day, and then went to IoA the second day. If you'll be there during HHN, since Universal closes up shop early for the event, it would probably be best to do Universal first thing in the morning and then move to IoA right before the closing. I've heard that IoA doesn't get much more crowded while HHN goes on, which is surprising.

 

[wookiebeck]

I don't think to analyze the Uni resort with the same thoughts as we would WDW. The two parks are mere feet away from each other. Many have a park-to-park ticket and use the Hogwarts Express when they want to jump across. I consider this a sort of self-correcting balance. Long story short, I don't think it matters trying to figure which park is 1% less crowded.

For which to rope drop, we found that since EE is restricted to the HP areas, you are still able to get tons done at rope drop no matter what. Enjoy what the day gives you!