Early admission strategy

[afc104]

Hi
We will be there with our 8 year old granddaughter April 24-28, first time back since Harry Potter opened. Universal Studios is open for early admission each day so of course we will take advantage of that but would it make sense to then hop the train and go over to the IOA to experience the other Harry Potter ride, also is the last hour the parks are open a good time to experience the Harry Potter rides
thanks

 

[macraven]

many use HE to reach the other parry hotter park.
spend as much time in the first park you are in as by the time you decide to go to the other one, it will have many people in it at that time.

there are times if the ride goes down in the last hour of the park day, it does not reopen.
but, i have read if the down time is very short and the ride is operational again, it can go back up for the ride.

 

[kohlby]

Are you doing more than one day? That shouldn't be a high crowd time. I'd do US and spend all the time you want there before the crowds pick up the first day. On the second day, I'd take the train over to IOA. Also, I've heard that Gringotts is breaking down a lot recently. On our last trip, IOA was the park with the early hour. FJ wasn't working one morning so they let us take the train over to the US side and opened up Gringotts early for us instead - even though we still had to go through the IOA side. So - another thing to keep in mind.

From our experience, the lines aren't the issue when it's not that crowded. However, the shops and general area get super crowded even on low crowd days. It makes it harder to enjoy the area when there are so many people in it. So, I would try to do it at the start and end of the day both for rides and enjoyment of walking around. I didn't check hours for when you're going, but when I'm going, US closes later than IOA. I expect that will effect the evening crowds too as IOA might not start clearing out as much in that last hour because many can go over to US when IOA closes.

 

[afc104]

Thanks for the tips yes we have a 4 day pass and will be staying onsite, Universal Studios is open until 9 I think all of the days we are there and IOA closes at 7, the crowd levels are supposed to be low-moderate but who knows I have been to Disney when it's supposedly some of the lowest crowd levels and its still busy and then once we went in January and crowd calendars were supposed to be about a 6 and it was not busy at all we could ride whatever we wanted to pretty much as much as we wanted to. At Universal we always spend the extra money and stay on site you can't be beat FOTL access although I know it does not apply to the Harry Potter rides

 

[angryduck71]

I went in late May last year and had no problem (stayed a little more than 4 days). I might suggest you think about upgrading to a powerpass too -- might have some savings there if you do. And, you might be able to catch a few hours the night you arrive or morning you leave? We did that and it was great. FJ just didn't seem as crowded as it used to. And, after we did the regular line once, if we wanted to ride again, we did single rider (my son was 8 at the time and it was fine -- we usually still were on the same car or right after each other). Same with Gringotts! For sure ride the train both ways at some point -- maybe one day do the early hour and at the end, hop on over to IOA before the line for that gets too long (you can use express pass for Hogwarts express if I remember correctly). I can't remember if it's a no-no to mention another board on this board, but if you google "Universal free touring plans" you'll find a great site that'll give you some great tips on what to do.

 

[afc104]

Thanks I like the single ride idea we can have my 8 year old granddaughter between us that way if we are on separate cars one of us will always either be in front or behind her

 

[johde]

It sounds like you're staying at one of the deluxe resorts. But, if you are staying at Cabana Bay, I'd recommend taking at least part of one of your early mornings to ride Despicable Me, Minion Mayhem. That ride often has one of the longest lines in the park. Even with Express Passes, it might not hurt one day swing by there either at the beginning or very end of Early Entry.