Evaluate my touring plans for our days at Universal

[debdebdebby13]

We use Touring Plans for every Disney vacation we take and for our upcoming combo trip we are using it for Universal as well. Here is the plan TP gave us for our days.

First up our day at Islands of Adventure! We plan on taking advantage of the early entry so our park day will be 8a-7p.

STEP		ARRIVAL	WAIT	DURATION	FREE TIME	WALK TIME
1) Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure		8:16am	35	5	0	7
2) Jurassic Park River Adventure		9:03am	4	9	0	4
3) Skull Island: Reign of Kong		9:20am	8	6	0	5
4) Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls		9:39am	8	7	0	5
5) Pteranodon Flyers		9:59am	9	1	0	11
6) The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride!		10:20am	4	6	0	1
7) One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish		10:31am	7	4	0	1
8) The Cat in the Hat		10:43am	4	6	0	8
9) Three Broomsticks 11:00am for 45 minutes		11:01am	0	45	0	2
10) Hogwarts Express - Hogsmeade Station		11:48am	8	5	0	1
11) Hogwarts Express - Return Trip to Hogsmeade		12:02pm	12	5	0	5
12) Triwizard Spirit Rally Showtimes: 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 3:00pm, 4:00pm, 5:00pm		12:24pm	6	6	0	1
13) Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey		12:37pm	17	6	0	1
14) water park 1:00pm for 180 minutes ** Leaving the park		1:01pm	0	180	0	1
15) Frog Choir Showtimes: 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm, 4:00pm		4:02pm	0	10	0	3
16) Raptor Encounter		4:15pm	25	3	0	8
17) Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges		4:51pm	8	7	0	5
18) The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man		5:11pm	8	7	0	1
19) Marvel Super Hero Island Arcade		5:27pm	2	15	0	2
20) The Incredible Hulk Coaster		5:46pm	4	4	0	10
21) The Mystic Fountain		6:04pm	2	8	0	5
22) Flight of the Hippogriff		6:19pm	16	3	0	2
23) Hogsmeade Village		6:40pm	2	30	0	16

And here is our day at Universal Studios, park hours are 9a-6p

STEP		ARRIVAL	WAIT	DURATION	FREE TIME	WALK TIME
1) Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem		9:02am	7	14	0	2
2) Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit		9:25am	6	4	0	4
3) Revenge of the Mummy		9:39am	5	5	0	1
4) Transformers: The Ride-3D		9:50am	5	5	0	5
5) Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster		10:05am	4	1	0	4
6) The Simpsons Ride		10:14am	8	8	0	1
7) MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack		10:31am	8	5	0	2
8) Diagon Alley		10:46am	2	30	0	1
9) Knight Bus		11:19am	0	5	0	1
10) Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts		11:25am	16	5	0	1
11) Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees Showtimes: 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:30pm		11:47am	13	13	0	1
12) Ollivanders Experience in Diagon Alley		12:14pm	5	7	0	1
13) Leaky Cauldron 12:30pm for 45 minutes		12:27pm	0	45	0	2
14) Kang & Kodos' Twirl 'n' Hurl		1:14pm	4	2	0	3
15) The Tales of Beedle the Bard Showtimes: 9:00am, 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm		1:23pm	7	11	0	5
16) Beat Builders Showtimes: 10:10am, 11:15am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, 3:10pm, 4:10pm		1:46pm	14	15	0	4
17) The Bourne Stuntacular Showtimes: 10:15am, 11:00am, 12:00pm, 12:45pm, 1:45pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm, 4:15pm		2:19pm	11	26	0	4
18) Animal Actors on Location Showtimes: 12:00pm, 1:30pm, 3:15pm		3:00pm	15	25	2	3
19) Universal Orlando's Horror Make-Up Show Showtimes: 10:00am, 10:45am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:45pm, 2:30pm, 3:15pm, 4:00pm		3:45pm	15	27	0	3
20) E.T. Adventure		4:30pm	12	8	0	2
21) Central Park Crepes 5:00pm for 30 minutes		4:52pm	0	30	0	4

We will have one more day after this to hit any high points we want to repeat and maybe spend some more time at Volcano Bay.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

1. You will be legitimately soaked on Dudley Do-right log flume and the Popeye barges. Like, hardcore drenched. So I strongly recommend riding them back to back to avoid being soaked twice, and in your case it would be great to do them right before heading to the water park. Unless you don't mind wringing out your undergarments 2x in the same day.

2. There is no way that an 8-12min wait for Hogsmeade Express is happening mid day. Figure more like an hour each way.

3. Do you have little kids? I believe that Pteranodon Fliers has a height MAX unless you are riding with a kid.

4. Unless things have changed a lot, you will need to plan a longer wait for Bourne Stuntacular (which is a great show). If you show up 15min ahead of time, there's a very good chance you'll be waiting for the next show instead.

5. I sincerely doubt you will be in and out of Leaky Cauldron in 45min at prime lunch time. Can you shift it to earlier (before 11:30) or after 1:30?

6. I sincerely doubt you will have a 5min wait for the Ollivanders wand show in the middle of the day; can you put that early in the morning or late in the afternoon?

7. Kang & Kodos is oddly placed. You're crossing out of Diagon Alley for Kang & Kodos, then right back in for Tales of Beedle, instead of hitting it before MiB while you'll be walking right past it. Or, consider it at the end of the day while you're enjoying your crepes.

In general, those wait times look pretty low for mid day & late morning unless you have express passes. The Universal App lists wait times which are reasonably accurate. (As in, I cannot believe you'll hit a 17min wait for Forbidden Journey or Gringotts right at the busy middle of the day).

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Also, I assume you're planning to be to in line at the gate early in the morning? If you show up at 9am, you are likely looking at a 60-90min wait for Minions. It is shocking how quickly that line builds first thing.

 

[TommyJK]

A quick question first. Will you have Express Pass for your visit? Some of those wait times look really low, even if the park is relatively slow.

As to some comments:

IOA day:
- Your order of items 2-5 seems a bit odd to me. You'd be doing a bunch of uneccesary back tracking back and forth. More logical order based on locations would be JPRA, Pteradon flyers, Kong, Dudley's
- Similarly, going to Suess land after the first set takes you to literally the opposite side of the park. To me, from Toon Lagoon (after Dudley's) I would go next to Marvel Island for that stuff as it's closer than going all the way across to Suess.
- As the above poster mentioned too as it relates to water rides, Bluto's is right next to Dudley's so you're better off doing that right after Dudley's for both it's location, and also only getting soaked "once" as opposed to getting soaked in the morning and then again in the afternoon
- Also Mystic Fountain near the end looks out of place. It will make some strange backtracking (not too much but still you will zig zag a bit).

USF day:
- Will echo the PP's mention that Kang and Kodos is really out of place. It should be done togther (just before or just after) The Simpson's ride.

In general I find that TP doesn't make great plans for Universal and generally they are counter-intuitive. Also I find that there are 2 general/simple strategies when it comes to Universal that work best (at least for me):

a) if you have express pass, I wouldn't even bother with a meticulous plan like that. Other than "know the park layouts" and go along in a circle (both parks are basically a circle around a lake/lagoon) and just ride what is next along the path that you want to do
b) if you don't have express pass, still know the layouts of the parks, especially what attractions are where, and use the app to check wait times and go to the next closest thing that has a low wait. Crowds ebb and flow in all kinds of strange patterns, and a ride can have an hour+ wait at one time, and then a 10-15 min wait another time. You could have something planned on your itinerary and when you get there your "expected" 10 min wait according to TP could really be 40+ and then it just completely throws your meticulous plan out of whack. Best to be free flowing (other then your key rope-drop strategy) and hit attractions when they actually happen to be low wait as opposed to when TP thinks it's best a month ahead of time.

 

[Erica Ladd]

Even with EP those wait times look really low to me. On a Monday with EP we waited a lot longer than those listed times and this was off season in the beginning of February.
Also I’d be weary of getting on water rides that early in the day without a chance to dry off or change. Have fun!!!

 

[debdebdebby13]

3. Do you have little kids? I believe that Pteranodon Fliers has a height MAX unless you are riding with a kid. Yes, we have a 7 year old (and a 14 year old).

5. I sincerely doubt you will be in and out of Leaky Cauldron in 45min at prime lunch time. Can you shift it to earlier (before 11:30) or after 1:30? We can shift it.

We won't have express pass and we will be getting to the parks as early as possible.

Maybe the plans would make more sense if I put to minimize walking. Right now we have it set at "balanced" between walking and wait times which is probably why there is so much back and forth. I'll change that and see what it recommends.

The wait times do seem low, but it looks like both Touring Plans and Universal itself doesn't expect it to be busy those 2 days. TP has everyday leading up to the 21st at a 9/10, but then the 21/22 are down to a 4/10 and then for the 23/24 it goes up 6s or 7s. Universal has extended hours up to the 21st as well, but then 21/22 are down to 6p or 7p closing depending on the park. This makes me think crowds might be much lower than they have been those 2 days, which is why we chose them for our 2 main Universal days. We'll be there the 24th as well, but that's a Saturday so I'm sure it'll be busy.

 

[Lashed34]

We had Express Pass in early December 2019 for 2 weeks, we sailed through all the rides and managed to get on Hagrids twice on our first day. We did every ride in both parks on that 1st day. The longest wait time we had in that 2 weeks was about 20 mins for a ride, although Hogwarts Express took 45 mins from US to IoA, and crowds were medium, so we saved a huge amount of time overall with the pass.

I genuinely don't think you need an in-depth plan like this for Universal, even without the express pass. Obviously the time of year makes a difference, but as some people have mentioned above, there is a lot of backtracking on the plan you have.

I understand the need by people to plan like this for Disney, but I just feel you're going to get frustrated with such a plan at Universal.

I hope you have an incredible time though.

 

[AJA]

For the P. Flyers your 7 year old can only take one taller person with them each time so you will need 3 rides for all of you to get a turn. Your teenager will be too tall to ride w/o going with the younger one. At least on our last trip (maybe they changed the rules with Covid?) Four people in a family can’t ride unless 2 of them are in the height range.

We haven’t been able to ride it since my now 16 year old got too tall about 5 years ago.

Just wanted you to know to split up or plan on the time it takes for 3 rides.

 

[debdebdebby13]

For the P. Flyers your 7 year old can only take one taller person with them each time so you will need 3 rides for all of you to get a turn. Your teenager will be too tall to ride w/o going with the younger one. At least on our last trip (maybe they changed the rules with Covid?) Four people in a family can’t ride unless 2 of them are in the height range.

We haven’t been able to ride it since my now 16 year old got too tall about 5 years ago.

Just wanted you to know to split up or plan on the time it takes for 3 rides.

Thank you for the info. We'll see how much he likes it. If he loves it we'll all take turns, if not probably DH will ride with him the first time and it will be a 1 and done.

 

[bchbetha]

You absolutely should change your meal times. Plan to arrive no later than 11:30 at the HP restaurants. The TP is entirely unrealistic on how long it’ll take. Basic amusement park 101- always eat before noon unless you like crowds and lines. Alternatively would be to book a sit down lunch to get out of the crowds. You can later snack at Hogshead Inn or LC when they aren’t as crowded mid-day. The HHI has all the Butterbeer varieties.

 

[nouvellefleur]

We won't have express pass and we will be getting to the parks as early as possible.

Maybe the plans would make more sense if I put to minimize walking. Right now we have it set at "balanced" between walking and wait times which is probably why there is so much back and forth. I'll change that and see what it recommends.

The wait times do seem low, but it looks like both Touring Plans and Universal itself doesn't expect it to be busy those 2 days. TP has everyday leading up to the 21st at a 9/10, but then the 21/22 are down to a 4/10 and then for the 23/24 it goes up 6s or 7s. Universal has extended hours up to the 21st as well, but then 21/22 are down to 6p or 7p closing depending on the park. This makes me think crowds might be much lower than they have been those 2 days, which is why we chose them for our 2 main Universal days. We'll be there the 24th as well, but that's a Saturday so I'm sure it'll be busy.

Did I miss it - what month is your trip scheduled for? The projected wait times all seem pretty low across the board. I'd recommend crosschecking the TP crowd calendar against the Orlando Informer crowd calendar. I found OI's calendar and wait projections seemed a little more accurate than TP the last time I went, but admittedly that was in the beforetimes.

Also, Day 1 - #10 and #11 is the plan to just ride the Hogwarts Express one way, get off, and then ride it the other way?

 

[AJA]

With 3 total park days you should be able to do everything on your lists in the 2 Parks. Although I am not sure about the water park. If it were us, I would save it for day 3 and concentrate on IOA only your first day. Then see if you want to cut your water park short to make a half day for more park touring.

The wait times really seem like what I would expect to have while using Express Pass in the middle of September. In all honesty we have minimum double those wait times on weekdays at the lowest crowd times in September pre Covid without Express (I don’t think we will see those lowest crowds again for a while with all the pent up travel demand right now).

We will be there April 25th to May 2nd are are expecting it to be crowded even though pre Covid it would have been an ideal time.

 

[cschaaf]

Many of these wait times look like 'walk on' times. If no one is in front of you, it will take you that long to walk the queue.

Is there maybe a 'We have Express Pass' checkbox that was accidentally checked?

If the wait times are as low as they are predicting, you'll be able to get everything done without a plan and crisscrossing the parks. Hit the rides that traditionally have the longest waits first thing in the morning (IOA - Hagrid's, FJ and Universal - Minions, Gringott's) then pick a direction and make a loop riding whatever you want.

I've never done it, but I'd have to think moving between IOA and VB would take at least 45 minutes, particularly from FJ which is in the back of the park. Then it has you walking the whole way back to the Frog Choir (which is back near FJ) when you return to IOA.

Day 2 - I probably wouldn't want to ride Twirl and Hurl right after lunch.

 

[keishashadow]

One of the reasons we originally included U into our WDW stays was the ability to stay onsite and not need to jump thru hoops as to rushing around to rides. Even a one night stay, pays off well there for the FOTL perk.

Realize it’s not for everyone, just want to toss it out there that it can be a lovely splurge and cost effective vs buying EPs

In general I find that TP doesn't make great plans for Universal and generally they are counter-intuitive.

i subscribe primarily for other services, rarely bother with more than even a glance at the touring suggestions for our various dates

Good option for those who are new to a park or not especially attuned to the crowd flow on any given day. The apps are best tool for realtime flow.

IMO, Unless, there is a new attraction in play, ride popularity & & crowd flow is generally pretty consistent once you do figure out the general patterns.

Did I miss it - what month is your trip scheduled for? The projected wait times all seem pretty low across the board

Agreed, really optimistic wait times there except for perhaps off-season/winter.

If Pteranodon flyers is a must do, do it after hagrid. That line can be excruciatingly long as it such a slow loader.

I’d then retrace steps & ride FJ, then take the train over to the other park & do Gringotts.

Either pick up the touring plan in that park that is nearest to the real time & finish the day there or double back on the train to IoA & resume that touring plan.

The next day would start out Hagrids again, then go onto Kong, JP, Spiderman...whatever didn’t get accomplished the previous day. Then again, train or walk over to Studios.

Water rides for us = right before afternoon break/pool time or the end of the day. Nothing ‘dampens’ your spirits quicker than slogging around the park soaked. Riding popeye equates into falling in a swimming pool for me most times.

Last show of the day in the parks often tends to fill up quickly when crowded.