First time - out of comfort zone! Just one day?

[kkleiner]

Hey there, Long time WDW parks fan, planning a last minute trip to Kissimmee last week in April - staying offsite at a timeshare exchange - will have a car. I'm not a Disney snob, I know I can't compare the WDW vs UNIV experiences, just like I can't compare Star Wars vs Star Trek, they are DIFFERENT.

We have FIVE full days with travel days as as days 1 and 7.

Must do WDW but want to visit Universal / IOA. Given our time and $$ constraint, looks like 2 days at WDW (maybe 3) and only one at Univ/IOA.

I use TouringPlans.com and see they have a one day both parks plan. Thinking about trying that, and going on a day that has crowd levels of 3-and-4 or 4-and-5 (might have to do 6-and-7 crowd days).

My son has been to these 2 parks (teen, with HS band last year) but my wife and I and daughter (teen) never have.

I think one day might be tight, even with a touring plan.

So, any thoughts? We will have a one-day/two-park ticket and will get there as early as humanly possible...I know the drill on that. I guess I could always update the ticket in the park if we realize there is no way we can do everything we want.

My thought is that we are going during a 'lower crowd level' day, so that might help with this?

Thanks in advance for answering a question that has probably been asked about 100 times on this board.

Raq Hazaq!

 

[macraven]

last of april would be sunday the 26th
ioa closes at 7 pm the end of april.
haven't looked at the May calendar for park hours, so don't know if that will hold the same all week.
the studios closes on tues at 6 and wed at 8 pm.
sun, mon and thur closing at 9.

i suggest you get there early to park your car, walk thru city walk and wait at the park gate until opening.
give yourself plenty of time.

since you have a park to park ticket, you can ride the HE from one park to another.

the potter sections will have more crowds throughout the day.

check the UO website on ep costs per date.
this is how many of us determine if the park is a low crowd level.
UO sets the price based on projected park attendance.
if the prices for the park is high, means the darkside is expecting crowds that day.
if only one park has high costs on the ep, hit that park first when you arrive.
crowds will only grow as the day goes on.


wait, just reread your post and you already know the drill......

i would only suggest then that you study the park layouts so you can go to the rides/shows quickly.
use the single rider lines as much as possible.
there are times that you will get on the ride quickly.

that has been my experience.
i go on my trips solo and stay onsite.
i can use the express lines many times for each ride but a lot of the time, i use the SRL as it is quicker.

i'm sure others will come along and throw their two cents also.

hope your day at the darkside is great!

 

[kkleiner]

last of april would be sunday the 26th
ioa closes at 7 pm the end of april.
haven't looked at the May calendar for park hours, so don't know if that will hold the same all week.
the studios closes on tues at 6 and wed at 8 pm.
sun, mon and thur closing at 9.

i suggest you get there early to park your car, walk thru city walk and wait at the park gate until opening.
give yourself plenty of time.

since you have a park to park ticket, you can ride the HE from one park to another.

the potter sections will have more crowds throughout the day.

check the UO website on ep costs per date.
this is how many of us determine if the park is a low crowd level.
UO sets the price based on projected park attendance.
if the prices for the park is high, means the darkside is expecting crowds that day.
if only one park has high costs on the ep, hit that park first when you arrive.
crowds will only grow as the day goes on.


wait, just reread your post and you already know the drill......

i would only suggest then that you study the park layouts so you can go to the rides/shows quickly.
use the single rider lines as much as possible.
there are times that you will get on the ride quickly.

that has been my experience.
i go on my trips solo and stay onsite.
i can use the express lines many times for each ride but a lot of the time, i use the SRL as it is quicker.

i'm sure others will come along and throw their two cents also.

hope your day at the darkside is great!

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply! What is EP? (newbie)

Would you suggest the express pass for a one day trip?

 

[kkleiner]

Hi, Thanks for the quick reply! What is EP? (newbie)

Would you suggest the express pass for a one day trip?

Answering own question...EP = express pass, correct? Just getting it now....

 

[cgattis]

Maybe not super helpful, but here are my thoughts...

How much is a second day at Uni vs a third day at Disney? I'll bet they're pretty close to the same. I think you'll be paying close to single-day prices for every day at either place, so it's really not a cost thing.

So, that said, are you guys Potter fans or not? If you've read the books and/or seen more than one or two of the movies, you may really wish you had more time to spend there, once you see it. You can easily spend an entire day doing both parts of HP. If you want to see any of the rest of the parks, I'd do two days. You've done Disney--you can easily decide your must-do's based on the amount of time you have. You'll have to see Univ once before you can do that.

If my ticket math is right, how about just starting at Univ, buying your tix at the gate, and seeing how long you want at each place?

Since you're offsite anyway, FP+ selection is also a non-issue.

If any other Uni-DIS'ers (look ma, I invented a word! ) see a flaw in my logic, please jump in.

 

[macraven]

sorry, ep is express pass

depends on the date you decide to go.


you can wait and buy the ep when you are in the park. (guest services or shops in the park)
that way you can gauge the line waits and if they are short at one of the parks, no sense in throwing money away for the ep.

the ep is park and date relate.

if one park has crowds, and the other doesn't might be a good thing to buy the ep.
you can use the single rider lines and that will cut your wait time down.
not all rides have SRL.


FJ, Gringotts are two out of the 5 that do not have express lines.

if it was the first time i was doing the darkside and knew i would not be back for a couple of years, yes, i would buy the express pass.
if i didn't see any changes on the cost of the ep's on the website, i would wait and buy the ep once i was in the park.
go on a rainy day and people stay home or hide in the stores in the parks.
express pass would be a waste on those days.
they are non refundable.


if i saw the ep prices were increasing prior to the trip, i would buy then and do a kiosk pick up.
all you need is 24 hours in advance prior to picking them up (located in the park area outside of the guest service section.)

when you buy the ep in advance, you are set.
there is no increase you pay if the ep's rise in costs.

 

[pjhootch]

Yes, it can be done. HP is going to chew up some time, but if you are either going on a low crowd day or have EP for the non Potter things, you can certainly do a lot of things at both parks in 1 day. Your WDW experience gives you the skills you need to accomplish an awful lot in only 1 day. Naturally, you won't be able to see/do everything but if you prioritize you will be amazed at what you can fit in. If your family really likes to take in shows it is a bit more difficult, but if you are going to hit the rides, very doable. IOA is really easy to navigate around because of the layout. We have had EP a couple of times when it wasn't necessary, and a couple of times when it was essential.

You will be amazed at how much less actual walking takes place to cover both these parks. Compared to the layout at WDW everything is much more compact here. Having EP (when needed) makes it much easier to move around the parks without backtracking. That also saves time and makes it easier to accomplish a lot in one day.

 

[glocon]

As long as you go in knowing that you won't see and do everything that you might want to, you will have fun... Especially in the Harry potter areas. You will also then have an idea of what you want to see and do when you plan your next trip!

 

[Duanerice]

We are doing 1 day this Monday with the option to upgrade to the second day. We'll play it by ear but I bet we see most of everything. Difference is that we are staying onsite and will have Express pass. If we didn't we'd probably do a lot of single rider lines.

Just do what you can and leave the rest for another time. Be at the park at least 30 min before opening as the usually open the gates early. And US is usually open longer than IOA. Make sure you pick the stuff that you really want to do and figure out a way to get that stuff done, usually the earlier the better.

 

[spinandmarty]

im not trying to be snarky here but if crowd levels are low like you say and you have teenagers, I would go to disney first,,, I love Disney... but I have seen a lot of teenagers, that are not really happy going to dis after univ...