First Time UNH 1-day trip

[Yukonjack]

My wife, and daughters (9 and 12) are going to Universal for our first trip together and I wanted to get some tips/advice. We are going to be driving up from Disneyland the morning of Universal, which looks to be about an hour or so drive. USH opens at 9am (early hour) Friday, Nov. 11, which we are going to take advantage of through online ticket purchase from Universal's website.

Our plan is to leave DL at 6am (ish) and get to the parking lot, and then walk to the front gate so we are there super early. Based on what I have read, we should head straight for HP World at the upper lot, do the Forbidden Journey and maybe the Hippogriff ride (though I hear mixed reviews on that one). Then go to Olivanders, and some food at the Three Broomsticks.

After that, again based on what I am reading, we should hit the lower lot, and do Transformers, Jurassic, and the Mummy (along with any character meets). Then we should try to hit the tour, and then possibly lunch. Wash, rinse, repeat.

Does that sound right? I am pretty experienced in Disneyland outings, but the USH trip has me a bit off edge. Any help you experienced folks can provide is greatly appreciated.

Greg

 

[sheetz]

I think I would do Olivander's first as that has low capacity. FJ is a people eater. Also I would probably do the Studio Tour before heading down to the back lot. It doesn't get too busy down there until after lunch.

 

[Yukonjack]

Cool, thanks for the tips. I guess I did not realize that the tour is in the upper lot? That helps. Apparently we want to minimize using the escalators as they are a bottleneck.

 

[sheetz]

The entrance to the tour is in the upper lot but you have to go down some escalators to the boarding area.

 

[Yukonjack]

Awesome, we will go to Olivanders first. Is that open during the one hour early entry?

 

[sheetz]

When we went this summer the whole land was open.

 

[karen1987]

We were there last Tuesday and followed this plan...

- Arrived for general admission opening at 10.00 am.
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (15 min wait).
- Flight of the Hippogriff (not great, but an ok family coaster).
- Skipped Olivander's (not of interest to us), but walked around Hogsmeade for a while (the theming is excellent!).
- Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem.
- Shrek 4D.
- Stopped for a huge donut at Lard Lads in Springfield!
- Skipped Simpsons: The Ride because the wait was 30 minutes (not huge Simpsons fans anyway).
- Went to the 12.00 pm showing of the Special Effects Show.
- The Walking Dead walkthrough (probably not suitable to your daughters though! I chickened out at the entrance!).
- Studio Backlot Tour (around 1.30 pm and a 5 min wait).
- Jurassic Park: The Ride.
- Transformers: The Ride.
- Revenge of the Mummy was down for refurbishment.
- WaterWorld (last show around 4.00 pm).

We felt the park was reasonably quite, but did feel busier by early afternoon, although no ride had a wait time exceeding 35 minutes and that was Flight of the Hippogriff. Most rides had a 5 - 15 minute wait time throughout the day.