Help!!! 1 day at US/IOA and 1 day at SW or 2 days at US/IOA???

[Cruz Family]

I did not want to post on the Universal or SeaWorld boards because I wanted more neutral opinions.
During our next trip we are planning to go offsite for two days. Having never been to anything in Orlando but Disney parks we are not sure which we should do. Spend 1 day at US/IOA and 1 day at SeaWorld or
2 days at US/IOA???? Just a note it will be me, DH, DS8, and DS 13.
TIA, Melissa

 

[EjandMD]

Depends on the group. If you have teenagers do the IOA and US. I LOVE both and now we do 6 days and wdw and 2 at Universal. They have two awesome new attractions at the studios, one is the MUMMY which is soooo coool and the other is the Fear Factor show, which is neat if you ever watch the show.

IOA has some of the best thrill rides in the world...and you can appreciate both Disney and Universal without feeling guilty.

If you are traveling with little kids...you can crame ioa and US in one day, they have a Seuiss Landing which is REALLY cute but that's it at IOA then at US they have a Barney show and ET and other kid shows. Sea World is always great for younger kids!

good luck

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I would just concentrate on IOA/US.

All three parks are brilliant but it would be a shame to feel you need to rush around to fit everything in.
If you have the 2 days at Universal you will have plenty of time to see it all without the need to rush.

 

[scarboroughmom]

I would recommend 2 days at US/IOA. You can get a free 2 day ticket for your 8 yo. The tickets are actually good for 5 days. It would really take 2 days to cover US and IOA. We usually go to WDW for 5 or 6 days and "the other place" for 2 days. Buy the park tickets online at the US website. They have a "buy one adult, get one kids ticket free" deal. If you would like to indulge in some real sacrilege, and you are going at a busy time, stay one or two nites at a US hotel. You get a front of the line pass to use in the parks.

 

[dizplanner]

Does your family like to ride coasters? If so, you might want two days at IOA/Universal. Or are you animal lovers? The shows and animals at SeaWorld might be good for you. I think they are both good parks. We've been to SeaWorld once (one day) and Universal twice (sending 2+ days per trip). We will be going back to Universal again this year (~2 days), but I have two teens (14, 16) who like to ride coasters. Also SeaWorld doesn't seem to change much so while I loved it, I am not in a rush to go back.

It would also be cheaper to do 2 days at IOA/Universal vs 1 each if that matters to you. Universal has a special where for $100 you get 5 days to both parks (expires - can't keep the extras) plus for free kids ticket for each adult you purchase. Check out their web site. I can't see the price for 1 day/2 park ticket (I think it is available only at the gate), but I think it is in the $73 adult/$62 child range. So if you purchase the 2 day/2 park tickets + 3 free days/kids tickets, it would cost $300+tax. To purchase 1 day/2 park, it would cost ~$281+tax ($228+tax if you stick with one park and puchase on-line)+ SeaWorld cost of $212+tax if purchase on-line.

 

[Cruz Family]

WOW, thanks for the replies!

To answer a couple of questions:

We are not really big on coasters, we like animals (though we are not real big animal lovers), though my boys are not real little they like a lot of the Universal characters and we all love Dr. Suess.

 

[gigi1313]

we had the same dilemma and finally decided to skip seaworld... we also took a room at RPR for one night in order to get FOTL passes for the universal rides enabling us to visit US in the morning (arrive at opening), go to our room and take a nap, and do IOA in the afternoon/evening... we had originally planned to buy the FOTL passes for both parks, but for the four of us, it was more costly to buy the passes than to get the room and it was nice to have a place to relax mid-day

 

[Cruz Family]

we had the same dilemma and finally decided to skip seaworld... we also took a room at RPR for one night in order to get FOTL passes for the universal rides enabling us to visit US in the morning (arrive at opening), go to our room and take a nap, and do IOA in the afternoon/evening... we had originally planned to buy the FOTL passes for both parks, but for the four of us, it was more costly to buy the passes than to get the room and it was nice to have a place to relax mid-day

Could you give me more info on the FOTL passes? What exactly are the benefits, price, etc. Thanks, Melissa

 

[2Xited4Disney]

If you aren't that into Rollercoasters I would suggest 1 day at each

 

[BYC]

We are doing both! We have a flight that arrives about 9:45. We will pick up our car, and head directly to Seaworld from the airport. Seaworld can be done in a partial day (some may disagree...but we seem to do it all) Then, we head to Disney...check in, and go to eat somewhere in DTD, so we don't use up any of our days on our passes. Then...6 days in Disney...and on to Universal...2 nights.

 

[jlovesee]

What you might also consider is Busch Gardens Tampa (owned by the same company as Sea World), Its about an hour and a half from Orlando, and combines some really wonderful steel coasters, easily the best in Florida, as well as some really spectacular animal exhibits, as well as Rhino Rally the FIRST interactive ride-through safari ride.

There steel coasters are mostly thrilling rides, including Kumba, Montu, the new dive coaster SheiKra (it goes 89 degrees straight down twice), and Scorpion. Gwazi isn't to bad either, its a dueling wooden coaster, thats kind of rough.

Busch also has a record of providing some of the best customer service and park experience outside of Disney.

Jennifer

 

[gigi1313]

Could you give me more info on the FOTL passes? What exactly are the benefits, price, etc. Thanks, Melissa

FOTL passes are Front of the Line Passes and work similar to a fastpass in that you go in a separate queue and do not have to wait on the traditional line but in universal parks there are a number of ways to obtain them...

the first way is to stay onsite at one of their three hotels... if you stay one night, you are entitled to FOTL passes for two days, check in and check out day the number of times you may ride each ride utilizing FOTL is unlimited

the second way to get them is to buy a book of them, one book for each park, one FOTL pass for each ride in each book... the books were over $50 for two parks per person...

because buying the books would cost our family of four $200+, and only allow us to ride each ride once w/FOTL privileges, we opted to take a room at RPR (a very nice resort btw) for one night for $150 (aaa rate) and have unlimited FOTL privileges... imo it was a good use of $150 because w/out the FOTL passes it would have taken us two days to visit both universal parks (so what we spent on a room we did not spend on a 2nd day ticket)

hope that helps... feel free to ask more questions if you have them

 

[Cruz Family]

What you might also consider is Busch Gardens Tampa (owned by the same company as Sea World), Its about an hour and a half from Orlando, and combines some really wonderful steel coasters, easily the best in Florida, as well as some really spectacular animal exhibits, as well as Rhino Rally the FIRST interactive ride-through safari ride.

There steel coasters are mostly thrilling rides, including Kumba, Montu, the new dive coaster SheiKra (it goes 89 degrees straight down twice), and Scorpion. Gwazi isn't to bad either, its a dueling wooden coaster, thats kind of rough.

Busch also has a record of providing some of the best customer service and park experience outside of Disney.

Jennifer

Thanks for the idea, but US/IOA is a must for us on this trip. It does sound like fun so I will keep Busch Gardens in mind for a future trip though.
Thanks, Melissa

 

[Cruz Family]

FOTL passes are Front of the Line Passes and work similar to a fastpass in that you go in a separate queue and do not have to wait on the traditional line but in universal parks there are a number of ways to obtain them...

the first way is to stay onsite at one of their three hotels... if you stay one night, you are entitled to FOTL passes for two days, check in and check out day the number of times you may ride each ride utilizing FOTL is unlimited

the second way to get them is to buy a book of them, one book for each park, one FOTL pass for each ride in each book... the books were over $50 for two parks per person...

because buying the books would cost our family of four $200+, and only allow us to ride each ride once w/FOTL privileges, we opted to take a room at RPR (a very nice resort btw) for one night for $150 (aaa rate) and have unlimited FOTL privileges... imo it was a good use of $150 because w/out the FOTL passes it would have taken us two days to visit both universal parks (so what we spent on a room we did not spend on a 2nd day ticket)

hope that helps... feel free to ask more questions if you have them

Looks like I am going to have to look into a night at US. Thanks, Melissa

 

[gigi1313]

and just so you know, when we stayed our night at RPR, we did not give up our room/package (w/free dining) at wdw, we just did not sleep there one night...

 

[Fooboy]

Hihi,
We're also doing the 6 day WDW 2 day US/IOA this coming May. We will be going in early May so hopefully, the crowds will not be too bad. We actually have only 5 days at WDW but I purchased a 6 day pass cuz it was only 2 bucks more and we may hit a water park on the US day.

From the sound of it, it looks like you guys may have a great time either way. However, I have heard many many many great things about US/IOA (that's why we're checking it out ^.^).

I also checked the Universal Orlando site concerning the FOTL passes and it looks like the prices for us (depends on season) is $15/day per park. so total for us for 2 days is 60 bucks. I may just get the Express Pass of IOA due to all of the thrill rides there (more e-ticket rides = more crowds).

I do have a question for those that have been to US. Is it possible to hit up US in the morning, finish it, and then go to Typhoon Lagoon. I'm looking for a day to go the water parks...but i still have to persuade my gf to go.. she's not all about public pools.

Good luck on your vacation planning and have fun!!!

Foobs


Good luck on you decision making and planning!!

 

[Cruz Family]

Good luck on your vacation planning and have fun!!!

Foobs


Good luck on you decision making and planning!!

Thanks, you too!!!!

I think we are going to just stick with US/IOA for the two days. Boy I can't wait!

 

[Lagoongirl]

If you are going in the summer when the parks stay open later I would say 1 day at US/IOA and 1 day at Sea World. If you are going when the parks close earlier I think it would be difficult to get in both US/IOA in one day.

If you are not into Coasters and are more into animals, definately do not miss Sea World. Besides, Sea World has a few thrill rides too. US was boring to me when I went there five years ago (but I am a Coaster freak and its probably changed somewhat in five years). But, IOA was GREAT!! If I had your dilemma I would choose 1 day at IOA and 1 day at SW and totally skip US. If you're not into thrill rides you might enjoy US more than IOA though. But SW has a special place in my heart so I am partial to that.

 

[Fooboy]

is US and IOA doable in one day?

 

[gigi1313]

is US and IOA doable in one day?

our family of four did both parks in one day with a nap in between... we were at US at gate opening and IOA 'til closing... we had FOTL passes because we were staying at a universal partner hotel (Royal Pacific Resort) and we did not do the "super-thrillers" 'cause dd was not interested and ds was a tad too short, but we did everything else, and quite a few more than once! (we were there in "slow" season -- late august/early sept)