HELP ME PLEASE!....Both parks on Saturday October 5th

[Stargellstars]

We are Staying on Disney Property and headed to both Universal parks for the first time on Saturday October 5th. Our kids are 16 & 13. We want to get the most out of the day and plan to get the 2 park - 1 day ticket and add the Universal Express pass for both parks. We will plan on getting there for the 8:00 am. opening. Halloween Horror Night is happening that night so US Florida park closes at 5:00 pm. for non Halloween tickets holders. We plan to jump over to IOA until they close at 8:00 pm. Typically how busy will the two parks be that time of year??? Can we knock of the majority of the rides in the two parks??? Thanks for any input!

 

[macraven]

Is Saturday the only time you can visit UO?
If that is the only date you can swing this side trip to the parks, go for it.

The weekends when hhn is happening brings in locals.
Many will come prior to the start of hhn to do rides and shows that day.

It will be crowded by the afternoon....
HHN brings in peeps.

You might be okay for your early morning start but you will run into crowds in the afternoon.
Many do come for a partial park day then stay for HHN.
With the add on ticket allowing people into the park at 3:00 that Saturday, even express lines might have some waiting.

I need to look at the event calendar to recheck the closing time for IOA.
I thought Saturday had a 9:00 closing time

(Just came back to say it is showing 9:00 for closing that night.)

 

[imprint]

Yeah, like macraven said, it would probably be best for you to do everything in USO in the morning to early afternoon, then switch to IoA until it closes. If Hagrid's ride in IoA is a priority, you might want to queue there first when you switch parks, since it doesn't always run late right now.

 

[bchbetha]

1 day + buying all those express passes- I would strongly recommend at least staying onsite at a deluxe the night before. You won't get max benefit (which is express passes for both check in and check out day-- 2 days of express passes for all in your room for a one night stay! Heck of a lot cheaper than buying them a la carte). You could at least have early entry. Show up the day before your park day, enjoy the hotel and City Walk, early bed, roll out for early entry with express passes. It's a much better idea than taking a day trip from Disney during a busy time of year. Give it some thought. Run the numbers and do your research. It will be a really rushed day. If you have been to Disney before, why not give Universal 2 days? A 16 and 13yo would probably prefer Universal.

 

[Chickinvic]

I think the night at one of the Universal hotels that includes express passes might end up costing less than buying all the express passes separately? Worth looking into. Also, I've heard that they are very nice hotels.

 

[nkereina]

Agree with PPs about the onsite hotel. Even if you don't want to stay at Universal and still stay at your Disney resort, often people will book a "throwaway" room at a Universal resort simply because its cheaper than purchasing EPs for everyone. They book the room, check-in to get the room key, and often will never set foot in the actual room. It gives you two full days of EP for each person (check in day and check out day). Definitely worth pricing out.