Help me with my 1st Trip to US/IOA.

[abysdad]

Ok this is my first trip to US/IOA. It will be me, DW, DD13, DD10, DS9. Unfortunately we will be doing the parks from 4/12 - 4/17 and of course I am trying to go on the least busy days, if that is possible, here is my game plan let me know what you think.

Thurs 4/12 - US
Fri 4/13 - WnW
Sat 4/14 - Rest Day
Sun 4/14 - SeaWorld
Mon 4/15 - IOA
Tues 4/16 - Rest Day

 

[yaytezIOA]

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1353733

 

[damo]

The most important thing is to get to the parks very, very early!!! Sounds like a fun vacation.

 

[abysdad]

The most important thing is to get to the parks very, very early!!! Sounds like a fun vacation.

Ok so how early would very, very early be ??

 

[damo]

Get to the gates about 45 minutes before the park opens. They usually open the park early and you should get a couple of hours where the lines will be pretty short. Ride all the main rides then and do the shows and lesser rides in the afternoon.

 

[AlexandNessa]

You didn't mention where you are staying. By any chance, are you staying on-site at the RPR, HRH, or PBH? If you're not, I would heed the advice already given: arrive at the gates at least 30 minutes before the scheduled park opening.

 

[abysdad]

You didn't mention where you are staying. By any chance, are you staying on-site at the RPR, HRH, or PBH? If you're not, I would heed the advice already given: arrive at the gates at least 30 minutes before the scheduled park opening.

I am not staying on site, my original plan was to go to Disney, but then I compared the ticket prices, and since we have never been to US/IOA/SW, we changed our mines, it seemed like a better value. Do the days I go on really matter or will it be busy no matter what so I shouldn't sweat it.

 

[macraven]

here is my advice.
i used this when i did stay off site.


arrive at the parking garage by 7:55.
it will take you time to park the car and walk to the turn style at the park.


be at the turn style at 8:15. if the line is long, the crowd will be let in around 8:30ish.

eat at off times.
11 for lunch, 4 or 7 for dinner

do everything in the front of the park. then skip to the back of the park as it will still be empty.

saturday is crowded.
monday could be a hit or miss day for crowds.

why do you need 2 rest days?
i would switch the last rest day with ioa and do that park on the 16th.

 

[damo]

Do you know about the express plus pass, just in case?

 

[Amity 3]

be at the turn style

in the USA we call the 'turnstiles', you flippin' Canadian.


whoops, that's damo.

 

[damo]

in the USA we call the 'turnstiles', you flippin' Canadian.


whoops, that's damo.

We Canadians wouldn't make such tragic errors.

 

[Amity 3]

We Canadians wouldn't make such tragic errors.

can you get me a good tee time at Banff Springs? I really want to play that course.

 

[damo]

can you get me a good tee time at Banff Springs? I really want to play that course.

Okay. Gotcha one tomorrow at 8. You should have the whole course to yourself. Might want to bring along your snowshoes though. And watch out for the elk on number 7.




(sorry abysdad for totally ruining your thread)

 

[abysdad]

why do you need 2 rest days?
i would switch the last rest day with ioa and do that park on the 16th.

I was thinking that, but then I was worried that if we didn't get a chance to do everything in IOA on the 15th, we could come back on the 16th and finish up, or do u think regardless of how busy it is, that I should still be able to do all of IOA in a day, if that's the case then I would just do it on the 16th. Oh and when I say rest day, it means a non-park day, but we will be going to the beach and doing other things.

 

[FayeW]

The beauty of the type of tickets you have is that you can go to US/IOA everyday if you wanted to, even if it was for just a few hours. With that type of flexibility your plan looks fine, because if you felt like popping in to do something you missed, or ride a couple of favourites again, you could do that easily for a couple of hours on either or both of your rest days, and then spend the afternoon/evening relaxing at your hotel. Granted, you will have to pay for parking but $10 for a family to have a few extra hours of enjoyment is really nothing. You'd spend more getting everybody a drink! The key to having a successful visit will be getting there early. Do NOT miss the Horror Make Up show or the Beetlejuice Revue. We just saw these for the first time on our last visit and I regret not having taken the time prevously. They were both very, very funny. You will have a great vacation!

 

[robvia]

Spring Break at Universal is the first two weeks of April. Look at the park hours here and you'll see they are open until 10pm the first two weeks, then 7pm after that.
http://www.universalorlando.com/cal...o_park_hours.html&year=2007&month=4&year=2007

Now, many people have this idea to do one park a day, but this is a big myth. What you do is visit one park early in the morning, go back to your hotel to rest in the afternoon, then visit another park at night.

The parks open at 9am, so you want to be there 1 hour before they open. The Sea World lot opens at 08:30am, IOA is 8am. What happens when you arrive early, is you get two hours of walk on rides. The crowd usually shows up at 11am, stays until 4pm, then gets tired and leaves.

A few people complain about the time it takes to leave the park and then come back, which I can understand. That's why I usually visit a completely different park. The only negative with that is the parking fees can add up depending on how you do it.

You actually have enough time to throw in a visit to Disney if you want, just depends if you have the money for tickets and parking. It doesn't matter which day you visit IOA, USF or SWF if you show up 1 hour before they open. The crowd arrives at 11am and you leave around 1pm. Rest in your hotel until about 4pm, then come back.

Thurs - USF (morning), rest at hotel, IOA at night (will be crowded).
Fri - SWF (morning), rest at hotel, (Could visit a Disney park at night, or stay at SWF and see the final Shamu show)
Sat - IOA (morning), rest at hotel, USF at night (see KC & Sunshine Band Concert for free)
Sun - SWF (morning), rest at hotel, Do a dinner show like Dixie Stampede
Mon - WnW (morning, arrive at 8am), rest, visit IOA or USF from 4pm - 7pm
Tue - Do favorites.

What you have to remember, is that Thursday thru Saturday, Universal will be open until 10pm and the crowds will be larger during the day. The next week, they will only be open until 7pm and crowds will be less. It doesn't matter what order you put the stuff in. What matters is you arrive a park 1 hour before they open, stay a few hours, leave, rest at your hotel, then visit another park around 4pm.

 

[macraven]

I was thinking that, but then I was worried that if we didn't get a chance to do everything in IOA on the 15th, we could come back on the 16th and finish up, or do u think regardless of how busy it is, that I should still be able to do all of IOA in a day, if that's the case then I would just do it on the 16th. Oh and when I say rest day, it means a non-park day, but we will be going to the beach and doing other things.

the way i do the parks is different than others.
it is rare for me to go back to the hotel to rest, especially when i took my boys with me.
if we would return to the hotel, there were times we never went back to the parks. one kid would fall asleep and impossible to wake him up unless we wanted a grouch with us that whined the rest of the evening.......

i would suggest do IOA on the 15th and 16th. you won't need the entire last day for it and then you could still do off park events.



note to amity: ok, i typed the word wrong.........turnstiles
and not a canadian. think you are required to eat poutine and drink milk out of the bag if you are from upper north.
ate poutine only once........and last april when i was in canada again, i took a pass on poutine........