Help Please... Is one day enough?

[Mckys#1Fan]

We will be going to Disney the first week in June... We are also headed to Universal for 1 day this trip!! It will be our first time there. The kids are 18, 18, and 13 and will mostly be interested in the coasters. If we purchase 1 day - park to park tickets with the unlimited express pass... Can we get everything done in one day?

Thanks!

 

[2girlsmom]

Rides and shows in both parks? No, you won't. You CAN get the majority of the coasters/rides, get the highlights.

 

[Mckys#1Fan]

They are not interested in shows.... Just rides.
We will be flying so we will not have a car and plan on taking Mears to Universal. That is why we are thinking only 1 day. I may need to do some research and figure out a way to have 2 park days and still keep our Magical Express....

I'm open to any suggestions!!

 

[Bushmills]

If you plan on opening and closing the park, and focus primarily on the coasters, you should be fine. Busy, but fine. Make sure you're there right at opening, focus on the biggies first. The expansion of Harry Potter areas will benefit you in this case, as they have taken away significant traffic from the coasters. The wait time for most coasters now is usually around 5-40 minutes.

Best times to ride are right at opening and just before closing, as most are either not there yet, or have left already.

Just plan for a busy day, make a plan ahead of time, and you should be fine. Have a great time!

Cheers,
Bushmills

 

[eXo]

If you care mostly about the coaster/ thrill rides, then your ficus ought to be the following:

USF:
Tier One Rides (MUST DO):
Rip Ride Rockit
Revenge of the Mummy
Transformers 3D

Tier Two (WORTH DOING):
Simpsons Ride
Escape from Gringotts*
Despicable Me**
Men in Black**

*Considering this is the big new ride, many would disagree with me here. But the simple fact is, the ride is a very slow and basic coaster with continual stops and movie scenes in between. Great for potter fans, but it seriously does not have a lot to offer - ESPECIALLY when you take into account how long it takes to ride and it's proclivity for breaking down. It's an alright ride and all, but it's not worth riding this and missing out on 2 or 3 other great rides.

**Both of these are fun rides, especially if you like the franchise. But may be difficult to fit into your schedule, so they should be the first you cut if behind on time.

Twister, Disaster, and Terminator are all decent if not dated - but on your schedule, these take up a lot of time and aren't "thrilling" at all.

IOA:

Tier One:
Hulk
Dueling Dragons (which is actually 2 coasters)
Forbidden Journey (a lot more thrilling than you would expect)
Spider-Man

Tier Two:
Fearfall (this is a tier one if you haven't been on a drop ride before)
Jurassic Park River Adventure

Skip Bilge Rats Barge and Ripsaw Falls unless you are entirely comfortable getting soaked.

So yea, you can hot all the Tier Ones in a single day. If you want to hit the tier 2's as well, you may need an express pass. If you want to check out the shops and more detailed features of places like Diagon Alley/Hogsmeade and such, then an express pass also helps.

There is a TON to see an do at universal. The first time I went I missed half the rides because I was too busy just going to the rides that stood out to me and seemed like obvious winners. I just got back from a week there, staying on site. That was the 4th time I've been there, and that was the first time I felt like I had actually seen it all.

From a thrill ride perspective though, Rip Ride Rockit is an amazing experience.

 

[marauder]

Escape from Gringotts*

*ESPECIALLY when you take into account how long it takes to ride and it's proclivity for breaking down.

It's funny my 6 year old son cause the ride to go 101 the first time he road it. The employee put the bar down when both of his legs were in the same leg hole. We didn't notice until they hit the "Go" button and we told them. They stopped the ride. NOBODY knew how to raise the lap bars once they had hit the "Go" button. It took them 10 minutes to find someone that knew how to manually raise the lap bars. Makes me wonder what will happen if they ever have an emergency on the ride.