How many days for Universal Studios?

[madwit]

My friend and I are planning a 30th birthday vacation which is over a year out. We've decided to go to Orlando because we have been dreaming of going to Harry Potter land. We are HUGE Harry Potter fans! Since we are going to be in Orlando we are going to be going to WDW because you can't go to Orlando and not do WDW! My question is how many days should be set aside for Universal Studios? Can it all be done in 2 days, 3 days? Neither of us have been to Universal and I have only been to WDW once about 20 years ago. We don't have a set time of how long we are going to be staying and we are thinking of going either in May or September.

 

[accumax]

Universal is adding so much that will be done and ready when you go so I say 4 days.

 

[macraven]

if you want to do everything in both parks, i would say make it a 4 day event.

if you enjoy the shows and street entertainment, you would need to spend 2 days in the parks.
shows can overlap at the studios and if you had 2 days, you could catch all of them.


if you do not have express passes and go during a crowded time period, 4 days would be to your benefit.
if you have a 20-30 minute ride wait time for all the rides, you would need more than one day for each park.

since you are going over a year from now, there should be new things in the parks to see.
none of us will know how that will effect crowds.

on a 4 day trip to the darkside, you could also spend time in city walk or check out the hotels for dining or entertainment.

 

[buckeev]

Just got back from five full days at UNiversal, and we still didn't come close to doing everything. Granted, we saw FIVE Superstar Parades, a Mardi GRAS Parade, the AAR concert...and millions of minions!
I imagine someone with a "realistic" touring plan could cover almost "everything" in 3-ish days, but 4 would be safer. Don't forget, The weather can throw you a curve too-they may shut down some rides when severe thunderstorms hit, and those are quite common in Fla.

 

[MinnieLovesMickey12]

I'm going to be the lone ranger on this one and say you only need one day per park.

The very first time we ever did the parks we did one day for IOA and one day for US and we rode everything and saw every show and was still done by 4 pm.

 

[MommaBearof4]

My friend and I are planning a 30th birthday vacation which is over a year out. We've decided to go to Orlando because we have been dreaming of going to Harry Potter land. We are HUGE Harry Potter fans! Since we are going to be in Orlando we are going to be going to WDW because you can't go to Orlando and not do WDW! My question is how many days should be set aside for Universal Studios? Can it all be done in 2 days, 3 days? Neither of us have been to Universal and I have only been to WDW once about 20 years ago. We don't have a set time of how long we are going to be staying and we are thinking of going either in May or September.[/QUOTE


When we go to Universal with the kids, we usually do 4 days. If you are crazy Potter fans like we are, one day and one visit won't be enough. If I were going just my hubby and I, I would still do at least 2, but probably 3 because I just can't imagine not going to the Wizarding World on multiple days.

 

[andyman8]

Well, I think there are several ways to format at UOR vacation. Since, we've been so much (well, for us at least), we generally just do one full day at each park w/ an arrival around 11am or so and stay onsite (so we have the Express).

For first-timers, it depends of if you're going to stay onsite and how much you really want to see. If you look at the online map (at universalorlando.com) and find yourself seeing a lot you want to do and you won't have Express, then you'll definitely want to do four days (two parks a day). If you're going to be staying onsite (which may be worth it) or purchasing an Express pass, 1.5 days at each park should be pretty good. This would also work if you're not going to have Express access and find that there isn't a lot you are interested in. Finally, if you don't see a lot of things that interest you and will have Express, one park per day should maybe cut it. Just my thoughts though. Asking different people usually gets different responses!