Hp lovers...what else shld we do at universal?

[ammag]

We are going mostly for Harry potter, we don't go on thrill rides. My kids will be 9 and 5 when we go...what else should we do in the parks? I guess we will have tickets to both parks because we want to ride the hog warts express.....would you do one or two days?

 

[damo]

I would do Storm Force Acceletron, Spiderman, Popeye, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Jurrasic Park Playground, Jurassic Park Discovery Centre, Pteranadon Flyers, Forbidden Journey, FLight of the HIppogriff, Ollivander's, Sinbad Show, Poseidan's Fury, High in the Sky Trolley, One Fish Two FIsh, Cat in the Hat, Carro-Seuss-el. Despicable Me, Shrek, Twister, Transformers, Mummy, Disaster, Gringott's, Men in Black, Simpsons, Kodo's and Kang's, Animal Actor Show, ET, Horror Make Up Show, Terminator and Hogwart's Express. You may also want to do the interactive wand experience (not Ollivander's). Mummy and Jurassic Park River Adventure might be too much for the 5 year old.

Two Days.

 

[buckeev]

I would do Storm Force Acceletron, Spiderman, Popeye, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Jurrasic Park Playground, Jurassic Park Discovery Centre, Pteranadon Flyers, Forbidden Journey, FLight of the HIppogriff, Ollivander's, Sinbad Show, Poseidan's Fury, High in the Sky Trolley, One Fish Two FIsh, Cat in the Hat, Carro-Seuss-el. Despicable Me, Shrek, Twister, Transformers, Mummy, Disaster, Gringott's, Men in Black, Simpsons, Kodo's and Kang's, Animal Actor Show, ET, Horror Make Up Show, Terminator and Hogwart's Express. You may also want to do the interactive wand experience (not Ollivander's). Mummy and Jurassic Park River Adventure might be too much for the 5 year old.

Two Days.

OK Red...Now you're just showing off!

 

[auntyjenn]

Are the 3/D things like Transformers and Spiderman rollercoastery? My 12-year-old is wary of coasters...

 

[damo]

Are the 3/D things like Transformers and Spiderman rollercoastery? My 12-year-old is wary of coasters...

No, they are on a level track. Forbidden Journey ride vehicles move you around but not like a rollercoaster. Simpons is like a simulated coaster, though, but your vehicle never moves at all and you can see all around you. It is not like Sum of all Thrills.

 

[I Love Tigger]

I don't do any roller coasters, or anything with a big drop but loved Spiderman and Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey. The Simpsons ride wasn't scary, just a bit too violent for my poor back

Hope you all have a great time

 

[nighttowll]

We are going mostly for Harry potter, we don't go on thrill rides. My kids will be 9 and 5 when we go...what else should we do in the parks? I guess we will have tickets to both parks because we want to ride the hog warts express.....would you do one or two days?

It depends, what type of characters or movies are your kids interested in? Do they prefer shows or rides? Do they scare easily? Scared of the dark? When are you going? Summer, winter? Sometimes there are special events going on. For instance, we were able to do the Mardi Gras parade, and the kids loved it. They said it was one of their favorite things they got to do, and I know at Christmas there is a Macy's Christmas parade. On the other hand, in the summer, getting soaked on the water rides will be fun. Also, do you plan on eating long sit down meals or getting quick service? Will you spend all day or leave in the afternoon? Arrive park opening or arrive at lunch?

Answer these questions, and then we can better help guide you toward attractions that will interest your family, and help you estimate how much time you need. Otherwise, you end up with someone telling you, "oh, you can do all that in one day", and then you find you can't because the original person was talking park opening to close, and you were talking arriving at 11:00 and leaving at 4:00, plus you end up stopping for numerous breaks, and taking a long lunch. I can tell you my kids favorites, but that won't make then your kids favorites, unless they have the same interests.

 

[glocon]

All of WWoHP and all of JP for sure. JP is just such a fun kids zone for kids those ages. Mine could spend hours and hours there!

 

[ammag]

Thank you all, I know I didnt give much detail, sorry. I am just starting to learn about Universal, as I have not been there since 1989 and only in California. Much like three years ago when I first started learning about disney I am just getting my legs. This will be around Halloween two years form now so lots of time, I am working on our budget to see how many days we need and if we think we want the express pass. I have our tickets and hotels figured out so moving on to the tickets

My son is too young now to know what he likes but so far he is fearless and will like more action I think. My daughter loves everything but proper roller coasters. We went on goofy barnstormer this fall and she said never again. Lol. Darkness is fine for both kids. We do like the Simpsons, my husband definitely wants to do that of we have time. I really don't want to miss the hog warts express so I assume we will have to buy for both parks, that it won't change by the time we go.

Really if it wasn't for Harry potter we would probably spend the day at Lego or something else, but we are huge HP fans, that's our priority and we will go there at rope drop and try to do everything we can. I want my own wand everything else at the park is a great bonus for us and we will be hitting everything else in the afternoon it seems. the biggest issue for us as a family is that I am disabled form an illness and as of now I have to take breaks a lot. I will most likely have a scooter as it helped me a lot this fall the first time I used one. Anyhow, we will be in Orlando for two weeks to allow rest time but I know I might not be able to do wall to wall open to close type day at universal anymore,

So given the little bit you know about us do you think one day ticket to both parks might be enough? I am going to look over each ride in more detail. I may have asked this before I knew enough!

 

[mjohnson96]

If you are thinking about purchasing express passes check into 1 night at one of the 3 deluxe hotels since if you stay one night you get 2 days of unlimited express pass plus early entry into WWOHP both days. I have found that going 2 days and buying express passes for a family of 4 will cost you way more than 1 night at one of their hotels. And if you have AAA they have discount rates too for that.

You might be able to get away with a 1 day 2 park if you skip coasters and then always add another day before you leave if you want.

There are lots to do at both parks that are not thrill rides. We took my dad the year before last and got him a scooter. The look on his face when we went into WWOHP was worth every penny of the ticket and the scooter. He was unable to ride most everything but ended up going 2 days just to look around at all the sites in both parks. He liked the universal side the best, after WWOHP. He also found several places to just take a break and relax (and have a beer) while we went on some of the rides.

At IOA Your son would love Dr. Suess Island and the Cat and the Hat Ride, Trolley, and one fish two fish. He would also love Jurassic park, and if your not afraid of heights take him on the flyers I am afraid of heights but broke down for my 3 year old last year and she loved it...I didn't look down of course. Then you have the Toon Island with Dudley Do Right and the River Raft ride which will help cool you down some too!

 

[nighttowll]

Thank you all, I know I didnt give much detail, sorry. I am just starting to learn about Universal, as I have not been there since 1989 and only in California. Much like three years ago when I first started learning about disney I am just getting my legs. This will be around Halloween two years form now so lots of time, I am working on our budget to see how many days we need and if we think we want the express pass. I have our tickets and hotels figured out so moving on to the tickets My son is too young now to know what he likes but so far he is fearless and will like more action I think. My daughter loves everything but proper roller coasters. We went on goofy barnstormer this fall and she said never again. Lol. Darkness is fine for both kids. We do like the Simpsons, my husband definitely wants to do that of we have time. I really don't want to miss the hog warts express so I assume we will have to buy for both parks, that it won't change by the time we go. Really if it wasn't for Harry potter we would probably spend the day at Lego or something else, but we are huge HP fans, that's our priority and we will go there at rope drop and try to do everything we can. I want my own wand everything else at the park is a great bonus for us and we will be hitting everything else in the afternoon it seems. the biggest issue for us as a family is that I am disabled form an illness and as of now I have to take breaks a lot. I will most likely have a scooter as it helped me a lot this fall the first time I used one. Anyhow, we will be in Orlando for two weeks to allow rest time but I know I might not be able to do wall to wall open to close type day at universal anymore, So given the little bit you know about us do you think one day ticket to both parks might be enough? I am going to look over each ride in more detail. I may have asked this before I knew enough!

If you just want to do HP, maybe watch the parade, have lunch, stay 3/4 of the time the park is opened, then I'd say one day is enough. However, I think you could probably find enough to interest you for 2 days pretty easily. Some things I think your family might like, the Simpson land (It is not just one ride but a whole section with restaurants, shops, and attractions), the Dr. Seuss land with a number of kiddy rides, the hands on dinosaur area, the play and splash areas, the water rides, the Shrek and Despicable Me 4d shows, the Xmen ride (basically teacups), ET ride, Spider-Man and Transformers rides. There are also a number of other attractions/shows that might appeal like Twister (simulated tornado), Disaster (you participate in making a trailer for a disaster movie), and Poseidon (this half tour half water / fire / screen projection show).

You don't really have to worry about roller coasters. There aren't that many true coasters, 3 big ones, 1 indoor, and 1 or 2 kiddy. Everything I listed above are non coaster attractions.

I'd personally do 2 days, and I'm not a big coaster person because they tend to give me bad headaches. Before we went to Universal, I wasn't really looking forward to it. I wasn't expecting to find much that interested me besides HP. I was doing it more for the kids than anything, but I ended up really liking it, and now we are planning on going back. I ended up finding a number of other attractions I really enjoyed.

I could do one rushed day now hitting just HP and my favorites, but I know once the second HP section opens I will definitely need 2 days. I think we spent 4 or 5 hours alone just in the HP section last time. We ate lunch there, went to Olivanders, rode FJ multiple times, looked around the shops, drank butter beer, kids rode the big coasters multiple times, I rode the kiddy Hippogriff coaster, mailed post cards by owl post to our friends back home, and we watched the Hogwarts choir perform.

Whatever you decide you'll have blast just at HP.