I'm beginning to have a panic attack -- advice!

[McGreezy]

Headed to US/IOA in October!! I have done so much research on my WDW trip, but now that it's creeping up on me, I feel extremely lost about how to tour US/IOA for the one and only day we will get to visit. We are going to be there Tuesday, October 27 (a Non-HHN night) and it will be our first visit ever. We are planning on a 1 day P2P ticket so we can ride Hogwarts Express. We have some MAJOR HP fans so that will be where we will want to concentrate our time, but not miss out on other fun things either.

Any advice?? A good game plan for that time of year would be awesome!!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

We did our first Universal-Disney split stay in June (and have our second upcoming in October!) and I had the same freakout as you. My advice? Relax. Universal is NOT Disney and requires very little planning in comparison. The Disney part of our trip felt like, well, a trip. Once we got to Universal, it finally began to feel like a vacation.

Since you only have one day, my advice is to go through and determine what non-HP rides are must-dos, then figure out in which order you want to do them. My SIL took her kids to Universal for one day over President's Day weekend, and even during that super high crowd time, they managed to do ALL the HP stuff (both rides multiple times) plus fit in a few of the non-HP rides they were wanting to try between opening and 6 p.m., when they decided to leave. The night before their stop at Universal, I threw together a plan/checklist for them with only about an hour of research. Since most HP nutters start with Diagon Alley to "follow Harry's journey," I had them start at Hogsmeade and work their way from there to Diagon Alley instead of the other way around. I also had them hop back to IOA after they were done at US so they could see all the effects on the Hogwart's express.

Really, don't overthink it. Arrive before park opening and you'll be fine. Just keep repeating to yourself that Universal isn't Disney!

 

[McGreezy]

Okay great! Thanks so much for that insight, it is very helpful So you think I should start at Hogsmeade then? I really don't think it will matter much to the fam where we start as long as we get to see it all.

 

[agavegirl1]

I did four days in US/IOA last October. If you are there on a non-party, weekday, you should have no problem seeing everthing Potter related as well as as a number of other attractions. What are the ages of your party? Are they thrill ride fans? There are some really well themed areas in both parks and I'd be happy to recommend a touring plan for you based on more information.

 

[McGreezy]

I did four days in US/IOA last October. If you are there on a non-party, weekday, you should have no problem seeing everthing Potter related as well as as a number of other attractions. What are the ages of your party? Are they thrill ride fans? There are some really well themed areas in both parks and I'd be happy to recommend a touring plan for you based on more information.

Oh wow THANK YOU!! My husband and I are bringing our two children, my son who is 14 years old, and my daughter who is 8 years old. We all like roller coasters, however my husband and I do get slightly motion sick. But we don't want to miss out on anything so we will take medication for that if we have to!

 

[agavegirl1]

I would like to echo the thoughts of others that staying one night at Royal Pacific and adding a day is a better plan. But, if you can’t, here are some thoughts.

General Touring:

Travel light. Many rides have mandatory lockers for your belongings and some roller coasters do not allow you to have anything in your pockets. Lockers are free for the expected duration of your ride experience. General lockers are available at the front of the park. It does not take very long to secure your belongings in the locker but it sure will take a while if you are turned away at the ride and have to do it after being in a line.

Get there well before park opening. In October, the parks are not open very late. To accomplish a lot, you need to take advantage of the lighter crowds in the morning.

If you are more concerned with getting to ride than riding all together, use the singles line whenever possible. It can be faster than Express in some cases.

Tentative Plan:

(feel free to give feedback)

Start with IOA about 45 min to 1 hour prior to park opening. Proceed directly to Hogsmeade (easiest through Suess Landing. Now, this is going to seem silly but you will want to ride the Hogwarts Express both ways, so that is your first ride…right to Diagon Alley.

Then, ride Gringotts

Transformers

Mummy

Simpsons ( I love this ride but it is a simulator and can cause motion sickness)

Men in Black (nearby)

Check out rides toward the front of the park next…Minions and Rip Ride Rocket

Head back to Diagon Alley for food and exploration. See Olivanders here. There are three rooms as opposed to one and lines move more quickly.

Ride the Hogwarts Express back to IOA.

Save Forbidden Journey for a little later and head to Marvel Super Hero Island. Ride Hulk (if not being refurbed).

Ride Spiderman

Head back toward Hogsmeade but check out Poseidon’s Fury on the way.

Ride Dragon Challenge

Ride Forbidden journey

Flight of the Hippogriff doesn’t have very good capacity but if the wait time is short, go ahead and ride. It’s basically a “kiddie coaster”.

Head toward Jurassic Park and ride the River Adventure.

Now, I have left out the two drenching water rides because I don’t like touring the parks soaking wet but if it is warm enough and you are ready to leave anyway, you could ride these last. I also left out all rides at Suess Landing. They are geared toward a younger crowd but the area is stunning and great for photo ops. Cat in the Hat and E.T. are also sort of fun. I am also a big fan of Terminator 4D but it is a time sucker. I have not included any of the shows or themed areas or kiddie play areas. You only have a day if you choose to go that route. I really, really, recommend two days with park to park and an overnight at Royal Pacific. With the ages of your children, this would be so much better.

Eat dinner at City Walk. The park likely closes around 7PM. Margaritaville is fun. For money saving there is a “fast food” food court on level two with plenty of seating. Check out the dining “sticky” for more information.

 

[Virtucomp]

Wow, We are going to US for the first time in October. This plan looks great. Thanks for taking the time to detail the touring plan. We will definitely use it.

 

[dixonsontour]

My DD was 8 last trip and her favourite thing was the interactive wand. They are $50 but you can do interactive spells in both harry potter areas. I'd concentrate on the two hp areas as you only have one day. If you get chance to do more then my DD loved minions ride but the lines for this can be long, maybe try at the end of the day as it is near the exit of Universal.

 

[McGreezy]

I would like to echo the thoughts of others that staying one night at Royal Pacific and adding a day is a better plan. But, if you can’t, here are some thoughts.

General Touring:

Travel light. Many rides have mandatory lockers for your belongings and some roller coasters do not allow you to have anything in your pockets. Lockers are free for the expected duration of your ride experience. General lockers are available at the front of the park. It does not take very long to secure your belongings in the locker but it sure will take a while if you are turned away at the ride and have to do it after being in a line.

Get there well before park opening. In October, the parks are not open very late. To accomplish a lot, you need to take advantage of the lighter crowds in the morning.

If you are more concerned with getting to ride than riding all together, use the singles line whenever possible. It can be faster than Express in some cases.

Tentative Plan:

(feel free to give feedback)

Start with IOA about 45 min to 1 hour prior to park opening. Proceed directly to Hogsmeade (easiest through Suess Landing. Now, this is going to seem silly but you will want to ride the Hogwarts Express both ways, so that is your first ride…right to Diagon Alley.

Then, ride Gringotts

Transformers

Mummy

Simpsons ( I love this ride but it is a simulator and can cause motion sickness)

Men in Black (nearby)

Check out rides toward the front of the park next…Minions and Rip Ride Rocket

Head back to Diagon Alley for food and exploration. See Olivanders here. There are three rooms as opposed to one and lines move more quickly.

Ride the Hogwarts Express back to IOA.

Save Forbidden Journey for a little later and head to Marvel Super Hero Island. Ride Hulk (if not being refurbed).

Ride Spiderman

Head back toward Hogsmeade but check out Poseidon’s Fury on the way.

Ride Dragon Challenge

Ride Forbidden journey

Flight of the Hippogriff doesn’t have very good capacity but if the wait time is short, go ahead and ride. It’s basically a “kiddie coaster”.

Head toward Jurassic Park and ride the River Adventure.

Now, I have left out the two drenching water rides because I don’t like touring the parks soaking wet but if it is warm enough and you are ready to leave anyway, you could ride these last. I also left out all rides at Suess Landing. They are geared toward a younger crowd but the area is stunning and great for photo ops. Cat in the Hat and E.T. are also sort of fun. I am also a big fan of Terminator 4D but it is a time sucker. I have not included any of the shows or themed areas or kiddie play areas. You only have a day if you choose to go that route. I really, really, recommend two days with park to park and an overnight at Royal Pacific. With the ages of your children, this would be so much better.

Eat dinner at City Walk. The park likely closes around 7PM. Margaritaville is fun. For money saving there is a “fast food” food court on level two with plenty of seating. Check out the dining “sticky” for more information.

This is absolutely amazing, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! We are staying at a friends Villa outside of Disney for the week and there are no funds left for a split stay unfortunately. I think with your help we are going to have an amazing tiime!! Thank you again!!

 

[agavegirl1]

You don't need to spring for the $50 interactive wands really. We just followed someone around who had one to see the effects they create. They are pretty spectacular. Generally, a small group will gather when someone is using one and you can still see the special effects. Also, because they require precise "spell casting technique", there is often a witch or wizard nearby for instruction.

 

[McGreezy]

Hmmmmm I will have to see. Maybe one $50 wand for our family (letting the little one do the casting) wouldn't be bad.

 

[Grumpy92]

I totally agree start with Hogsmeade and take the train to DA. We do this all the time. During the week in Oct you are going to find low crowds and get so much done. You wont even need the express passes. I have to say WDW is just too much planning for us now and we just enjoy winging it at US. I even think their resorts are better. I never thought I say Disney could be beat but for the $$ US is a better deal.

 

[Brenda Kim]

I echo all other pp. Being at Universal it is wonderful to not have to race to ADR and FP times. My brother and I will be there the same time as your family! We are going for HHN and staying 3 days and I am a HP fangirl for sure. If I had only one day this is what I would do.

Find out which park is offering early entry for onsite guests and go to the opposite park to start. Get to the gate at least 15 minutes before official opening, because they sometimes let people in early. Go straight to the Wizarding World area for that park. Ride the main ride first so in Diagon Alley Gringotts ride, or if Hogsmeade ride FJ ride. These are the rides with the longest wait time so getting them out of the way early or waiting until later in the evening will be beneficial. Hogwarts Express never takes that long in line as they have a higher occupancy load. The line never seems to stand still for long.

The best thing to do it get a park map and make a list of your not to miss and then the "if we have time" rides. I always eat a late breakfast at the Three broomsticks and save room for snacks at Honeydukes and the ice cream parlor in Diagon Alley. Don't forget to try the butterbeer, l like it frozen, but can't wait to try the hot version. Also the shops in Diagon Alley are AMAZING and can easily take over an hour to browse through.

I like the idea you had for one interactive wand for the whole family to share, the spells are really cool and the effects are pretty awesome.

I guarantee the next time you come to Orlando you will want to spend more than one day at Universal, but for your first visit just relax and you will be amazed what you can get through in one day.

 

[johde]

Just to give you another potential plan (Based Heavily on Touring Plans 1 day plan) this is somewhat assuming IOA will be the only park with Early Entry.

Mine Starts at USF arrive early to be at the head of the group entering the park..

1. Minion Mayhem
2. HRRR (SRL)
3. ROTM (SRL)
4. Transformers (SRL)
5. Simpsons
6. MIB (SRL)

First thing in the morning these rides should have short waits. Waits for Gringotts tends to spike first thing in the morning then back off a little after an hour or so. I've marked the ones with single rider but in the morning you hopefully won't need it. You want to Enter Diagon Alley about 10:30-10:45 to hit the 11:00 and 11:15 shows so adjust above accordingly based on wait times.

7. Head into Diagon Alley and Ride EFG if the wait is under an hour. See Celestina Warback and Tales of Beetle the Bard. This ride has SRL but the queue is worth walking through at least once.
8. Hogwarts Express over to IOA


At IOA

9. Forbidden Journey. (SRL) Queue is worth walking through but if the line is long you can ask the student just inside the castle about the "Castle Tour" that hits most of the queue and you can walk at your own pace then do the Single Rider Line.
10. Eat Lunch at 3 Broomsticks.
11. Ride Dragon Challenge. The red and blue tracks are different so you may want to ride twice.

12. Depending on time and how wet you want to get ride 1 of the water rides. Jurassic park will get you the least wet. Popeye and Bluto and Dudley Do Right both have serious chances of getting you absolutely Drenched.

13. Spiderman (SRL)
14. Hulk
15. If time allows Cat in the Hat.
16. Hit Forbidden Journey again.(If Time)
17. Hit other side of Dragon Challenge (if time)
18. Return trip to USF on Hogwarts Express.
19. Hit E.T. if time.
20. Return to Diagon Alley and Catch Celastine Warback and/or Tales of Beetle the Bard
21. Repeat Favorites or hit new attractions/shows as time allows
21. Ride Gringotts a second time.

Fit in Dinner some time or eat a late dinner in City Walk after the parks close.

 

[McGreezy]

So I take it City Walk is like DTD with restaurants and shops?

 

[johde]

So I take it City Walk is like DTD with restaurants and shops?

Yes, but location wise it's more like the setup of Disneyland's DTD. From the parking garages at Universal you walk through City Walk to get to the parks.

 

[McGreezy]

Oh okay! Great! Boy you all are so wonderful, thank you! I feel so much more prepared now!

 

[xlsm]

You have a lot of good tips here. I just finished the section of my trip report on our US/IOA day if you're at all interested in seeing firsthand what we did (although our crowded July Friday will be different from your October trip!). We took one day from our Disney trip to do a one day two park whirlwind.

It's the six part Chapter 5, and you can find the link in my signature.

My best advice: Don't stress, DON'T compare it to Disney, and enjoy your surroundings.

Have a fabulous trip!!

 

[bumbershoot]

You don't need to spring for the $50 interactive wands really. We just followed someone around who had one to see the effects they create.

So many yesses to that.

Also, because they require precise "spell casting technique", there is often a witch or wizard nearby for instruction.

eh, DH and DS found that if they found the little box that reads the wand and just pointed the wand straight at it, no fancy technique was needed. (why they found ANY of it fun I have no idea, it's NOT my thing at all)

 

[McGreezy]

We went to Great Wolf Lodge and they had something similar there, and I refused to buy the wand and DD was CRUSHED. So I figure this would be a good substitute But we shall see when we get there