IOA and Universal in one day???

[des1rees]

Is it possible to do IOA and Universal in one day? DH and I are getting there on the 13th and we check into WDW on the 15th, so we have the 14th for Universal. We have two small boys 4 and 6, do you think it is too ambitious of us to try to do both in one day? What strategies would you recommend? Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

D.

 

[damo]

You can do highlights of both parks in one day but don't expect to do all the rides and shows.

 

[bshphar]

Very hard to do both in one day. We spent one whole day at IOA but I have two teenagers. Lots of the rides there would not be suitable for your small kids except for the ones in Dr. Seuss land - great by the way! So with two small ones you may could hit the highlight of both in one day. We spent several hours of one day - all the next day until closing at 10 p.m. and covered most of it - I know this will be hard with little ones. Enjoy and have a great time - we did!

 

[des1rees]

Thanks for the replies.

My plan is to see what rides the boys can do based on their heights, mark them, and then just work off them.

Would you recommend getting FOTL passes beforehand, or waiting to decide once we get to Universal?

D.

 

[everylastbreath]

You will not be able to do both parks in one day, especially without FOTL. Do yourself a huge favor (and your kids / husband will LOVE you) book a room on site- get the cheapest room you can get, any on site hotel, will probably cost you a few bucks more than getting FOTL for the entire family, but it is soooo worth it. Pick a day in the middle of the week, say Wednesday. Leave your hotel at disney (or where ever you are staying) with a small over night bag, check into your universal hotel EARLY that am, you room will not be ready, but you will get your room keys which will give you FOTL access, hit the parks- go back to hotel when your room is ready, clean up - go have dinner at Citywalk, no-one has to drive back so everyone has a great time, then sleep over and check out, hit the parks again- your FOTL is good for both days, and believe me without FOTL you will not be able to see both parks that quickly.

Plus the fact that a one day pass is not a "park hopper" you can only use in one park. Book the room, you will not be sorry.

 

[damo]

Thanks for the replies.

My plan is to see what rides the boys can do based on their heights, mark them, and then just work off them.

Would you recommend getting FOTL passes beforehand, or waiting to decide once we get to Universal?

D.

Do not get passes beforehand. Get to the parks well before opening and make the most out of the morning.

 

[MamaKate]

I would say yes if you are going on a weekday in a slower month (what month are you going?).

During our first trip to USO my kids where younger (6 & 7) and we were able to do both parks since they weren't tall enough to go on a lot of the rides with long lines and I even remember spending over an hour in the ball room at Curious George play area.

We arrived at the park at opening and went to USO first since there was more attractions for younger kids. We rode MIB, Jaws, ET, Earthquake (now Diaster) and Woody Wood Pecker. We saw Terminator, Barney and Animal Planet. They played in the Curious George are for a long time and we met tons of characters.

We then went to IOA, where we did all the Suess attractions, Spiderman, Flying Unicorns and ended the day in the Jurassic Park Play area.

We got most everything done that my kids were tall enough to ride and we even left before the parks closed (7pm). However we went the first week of December on a weekday and USO was a ghost town for the first 3 hours so we got a lot done. By the time we made it to IOA, a lot of the crowds had already cleared and it was pretty empty there also.

Also, I had taken my kids by myself, so I didn't have the opportunity to ride any of the coasters even if I wanted, since I didn't have anyone to switch off with. If you or your husband wanted to do some coasters, it would probably take longer, but I think it's still doable.