IOA & US for a 6.5 yr old - Both in a day?

[goirish66]

Hello -

I'm brand new to this forum and loving all the great information!!

We will be heading down to Orlando with our three children (B-6.5, B-4 & G-4) next week. Taking all three to WDW on one day and then mom is staying at the pool the next day with the twins while I take the oldest to IOA/US. We are planning on going to IOA/US on Mon. 3/12 or Tues. 3/13, as this is spring break, I am guessing the parks will be crowded.

He is a big Harry Potter fan, so we are planning on going to IOA first thing in the morning! There will be no problem getting him up so hoping to be in the front of the line! We will go directly to WWOHP and spend the morning there. As his is only 6.5 he is not tall enough for many of the roller coasters, so wondering if we will have enough to do at IOA for a full day.

Here are my questions...Should we spend the morning at WWOHP, take in a few other rides/shows at IOA and then head to US in the afternoon? Or, just stay at IOA all day? Is it possible to do both parks in 1 day, if we are not going on any of the bigger coasters? What about VIP passes

We have never been to IOA/US before, so not really sure what to expect or how to compare to WDW, which we did last year when he was 5.5yrs.

I'll probably have some more questions, but this is the elephant in the room that I am trying to figure out right now!

Thanks in advance for all your expertise!!

 

[Metro West]

Here are my questions...Should we spend the morning at WWOHP, take in a few other rides/shows at IOA and then head to US in the afternoon? Or, just stay at IOA all day? Is it possible to do both parks in 1 day, if we are not going on any of the bigger coasters? What about VIP passes

Hello and welcome to the Darkside.

I would do the opposite...go to the Studios first and then head over to IOA once you're done. If you go to WWoHP first thing, you will have to fight the majority of people trying to do the same thing you are which won't be pretty. But...if you wait until later in the day, the crowds should clear out and the waits won't be unbearable. There will be plenty of things for you guys to do at both parks w/o worrying about the coasters so don't worry about that.

I would only suggest VIP tickets if you are going to utilize all the available attractions and in this case you won't be so I would skip purchasing the tickets this trip.

You should check the Universal website to see which attractions you're interested in and then head to youTube to find ride videos. This will help you get an idea of what the attractions are like.

Should you have other questions, please feel free to ask.

 

[goirish66]

Thanks for the feedback Metro!

That might be a good plan, to do US in the morning and then IOA in the afternoon/evening. I just don't want to get to WWOHP later in the day and then find the lines too long where we end up missing things.

In looking more at the websites...here are the rides/shows I think we will want to do:

Universal
Rides
ET
MIB
Shrek
T2
Woody

Shows
Animal Actors
Beetle Juice

IOA
Rides
WWOHP - FJ
WWOHP - Shops/etc
Spiderman
Cat in the Hat
Pteranodon Flyers
Storm Force

Shows
Sinbad
Posedion
Camp Jurassic/Discovery Center

Now, looking at these attractions, does it still sound doable? Also still plan for US in the morning and IOA in the afternoon?

It looks like all of these attractions except for WWOHP accept the Express Plus pass. Still not worth if for this trip? Or should I consider to get this all in??

Thanks!!

 

[Metro West]

The hours on 3/12 are 8-7 and on 3/13 they are 9-9 so the indication is busier on Tuesday. However...the EP price is $55.99/per person for a two park EP so you might want to consider it since it's only the two of you.

If you purchase the EP, you can go once through the lines which would insure you'd get all of those attractions done in a single day but it could be pricey.

Make sense?

 

[macraven]

if you have park to park tickets, do the studio side first.
you will get a lot more done if you are there when the park first opens.

be in line extra early.

the main rush will be at ioa for parry hotter ville.
the onsite guests go in one hour prior to park opening.

at park opening, the general public will be let in.

guess where all the hoards of peeps will be headed to......
yup, parry hotter.

once the rush is over, that section could thin out late afternoon or an hour to two hours prior to the park closing.

if you do ioa first, you will waste a lot of time waiting in line.


if you do the studios first, you can hit a lot of the things on your list, then go over to ioa and start at the front of the park.
you will have waits at ioa in ph.

pick up the park guide map to see when the shows will be on.

you might have to zig zag between the parks if you want to hit all 4 of them.

sinbad show is really good.
i think your son will enjoy it.
the other shows that you list are also winners.
you both will enjoy all of them.

if you buy the VIP ticket, it will stream line the waits for both of you.

you could wait until you are in the park to make that decision.
if you do the studio side and finish it up, you wouldn't need the epp for it then.
when you do ioa and the lines are too long for you, the epp could be a good thing.

when i see the two park epp going for $55.99, i would consider that a moderate day for crowds.


the one ride that you will have a wait for would probably be P flyer.

there is the down time to loading and unloading.
and it's a ride that all younger children can do.