is 1 day enough?

[kelann7]

I have been to Disney many times, but never Universal. I have one child who is 10. Is one day enough to plan for Universal for our next trip? She is into Harry Potter and Minions. Any suggestions and advice will be appreciated. We are going in February.

Thanks.
Kelly

 

[kohlby]

If one day is all you can squeeze in, then it will be great! We tried to stay away from US/IOA on one Disney trip but ended up doing IOA for one day. We just couldn't stay away and all three kids love Harry Potter. (This was before there was HP on the US side). It was very, very much worth it. But - if you can get two days, then do two days.

As for when you're going, some of Feb isn't crowded, but some is. We're hoping to take our nephews to US/IOA so I checked out the crowd calendars with their breaks. Their Feb break time had much, much higher crowds than April.

 

[bumbershoot]

If it's all ya got, it's better than nothing.

But 1 day would never be enough for us. Even for our very first stay, when we thought we were only going for HP (pre-minions), we gave it a 4-day onsite visit. Had no clue we'd like it so much, but we give things a good try the first time. That way we KNOW, if we don't like it, that it's not our "fault" for short-shrifting it. (and we left wanting more more more)

 

[Not My Fault!]

One day would work....if you're a Time Lord. Try to set aside two days if at all possible.

 

[damo]

One day will be tight and not nearly as enjoyable as two.

 

[RMulieri]

One day is doable if you plan on skipping a lot.It will be very tight.If you aren't staying onsite and wont have express pass, Despicable me has long waits even in SLOW times of year and those waits can be an hour.HP is also very popular ( and in 2 parks)and though most of the major stuff( Hogwarts express, Ollivanders wands, Forbidden Journey and Gringotts) don't take express, there is early entry to one of those areas for resort guests ( which again can mean lines at opening ).Add to it that the parks close a lot earlier than Disney does ( as early as 6pm at certain times of year) and that doesn't leave a whole lot of time to cover 2 parks .If you ONLY plan on doing the minions ride, the 2 HP areas then maybe doable...Keep in mind that for ONE day you will need a park hopper ticket(One day 2 park ticket), to experience both areas and the Hogwarts express.This is NOT going to be cheap.One day tickets are rarely discounted

 

[hpfan100]

I would agree at least two is better. There is plenty to see and do in both areas of potter plus minions and all the other areas.

 

[anorman]

Definitely schedule at least two. It is well worth it!

 

[drnp]

If you do 1 day and your kid is an HP fan, get the park to park ticket so you can ride the Express. You can certainly get a good amount done in one day, just not everything. Prioritize and you should be fine.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

If you only do one day then I recommend getting the express pass. (Unless park is not crowded then I would take advantage of single rider lines.

 

[Sophie_2003]

Not an expert, but we just came back from our one day...no express pass, but we were able to ride every ride on USF side, starting with minions at 8am. What we didn't even consider were the shows, so if you want to do those, one day is definitely not enough! And if you're doing p2p...would be too rushed IMHO.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

I have a daughter just a touch younger and not a Harry Potter fan yet. She loves all of the princesses and even I know every "new" Disney movie by heart. 10 out of 10 times she picks universal over Disney, don't short change it, try to get the second day! I get the Disney pixie dust that all DIS fans talk about, but there is plenty to go around at Universal as well.

A little tid bit that got me hooked on UO that I use often. One night stay on site gets you two days worth of Express Pass. I was staying off site and didn't expect to actually sleep at Hard Rock, just booked it because it was "cheaper" than two days of Express passes. So we took an overnight bag so we wouldn't look suspicious. As soon as we hit the lobby and walked the staircase into the pool area, my kids were in complete awe. We have done our share of 5 day Hard Rock trips, but even when we do a Sea World or DIS vacation, we always but two day tix with a one night stay at HRH. With the "worth more than gold" Express passes and two days, we always get to see what's new and hit our faves as much as we want.

 

[caracarn]

One day is hard in many of the major parks.

 

[StarWarsJez]

Your daughter is into Harry Potter you say? Well I guarantee that you will spend AT LEAST half a day exploring both of the HP lands, probably THE most impressive thing that's hit any Orlando park in well over a decade.

Ultimately, its like asking 'can you do MK in one day?'. Technically yes you can but in reality you'd be missing out on so much if you did.