Is a Touring plan necessary when you have an onsite guest express pass?

[Travel Mum]

We are a family of five (2A, 3C aged 13, 10 and 6) from New Zealand who will be visiting Orlando for our first time in October. We will be touring US on Wednesday October 12 and IOA Thursday Oct 13. We are staying onsite for the Wednesday night so that we get the hotel perks of express pass and early entry to WWOHP. I have spent months working on touring plans for each of the Disney parks and, when I look at the Universal park maps and see how many rides have the Express pass, it looks wonderful and so much less stressful to plan! However, is that actually true or should I really still have a touring plan for each park?

In other words, with the exception of WWoHP, are these two parks ones that you can "wing it" if you have express pass?

 

[mesaboy2]

Yep, I think you can "wing it" with Express except for WWoHP--hit it early or late. Be aware that HRRR at the Studios and FJ and Pteranadon Flyers at IoA do not take Express.

 

[Metro West]

In other words, with the exception of WWoHP, are these two parks ones that you can "wing it" if you have express pass?

Yup...Universal is nice alternative to Disney since you don't have to plan everything in advance...especially if you're staying onsite.

Just relax and enjoy yourselves.

 

[Bluer101]

This is one of the biggest reasons we visit US and IOA over Disney, and its cheaper.

 

[damo]

We've been going for 10 years and have never once had a touring plan.



"What do you wanna ride?"

"I dunno, what do you wanna ride?"

"How about Jurassic Park?"

"Sure."



That's the extent of our touring plan.

 

[DiNap44]

We've been going for 10 years and have never once had a touring plan.



"What do you wanna ride?"

"I dunno, what do you wanna ride?"

"How about Jurassic Park?"

"Sure."



That's the extent of our touring plan.

I concur. The only area to plan for is WWOHP. BTW does anyone know if Universal will ever place an Express line at the FJ?

 

[Bluer101]

I concur. The only area to plan for is WWOHP. BTW does anyone know if Universal will ever place an Express line at the FJ?

We don't even plan for WWOHP, just get up for early entry and go.

As for express for FJ, I hope its soon (maybe 2 year mark) seeing RRR still has not gotten express yet.

 

[Travel Mum]

Oh thanks so much everyone- this sounds wonderful and so relaxing! I understand about WWOHP and will do that during the early entry and then just chill for the rest of the day. At Universal, we'll queue for RRR when we enter and then just relax through the rest of that day too. My family will be so happy because, although I hope they will appreciate my Disney touring plans meaning less waits in line, I know they are not going to enjoy having to follow a strict plan!

 

[the Dark Marauder]

I concur. The only area to plan for is WWOHP. BTW does anyone know if Universal will ever place an Express line at the FJ?

The Express line for FJ (and Rockit) were built. FJ's Express line is the "Castle Tour" line. If it ever tuns into an Express line or not will be determined in due time. Maybe after the Early Entry program expires?

 

[macraven]

i stay onsite and the only plans i make each day are how many cups of coffee i should drink before i get dressed...............



i get to the parks when i get there.
if i miss something in the parks, i'll hit it the next day.



it is a very relaxed vacation for me..

 

[Travel Mum]

Oh gosh, it sounds lovely and wish I'd built more time for Universal into our itinerary

 

[drinkme]

i stay onsite and the only plans i make each day are how many cups of coffee i should drink before i get dressed...............



i get to the parks when i get there.
if i miss something in the parks, i'll hit it the next day.



it is a very relaxed vacation for me..

I agree. It's exactly like this!

Also, that's how it is at DLR in California. We get up when we get up, and ride what we want to ride. No touring plan whatsoever.

 

[field4kids]

So is it possible to tour most of IOA in one day? We'll have the Express Pass so would it be best to start with WWOHP and then move to Spiderman Hulk, Doom?

After that move on to some of the other areas. Any order better than any other for things like Jurassic area, Ripsaw, Seuss?

Thanks!

 

[francie57]

We do the same thing, we start our trips with two days at Universal and stay at the HRH for the express perk. We usually check-in and then head to Universal. RRR is the first stop and then from there we just walk around the park and go on rides as we come to them. On the second day we do get to IOA for the early entry. We do FJ first, then head to dueling dragons and then go into the shops. After we are done with HP we head over to Hulk and start working our way through the park on that side. We usually leave JP, Dudley, and Bluto for the end of our time in the afternoon since you will be soaked after all three. We then head back to the Hard Rock and enjoy the pool for the afternoon, get ready and head to City Walk for dinner and then back to a park at night (usually Universal for a repeat RRR ride). You will really enjoy Universal and the slower pace you can take. Disney is now a more relaxing trip for us since we have been so many times that we go to a park in the morning, pool in the afternoon, dinner at Epcot, and then to where ever we want. We haven't used a touring plan for Disney in years now but when we first started going we did and were gone all day long - needed a vacation from the vacation at that pace!!