Is One Day Enough for US?

[consultant]

Spending a week in Orlando week before Xmas (arriving Friday night the 17th and leaving Friday night the 24th). We HAVE to go to Universal on Sat the 18th or Sun the 19th due to itinerary constraints of someone in our party.

I have an 8-yo and 10-yo that are both tall enough to ride all the rides at Islands of Adventure. We've done in the past 8 years, WDW once (saw all 4 parks with 5-day pass), Disneyland 4 times, and have NEVER been to Universal Orlando.

We have 6-1/2 days for park touring. We are setting aside 4-5 days for WDW. We are planning to arrive at Universal very early on Sunday before it opens and get the Flex Pass (although someone recommended checking the lines first and by the pass in the park only if needed.) Based on people's experience, do you think my 8 and 10-yo will be begging to go back to Universal again and so we would regret not getting a 2-day, 2-park Universal pass?

I'm a big Disneyland fan/afficianado, but I have to be honest and say last time we were there it wasn't as *magical* as it used to be when the kids were younger. I think they are gravitating more towards the 'serious' ride parks. If Universal Islands is easily done in one day on Sunday, then we may spend the extra time doing Discovery Cove.

 

[DCTooTall]

That close to Christmas, I'm going to assume the parks will be pretty crowded. That said, without the express pass I'm not sure you could realistically do everything in both parks in a single day. Even with the Express pass, I'm not sure. (but, with it being the express which just gives you 1 FOTL per ride, it MIGHT be more doable than if you were tempted to ride something multiple times with the resort stay FOTL).


There is definately enough there that your kids would probably enjoy both parks, so I would feel safe getting a 2 day 2 park ticket so you can experience both parks with their attractions.

BUT... I do believe the 2 day/2 park ticket expires 14 days after first use, so you would need to plan to use it on this trip since you wouldn't be able to save the extra day for your next trip.

Also, Remember that Discovery Cove is a park that you must make a reservation for, so you are locked into going on a certain day. it's not a park you can really make a last minute "i'm going to go today" kind of decision on.

 

[KarenD]

Are your kids Harry Potter fans? If so, you might need a half day just for Wizarding World.

My husband and I were at IOA on Sunday Oct. 17th and did all the attractions except the water rides that day, including a leisurely lunch at Mythos. We could have done the three water rides before the park closed but had all week and weren't in a rush. We were hotel guests so got into Wizarding World an hour before the park opened and had express pass access for the other big attractions, so that saved a lot of time.

 

[Darcy03231]

Ok, here was my experience with taking my kids to US/IOA when they were about the same ages as yours, for the first time, during a planned WDW vacation. I planned 2 days for US/IOA, we stayed on-site, and then went to WDW. The WDW portion of the trip ended up being miserable! The kids complained that all the rides were "lame", they couldn't believe that we had to wait in such long lines (we went during a slower time of year and the lines really weren't bad at all, in fact some rides didn't even have a wait), all they talked about was when can we leave and go back to US/IOA. If I had to do it all over again I would have done WDW first and tacked US/IOA on at the end instead.

Since that trip we've been back and we now tend to spend more time at US/IOA and just take a day or two at WDW.

 

[Planogirl]

I would go for two days at the Universal parks. You could knock out Islands Of Adventure in one day but what about the Studios? We love the Studios and spend the majority of our time there.

 

[consultant]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies. I had come to the same conclusion between when I posted the question and read all your replies. I was under the impression U Studios was outdated and somewhat lame compared to IOA. We've been to U Studios in Hollywood and were NOT impressed. But after reading the reviews of the rides in Studios, many of them I can tell my kids would enjoy.

The whole point of the trip is Harry Potter really. But my family are Disney die-hards (I'm a Disney Collector.) But to be honest, even though Disneyland will always have that magical quality and bring back childhood memories, the last time we were there two years ago, it just didn't feel as exciting as it used to be and I attribute that to the fact the kids were older and so less of the rides were that 'exciting' for them - and thereby less exciting for my wife and I to watch them ride them.

There's something about Disney though, the cleanliness of the park, the way the staff acts towards you, etc, that just isn't matched anywhere else. So whereas we ARE ride thrill seekers, I think Disney will always hold a special place in our hearts and minds. (Geez, that sounds like some scripted commercial for Disney!)

So with that long-winded background, my point is, my gut knowing my kids (and our family) is that they will be asking to go back to Universal to either ride some rides again or go to Harry Potter again. It would be too risky to try to cram everything in 1-day and write-off most if not all of the Studios park.

The only thing I'm concerned about now is that supposedly only a limited number of Express passes are sold. So we may run the risk of them being sold out if we wait to buy them only after surveying the actual lines that day.

Interestingly, I noticed on the Universal site where you can buy them, the prices can change daily. 3 days ago, only Dec 22 was orange and the days before and after were green. Now Dec 22 is green and Dec 23 and 24 are now orange. Maybe the 22 was a fluke but this makes sense as the rule of thumb is everything gets more crowded as you get later in the week before Christmas.

It seems there are a lot of Season Pass holders for Universal. My gut is telling me better get the Express Pass for Saturday as that is when a lot of local may fill up the park just like the SoCal people do no the weekends at Disneyland.

 

[KarenD]

Depending on how many Express Passes you'd need to buy and how pricey they are for the days you're going to be there, it might be worthwhile to get a room for a night at one of the onsite hotels, which would give you two days of unlimited express access.