January 25, 2017.....1 day both parks!

[hdnwaters]

We had a great visit at IOA/US this past Wednesday. The temperatures climbed to 80*. Beautiful weather and low crowds. The only ride with a long wait was Kong. It had some glitches that morning so it only had one side running and was a little backed up. I think we waited about 30 minutes in all. I thought it was a fun ride with good 3D effects.

We had lunch at 3 broomsticks. The fish and chips were good but nothing special. We did go to the bar for butter beer with a side shot of rum! Butter beer with rum is the ticket! I love IOA, it's such a pretty park.

The raptor encounter is really funny and we also saw a man carrying a baby triceratops, it was cute and you could pet it! LOL...

Rode the Hogwarts express to US. We spend a lot of time wondering around Diagon Alley. Rode Gringotts twice, my daughter, who has never seen Deathly Hallows, says it's her favorite ride. It is pretty cool and I understand so much more after seeing the movies! (Our first trip, we were totally clueless) We had a nice day, with a visit to the Minion's on the way out!

 

[HannahBean]

How was the day overall, visiting both parks in one day? Did you enough time at each one? Was it overwhelming to try to fit them both? I'm not familiar with how big either IOA or US are.

 

[schumigirl]

We had a great visit at IOA/US this past Wednesday. The temperatures climbed to 80*. Beautiful weather and low crowds. The only ride with a long wait was Kong. It had some glitches that morning so it only had one side running and was a little backed up. I think we waited about 30 minutes in all. I thought it was a fun ride with good 3D effects.

We had lunch at 3 broomsticks. The fish and chips were good but nothing special. We did go to the bar for butter beer with a side shot of rum! Butter beer with rum is the ticket! I love IOA, it's such a pretty park.

The raptor encounter is really funny and we also saw a man carrying a baby triceratops, it was cute and you could pet it! LOL...

Rode the Hogwarts express to US. We spend a lot of time wondering around Diagon Alley. Rode Gringotts twice, my daughter, who has never seen Deathly Hallows, says it's her favorite ride. It is pretty cool and I understand so much more after seeing the movies! (Our first trip, we were totally clueless) We had a nice day, with a visit to the Minion's on the way out!

Glad to hear you had such a fabulous trip! The raptor encounter is so much fun!

Thanks for reporting back to us......always nice to hear folks enjoying the parks........

 

[schumigirl]

How was the day overall, visiting both parks in one day? Did you enough time at each one? Was it overwhelming to try to fit them both? I'm not familiar with how big either IOA or US are.

Check out the park layouts here.......

https://www.universalorlando.com/Resort-Information/Theme-Park-Maps.aspx?Intsrch=Park maps

You can do both parks in one day, but you'll miss an awful lot and usually won't be able to do everything. Especially if you go at a busy time.

It helps if you stay onsite and have EE and EP.

 

[HannahBean]

Ok! That answers my questions perfectly. The hotel I play on staying in does offer EE but not EP. I will look into it more. Thank you!

 

[schumigirl]

Ok! That answers my questions perfectly. The hotel I play on staying in does offer EE but not EP. I will look into it more. Thank you!

EE can be a big help on its own at a busy time.......gives you a good start before the crowds come in

 

[hdnwaters]

How was the day overall, visiting both parks in one day? Did you enough time at each one? Was it overwhelming to try to fit them both? I'm not familiar with how big either IOA or US are.

It really depends on the crowds. We did 2 days in Sept 2015. It was HOT so we spent most of the first day at IOA and did all the water rides. Then we did a couple of things at US. It was mid-week so not too busy. Our second day was on a Saturday, and a lot of locals come to the parks so it was considerably more crowded.

Last week we had no problem doing everything we wanted to do in 1 day. Most of the rides we had very little waits, just the time it took to walk through the queues. We were only there from around 10 to 5:30. I would suggest if it's your first trip to take 2 days if you can. Plus better mid week when schools are in secession.

 

[macraven]

you picked a good day for the parks.

any plans to return soon?