June w/ one day park to park tickets

[Magalex]

We are a Disney family but leaping over to Universal so far for one day(park to park) on Monday June 11th ( I left next day open if we decide to add second day). We have one 11 yr old DS. We will be hitting FJ, Spiderman & other headliners but will skip the extreme roller coasters. Will one day be enough because we won't be doing the kiddie stuff either?

 

[mesaboy2]

Probably, since it sounds like you're sticking mostly to mid-level attractions.

 

[Magalex]

We are staying at CBR with a rental car. What time should we leave the resort to arrive at IOA for 9AM opening? The guys want to go straight to FJ.

 

[mesaboy2]

We are staying at CBR with a rental car. What time should we leave the resort to arrive at IOA for 9AM opening? The guys want to go straight to FJ.

No later than 8:00a, maybe 7:30a to allow for variables such as I-4 rush hour traffic.

 

[Magalex]

Thanks..Trying to know everything about Universal as much as possible

 

[pigby]

Well - really hope that day will be fairly quiet (seeing we will be there too!)
I do understand that you will be doing mostly 'mid level' attractions but the first time we visited (from a Disney hotel also) we really really wished we had bought a two day ticket - DD was 7 at the time so most of the coasters were out for us also. That said, I was working in the travel industry at the time and could have got the two day one really cheaply if I had purchased prior to the trip.

 

[Magalex]

We are prepared to upgrade our tickets to two days at guest services before we leave the parks. I left that option open for the next day.

 

[mesaboy2]

We are prepared to upgrade our tickets to two days at guest services before we leave the parks. I left that option open for the next day.

I think that's a smart way to do it. Personally I think you should add a second day to appreciate the parks fully, but it's your money and only you will know if its worth it to you. You lose nothing by going at it the way you are though.

 

[Mister Skellington]

Well - really hope that day will be fairly quiet (seeing we will be there too!)

We will be there that day as well. We have park to park VIP passes (cheaper than a room for our dates) We will be doing mostly IOA including the coasters but plan to hop over to USO in the afternoon. We went to Universal Hollywood last spring and many of the rides and shows( Mummy, Shrek, Terminator, Simpsons, etc.) are the same so we wont need to repeat some of those.We may try to catch the parade and Firework show as well.
We also dont really plan on doing the wet rides at IOA....for sure not into Popeye....just too wet for our tastes.
We are taking some people who have not been to IOA yet so it should be fun!

Have fun!
Nate

 

[reiella]

Really not sure if it's appropriate for me to try to derail/talk, but topic is fairly close to my own. So I hope it's not a big deal .

I am trying to decide myself if we [2 adults only] should do a day to IoA/US [1day, park-to-park] in [early/first week] December. I'm not certain as if attempting to do that, would pretty much require us to do a commando-run through the parks [with or without Express Passes].

 

[mesaboy2]

Really not sure if it's appropriate for me to try to derail/talk, but topic is fairly close to my own. So I hope it's not a big deal .

I am trying to decide myself if we [2 adults only] should do a day to IoA/US [1day, park-to-park] in [early/first week] December. I'm not certain as if attempting to do that, would pretty much require us to do a commando-run through the parks [with or without Express Passes].

I do not normally answer "yes" to someone who wants to do both parks in one day. But the OP specifically said several things that changed my mind in this case: 1) no kiddie rides, 2) no extreme thrill coasters, and 3) a second day was available to them if they changed their mind.

If you want to commando your way around both parks in a day, just know you will not be giving Universal a fair chance to impress you and you will be beat at the end of the day IMO. It's not dissimilar to telling someone who's never been to Disney to go for just a day and hit two of the parks there. Not the best approach to a newcomer and could possibly turn them off of future visits.

 

[reiella]

I do not normally answer "yes" to someone who wants to do both parks in one day. But the OP specifically said several things that changed my mind in this case: 1) no kiddie rides, 2) no extreme thrill coasters, and 3) a second day was available to them if they changed their mind.

If you want to commando your way around both parks in a day, just know you will not be giving Universal a fair chance to impress you and you will be beat at the end of the day IMO. It's not dissimilar to telling someone who's never been to Disney to go for just a day and hit two of the parks there. Not the best approach to a newcomer and could possibly turn them off of future visits.

Figured as much. Although I've been to USF before, only like 4 attractions are left from when I was there [the Lucy exhibit is probably still awesome though ].

I wasn't too sure how slow the Winter season got with Universal. But at the same time, I'm mostly interested in the thrill rides [which will still generate lines] and window shopping.

1 day for just Islands seems like it could work, does Universal let you upgrade your ticket at the gate after-use?

 

[damo]

Figured as much. Although I've been to USF before, only like 4 attractions are left from when I was there [the Lucy exhibit is probably still awesome though ].

I wasn't too sure how slow the Winter season got with Universal. But at the same time, I'm mostly interested in the thrill rides [which will still generate lines] and window shopping.

1 day for just Islands seems like it could work, does Universal let you upgrade your ticket at the gate after-use?

Yes. They are always happy to take your money!!!

 

[rlduvall]

Really not sure if it's appropriate for me to try to derail/talk, but topic is fairly close to my own. So I hope it's not a big deal .

I am trying to decide myself if we [2 adults only] should do a day to IoA/US [1day, park-to-park] in [early/first week] December. I'm not certain as if attempting to do that, would pretty much require us to do a commando-run through the parks [with or without Express Passes].

A friend and I did this the first week of December 2010 [the year it was freezing]. My friend has Rheumatoid Arthritis, which does not allow her to move quickly, and we were still easily able to do both parks in one day - with a nice dinner that night at Bubba Gumps. We both had been to Universal before so we were able to narrow it down to only certain things - Harry Potter being a huge part of our choice. But still, I'm a thrill ride junkie and I definitely felt like I got my $$$ worth. We did all the headliners and a few of the middle liners. BUT, it saved us alot of time by using the valet to park that morning - which cost quite a bit - and we made sure we were there 30 - 45 minutes before opening. If my friend would have had to walk from the parking garage, I think she would have already been spent for the morning. I highly recommend paying it.

 

[agame2323]

We will be there that day as well. We have park to park VIP passes (cheaper than a room for our dates) We will be doing mostly IOA including the coasters but plan to hop over to USO in the afternoon. We went to Universal Hollywood last spring and many of the rides and shows( Mummy, Shrek, Terminator, Simpsons, etc.) are the same so we wont need to repeat some of those.We may try to catch the parade and Firework show as well.
We also dont really plan on doing the wet rides at IOA....for sure not into Popeye....just too wet for our tastes.
We are taking some people who have not been to IOA yet so it should be fun!

Have fun!
Nate

So would you recommend park-to-park VIP Passes or staying onsite? I'm planning on staying at the HRH but only because you get FOTL access and early entry to Harry Porter. Does VIP offer that as well?

 

[rlduvall]

So would you recommend park-to-park VIP Passes or staying onsite? I'm planning on staying at the HRH but only because you get FOTL access and early entry to Harry Porter. Does VIP offer that as well?

I recommend staying onsite because even only one night gets you two full days of FOTL access. My DS and I did that last June and are doing it again this May. Last year I left our Disney resort at 7:00 a.m. and was checked in and heading to wait for the gates to open for the Harry Potter "guests" by 7:40 a.m. We then stayed the next day until about 3:00 p.m. and had more than done everything we wanted to do.

 

[agame2323]

I recommend staying onsite because even only one night gets you two full days of FOTL access. My DS and I did that last June and are doing it again this May. Last year I left our Disney resort at 7:00 a.m. and was checked in and heading to wait for the gates to open for the Harry Potter "guests" by 7:40 a.m. We then stayed the next day until about 3:00 p.m. and had more than done everything we wanted to do.

So all I need to purchase is ONE park to park ticket and I would get two days of both parks?

 

[rlduvall]

So all I need to purchase is ONE park to park ticket and I would get two days of both parks?

No - unfortunately, you need the two day park to park pass, but it's not that much more than a one day park to park pass.

Edited: Just went to the Universal website and it looks like a two day pass is only $15. more than the one day pass.

I was only talking about FOTL which is worth 2 days for 1 night.