Last minute one day trip, am i crazy?

[krista113]

I am going to be in west palm beach this weekend for a wedding, we are arriving tomorrow, (Thursday) and on Friday the day is free to do what we way although most of the group is golfing in a wedding golf scramble, so they will be occupied most of the day, and as it is expensive and I am not a big golfer, I chose not to golf. This was fine with me as I thought I would probably lay around the pool, go shopping or whatever my little heart desires. Until, I realized that WPB is only 2 1/2 hours from universal, and as I am a huge Harry Potter fan I thought maybe I could leave early Friday morning and head to universal. I would more than likely be traveling by myself unless I can find another crazy to come with me, and I have to be back in WPB by 5:30 or 6 to get ready for a cocktail party that starts at 7:30. I would also have to rent a car for the day, so my question is, do you think it's worth it?

 

[snoopboop]

I am going to be in west palm beach this weekend for a wedding, we are arriving tomorrow, (Thursday) and on Friday the day is free to do what we way although most of the group is golfing in a wedding golf scramble, so they will be occupied most of the day, and as it is expensive and I am not a big golfer, I chose not to golf. This was fine with me as I thought I would probably lay around the pool, go shopping or whatever my little heart desires. Until, I realized that WPB is only 2 1/2 hours from universal, and as I am a huge Harry Potter fan I thought maybe I could leave early Friday morning and head to universal. I would more than likely be traveling by myself unless I can find another crazy to come with me, and I have to be back in WPB by 5:30 or 6 to get ready for a cocktail party that starts at 7:30. I would also have to rent a car for the day, so my question is, do you think it's worth it?

This is a tough one.

I have never made that drive myself, but if it is 2 1/2 hours, then you'll need to be out of the parks by 3:00... Unless you're an annual pass holder and therefore already have an admission ticket, I honestly don't know if it'd be worth the drive and the cost of admission for just a few hours. It pains me terribly to say so. Maybe others will disagree.

 

[sharona]

Have to agree that it is way too much to do if you have a commitment for that night. You will be exhausted at the pre wedding cocktail party and I'm sure at the wedding the next day. That is too long of a day that you are contemplating. Can you stay an extra day after the wedding and fly home out of Orlando instead of driving back to PBI? That would be more manageable.

 

[bumbershoot]

Back at 6 (have everything totally ready) means ON the road at 3:30? What are the traffic patterns like at that time?

On the road at that time means getting to the garage at __ ,
means getting into Citywalk at __,
means leaving wherever you are in a park at __.

(fill in the blanks based on your experiences in the past)

Getting there is the easy part as long as you're up early enough. It's that leaving part that makes it tricky.


As passholders, we had a day where we disembarked a cruise, were driven to the airport, snagged a rental car and went to Universal until around 2pm. Went back to the airport and flew home. Possibly the same amount of time as you would have, only we had less time at park opening. But...our admission was included.

Universal doesn't exhaust us (assuming we are healthy and not just off a cruise at the end of a longer vacation), so I'm not sure you would be exhausted. But you might get sunburned, dehydrated, hungry...and you could get caught in traffic, too.

 

[subtchr]

I agree with the others, this would be a very expensive and tiring day (not just the parks, but the driving!).

Expenses:

Cost of a car rental, which you would have to pick up the night before, I'd think, since you will want to leave early Friday morning.

Tolls

$17 parking

$136 park-to-park ticket (I assume you want that to experience Hogwarts Express). $96 if you only want to visit one park.

Leave by 2:30 or so, considering it's a Friday afternoon.

Not to mention the stress of worrying about traffic/accidents/anything else that can happen on the road.

If are willing to spend the money and to handle any traffic issues, go for it. I don't think I would choose to do so.