need help on schedule 2 parks in 1 1/2 days!

[addie]

We are getting of the Disney Cruise ship on a Sunday going straight over to IOA, for Sunday spend the night there Sunday play in the parks Monday morning then leave to the airport about 1:00PM on Monday.

Can anyone tell me what I should do to make the most of this short visit? We want to visit IOA and US. What rides we should do, what order etc? I have never been there before, and feel a little lost!

I think we should be there by 9:30 -10am on Sunday. We will be going in October. Do you know what time the park closes in Oct?

Thanks!!!

 

[Disney Debbie]

I think it would depend as far as when they close. They do a Halloween Horror Nights at IOA (they did last year anyway - it may be at Universal this year) so that would effect park closing times. It looks to me like they pretty much close Universal at 7 and IOA at 8 during off peak months.

Are you staying at one of the resorts? If so, it really doesn't matter which rides you go to first, because you'll have FOTL. You'll just have to plan around show times which start around 11:00 and usually have the last one around 5:00.

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Universal:

If you are staying onsite, in the morning, when it opens (whether it be Sunday or Monday) go on MIB with the FOTL. Even though you have FOTL, the MIB express starts to back up near lunch time. Go on as many times as you'd like in the morning (my parents and I go on at LEAST 3 times...get our share for the day...and come back maybe in the evening after Express dies down a bit).

Make sure to check out the Horror Makeup Show. This could be a nice "filler" in the day. A chance to sit down in the AC too. First show is at 11:45 usually and it's a good way to take a break from the heat for about 30 minutes.

Earthquake you can go to in the afternoon too. Use your FOTL because even though they take a LARGE amount of people at a time, the line does get backed up. With the FOTL, your in right when they let the next group in.

Back to the Future you can go anytime.


Islands of Adventure:

For Spiderman either in the morning or later in the evening, although this one doesn't usually get too bad...as long as you get FOTL. If you don't have FOTL go FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. I mean, as soon as the park opens. Don't even wait until the park has been open for 30 minutes. My friend and I were stuck with 75 minute wait in the morning once. It gets up to 2 hours sometimes.

I went on the Hulk around 6:00pm or later and had MAYBE 1 or 2 people in Express before me...I would always get on the next coaster! VERY nice. Sometimes, in the early afternoon there is a bit of a wait too.

On Popeyes you can either do in the afternoon when it is hot, or in the evening (around 6:30...7:00...). My parents went on Popeyes at 6:30 and could go on twice...without getting back in line (they asked to stay on, and the line was fairly short, so...they let them).

So, basically, if you have FOTL, go to US first. Do MIB, then maybe Back to the future, then Horror Makeup Show, then Jimmy Neutron, then Twister, then Earthquake.

Then, in the afternoon go to IoA and do Spiderman, Dr. Doom (always a short Express Line), Hulk, and then maybe Jurassic and Popeyes.

That's what I'd do, but it's up to you, and your taste in rides. I'm a thrill seeker so if you aren't, things will probably be a bit different...



Whatever you do, have fun! Don't spend all your time running around and make yourself exhausted. Make sure you really enjoy each moment. If you rush it all it'll be less than relaxing.

 

[addie]

I will be staying at the Resort so I will for sure use FOTL pass. Thank you so much for all of your advice. I feel a little overwhelmed going to this park because I know my way around Disney like the back of my hand and this will be all new.

That is a good thing though!!

 

[mulchpuppy]

Front of the line...in October?!?

Yeah, you'll have no problems whatsoever. Last October, we hit pretty much every major attraction in both parks in one day, then went back to the hotel and changed before returning for HHN. Oh, and we DIDN'T have FOTL then.

The crowds in October just aren't that bad, especially on a day when the parks close earlier for HHN - I think people are a little more hesitant about attending when they realize that the park hours are limited.

 

[MrsMud]

The crowds in October just aren't that bad, especially on a day when the parks close earlier for HHN - I think people are a little more hesitant about attending when they realize that the park hours are limited.

Oh, mulchpuppy, I so hope you're right! We are going in early Oct., NOT on site so will not have FOTL (though I plan on making use of Express pass as much as possible). I thought I read that the days w/HHN occuring that evening are MORE crowded. If they are LESS crowded or even no more crowded than usual, I will have a lot easier time planning our park days!

 

[mulchpuppy]

Yeah, we had no problems at all, except for one minor error - we thought we'd wait until HHN to jump on Hulk -- BIG mistake. The wait time was posted as 15 minutes - after half an hour of dealing with drunk (expletive deleted)s and folks smoking in line (oh, and the line jumpers) we gave up on it.

In the day we were there, we rode ET, Back to the Future, Men in Black, Jaws, Twister, Hanna Barbara, T-2, Cat in the Hat, Caro-Seussel, Dueling Dragons (both sides), Jurassic Park, Popeye, Dudley, Spidey, Hulk, and Dr. Doom. We missed out on Sindbad and Poseidon (the show times just weren't convenient to when we were in the Lost Continent), as well as the shows at USF (sorry, the shows at USF just don't get me worked up). And it was a very conscious decision to skip Earthquake. Too much preshow for two minutes of cool, y'know?

We went on a Sunday, which traditionally has been a slower day for us (that's not a blanket statement, but the two times we went on a Sunday, we were pretty happy with the crowds).

A good park attack plan and judicious usage of EXPRESS passes should add up to a fun filled day.

 

[Planogirl]

The parks were fairly quiet when we were there but we kept running into a wait at ET unless we rode early. ET wasn't a great ride but it was OK and we loved the queue area. We also enjoyed Terminator and found that we could easily go any time a show was scheduled because the theater was so big. The lady in the preshow is a hoot. Jaws also had long regular lines but FOL was real fast. My son LOVED Earthquake so we saw it a few times. The preshow is awfully long but we waited in the back where we could rest.

In IOA, we waited quite a while to see Poseidon's Fury. This one was worth it just for the water tunnel IMO.

Of course, you'll have Jimmy Neutron instead of Hanna Barbera and also Shrek to see. They weren't open yet when we went.

 

[highlander447]

we where at the parks last oct first 2 weeks and it was great very few queues only on the build up to columbus hol did it start getting busy