new to Universal....like Disney?

[mammomommie]

This Oct will be our first trip to Universal. We would like to do IOA in one day. I read that it is possible. But I'm used to Disney thinking. And I need to know what to hit first.

So we want to see and ride HP but some touring plans I have read say to go to Hulk and Spiderman first thing before there is a line.

Will HP take all morning? Then we will have long lines at Spiderman and Hulk? Or the do we go to the coasters and Spiderman and experience long times at HP?

 

[Metro West]

Will HP take all morning? Then we will have long lines at Spiderman and Hulk? Or the do we go to the coasters and Spiderman and experience long times at HP?

October is generally not a busy time so I would recommend doing everything at IOA you want before the lines start around 11am and then going to see WWoHP in the afternoon/evening. The park should be less crowded towards closing and you won't have to battle the stampede in the mornings.

 

[mammomommie]

Do I start with HP? Doesn't that take the longest?

 

[Metro West]

Do I start with HP? Doesn't that take the longest?

I wouldn't start there. Yes it gets very crowded at times but if you go first thing, you're having to deal with the onsite guests who get early entry and since most people head there first thing, the lines get long very quickly. Plus...by the time you're done with HP there will be lines for everything else. If you arrive at park opening, start at Marvel Super Hero Island and work your way around, you will not have to wait more than 10-15 minutes per ride...if that. Otherwise you're looking at waits of 30-45 minutes on average.

If you wait until later in the day, the people who've been there since opening are likely leaving so the crowds will thin out for HP.

 

[mammomommie]

Great information. Saved me a lot of research. Thanks!

 

[macraven]

are you staying onsite or will you be a day guest?
you can utilize the single rider lines or use the child swap if your 8 y/o doesn't meet the height requirements.

if you are a day guest, avoid saturdays for your day at ioa.

 

[mammomommie]

No I'm not staying on site. And we only have one day at IOA

 

[hydrotony]

Late in the day, WWOHP starts to get less crowded and scheduling the last 2 hours or so of the day there would be good. Here's a method to think about, explore the park clockwise as stated above and when you get to WWOHP around early afternoon, just do the castle tour so you can see all the unique things at a slow pace. Do all the other stuff then if you want like the coasters and wand shop and eating and shopping. Keep checking the wait times for FJ, you could get lucky. Later when you go back, do the single rider line for the ride. You miss most of the castle stuff, but you saw them earlier. Then do the stuff that was too crowded in the afternoon.

 

[Marquibiri]

I agree with all!

Unless you are staying onsite or have a vacation package, avoid going to HP first thing.

Arrive early though, and work your way through Hulk, Spiderman, etc all the way across to the water rides (very refreshing around noon), JP and Dragon Challenge..

Grab some lunch at Mythos! Oh, right, you have one day, maybe something quicker.

You should have plenty of time to gaze upon the WWoHP.
Single rider line is a charm!

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[deva]

If you are a first timer (like I was) and used to Disney (like I was), consider staying on site (like I did & can't imagine not doing)...

The Unlimited Express knocked my socks off!!! Oh man, nothing in Disney can compare... You could "do" IOA in a day, but with the Express you can do your favorite rides over & over in the same day. I was there around June 10th with my daughter last summer. We did The Mummy, then we did The Mummy. Then guess what we did? Yea, The Mummy. We did this 17 times in one day!!! Other than maybe Figment or the TTA, name a ride you can do in Disney 17 times in the same day.

 

[Mikkimús]

I went for a 1 day trip in end of october 2010. Lines were not bad, we did HP first DD(the dragon coaster) was walk on, it got pretty crowded around noon so we went over to US did everything we wanted to do there and when it was close to the Halloween Horror nights we went again over to IOA and did HP again, then almost everything was walk on or really short wait time.

Me and my brother had an awsome time, note tho we did not do all the big rides, we had been before and knew what we wanted to do most. We both wished for more time but that was not an option at that point.

So what im trying to say here is: you can just wing it but if there is something special you would like to do then plan that

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

I'm not a US/IOA expert by any means. I have only been there 4 different days. But my experience has been different. I went in late October for 2 days and in late January for 2 days. BOTH TIMES when we got in the park we went straight back to WWOHP and walked right on to Forbidden Journey. I have ridden it about 8 times and never waited more than 5 minutes for it because I went straight to it in the morning. Now when we made our way back around the park to it around 1 pm one time then at 3 pm one time, both times had a 40/50 minute wait time. UNLESS you plan on staying until close and doing WWOHP in the last hour or two of the park being open, I would go straight to it. That's what we did and had great success and that is what we will do again this October.

We didn't do Olivander's Wand Shop but from what I have seen of the line into that Wand show, if you want to do Olivander's I would do it first thing before you ever get on FJ. Hit it within the first 10 minutes of opening and you might not have to wait 30 minutes to get in.

We skipped it because I watched it on You Tube and knew I didn't care to see it in person. Especially being all crammed into such a tiny place like that with so many ppl, I just can't handle that. But some ppl really want to go in there hoping they will get picked for the wand show.

Another helpful tip you might find useful that we didn't come upon until our second trip....When you go to get on Dragon Challenge OR Forbidden Journey you have to stow away your loose items like purses and backpacks in a locker. We always have a backpack with drinks and snacks in it. The locker room at Forbidden Journey always seemed overrun with hoards of ppl trying to get in and out of the lockers, but the locker room right at Dragon Challenge is not so jam packed. I would suggest leaving your stuff in the locker at Dragon Challenge then getting on Forbidden Journey. They give you anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour sometimes for the length of time you can leave your stuff in there for free but if you decide to leave your gear in there for a few hours or such it costs a few dollars per hour I think if you go over your free time. We never went past our free time. If the ride has a posted wait time of 20 minutes the lockers usually give you at least double that amount of time for free. But after trying to get in and out of the FJ locker room I wanted to scream, and it wasn't even busy season. But they made those locker rooms TINY.