Newbie to Universal..touring help please!

[kguenther8]

Okay, I use Touring Plans, and I made a personalized one for touring Universal and IOA same day, so we can do Hogwarts Express and see both areas (Sept. 11). We are hotel guests for that night, so my plan is to arrive early to check in, get our express passes, and head to Early Entry, which as near as I can tell, will be at IOA.
My plan so far: Head to Forbidden Journey during early entry. Ride.
Ride Spiderman
Ride Seuss Trolley Ride
Jurrassic Park
Carroseussal
Cat in the Hat
One Fish, Two fish
Flight of Hippogriff
Eat lunch at Three Broomsticks
Walk around for a bit exploring Harry Potter area
Head to Hogsmeade Express, and ride to Universal
Go to Ollivanders and make a wand
Head to Escape from Gringotts (estimated wait is 28 min. according to touring plans)
Tour Diagon Alley
E.T adventure
Men in Black
Despicable Me
Shrek 4

So, Am I crazy for not doing all the Harry Potter stuff first? This just seems to make more logistical sense, but I can do another way, if you think touring plans is wrong about a 28 min. wait time, which is by far our longest wait. Most of the other estimates are way low, due to Express pass. Please advise. If I should do Harry Potter rides (the only ones we want are Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts) first, I need to remake my plan. Thank you!

 

[macraven]

i'm not sure how much of marvel is open in that first early hour of the park for hotel guests.
probably hulk, spidey and doom.

even though i stay onsite, i don't always go to the parks during EE.
depends on how much sleep i had the night before.
i stay on site for more than a couple of days and able to hit everything in due time during my vacation.

not sure if seuss, which is on the opposite side at the front of IOA is open also. ???
just don't remember..

hopefully someone will come along and post if there are more rides open in that early entrance period.


if the 11th the only day you will be doing the parks?
you stated you plan on doing both parks on that same day.

 

[RMulieri]

The only thing open for early entry IS Harry Potter.The rest of the park isn't open till regular hours.In busier times of year they have had Carouseussal or One fish ,two fish open during early entry as well.

 

[Jarmo]

In September, on a weekday, with express pass... there is almost no need for a touring plan. I'd do Forbidden Journey first thing at early entry (we can usually get on 3 times in a row with no wait), work your way through the rest of the park and then head over to Studios. Ride all the rides there, and do Gringott's just before close.

You can easily clear each park in a half day with express passes.

 

[kguenther8]

So, my plan to stay in one park before heading to Hogwarts express after lunch is OK? We will be at the parks for a few hours on Sept. 12th also. Our flight doesn't leave until 6:30, so we plan to either enjoy the pool or parks more, (we have 2 day tickets anyways) whatever the kids decide. I figured we could just repeat things we really liked.

 

[VacaPlanner2012]

I am in agreement with Jarmo, and my feet hurt just reading your plan...ouch! If your list is just a checklist of what you want to ride, great. If it is meant to be in that order, I would suggest that you look at the maps on the uni website. IoA is a big circle. Get to the castle with early entry and explore anything else in HP world you can. Then choose clockwise or counterclockwise and go with it. Everything else (except the Flyers in Jurassic World) takes Express, so there is no "best way". When you complete the circle, hit the train over to Universal. Navigating Universal is not quite as simple as IoA, but again, consult the map. If MIB is truly a must ride (I love it), then head left out of Diagon Alley and go there. It is the "furthest" ride from the entrance. Then work your way through Springfield to ET. Once you are our of ET, you can either head to Despicable Me and around or head to Transformers/Disaster and work that way. And make sure you put Mummy on your list!!!!! If this is all gibberish, then I apologize. Again, go to the map and check it out. I would hate for you to have sore feet at the end of the day as you look over the lake yonder and see MIB off in the distance...

 

[macraven]

The only thing open for early entry IS Harry Potter.The rest of the park isn't open till regular hours.In busier times of year they have had Carouseussal or One fish ,two fish open during early entry as well.

i go in october and hit the columbus day weekend during my stay.
spiderman has been open during some of my visits when ioa is early entry
probably due to larger crowds as many only want to hit potterlandville for it.
but, spidey has been opened on a few days i did ee.
thinking it was because of huge crowds