Noob questions about times, rides and priority..help please..

[sjw211]

We're going to US and IOA on the 19th & 20th August.. (I believe schools are back then - does that have much impact?)
I've not been to US since '96 and have never been to IAO. I can remember very little about US - Jaws was there when I went and apparently is no longer there...
Can somebody give me some tips on how best to approach the two days?
Of particular interest is times to get there, which park(s) to do each day and which rides to do and when. We could get there early so a Universal 'plan' of rides and priorities would be awesome!
We love all the fast, action types of rides especially.

 

[RMulieri]

First, yes school is back in in Florida, but I wouldnt count on the crowds dying down tremendously.Not with HP being so new.Are you staying onsite?

 

[sjw211]

Hi, thanks for the reply. No, we're staying offsite (at Disney SSR).

 

[RMulieri]

Get to the parks WELL BEFORE opening and be ready to go.The 2 Harry Potter areas will be already packed and busy when the parks open to day guests( onsite guests get early entry).Which park , which day isnt all that important.You are there on 2weekdays.Are you interested in the Harry Potter Stuff?

 

[sjw211]

Get to the parks WELL BEFORE opening and be ready to go.The 2 Harry Potter areas will be already packed and busy when the parks open to day guests( onsite guests get early entry).Which park , which day isnt all that important.You are there on 2weekdays.Are you interested in the Harry Potter Stuff?

Hi, yes we're interested in the HP stuff - but I wouldn't be willing to queue for 2hrs to do a single ride to the detriment of the others. Which of the rides should we do early before they get too busy?

 

[Metro West]

Hi, yes we're interested in the HP stuff - but I wouldn't be willing to queue for 2hrs to do a single ride to the detriment of the others. Which of the rides should we do early before they get too busy?

If you are talking about HP rides, you might want to do Hogwarts Express early since it doesn't seem to have much of a line before 11am or so. Save Gringotts for later in the day...just something to think about.

If you talking about non-HP rides, I would suggest doing Despicable Me first as it always has a long line throughout the day...even for Express.