Only doing Universal Studios...please help.

[Alligirl1]

I have never been to US and are looking for some help, we will be going on March 25 (friday). It will be my husband and 2 teenage sons, who have no interest in going to see Harry Potter so we thought we would stick with only seeing the one park.
They would like to go on all the rides if possible but are there any "must sees" and any "not to bothers".
Also is there any order we should do them in. We are thinking about getting an express pass as we are not much of line waiters if it can be avoided.
We are staying off site and planning on getting there early.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[flfun]

Don't buy the express passes ahead of time, you may not need them. Since you are going before opening you will get a lot done before 11:00 when the main crowd begins to arrive. You can judge whether or not you want to buy passes at that time.

I would skip the kid-oriented rides and get the more popular rides under my belt first while it isn't crowded. Mummy, Rip Ride Rocket, Men In Black and Simpsons would be first on my list, especially with teens. I think you'll be surprised how much you can get done in one day.

 

[Planogirl]

I agree with the PP. The Mummy is a particularly good ride IMO. I wouldn't discount any of the attractions though. We have no small kids but we love Shrek and both Disaster and Jaws are fun in their way. ET has a great queue and is a quirky little ride. Terminator is a good show and easy to see in the afternoon when you want to rest for a while. Same for the Gory and Gruesome Makeup Show which is a hoot!

We have been staying offsite for the last few years and getting there at opening is such a help. You can literally see the people pouring into the park later in the morning.

 

[Metro West]

I have never been to US and are looking for some help, we will be going on March 25 (friday). It will be my husband and 2 teenage sons, who have no interest in going to see Harry Potter so we thought we would stick with only seeing the one park.
They would like to go on all the rides if possible but are there any "must sees" and any "not to bothers".
Also is there any order we should do them in. We are thinking about getting an express pass as we are not much of line waiters if it can be avoided.
We are staying off site and planning on getting there early.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Make sure you see the Horror Make Up Show...it's a lot of fun and I'm sure your family would enjoy it!

 

[Alligirl1]

Flfun, Planogirl and Metro West thanks so much for all the info. I will go over the map and put the rides in order of seeing them and leave the shows and younger rides till the afternoon.
Are we able to leave the park and come back later?? What is the park like in the evenings...busy?

 

[ladylinda65]

While I agree that if you are not interested in Potter USF is a way to go but as a thrill ride person I totally LOVE marvel island (hulk, spiderman, doctor doom)...but I also love RRR, and Mummy so I don't think I could actually choose between the two.

Since you were considering express passes anyway, why not use the savings and go to IOA as well? I realize that they put dueling dragons (oopss...sorry...dragons challenge now) in HP but that is also still one of my favorite coasters and flight of the hypogrith is a kinda cool little wooden coaster (sometimes with all the big coasters you forget how cool a small wooden coaster can be!)

I don't envy you having to choose.

Good Luck!

 

[HLAuburn]

I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but I might reconsider skipping IOA. Assuming your teens like thrill rides, I definitely this IOA has more to offer than Studios. My girls are too young to be into Harry Potter and my husband and I were not particular fans, but I have to admit that it was amazing. Not only is the Forbidden Journey ride unlike anything you've experienced before, it's really cool just to walk through the "town" and take it all in.

That said, if you decide to do just the Studios, I'd definitely hit The Mummy and Rip Rocket Coaster. Disaster is fun, and Twister is cool, too. As for Men in Black and Simpson's - just OK, in my opinion.

We stayed onsite, so we were spoiled with the express passes. If you go to the Universal website to price out the Express Passes, you should be able to get an idea of what they expect the crowds to be like according to the price. Rides that had 45+ min waits were walk-on with the passes. Being around Spring Break, I'd imagine it will be pretty busy.

 

[Metro West]

Are we able to leave the park and come back later?? What is the park like in the evenings...busy?

Yes...you can come and go as much as you please for that one park. The park hours are 9am to 8pm for March 25th but there's a Mardi Gras concert that night. Namely...OneRepublic which will bring in a huge crowd so the overall park crowd will pick up that afternoon.