Only One Full Day

[kmedina]

If you had one full day, one 3/4 day, and one half day and wanted to visit all three parks, how would you decide to split the visits? I'm planning on staying at the hotel to get the express passes and will buy the one for the waterpark.

 

[Pooh's World]

If you had one full day, one 3/4 day, and one half day and wanted to visit all three parks, how would you decide to split the visits? I'm planning on staying at the hotel to get the express passes and will buy the one for the waterpark.

Depends if you have been to the Universal Parks before or not. (If you already have then you can skip alot of the rides which would make things even faster)

 

[AJA]

If my kiddos loved water parks I would do the 3/4 day there, as it must be very important to include it with that tight time frame, otherwise “i” would skip VB and have all 3 days/parts of days for the 2 parks.

With express pass you can get a lot done between the 2 parks in a day and a half, excluding quality time immersed in Harry Potter world.

If you don’t have a HUGE Harry Potter fan you will be fine. If you do I would seriously think about skipping VB and spending that time in HP.

Watch some UTube videos and see exactly what popular time consuming rides your family can skip if needed and which ones are a must do. Plan around those .

 

[DisneyMom93]

Personally, we never do the water parks at Universal or Disney World. Our thinking is we have good water parks in our home state. We can go to any of those over the summer. When we visit Florida we spend our precious vacation days at the main parks only.

 

[kmedina]

Depends if you have been to the Universal Parks before or not. (If you already have then you can skip alot of the rides which would make things even faster)

I've been to the one in Hollywood plenty of times, but this will be my first visit to Universal Orlando.

If my kiddos loved water parks I would do the 3/4 day there, as it must be very important to include it with that tight time frame, otherwise “i” would skip VB and have all 3 days/parts of days for the 2 parks.

With express pass you can get a lot done between the 2 parks in a day and a half, excluding quality time immersed in Harry Potter world.

If you don’t have a HUGE Harry Potter fan you will be fine. If you do I would seriously think about skipping VB and spending that time in HP.

Watch some UTube videos and see exactly what popular time consuming rides your family can skip if needed and which ones are a must do. Plan around those .

My kids do love water parks. They also love Harry Potter. When we did Universal Hollywood, they played with their wands more than they rode any of the rides. It was a lot of fun getting them, too. Of everyone in the room, I was selected for a wand to choose me. It surprised me, because I assumed they would pick a kid.

Personally, we never do the water parks at Universal or Disney World. Our thinking is we have good water parks in our home state. We can go to any of those over the summer. When we visit Florida we spend our precious vacation days at the main parks only.

Surprisingly, we only have 2 parks anywhere near us, which is crazy given how hot it gets here. One has a huge bee problem. With a bee allergy, that one is out. That only leaves one we can visit locally. I like to explore waterparks when we travel to give my kids some variety. They love waterparks.

 

[maverik85]

Personally with that list I would skip the water park as it would be tight to get to everything with the limitation without being rushed. If you had to get it in I'd allot either the 3/4 da or 1/2 day to it. I haven't been so not sure how long it would take, but if the express pass gets you through it quick i would do the 1/2 day there as it probably has less to do overall, but depends on how long you think you could spend doing the same slides or lazy river/wave pools.

Since your kids are Harry Potter fans I'd probably dot he first day at Universal Orlando. Work your way back to Diagon Alley, hitting any rides on the way you want to do. Then go through everything you want there since it would be a new area and it has a lot to explore for fans. Then take the train to Hogsmeade and do Harry Potter stuff there, then ride it back (it's different each way). After this finish up Universal Studios and reride anything you want if you have time.
I'd use the 3/4 or 1/2 day then to do IoA focusing on the non Harry Potter stuff since it got covered in the full day and just hitting what you really want out of it when done.

 

[kmedina]

Personally with that list I would skip the water park as it would be tight to get to everything with the limitation without being rushed. If you had to get it in I'd allot either the 3/4 da or 1/2 day to it. I haven't been so not sure how long it would take, but if the express pass gets you through it quick i would do the 1/2 day there as it probably has less to do overall, but depends on how long you think you could spend doing the same slides or lazy river/wave pools.

Since your kids are Harry Potter fans I'd probably dot he first day at Universal Orlando. Work your way back to Diagon Alley, hitting any rides on the way you want to do. Then go through everything you want there since it would be a new area and it has a lot to explore for fans. Then take the train to Hogsmeade and do Harry Potter stuff there, then ride it back (it's different each way). After this finish up Universal Studios and reride anything you want if you have time.
I'd use the 3/4 or 1/2 day then to do IoA focusing on the non Harry Potter stuff since it got covered in the full day and just hitting what you really want out of it when done.

Thanks, I've been considering dropping the water park if we do not cover everything at the other 2 parks in the first 2 days. The half day comes last, so I will know by then.

The first day is the 3/4 day, so I want to go to the park we'd do the least amount of stuff at.

 

[Darrah]

When we did VB, we did early entry and were there at opening and were more than done by lunchtime. I think 1/2 day there is definitely doable and enough. It's a great park, but it wore us out quickly.

 

[kmedina]

When we did VB, we did early entry and were there at opening and were more than done by lunchtime. I think 1/2 day there is definitely doable and enough. It's a great park, but it wore us out quickly.

Thanks. Now, you have me rethinking my decision. It looks like an awesome water park, so half a day may be better than nothing, especially if we're able to buy the express passes.

 

[Darrah]

Thanks. Now, you have me rethinking my decision. It looks like an awesome water park, so half a day may be better than nothing, especially if we're able to buy the express passes.

Honestly, I'd stick with what you said upthread and save it for the last day and decide then based on how much you were able to see/do at the other parks. I generally like water parks and VB is definitely nice and well-themed (and I could float in the fast "lazy" river all day if you let me), but I personally would not prioritize it over the regular parks, especially if it meant having to travel home with wet suits! Ha!

 

[kmedina]

Honestly, I'd stick with what you said upthread and save it for the last day and decide then based on how much you were able to see/do at the other parks. I generally like water parks and VB is definitely nice and well-themed (and I could float in the fast "lazy" river all day if you let me), but I personally would not prioritize it over the regular parks, especially if it meant having to travel home with wet suits! Ha!

Yeah, travelling home with wet suits is not ideal. I've done it before, and it took a couple of washes to remove the mildew smell.