Planning 1-Day Oct Trip

[GoofyFan77]

I've never been to Universal Orlando, or at least it's been so long and I was so young I barely remember, ha!

I'm going to WDW October 1-7 and I want to dedicate one day to UO.

I would like to do both USF and IOA, as well as HHN. If I purchase an express pass, does anyone who has been there before think this is doable?

My GF and I are mainly going to the parks to focus on thrill rides and explore Harry Potter (but would just walk through Harry Potter sections and do rides, don't need to wait in line to do Ollivanders for example). And then would do HHN at night.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

[RMulieri]

The thing is that with the opening of the Harry Potter expansion at the studios this summer, that is going to change park dynamics alot.You may be able to do the highlights of both parks, but not all of them and especially with the high traffic likely in the HP areas of both parks.express pass will help.Keep in mind that the studios will close early for HHN too.

 

[damo]

The thing is that with the opening of the Harry Potter expansion at the studios this summer, that is going to change park dynamics alot.You may be able to do the highlights of both parks, but not all of them and especially with the high traffic likely in the HP areas of both parks.express pass will help.Keep in mind that the studios will close early for HHN too.

I agree. It will be like doing Magic Kingdom and Epcot in one day. You'll be able to do some good stuff but not most of it.

 

[GoofyFan77]

I agree. It will be like doing Magic Kingdom and Epcot in one day. You'll be able to do some good stuff but not most of it.

Well my main concern is being able to do the Coasters, and some of the water rides seemed cool in Toon Lagoon, but as long as we do the Coasters and get to experience HHN, we would be happy. Anything extra would be bonus. I mean I definitely want to go to the Harry Potter worlds, but would just focus on the rides, nothing else.

Also, aren't some rides open during HHN? Like I could focus on doing the ones that are closed during HHN earlier in the day and then after 6:30, do the houses and whatever rides are open.

Thoughts?

 

[RMulieri]

Well my main concern is being able to do the Coasters, and some of the water rides seemed cool in Toon Lagoon, but as long as we do the Coasters and get to experience HHN, we would be happy. Anything extra would be bonus. I mean I definitely want to go to the Harry Potter worlds, but would just focus on the rides, nothing else.

Also, aren't some rides open during HHN? Like I could focus on doing the ones that are closed during HHN earlier in the day and then after 6:30, do the houses and whatever rides are open.

Thoughts?

Some rides are yes...BUT if you are spending ALL that extra money to see HHN, you are going to want to focus on that. First, HHN is busy and attracts crowds. Your regular express pass will NOT cover the HHN houses, you would need to purchase a separate one for that.People have posted being at HHN for opening and having express for it and STILL not getting to all the houses.You are not going to want to waste time on rides.

Just doing the rides at HP sounds doable , but keep in mind...Forbidden Journey does NOT accept the express pass.SO you are either doing standby ( which can have long waits), or single rider which is less waits, but still waits.No word whether the new rides will offer express, but since everyone will be wanting to experience them, i imagine waits for the hogwarts express and Gringotts will be very long .For the coasters, like Hulk, the express pass helps most definitely, but if you are a coaster-junkie and want the front, there is an additional wait for that .express pass helps, but it is not instantaneous front of the line access.We have waited up to 20 mins in the express line before, and that was not during peak season either.If you are ok with missing stuff, and only seeing some of the 2 parks, it is doable.But it is like trying to cram Epcot and MK into one day..

 

[Metro West]

I would like to do both USF and IOA, as well as HHN. If I purchase an express pass, does anyone who has been there before think this is doable?

Since you are only concerned about the thrill rides, you can probably get most of the parks done and the EP will definitely help. If you are looking to do HHN that night, you will want to do IOA first and then be in the Studios before it closes at 5pm.

Also, aren't some rides open during HHN? Like I could focus on doing the ones that are closed during HHN earlier in the day and then after 6:30, do the houses and whatever rides are open.

Yes...some attractions are open during HHN but unless you plan on doing more than a single night at HHN or will purchase an EP, you won't be able to do all the houses and rides. Concentrate on the rides during the day and devote your HHN time to houses and shows.

HHN EPs cover houses and attractions that are open and the first seating of Bill and Ted's show...but only once through the line. The thing that will be of greatest help is to do Stay & Scream. You must be inside the Studios before it closes for day guests to do it and you must have a valid HHN for that night. You are placed in a holding area from 5pm until right before 6pm when you are released into the park. Several houses are open early so those are a breeze to do before it gets busy. We'll be talking a lot more about HHN in the coming months.

 

[MidnightParade]

We're planning a one day at Universal as well in October and I was leaning towards not getting the express pass. We'll be staying on site so will have the early entry to Harry Potter which I hope will help. But we've also been to US previously(before Harry) so there are things we are okay with skipping to make sure we get to ride what we want. I actually have a list of must do's now. Will play it by ear though and see how the budget looks and we may end up picking up the express pass.

I think the key for a one day both parks is planning. Make a list of must do's, hit the park that has the most of them first and then move on to the next. You can always go back later for some leisurely strolling if there's time.

HHN is awesome and highly recommend hitting the houses first over the rides. After you do a few you can always decide if you want to hit the rides instead. But I wouldn't leave a must do ride till then, just in case.

 

[GoofyFan77]

Yea that is what I thought too. We were thinking, that as long as we focus on what we want to do, and check off all the "must do's" than we'll be happy. It is a very expensive endeavor and we don't know if we have it in the budget to go for two full days and as much as we want to do Universal, we also don't want to take too much time out of the WDW world portion of the trip. Adding Universal is now a sudden "addition" to the trip. I think as long as we look at it that way, and go into it understanding we aren't going to be able to do EVERYTHING, then we'll really enjoy the day.

Get there right at opening, do IOA first focusing on the Thrill Rides there and "hopefully" get to do Forbidden Journey, then take the express over to USF for the rest of the afternoon until HHN begins. We're not HUGE harry potter fans, so if we miss some of these attractions we won't be too upset.

And we definitely will be purchasing the exp. pass for both the parks and HHN, this is a must in my book to have any chance at doing all the "must do" rides.