Planning 4th of July at Universal

Keyser

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 19, 1999
Messages
833
OK, so we will be at Universal during one of the busiest times of the summer. We can't change much about our times, but we'll have 3-day park hoppers and will be on site so that we get the front of the line benefit (not sure how much that will really help, but I expect it can't hurt...). I figure both parks are going to be packed all weekend, and I'm trying to figure out how we should approach seeing as much as possible in the time we have available. Harry Potter areas are the highest priority, but we kind of want to see a bit of everything (probably skipping the biggest roller coasters, though). I'd love some advice as to how to approach the parks. Our schedule:

Saturday, July 2: We won't arrive until afternoon, and the plan is to check in to the hotel then go to a park for the rest of the day - probably will be 4:00-5:00 when we get to the park. Where would it make sense to go? The parks are open until 10, but since we will have been traveling that day, we probably can't stay until about 8:30-9:00. So, figure we have about 4 hours, during which we'll want to get a quick dinner.

Sunday, July 3: Due to other plans, we'll either arrive late (10:30 or so) or need to leave in the afternoon/evening this day (don't know for sure which it will be, yet). I expect we could get more done if we arrived in the morning at opening (both parks open early at 7), but we might not be able to do so. In any case, we'll have about 3/4 of a day, and we probably can't last all day. Plus, we'll want to get to bed early enough to make it out for early entry the next day. Figure we'll have 8-9 hours, subtracting time for lunch and maybe dinner.

Monday, July 4: Both parks open early at 7:00, and I expect we'll be there at opening. We won't be able to go all day, so we'll need an afternoon break. But, we'll be OK to go almost all day (with breaks for meals and a break in the afternoon).

Also, do the parks do anything special for the 4th? Fireworks or anything?

Given that, how would you break up your time between the two parks, assuming we have:
- Late day for about 4 hours on Saturday
- Either morning-early afternoon or late morning-evening on Sunday, maybe 8 hours time.
- All day Monday, but with a break in the afternoon. Figure about 10 hours here.

I appreciate any advice!
 
i would try that option you listed of possibly doing early entry on sunday july 3rd, instead of starting the parks at 10:30 or after that day.

be at the ee line around 6:30 am.
do what you want and leave at 10:30 if you need a rest in the room before your other day plans start.

it will be a very busy weekend due to the 4th.
utilize the early entry as much as you can squeeze in.
 
Thanks for the reply. I will try to go at opening on that Sunday, but I might not have the option.

I guess what I'm most wondering is: how should I spend the days - is one park better than the other to start out at (considering we'll be arriving late afternoon and won't have a ton of time that day, though we will have the Express Pass feature)? Does it make sense to save one park for Monday, and split the other on Saturday/Sunday, or with the park hopper should we actually be hopping back and forth? etc. I'd like to have some plan as for how to handle things once we're there, so we don't just wander around the first day getting our bearings!
 
i go back and forth between the parks especially when they have tour groups there.
i'll start out with one park and if i am at potter land and done there for a bit, i'll take HE to get to the other park.

some days even with ep and lines run 20 minutes, i'll wait it out and also hit the shows those days.
i mix it up based on how i'm feeling that day and line wait times.

i can't do all the shows on one day
i prefer to mix it up and do one for each day i'm in the parks.
but, i do horor make up show twice on each visit.
that's my only repeat show in the parks i do, that and the parade.

study the layout of the park maps in advance
www.universalorlando.com
pick out certain rides or park sections you want to spend more time in.
work around that schedule and hit the other sections in the parks later.

coming back to potterland in the evening an hour before it closes usually has less crowds.

if the only way you can do the parks is by staying in one all day, that can work for you too.
i find many in the parks without the park to park passes and they seem to enjoy doing only one park a day.
i've been going for a long time to the darkside and what i miss, i know i will hit the next time there.
 








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