Planning one day trip at UIA and US

[WDWRook]

Howdy,

Trying to plan out our day. We are going to Disney June 20-27th and planning a one day - two park pass at UIA/US on Friday June 25th. We have never been and I need some planning help. I already have the park tickets. Kids are 10 and 14.

My kids are not very adventurous for rides. For example they like 7DMT and Splash Mt, only tolerate Big Thunder Mt, so far refused to try Space Mt, and definitely won't try Rock'n Roller Coaster or Everest. We made them agree to go on Tower of Terror this trip. However, they love Flight of Passage, Star Tours, and Soarin, the older likes Mission Space Orange and the younger only has done green. Oddly, my son's favorite ride used to be Sum of All Thrills. So the simulator rides seem fine, but heavy coasters not so much and big fast drops not so much. Based on this we are planning avoiding (or I might SR on my own) Fast and Furious, Rip Ride Rocket, Hulk, Dr Doom, VelociCoaster, maybe Dudly do right. I'm thinking about trying to get them on Hagrids. Thoughts on what else we might want to consider avoiding or what maybe isn't so bad?

On June 25th, it appears that both parks have early hours. I did book a one night stay at Royal Pacific to get the EP and Early entry even though we won't be using the room (I have not told my wife yet, so we shall see if she overrules me). What would you rope drop at early entry? Hagrids then take the train over to Diagon alley?

With Early entry at 8pm, and needing to park and get my passes from the hotel, I assume I need to be there by 7am?

 

[Southernmiss]

The Fast and Furious ride is not fast and furious.

It's a ride in a 'party bus' and was one of the themes of the rides. The most edgy thing about it was a bottle of alcohol, cuss words, and the premise of the ride.

Dr. Doom is like the Tower of Terror in that its a ride with drops.

Hagrid is like Expedition Everest and now a favorite.

Everyone is rope dropping Hagrid and Velocicoaster now.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Try Gringotts & Mummy before Hagrids. It is a big coaster with lots of speed and intense turns, but no major drops.

Dudley isn't intense, just that big drop. But if you go on it or the Popeye barges, note that you will be soaked. Completely soaked. Absolutely soaked.

The Kong ride is not intense but the line is dark and scary. Though that is more so for the non-Express line.

I would not consider Dr Doom & Tower of Terror as all that similar - Dr Doom is your typical drop tower that you can ride anywhere. I would especially NOT ride it first before ToT, because Dr Doom is much less themed / less immersive / less impressive than ToT - you are seated out in the open so it seems more intense also. So if you ride it first and the kids don't like it, they may be more inclined to skip ToT which would be a shame, because they could well like ToT but not Dr Doom.

 

[WDWRook]

I wonder if Hagird's will be too much then. I don't find Expedition Everest as too daring of a coaster but my kids won't even try it.

 

[sandam1]

I wonder if Hagird's will be too much then. I don't find Expedition Everest as too daring of a coaster but my kids won't even try it.

I always describe Hagrid's as like Big Thunder Mountain, but a lot faster and a lot smoother. There are two "uh-oh" moments that aren't as bad as they may seem at the time. I won't post any spoilers, but you can go on YouTube to get a rider POV and find out what they are. As someone who is not a fan of big drops and/or surprises, I felt a lot more comfortable riding Hagrid's once I knew what was going to happen. Also, on Hagrid's, I've found that the sidecar gives you a bit more "secure" feeling.

 

[WDWRook]

Thanks.

So, since we have express passes and early entrance, should Hagrids be our rope drop? Part of me wonders if I should not force the kids on what may be the most adventurous ride first thing and possibly cause them to not try other rides. I have not seen much on how best to tackle early entrance strateges.

 

[cfoxga]

Hagrid's is a big time investment. Unless you are willing to get to the park gates 1 hour before opening, you could spend the entire EE in the queue. EE is also a good opportunity to walk around Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade with smaller crowds.

 

[WDWRook]

Good to know. If we don't rope drop Hagrids and do the other Potter stuff, Hagrids does not have express pass, right? We are going on a Friday so it seems from my reading that Hagrid's also does not do virtual queues on weekdays. When is the best time to squeeze Hagrid's in?

 

[Lisse24]

I have a nephew who's a very nervous when it comes to rides. We convinced him to try Hagrids and he was NOT HAPPY when we got off. However, he'll do Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Spiderman, Transformers, MiB, Hippogriff, and others.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I would opt for mid-afternoon for Hagrids - it seems to have reasonable waits then (although may still be posted longer). Or anytime thereafter. In the dark is particularly awesome, and you can hop in line right before park close if you want. But I tend to think you may want to consider whether the kids will appreciate 55mph on what feels like a big coaster. The sidecar is the place for tentative first timers if they are willing to try.

 

[Southernmiss]

Thanks.

So, since we have express passes and early entrance, should Hagrids be our rope drop? Part of me wonders if I should not force the kids on what may be the most adventurous ride first thing and possibly cause them to not try other rides. I have not seen much on how best to tackle early entrance strateges.

We got in line for Hagrid's at 11:20 yesterday took about an hour and 10 minutes. Line was getting smaller

 

[cfoxga]

Good to know. If we don't rope drop Hagrids and do the other Potter stuff, Hagrids does not have express pass, right? We are going on a Friday so it seems from my reading that Hagrid's also does not do virtual queues on weekdays. When is the best time to squeeze Hagrid's in?

No EP for Hagrid's. I would say early in the morning or maybe late in the evening would be best, but there is no guarantee that you'll get to ride in the evening. You just need to determine how important the ride is to your family. Since you are only at the parks for one day, it might not be worth the time cost unless you get in line 1 hour before the park opens and head straight to it.

Our last trip was in Feb, and a lot has changed since then, but my understanding is that they go to a Virtual Queue when the line backs up too far (past the talking fountain). With social distancing, that meant a lot less people were needed before they went VQ. But now that social distancing rules (spacing in line and on the ride) have been removed, they can fit a lot more people in line before needing to go VQ.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Part of me wonders if I should not force the kids on what may be the most adventurous ride first thing and possibly cause them to not try other rides.

Don't force your kids to do the ride, especially not first thing. If they hate it or if they don't feel well after, they may be unhappy for a good part of the day, and since you only have one day in the parks, it doesn't seem worth getting the day off to a bad start. I could see one bad ride experience putting them off other rides for the rest of the day, especially if one of the kids is stubborn, which is not what you want if you only have one day. Do other things with them. Hopefully you can get back in a few years when the children are older and may be more willing to try it.

 

[bchbetha]

Don't force your kids to do the ride, especially not first thing. If they hate it or if they don't feel well after, they may be unhappy for a good part of the day, and since you only have one day in the parks, it doesn't seem worth getting the day off to a bad start. I could see one bad ride experience putting them off other rides for the rest of the day, especially if one of the kids is stubborn, which is not what you want if you only have one day. Do other things with them. Hopefully you can get back in a few years when the children are older and may be more willing to try it.

I always do the opposite. For 3 out 4 kids my strategy worked great! They got amped up and excited for the day- nice adrenaline rush. The other survived but clearly was never going to like thrill rides. Didn't force them on anything else.

 

[sandam1]

It isn't clear from your posts, but does your wife also want to ride Hagrid's? Maybe you could divide and conquer - one person goes first thing in the morning while the other one takes the kids and then swap duties later in the day. The Flight of the Hipogriff, which is very mild, is right beside Hagrid's for example.

This would also allow the rider to use the single rider lane which may or may not help with the wait time (I've seen it go both ways with Hagrid's). But your gut is probably right - I would not have this be the first ride of the day for nervous riders.

 

[NYHeel]

Actually I think Hagrid's is a great ride for newer or less experienced roller coaster riders. It's very fast and has sharp accelerations but doesn't have large drops or rolls/loops. It's also really smooth. I think everyone except those that really hate any coasters should try it.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Howdy,

Trying to plan out our day. We are going to Disney June 20-27th and planning a one day - two park pass at UIA/US on Friday June 25th. We have never been and I need some planning help. I already have the park tickets. Kids are 10 and 14.

My kids are not very adventurous for rides. For example they like 7DMT and Splash Mt, only tolerate Big Thunder Mt, so far refused to try Space Mt, and definitely won't try Rock'n Roller Coaster or Everest. We made them agree to go on Tower of Terror this trip. However, they love Flight of Passage, Star Tours, and Soarin, the older likes Mission Space Orange and the younger only has done green. Oddly, my son's favorite ride used to be Sum of All Thrills. So the simulator rides seem fine, but heavy coasters not so much and big fast drops not so much. Based on this we are planning avoiding (or I might SR on my own) Fast and Furious, Rip Ride Rocket, Hulk, Dr Doom, VelociCoaster, maybe Dudly do right. I'm thinking about trying to get them on Hagrids. Thoughts on what else we might want to consider avoiding or what maybe isn't so bad?

On June 25th, it appears that both parks have early hours. I did book a one night stay at Royal Pacific to get the EP and Early entry even though we won't be using the room (I have not told my wife yet, so we shall see if she overrules me). What would you rope drop at early entry? Hagrids then take the train over to Diagon alley?

With Early entry at 8pm, and needing to park and get my passes from the hotel, I assume I need to be there by 7am?

Even with EP, you won't finish both parks in 1 day - there's just too many attractions.

So, I'd make a priority list and roll through it.

For your kids, I'd make Hogwarts and Gringotts the Harry Potter priorities - and then I'd go on a "simulator" spree (making sure to also fit in a live showing of the Bourne show), with Fast and Furious being the "simulator to skip" unless you have kids that really, really, really love the movies...and then enjoy not actually riding the movies (it's the oddest ride I've been on)...

 

[Kit Jackson]

I agree with @TwoMisfits. Unless someone in the group is a huge of the Fast and Furious Franchise, I'd skip the ride. It's not very good if you aren't super into the movies.

 

[WDWRook]

Thanks all. We would really like to do Hagrids. I think we might rope drop that and risk the kids reaction. There is a lot we won’t care much about beyond what I posted in the first post. We can skip Seuss land, Jimmy Fallon, woody, Minions, Shrek,

we are really going for Harry Potter stuff. Plus Borne, Simpsons area, Kong, Mummy, Spider-Man. Maybe the water rides that don’t have huge drops. Anything else is bonus. I made a lunch reservation at Margaritaville but I may cancel as I dont want to get locked out if we leave and the park hits capacity.

 

[TwoMisfits]

Thanks all. We would really like to do Hagrids. I think we might rope drop that and risk the kids reaction. There is a lot we won’t care much about beyond what I posted in the first post. We can skip Seuss land, Jimmy Fallon, woody, Minions, Shrek,

we are really going for Harry Potter stuff. Plus Borne, Simpsons area, Kong, Mummy, Spider-Man. Maybe the water rides that don’t have huge drops. Anything else is bonus. I made a lunch reservation at Margaritaville but I may cancel as I dont want to get locked out if we leave and the park hits capacity.

Okay, I mean you can do Hagrid's, but if your kids barely tolerate BIg Thunder Mountain railroad, there's no way they will react well to the ride. BTM is a baby coaster compared to Hagrid's...the speed is just unbelievable (and it gets faster and faster as the ride goes)...and you feel the speed, especially on the bikes...