Realistic expectations

[Feberin]

We're going to be at Universal on Monday April 27th. We have 2 park tickets and are unable to do additional days. We don't have Express passes and my husband is dead set against them. We are staying on property and planning on arriving early. Realistically how many rides should we expect to ride? I know we won't be able to do everything and as long as we can do the Harry Potter stuff I'd consider it a success. I'm expecting to skip Hagrid's. I'll be with my husband, my dad and four kids. My kids will be 10, 7, 4 and 2. My dad has been to Universal recently and is good hanging out with my youngest(s) while we go on rides with height restrictions. We're interested in Harry Potter, Marvel, Simpsons and Jurassic Park areas. Plus rides with 36 inch and up since my youngest loves fast rides.
Also would my Dad need extra clothes to deal with a toddler at the water play areas? Is it easy for an adult to hang back and not get wet?

 

[macraven]

Bring extra clothes for the little and a extra pair of shoes for Gpa

 

[kniquy]

We're going to be at Universal on Monday April 27th. We have 2 park tickets and are unable to do additional days.

We are staying on property

Where are you staying on property? Have you looked into the price difference of staying even one night at RPR? Just one night at RPR resort would get you the express pass for your 2 days (check in and check out days). It is insanely expensive to add express pass - pretty much costs more than the hotel would.

For my families trip I had priced out staying off site and just getting express pass vs staying at RPR and getting express pass included: staying at RPR made much more sense especially when the express pass cost $100+/- per person per day - so your family of 6 (not including the 2 yo) would cost $1200 if you wanted express pass for your 2 days. Price out your options and see what makes sense. With only 2 days and no express pass it does make it harder to accomplish everything you want to do.

 

[kniquy]

We're going to be at Universal on Monday April 27th. We have 2 park tickets and are unable to do additional days.

We are staying on property

I might have read your park time wrong with my below explanation - sounds like you are only there for one day and have the park-park ticket. So my info below may not help your situation.

Where are you staying on property? Have you looked into the price difference of staying even one night at RPR? Just one night at RPR resort would get you the express pass for your 2 days (check in and check out days). It is insanely expensive to add express pass - pretty much costs more than the hotel would.

For my families trip I had priced out staying off site and just getting express pass vs staying at RPR and getting express pass included: staying at RPR made much more sense especially when the express pass cost $100+/- per person per day - so your family of 6 (not including the 2 yo) would cost $1200 if you wanted express pass for your 2 days. Price out your options and see what makes sense. With only 2 days and no express pass it does make it harder to accomplish everything you want to do.

 

[Feberin]

I might have read your park time wrong with my below explanation - sounds like you are only there for one day and have the park-park ticket. So my info below may not help your situation.

Where are you staying on property? Have you looked into the price difference of staying even one night at RPR? Just one night at RPR resort would get you the express pass for your 2 days (check in and check out days). It is insanely expensive to add express pass - pretty much costs more than the hotel would.

For my families trip I had priced out staying off site and just getting express pass vs staying at RPR and getting express pass included: staying at RPR made much more sense especially when the express pass cost $100+/- per person per day - so your family of 6 (not including the 2 yo) would cost $1200 if you wanted express pass for your 2 days. Price out your options and see what makes sense. With only 2 days and no express pass it does make it harder to accomplish everything you want to do.

I understand that it would be a cheaper way to get an Express pass but my husband isn't interested in spending anymore money and it would be $300 extra per room each night. I'm just trying to figure out about how much we'd be able to do in a day. I know we're not going to get anywhere near everything.

 

[georgina]

You will be past Easter season, so crowds hopefully won't be too bad. You should be able to get a lot of what you want done. Early entry park has been studios for Feb & March, if you are interested in Minions I would recommend you do that first on EE. Then go back to Diagon Alley for Potter things. Take in SImpsons (Transformers maybe too?) before heading out on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade at IOA. At US it looks like the only things the 36" can ride is ET and Woody Woodpecker coaster in kiddie area. (I love Mummy and would have a hard time skipping it if you like indoor coasters)

At IOA there are a few more things the 36" can ride. I think the Pteranodon Flyers line can get long. Also Seuss area, Flight of the Hippogriff, Kong. If they want to meet the Marvel superheroes there are several opportunities throughout the day. They come riding out on vehicles which is cool to watch. The Transformers at US is very similar experience to Spider-Man at IOA, so you may not need to do both. Just set your priorities and do what you can, park is open until 9 and many of the lines get shorter in the last hour.

 

[Feberin]

You will be past Easter season, so crowds hopefully won't be too bad. You should be able to get a lot of what you want done. Early entry park has been studios for Feb & March, if you are interested in Minions I would recommend you do that first on EE. Then go back to Diagon Alley for Potter things. Take in SImpsons (Transformers maybe too?) before heading out on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade at IOA. At US it looks like the only things the 36" can ride is ET and Woody Woodpecker coaster in kiddie area. (I love Mummy and would have a hard time skipping it if you like indoor coasters)

At IOA there are a few more things the 36" can ride. I think the Pteranodon Flyers line can get long. Also Seuss area, Flight of the Hippogriff, Kong. If they want to meet the Marvel superheroes there are several opportunities throughout the day. They come riding out on vehicles which is cool to watch. The Transformers at US is very similar experience to Spider-Man at IOA, so you may not need to do both. Just set your priorities and do what you can, park is open until 9 and many of the lines get shorter in the last hour.

Thank you! So it sounds like we can do quite a bit. And that's good to know about Transformers/Spiderman. My husband, daughters and I love rollercoasters but I think we're going to focus on Harry Potter or rides we can do as a family. We're going to return in like 3-5 years when the kids are older and that trip would be more evenly split between Universal and Disney so we'll do a lot more. My husband thinks we should just wait however I have been wanting to go since they added the Harry Potter stuff and am insisting.

 

[macraven]

I might have read your park time wrong with my below explanation - sounds like you are only there for one day and have the park-park ticket. So my info below may not help your situation.

Where are you staying on property? Have you looked into the price difference of staying even one night at RPR? Just one night at RPR resort would get you the express pass for your 2 days (check in and check out days).

For my families trip I had priced out staying off site and just getting express pass vs staying at RPR and getting express pass included: staying at RPR made much more sense especially when the express pass cost $100+/- per person per day - so your family of 6 (not including the 2 yo) would cost $1200 if you wanted express pass for your 2 days. Price out your options and see what makes sense. With only 2 days and no express pass it does make it harder to accomplish everything you want to do.

The 2 yo would not need a park ticket
But would be in the head count for the hotels onsite, so the family total would be 6

 

[Feberin]

The 2 yo would not need a park ticket
But would be in the head count for the hotels onsite, so the family total would be 6

We're 7 with my Dad. We're doing two hotel rooms.

 

[georgina]

Thank you! So it sounds like we can do quite a bit. And that's good to know about Transformers/Spiderman. My husband, daughters and I love rollercoasters but I think we're going to focus on Harry Potter or rides we can do as a family. We're going to return in like 3-5 years when the kids are older and that trip would be more evenly split between Universal and Disney so we'll do a lot more. My husband thinks we should just wait however I have been wanting to go since they added the Harry Potter stuff and am insisting.

I'm sure you will have fun! Our first Universal trip was pre-Harry Potter in 2002, but we just did IOA for one day and had a great time. (My kids were 12, 10, and 7 then) Next trip we went for a few nights. Youngest and I made a special trip in 2010 when Hogsmeade opened as we are big Potter fans too.