Revised plan, any thoughts?

[rdominy]

We were able to get a buy 2 day get 1 day free ticket. I have moved some things around and wanted to get opinions. The trip will be me, DH, DD9, and DS2.

December 26
5:00 Curious George
6:00 Diagon Alley Exploration
7:00 Olivander's
Leave

December 27
5:15 Wake Up
5:45 Check-in at Hotel
7:00 Park Opens
7:00 Forbidden Journey
7:30 Flight of the Hippogriff
8:00 Hogwarts Express
8:30 Despicable Me
9:15 Shrek 4D
10:00 ET
10:30 Woody Woopecker
11:00 Cletus Chicken/Pink Donut
12:00 Fievel's Playland
1:00 Simpons' Ride
1:45 Kang & Kodoas Twirl n Hurl
Explore
3:30 Nap at hotel
7:00 Finnegan's
Whatever

December 28
6:00 Wake Up
7:00 Park Opens
7:00 Escape from Gringotts
7:30 Diagon Alley, Olivander's
8:00 Hogwarts Express
8:30 Pterandon Flyers
9:00 Kong
9:45 Camp Jurassic
10:45 Hulk/Storm Force
11:30 Toothsome
1:00 Nap
4:00 If I ran the zoo
4:30 Caro Seussel
5:00 Cat in the Hat
5:30 High in the Sky
6:00 3 Broomsticks

 

[bumbershoot]

Are you onsite? Do you have ep and/or early entrance?

Others will have more in depth thoughts but I think you are underestimating the time for playing. Fievels, George, Camp Jurassic...those are fun and you might be setting things up for tantrums with less than an hour at each (I don't see any time given for traveling to the new area).

 

[kohlby]

Keep in mind that things will take a little longer if you're doing child swap - you'll need to plan time for both you and your husband to do the ride. (Your 9 year old can do it twice!)

I also think you're underestimating how long things will take. It is going to be very crowded. Walking through the crowds will take longer than usual. I'm presuming you have express pass based on those times too, but also keep in mind that express pass means much faster than the regular line - not no wait. Express can mean no wait in low crowds but can mean waiting half as long as the regular line with high crowds. (Also it's nice to be able to pace to what the kids want).

Does one park open at 8am and the other at 7am? Hogwarts is likely not going to work out if that's the case. We were there during moderate crowds and had the great idea of taking Hogwarts over as we were in the park that opened at 8am with early entry and the other park was 9am. There was an hour long line at hogwarts express as many, many other people had that idea. If both parks open at 7am, then that will help quite a bit. But still expect many others to plan to ride Gringotts/FJ and then take the train to the other side. Hopefully, that will mean more like a 30 minute wait than an hour.

 

[rdominy]

Keep in mind that things will take a little longer if you're doing child swap - you'll need to plan time for both you and your husband to do the ride. (Your 9 year old can do it twice!)

I also think you're underestimating how long things will take. It is going to be very crowded. Walking through the crowds will take longer than usual. I'm presuming you have express pass based on those times too, but also keep in mind that express pass means much faster than the regular line - not no wait. Express can mean no wait in low crowds but can mean waiting half as long as the regular line with high crowds. (Also it's nice to be able to pace to what the kids want).

Does one park open at 8am and the other at 7am? Hogwarts is likely not going to work out if that's the case. We were there during moderate crowds and had the great idea of taking Hogwarts over as we were in the park that opened at 8am with early entry and the other park was 9am. There was an hour long line at hogwarts express as many, many other people had that idea. If both parks open at 7am, then that will help quite a bit. But still expect many others to plan to ride Gringotts/FJ and then take the train to the other side. Hopefully, that will mean more like a 30 minute wait than an hour.

Thanks. I know it might be off with times and I want mostly a rough plan and could potentially cut a nap at the hotel and do a nap in the stroller if we need to.
Both parks do open at 7:00.

 

[bchbetha]

Where's time to just sit with a snack and just chill? It looks like such a tight schedule with no room to be spontaneous.
We spent time just relaxing at the Hogshead Inn patio, eating ice cream on Diagonal Alley and watching the dragon, visiting shops, watching the talking fountain in IOA, eating more ice cream in Seuss Landing... we spent lots of time at Camp Jurassic and watching as many shows as possible.
As written, it looks like you're skipping most everything but rides. I'd encourage you to lose the time schedule. You can use a few times as benchmarks, like meals. But play the rest by ear. Use your order but allow time to just relax and enjoy. If something looks cool, do it.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

What about MiB, Mummy, and HRRR? Decently fun rides imo.

If it were me I'd cut the nap. It takes quite a decent amount of time to leave Universal and come back even when staying onsite. You can sleep while at work/school. No need for it on vacation. That's my motto anyway.

I'd also skip Finnegans and just grab a dinner after the park closes at city walk, I'd put the pink donut after the Fievel's playground otherwise you'd go to Simpsons right after Woody which is right next to Fievel, and I'd probably move Despicable me to the first thing on Dec 28th otw to Diagon Alley because that ride can get long very quickly. Oh...you also forgot Terminator, Spiderman, and Transformers.