Tips for the Unitiated

[TallMumHP]

Have not been to US or IoA. Have been to WDW more than I can count and Sea World but never made it there. For MLK Day Weekend, I have booked us one night (Sunday) at Portofino Bay. My DD is 11 and is excited for all things Harry Potter and roller coasters.

I am thinking we will arrive early at the hotel to use the early entry priviledge and will use it again on Monday. I would love to get your thoughts on touring plans, best tickets for us, etc. Would love to learn from people who know the parks and have done this before. We fly out Monday early evening, so really have a day and an 3/4.

How early do we need to get to the hotel on Sunday? What should we do first? What is a good plan of attack. Best rides for an roller coaster loving daughter and a not so brave mum?

Thank you for any tips.

 

[damo]

I'd get to the hotel around 7 to check in and get your room keys/express passes. You'll have plenty of time to do everything in those two days.

 

[TallMumHP]

That early!?! We are staying at Old Key West on DVC points the night before. So I guess we need to check out about 6:30 to get a cab over there. Thanks.

Plan of attack? One park a day or Harry Potter the first morning, then hop over to US. Then we can go back the second morning WWHP if we love it that much. What do people think?

We went all out and got a Club Level room so we can relax that night and get an early morning breakfast before we hit the parks again in the AM.

 

[damo]

If you want to do early entry for the Wizarding World, you should be at the park gates by at least 7:45. That means you should be getting to the hotel by about 7. If you really only want to do early entry once, then it doesn't really matter. I'd still get there in the morning though.

 

[christophfam]

You can definitely wait and do early entry your second morning so you don't have to get up so early leaving from WDW, but if your daughter is anything like my daughter she will want to go there first! I'd say it is worth it to go that early the first morning and then you have the option of doing ee again the next morning.

Best plan of attack is to hit Olivander's first (unless the line looks really long) then FJ. FOTH in WWOHP would be a great first coaster for the day - it is a baby one. Then you just have DD left to ride in WWOHP. It is a pretty intense coaster and one I will let my DD12 ride alone more often than not. I walk her all the way through the cue, watch her get on the coaster and stand there until it returns. We then exit together. Only time I can't see her is when the coaster is moving for those few minutes. If you don't really like coasters, this may work for you also. The CMs are always very nice and show me where to wait when I choose not to ride.

I wouldn't worry about heading over to the Studios that first morning. Since you're already at IOA, you may as well tour the rest of that park that day. Spiderman, Jurassic, Doctor Doom are all great fun, but I do tend to let my daughter tackle the Hulk by herself also. Then there is Seuess Landing which has a lot of fun rides.

The next day you can head back to WWOHP in the morning for ee then head to the Studios. I can tolerate the Mummy coaster just fine since it isn't as intense as DD and the Hulk so if you want to try a coaster this would be a good one to try. You should have plenty of time with express to get done what you want before your flight.

Have fun!

 

[Planogirl]

I just wanted to stress something that was already mentioned. You will have unlimited Express so it'll be easy to see most of the attractions. Unlimited Express is wonderful!

Wide World of Harry Potter and Rip Ride Rockit will be the only notable exceptions. That is, if you can steer your daughter away from the Pteradonon Flyers - that one also doesn't have an Express line.

I agree, do try the Mummy. Do you ride Big Thunder Mountain? If so, the Mummy will probably be fine for you.

 

[TallMumHP]

Thanks for the great tips. This is just what I was looking for!! I defintely do Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain so the Mummy sounds fine. I start to get uncomfortable with Rocking Roller Coaster and that backwards bit in Evererst just drives me crazy. What is that car doing during that backwards bit!!! Ugh!

Also reading other threads it sounds like once we do WWoHP attractions we can be much less commando style and just relax. So I think we just get up at he crack of dawn to get there that first day buy the two parks option on our tickets. Hit the Harry Potter stuff then go into slo-mo and enjoy the rest of the day.

Then we have the option to go back to WWoHP in the AM on the second day, if we just love it, and head over to US for the rest of our 3/4 day. How is the walk from IoA to US?

Thanks so much. I am infrequent poster but frequent lurker (or stalker ).

 

[Planogirl]

The walk between the two parks is pretty easy. We normally go back and forth a few times. Citywalk is right there and very handy too. We love to eat lunch in Citywalk.

 

[Metro West]

Also reading other threads it sounds like once we do WWoHP attractions we can be much less commando style and just relax. So I think we just get up at he crack of dawn to get there that first day buy the two parks option on our tickets. Hit the Harry Potter stuff then go into slo-mo and enjoy the rest of the day.

That's the biggest difference between Disney and Universal. You can relax and take your time at Universal unlike at Disney where it's constant rushing to do everything.

 

[LauriM]

we visit Universal every holiday season (in fact we will be there the same weekend as you!). We never have a problem riding everything with our express pass, we usually do one park a day and get straight on the ride. With the exception of WWOHP, the early entry is required unless you don't mind standing in line.
I agree with the earlier entry....everything is more relaxed and easier paced.

 

[puffkin]

We are also Disney vets (AP and DVC). We just did Universal and IOA yesterday and today and basically saw every attraction and all but the Barney and Beetlejuice shows. We did not stay On site and waited in the regular lines. It is much less commando than Disney. We did rush back and do Harry Potter first thing, but after that we didn't rush at all.