Touring Plan Help Please!

[lakoda]

We are visiting next week on Wed April 22 & Thurs April 23. Staying offsite (not by my choice though!), we will have PTP. Our group is 5 adults plus 4 and 6 year old girls so we will use Rider Swap as needed. I'm struggling to create a plan of attack and keep reading different philosophies!

My understanding is since we don't have EE that we should take advantage of low waits on everything else...but according to Orlando Informer our dates are considered "slow" in regard to crowd levels with an average max wait time of 45 minutes for DM and Gringotts during the busiest part of the day. In addition, I'm not real clear on which park has early entry for those two days. I've also read that you can hit busiest attractions at one park, then hit HP areas, take HE to other park and hit the lower wait attrations there, then switch parks the next day. We would like to take HE both ways regardless so this seems to make sense.

Will be there at 8 am for 9:00 open both days but here is tentative plan for USF (open 9 - 8:30):
Despicable Me
Transformers
Rip Ride Rocket
Check wait time for Gringotts? Not opposed to SR but don't want to miss anything!
Explore DA, purchase interactive wands
Take HE to IOA

Other priorities for USF: Mummy, ET, MIB, Kidzone, and maybe Terminator (hubby likes this one!)

Tentative plan for IOA (if no early entry)
Ride FJ, flight of hippogriff, dragon challenge
Explore Hogsmeade
Other priorities:
Hulk
Spiderman
Jurrasic ride, and camp jurassic
Seuss Landing

Thanks for any assistance, getting down to the wire!!
Lisa

 

[macraven]

i think it would be wise to hit DE early.
too many times i see long lines in the standby lines for that ride.

express for your dates are in the middle range to low.
ioa would be $50 for the express one time only
studios at $60

looks like a moderate day

only the studios has the longer hours on 22nd of a 8:30 closing.
7 is the closing time on the 23rd for both parks and for 7 for ioa on the 22nd.

use the srl or child swap when needed.
on the srl rides, put the kids in between the adults in the line so an adult will be off first to watch the kids when they get off the ride.

 

[lakoda]

Thank you for your reponse! I'm feeling dumb though...or I've mixed up my abbrevations lol...what is DE??
I think moderate sounds more realistic. What are your thoughts on switching parks by riding HE?

 

[macraven]

sorry i was speaking a foreign language.....lol

despicable me ride is DE

 

[macraven]

on a moderate day in the park could mean some of the headliner rides would have more activity with lines than other rides/shows in the park.

you should be fine for the overall time in lines for the day.

 

[schumigirl]

Thank you for your reponse! I'm feeling dumb though...or I've mixed up my abbrevations lol...what is DE??
I think moderate sounds more realistic. What are your thoughts on switching parks by riding HE?

Using HE to get from park to park is a good idea.......but make sure you ride it both ways........it's a different on each direction........a lot of fun and shouldn't be missed

 

[lakoda]

Haha, thank you for the translation!

I just called Universal's Guest Services...they are reporting that IOA will have EPA both days we are there. If this is true, that would be a good thing! I guess we could hit USF at rope drop both days...hitting DE one day and Gringotts the next? Would this work?

And we definitely want to hit HE from both parks, thanks schumigirl!!

 

[macraven]