Touring Plan Review

[rdominy]

I know everyone says you don't need as detailed of a plan for Universal as you do for Disney, but I need a plan plus we are going at a very busy time. Can someone please look over this and let me know if it seems doable. We are staying onsite and the party consists of me, DH, DD9, DS2.
Thanks

December 27
5:00 Wake Up
5:45 Check-in at Hotel
7:00 Park Opens
7:00 Escape from Gringotts
7:30 Diagon Alley, Olivander's
8:30 Hogwarts Express
9:00 Forbidden Journey
9:45 Flight of the Hippogriff
10:30 Seuss Trolley
10:45 If I Ran the Zoo
11:00 Cat in the Hat
Lunch Toothsome's
Nap Royal Pacific
3:00 ET
3:20 Woody Woodpecker
3:45 Curious George
Pink Donut Simpsons
4:45 Animal Actors
5:30 Shrek
7:00 Finnegan's
Hotel Royal Pacific

December 28
6:00 Wake Up
7:00 Park Opens
7:00 Despicable Me
7:30 Escape from Gringotts
8:00 Twirl N Hurl
8:15 Simpson's Ride
8:45 Hogwarts Express
9:15 Pterandon Flyers
9:45 Camp Jurassic
10:15 Hulk
10:45 Storm Force
Lunch 3 Broomsticks
Nap Royal Pacific
3:30 Oh the Stories
3:50 CaroSeuss
4:15 One Fish Two Fish
4:40 Hogwarts Express
Supper Cletus Chicken

 

[pcstang]

That's the beauty of universal, not as much planning. Day 2: hit RRR after DM and then mummy as you make your way to DA. You also left off kong which can be done after camp Jurassic.
Something else to think about is that since you have a 2 yr old you will have a lot of child swap rides. The child swap is so easy at USO. This will allow for back to back rides when you use the swap.

 

[TommyJK]

I'm not too certain how long express pass waits are on incredibly busy days. Looking at last years wait times on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Christmas, the standby wait time were pretty rediculous.

But one comment I might offer:

On Day 2, you probably want to provision more time for Camp Jurassic. It's a pretty big play area and I'm sure the kids will want to spend more time than you've allotted. And it will take about 10 minutes or so to walk from there down to Hulk.

 

[friendswithdave]

Pteranadon Flyers is such a great ride for kids but has an incredibly slow line and no express pass. Your wait for this will be a minimum of 1 hour, likely 2 or more even early in the day on a super busy day. If you really want to do this, figure out how to do it right when the ride opens. You won't be able to stand the wait any other time.

 

[angryduck71]

Are you staying at one of the hotels with express pass?
Go to orlandoinformer.com and they have some good touring plans.
Pteranadon Flyers needs to be earlier in the morning. Very slow and no express pass even if you have them for the rest of the park.

 

[Pembo]

FWIW, If you are a Harry Potter fan, you'll want to ride Forbidden Journey over and over and over again. Use child swap to your advantage and there are lots of single rider lines at Universal. We used them as well with our kids. My 9 yo was happy to ride without much of a wait even knowing she may be in a different ride vehicle than me. And yes we got stuck on Forbidden Journey and I was worried about her but she told me she was reassuring the grown up next to her. LOLOL You are going to love Universal.

We were there in the days leading up to Easter, so super busy, and except for meal times, it didn't feel as bad as a busy day at Disney.

 

[macraven]

15 minutes is not long enough for the kids to do If I ran the Zoo.


my boys stayed there for a very long time...

 

[imprint]

Our experience is the same as the others: we have to drag our DD out of the play areas.

 

[luvsJack]

Is your 9 year old and/or you really into Harry Potter? If so, I would allot more time to exploring Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, not just doing the rides. We really enjoyed going through each store and finding all kinds of neat things in all of them.

 

[macraven]

Do catch the shows at potterville!

Times will be listed in The park guide map

 

[gotomu212]

The play areas (CUrious George, Camp Jurassic, If I ran the Zoo, and you don't mention Fievels) are open play areas and do take a lot more time- but with an age spread between your kids I might suggest breaking up a little and having one parent take the older one on a few rides and letting the younger one play for longer. We spent an hour at the Curious George ball thing when my son was 3 and at first I felt dumb spending that much time at a non-ride but giving a toddler time to run around, stretch their legs, and avoid standing in a child swap was actually really worth it.

The schedule also seems tight between actually riding the ride and walking to the next queue. There are a ton of areas (especially HP ones) where stopping to look at the theming is important.

Finally- and your mileage might be different but my almost 9'year old was over a lot of the Suess stuff (although I LOVE Cat in the Hat) and you have a lot of those rides. I personally might break up again and take her on some of the thrill rides like Spider-Man, King Kong, and Jurassic Park while the little one enjoyed Seuss. -But if your 9 year old still likes that area it's totally fine just a suggestion of what my usually scaredy cat child thought.

 

[keishashadow]

OP wow that is a comprehensive list! A good starting point but, since staying onsite with FOTL, even when it's busy it's nice to have some wiggle room. You will still experience pre-shows and wait times and need to factor in the actual ride's length and the time it'll take to reach the next stop.

Honestly, don't see how on Day #2 you will hit Minions @ 7 am then Gringotts, followed by 2 attractions in Simpsons and then be back on The Hogwarts Express by 8:45 am. Even if you walked onto the train without a wait @ the platform, I'd be hard pressed to make it to P.Flyers by 9:15 pm even if doing a full gallop. YMMV

Unofficial Guide has touring schedules available that are highly recommended by many if you prefer using one, might want to check it out.

Re nap time, your 2 y.o. Very well may elect to self-nap in his stroller; eliminating the easily hour plus transport time to/from resort and actual time there. The shows are also good options to sit for awhile and rest in middle of day.

Other than the entertaining Curious George area (and there is a water area, take a change of clothes for the kids lol), I strived to avoid most play areas in Orando parks, saving them for the end of the day if there's time. That's the excuse that worked with my kids lol.

 

[luvsJack]

OP, honestly, I would really put some time in there for just enjoying the parks a bit. The times you have down seem to have you running from ride to ride and there is so much more than that. I do a more extensive plan for WDW but then have plenty of wiggle room too. For Universal, I would just list what you want to do each day. On Day 2 you have your first ride at the front of the park and your second one waaaaayyy at the back with 30 minutes between. Maybe you could group things together a little more there? That's a long, fast walk with a 2 year old and a 9 year old. And either way you get there there is a lot that is going to grab their attention.

Not sure of the hours on your days but Gringotts will not be as busy later in the day. First thing in the a.m. they had a huge line at opening. If you have Express Pass, I would save Gringotts for when the line is lessened since it doesn't take Express Pass.

 

[princessebird]

Re: Nap on 27th. I know you are checking in at 5:45am, but you shouldn't expect to actually get your room until official check-in time, which is 4pm, I think. I've gone to Royal Pacific during the off season a couple of times, and the earliest I've ever gotten into my room was 3pm. I'm guessing December 27 they will be running very full and you won't be able to actually get into your room until 4. Depending on the weather, you may be able to steal a nap by the pool. You may want to have a plan B in case the whole napping thing doesn't work out. (And while they are both onsite I'd give yourself at least 15-20 min to walk from toothsome to your actual room with a 9yo and a stroller).

 

[cmarsh31]

Just an FYI on Toothsome - we had lunch there the first weekend in October. Got there at 11, just as it opened, so no wait for a table, but it got very crowded and very backed up... lunch took 2 hours. If you get there closer to noon, you're going to have a long wait for lunch. We really enjoyed it and would totally do it again, but I wanted to warn you that it could be much later than you planned when you get out.

 

[macraven]

Re: Nap on 27th. I know you are checking in at 5:45am, but you shouldn't expect to actually get your room until official check-in time, which is 4pm, I think. I've gone to Royal Pacific during the off season a couple of times, and the earliest I've ever gotten into my room was 3pm. I'm guessing December 27 they will be running very full and you won't be able to actually get into your room until 4. Depending on the weather, you may be able to steal a nap by the pool. You may want to have a plan B in case the whole napping thing doesn't work out. (And while they are both onsite I'd give yourself at least 15-20 min to walk from toothsome to your actual room with a 9yo and a stroller).

Can I add on to your statement....

The check in system resets in the early morning hours
Depending when it is completed, you can't check in until then

I have been able to check in at an early after 6 time period before but it was not during a busy date period

If the system is not up and running at 5:45, you will have to wait to check in

You will be able to store your belongings with bell services as they operate 24 hours