Touring plans for 2 adults - 1 day, 2 parks, no EP or early entry

[abnihon]

Yes I know we’re crazy and there is no way we’ll do it all. Lol.
But EP is $279 each on top of our $200 tickets!!! That’s insane!!!
And top tier hotel rooms are more $ than two EPs!!
We also don’t want to stay at Universal on this trip since we’re doing 3 different Disney hotels. And over $200 for a dummy room doesn’t seem worth it.
Plus park opens at 8am which is pretty early - I doubt we’d get there by 7am coming from Disney anyway.
We’re going Tuesday after Easter. (I HOPE it’s less crowded than it seems to be this week...)

So I’ve been studying the map and wait times and trying to come up with my best plan of attack.
I’m all over the place and need help from Universal experts!

Here are my must-dos:
Explore WWoHP and ride Hagrid’s, Forbidden Journey, Gringotts and Hogwarts Express one way (we decided we’re ok skipping Hippogriff).
Would love to have breakfast in WWoHP.

I would also like to ride ET, Mummy, MIB, Transformers, Kong, Jurassic Park and maybe Spider-Man. My husband may do Hulk instead of Jurassic Park. Any we should cut or add?

So what’s the best strategy?
My first instinct was run to Hagrid’s.
But if the last few days are any indication it will be virtual line only.
Plus it seems more people rush to IoA - is this true?

So now I’m thinking start in Studios which makes more sense from a Harry Potter story perspective.
Is Kings Cross to Hogsmeade the better direction if you’re only doing one?

We would line up about 30 min early and get virtual line spot for Hagrid’s for afternoon (hopefully) and Mummy for mid morning if it’s on virtual line.

Should we run to Diagon Alley to ride Gringotts?
Then exit and do Mummy, Transformers, ET and MIB after?
Then back to Diagon Alley to get late breakfast at Leaky Cauldron and explore shops before taking Hogwarts Express to IoA?

Is it worth stopping to ride Transformers, Mummy, ET and MIB BEFORE we even enter Diagon Alley?
Maybe that strategy is better because those lines will be short between 8-9 which Gringotts maybe already be long ish because of early entry folks.
And then we enter WWoHP and are immersed no need to leave it again.

I figure we’ll get to IoA in early afternoon, do Hagrid’s with virtual line, wait (a long time...) for Forbidden Journey and explore Hogsmeade.
And then decide if we want to wait in the long lines for Kong, Jurassic Park, Spider-Man or Hulk or just call it a day...

 

[macraven]

Are you doing one day only at UO?

 

[abnihon]

Are you doing one day only at UO?

Yes. Both parks, one day

 

[abnihon]

While looking at these wait times today I’m tempted to just pay the $563 it would be for 2 two park express passes on UT (and that’s not even unlimited!!! Crazy!!!)

 

[abnihon]

While looking at these wait times today I’m tempted to suck it up and pay the $563 it would be for 2 two park express passes on UT (and that’s not even unlimited!!! Crazy!!!)

Maybe I can justify it because we’re spending 5 nights at Pop this trip instead of deluxe the entire time. Lol.

 

[bchbetha]

I'd do a night on property either your first night or last. Ideally I would say you arrive at the airport, head to Universal, enjoy Citywalk or your hotel then hit the parks with early entry and EPs in the morning. Head to Disney when the parks close. You'll maximize your day. Is the hotel really $563/ night? If it's even close to a wash then it's worth it.

 

[abnihon]

Start or end of our trip would mean going to Universal on a Saturday so definitely not doing that. I’ve been warned to avoid weekends.
Royal Pacific is $613 with taxes and fees on the Tuesday. So buying the express pass would be cheaper...
I guess I have to factor my room at Pop in but we have plans for Monday evening at Epcot and a breakfast at Topolino’s Wednesday morning so I really don’t want to spend a night at Universal.


I may just buy the express pass... sigh...

Do you guys think I really need it?
Will week after Easter be as busy as this week?

We’ll do a longer Universal trip in a few years with my son and stay on property.
This is meant to be a short day trip but I don’t want it to be a miserable time.

 

[macraven]

Start or end of our trip would mean going to Universal on a Saturday so definitely not doing that. I’ve been warned to avoid weekends.
Royal Pacific is $613 with taxes and fees on the Tuesday. So buying the express pass would be cheaper...
I guess I have to factor my room at Pop in but we have plans for Monday evening at Epcot and a breakfast at Topolino’s Wednesday morning so I really don’t want to spend a night at Universal.


I may just buy the express pass... sigh...

Do you guys think I really need it?
Will week after Easter be as busy as this week?

We’ll do a longer Universal trip in a few years with my son and stay on property.
This is meant to be a short day trip but I don’t want it to be a miserable time.

Is that a standard room?
Water view room?
Two people on the ressie ?
If you check in on a Friday, room rate might be less than a standard night stay

don’t have to spend the night there as you have plans for disney that day

but staying one night onsite at RP gives you day of check on and out usage of free ep lines in the park
So Saturday you check out but can use your hotel
key card for the rp lines

 

[TreeFalls]

I was there last week, where wait times are nowhere like this week, and I think 1 day would have been really frustrating without express pass or EPA. Our first day, we had EPA but not express, and we did a couple quick rides at EPA and then it took us some time to get our bearings, and by that time the wait times were generally around an hour. Nowhere near what they are today, but we still didn't get much done. Even the hogwarts express line to go to the other park was always around at least an hour.

FWIW, we are 2 adults and 3 kids age 5-10, so our line-waiting stamina is low and we can't do open-close. If I were you I would either get express pass, do only one park, do volcano bay instead (I loved volcano bay!), or skip universal entirely.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Start or end of our trip would mean going to Universal on a Saturday so definitely not doing that. I’ve been warned to avoid weekends.
Royal Pacific is $613 with taxes and fees on the Tuesday. So buying the express pass would be cheaper...
I guess I have to factor my room at Pop in but we have plans for Monday evening at Epcot and a breakfast at Topolino’s Wednesday morning so I really don’t want to spend a night at Universal.


I may just buy the express pass... sigh...

Do you guys think I really need it?
Will week after Easter be as busy as this week?

We’ll do a longer Universal trip in a few years with my son and stay on property.
This is meant to be a short day trip but I don’t want it to be a miserable time.

In all honesty, I don't think you'll get your bang for your buck doing just the one day....
The prices give you an idea of how busy it will be. Seems like it will be quite busy!

UO is so much cheaper for a multi-day trip, even when staying at the top tier hotels. It would be a much nicer experience on a dedicated trip, or when you have more days to see it all.

 

[abnihon]

Ok we decided to do one night at Royal Pacific.
It’s the Tuesday night that is our park day.
It was going to be our last night at Pop before switching to Rivieria.
So we’ll get up early, drive to RP, check in and leave our bags and then head to park.
If we have EP is there much advantage in getting there an hour early?
We’ll try but may not make it at 7....
Then we’ll have the full day to do both parks with EP and then will drive back early Wednesday to check into Riviera and make an 8:50 Topolino’s breakfast.

 

[abnihon]

Since my original plan was to go back to Disney Springs for dinner Tuesday I had to make a new plan and just booked a 4:45 dinner at Toothsome.
Is that a good City Walk option?
Are reservations required now with Covid? (I read old post saying they don’t take them)
Menu looks good and I’m intrigued by the milkshakes.

 

[bchbetha]

That wouldn't be my pick of times to eat. With one day and trying to do 2 parks, eat once the parks close. Snack before that. Early dinner, lots of great snacking opportunities, late dinner. Your park time is precious.
Yes, you will want your early hours. As Harry Potter fans, it is **so** much more pleasant to be in the HP areas before the crowds arrive. Best way to see the details and simply explore.

 

[abnihon]

The only other time is 9:15 which is way too late for my husband..
Parks are open till 10 I think.

 

[abnihon]

Can you walk up to toothsome and get a milkshake without a reservation or a long wait?

 

[bchbetha]

It's just a lot of time to sit out eating. Toothsome wouldn't be worth planning around. There's a milkshake line if you just want one of those. Otherwise I'd just grab food in the park and do quick service for dinner instead of 1.5 hours for a sit down meal. You're paying a lot to be there for a day. Might not be your ideal day with a leisurely meal but worth it to hit the parks like you mean it. And while everyone else is at dinner, you can enjoy shorter lines.

 

[abnihon]

Maybe we’ll do the city walk hot dogs and then milkshakes.

 

[abnihon]

There doesn’t seem to be a penalty for canceling Toothsome. It didn’t have me enter credit card info. So maybe I’ll keep it and we can decide that day what we want to do..

 

[abnihon]

So if we’re getting express what should be our new touring plan?
Head for Diagon Alley first? Should we do all of Studios first before going to IoA or just do all of Diagon Alley, Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade and then do all of IoA we want to do then train back in the other direction to finish Studios?
Can we ride Hogwarts Express as many times as we want with unlimited?
Can we try for multiple virtual line spots on Hagrid’s or do they limit it to one a day?

 

[abnihon]

Do I need to link my hotel in the app somehow?