Touring Plans without EE and EP

[dr&momto2boys]

Please advise a good strategy for morning touring plan for IOA and US without the use of EE and EP. We're going last week of September and interested in all rides except the water rides. We do have access to both parks each day.
-What time to arrive?
-I assume we start at park that does not have EE that day? (Although last fall EE was at the same park every day.)
-We'll watch times for Hagrid and head over during lunch or dinner times probably when wait says 60 minutes.
-Anything else we should keep in mind?
We have APs from our trip last year and plan to use them 5 days for morning until dinner time or earlier. We prefer morning park time., then relaxing dinner and rest. A couple of our party will do HHN one night followed by a rest day.
Thanks!

 

[wdwrule]

With 5 days you’ll definitely be able to get in all you want and then some even without EP. Morning touring will be your best bet. If able to, single rider lines are typically a huge time saver (although not always a time saver for Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster). In our many experiences, single rider lines are often shorter than express lines but depending on your situation, it’s not for everyone. Studios is typically quieter than IoA in the mornings.

We’ve never rope dropped Hagrid’s because if you’re not already there at least 30 minutes before EA, the wait times are crazy high. We always get in Hagrid’s line right after lunch or dinner time (or right before close). Not always, but typically 60 minutes wait or less. So your wise watching the wait times. We have no desire to stand in one spot 30+ minutes and up at the crack of dawn to rope drop that ride when often it is delayed anyways but to each their own.

Instead we either go to Studios near opening time or we head straight to Velocicoaster at IoA near opening time then do a walk on to Forbidden Journey etc.

I would check out wait times in the app prior to your trip so you’ll have a good idea of approximate wait times for rides on the specific days you’re there.

Also, if you plan on taking Hogwarts Express, going from IoA to Studios, wait can be painfully slow and in the heat. We find it best to take that leg in mid to late morning. After that, waits are typically long. The opposite leg, from Studios to IoA is at least mostly air conditioned.

 

[Magical2017]

One thing I enjoyed about our Universal trip was that it did not require touring plans. In our 5 days with express passes and park to park tickets, we just rode what we wanted when we wanted with the exception of Hagrids (we skipped Velocicoaster). We went back and forth between parks constantly. This was Memorial Day 2021. We are going again in January of 2023. The Hogwart's Express lines were long in the evenings so we walked between parks, otherwise we rode the train.

We did try early entry one day to ride Hagrids but as pp said, by the time we got to the line, it was as long as the afternoon lines. So the rest of the trip we slept in and just waited in line for Hagrids. It was better when we were rested.

We plan to ride Velocicoaster this time around, so plan to arrive for early entrance or just stand in line.

 

[wdwrule]

One thing I enjoyed about our Universal trip was that it did not require touring plans. In our 5 days with express passes and park to park tickets, we just rode what we wanted when we wanted with the exception of Hagrids (we skipped Velocicoaster). We went back and forth between parks constantly. This was Memorial Day 2021. We are going again in January of 2023. The Hogwart's Express lines were long in the evenings so we walked between parks, otherwise we rode the train.

We did try early entry one day to ride Hagrids but as pp said, by the time we got to the line, it was as long as the afternoon lines. So the rest of the trip we slept in and just waited in line for Hagrids. It was better when we were rested.

We plan to ride Velocicoaster this time around, so plan to arrive for early entrance or just stand in line.

Agree!! And we also walk park to park more than taking the train. Love the small footprint! Always nice to peruse Citywalk and/or snag The Perfect Margarita from the Margaritaville window in between parks if desired.