Two parks in two days, calling any/all experts for advice!

[magsmouse]

Going with adventerous 10 year old for the long weekend. We have set aside 2 days to go to both universal parks. Is 1 day enough to see each park? Any suggestions on a touring plan for either park? We have never so any advice would be appreciated!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Are you staying onsite? If you are you will have FOTL access with your room key. It maximizes your day. If you are staying off site you can buy express passes at the park for about $20 and this will also help you.

September and October are slower months so you should be okay if you get there at opening.

Have fun!

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Get a two-day/two-park pass. That way, you can go back and forth between the two parks both days. They are literally walking distance between each other.

 

[lisa7240]

We just came back from our trip September 22, 2003. There was no lines, no lines. If we would have went to Universal side first, could have seen both parks in one day!. No lines in September. One trick we did while we was there for faster rides is go through baby swap. This allowed us to see major rides like "men in black" 7 or 8 times. When there are no lines the attendants do not care.
I went with my wife, son (8), 2 daughters (12,13). We found out when the live shows like animal planet were. My 14 year old could not live without seeing that. We missed things like Beetle Juice and Fifle West show.
The Universal side closes at 5:30 and Islands of adventure closes at 8 or 9 pm. I had planned the Island of Adventure first because if it rained we could do inside rides, big mistake. We could have done it all in one day.

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

While I agree that with the short lines you can get possibly both parks done in one day, I don't see the point. I like to take my time in the parks and not rush to get everything done. I just to just take in the atmosphere and environment...just being there is enough to make my day I still stand by my 2-day/2-park pass suggestion so you can go back-and-forth between the parks, spending more time at one park if you like it better, or equal time at both parks...whatever suits you

 

[Planogirl]

You can get a lot done in two days if you get there early and move at a good pace. We set aside two days during a quieter time and it worked well even though we ended up staying an extra day because we enjoyed it so much. We were staying offsite but had passes that allowed QuickPass.

Be sure and get to Men In Black, Back to the Future and Jaws early. We ran into lines at these consistently and at Earthquake once during the afternoons. There was also a 30 minute line later in the day at ET but the queue is so nice that we didn't mind. Terminator and Twister hold a lot of people so we never had a problem with those. Shrek and Jimmy Neutron weren't open yet but I imagine that those will need to be seen first nowadays since they're new. Try to catch the Ghostbusters street show. It's a hoot. The theming in the New York streets (I think it was New York) is very nice.

At IOA, hit Spiderman and the coasters early. We also ran into a long line at Poseidon's Fury. If you don't ride Dueling Dragons, walk through the queue anyway. My 10 year old pronounced it as "very cool". The theming in the Lost Continent is amazing by the way.

We spent about 2 1/2 full days at Universal park and the other 1/2 day at IOA. IOA is great but my son didn't want to ride the coasters and we decided to skip the water rides due to a bit of chilliness. Next time....

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

Originally posted by Planogirl
Try to catch the Ghostbusters street show. It's a hoot.

I think I have a new best friend.