Universal: 1-day Park to Park or 2-day 1-Park Passes?

[kbmartin]

My DH, sister, and I are going to Disney and Universal in December 2017. Based on our plans for Universal, we could do a 1-day park to park pass or do two separate days, one park each. Unless I totally miscalculated, it's the same price either way. The only added expense if we did two days would be an extra Uber trip from Coronado Springs to Universal.

We don't do everything at Universal, and the draw for us is Harry Potter. There are definitely some rides we will skip. I asked my sister, who is definitely a HP fan, if it mattered to her if we rode the Hogwarts Express, and she said it was fine either way.

Our must-do attractions at each park...

• Islands of Adventure: Hogsmeade/Harry Potter (everything there - including shows), Jurassic Park, Hulk, Spider-man, and Kong (I think it's in that park?)
• Universal Studios Florida: Diagon Alley/Harry Potter (everything there - including shows), The Mummy, Rip Ride Rock-it, E.T., MAYBE Simpsons Land (we just want the pink donut haha)

We would be totally satisfied if we could only do those attractions. Anything else there is something we'd do but don't care that much about. DH and I have been to these parks twice in the past three years, and my sister, who has not been there since childhood, isn't going to be the planner for this vacation and doesn't know what she really would be missing out on, anyway. I don't think she would care at all about skipping Minions, Shrek, or Transformers, for example - she doesn't like any of those movies or characters, just like us. I don't think going on the water rides is something we'll be interested in this time of year.

Our dilemma is this: We could have two days in which we relax and take it easy through each park, or we could have one mega day. For the mega day, we would pick a Sunday, which is the slowest day at Universal (it's December 10th in particular - we should be ahead of the Christmas crowds - and it's open until 8 pm this year on the same day). If we do the mega day, I know I will feel rushed and a little nervous about hitting everything, but I am totally confident in my planning skills. We don't mind rope dropping a park or using single-rider lines. If we do a mega day, we will have an extra day of relaxation at our hotel/Disney Springs. I don't mind having time to relax and can find plenty to do (Boardwalk, Disney Springs, resort hopping, mini-golf, movies, etc.), but my sister might view that day as "filler" and be annoyed she paid for it - especially if we do things that we could do at home. If we do two days, we can take it easy, but I just wonder if we'll finish everything super early and be back at our hotel as early as 2 or 3 on those days. Maybe we wouldn't even rope drop those days.

Advice/opinions would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[phillymummer]

IMO the Hogwarts Express is a must-do if you are a potter fan. It's different each way, so 2 rides are a must! If you can only afford to Park hop on one day, then I say go with the 1-day PH. But.... without Express Pass I don't know if you'll fit everything in.

 

[pcstang]

That's a tough question to answer! I would probably do two days. Yes, you can blow through the parks each day if you want. We don't, we usually do a week or so several times a year. If you don't care about HE skip it and do one park each day. Take your time and soak it all in. You really do all the rides too. I understand not doing the water rides but everything else is great. I'm not an HP fan but I still spend a lot of time in the areas. Don't sell USO short! Of course, you are on the Universal side of the boards so my view point is a little skewed! Lol

 

[bchbetha]

I'd do 2 days. I think thenparks merit that much time and appeal a lot more to me than Disney Springs. I'd sign up for Universal emails and check places linke undercover tourist and mousesavers to find deals on tickets; I really think you'll be happiest with 2 days AND park to park tickets.

 

[babesboo99]

I would have to agree hogwarts express is a must do

 

[kbmartin]

Thanks for the responses! I am possibly even more torn now.

DH and I have done the Hogwarts Express both ways. It was cool, yes. To do it, though, we would have to do a one day park-to-park ticket, meaning a mega day. We definitely are not planning to purchase two day park-to-park tickets - that's a no go. My sister doesn't know what she's missing, so that helps me lean towards not doing that and spending more time in each park. However, I think it's a great thing to experience as a HP fan. Sigh.

Both times in the past few years we have gone to Universal have been in August, and I actually got heat sick on both occasions, so I definitely don't feel like I've had time to really explore either park.

I also haven't seen any of the HP shows. We put aside time on our last trip to see The Tale of the Three Brothers, and for some reason, the performers didn't show up, and no one arrived to tell the large audience waiting for the show that it had been cancelled. It was very odd. I was reaching my tolerance level for the heat at that point, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back on that trip! We left right after that. As a huge HP fan, I was definitely disappointed.

More opinions needed! haha

 

[kohlby]

Do two days. It means not being able to do the train but that's it. If you did one day park-to-park, you would not be able to get in as many rides. Also, since you are off-site, you won't have the advantage of the early hour nor express pass. (Unless you choose to purchase express pass separately). Having two days would give you more room in planning to get more done.

 

[TommyJK]

Just as an FYI, the two different tickets you are considering are not the same price.

On undercover tourist the 2 days, 2 parks is $180. One day park to park is $160.

 

[kbmartin]

Just as an FYI, the two different tickets you are considering are not the same price.

On undercover tourist the 2 days, 2 parks is $180. One day park to park is $160.

Thank you for pointing this out. The Universal website has different prices, too, but the 1-day park to park ticket is still cheaper than the 2 day 2 park tickets. Hmmm... I wonder where I got the idea that they were the same price?!

 

[nighttowll]

This is hard. If you only wanted to see the HP sections, I'd say 1 day hopper. However, I don't think one day will be enough time to see HP and everything else on your list since most of those rides are headliners, and you can't do everything first thing in the morning, in only one day. I think you will really need 2 days to fit it all in. You might get by with one day if you really rushed, but I know I wouldn't be able to enjoy it as I'd be too worried about running out of time.

 

[macraven]

Don't sell the parks short

Do 2 days and cover as much as you want

UO has a variety of things to do
Why miss out on the mini parades, daily parade, street shows, pictures with the character meet and greets rides and shows?

Make it a total relaxing time at the darkside

It is not a six flags where the draw is only hit rides

UO is an experience

 

[wookiebeck]

Well said, macraven! So many do the whole 'side trip to Universal'. We never hear of anyone saying I'm only vacationing at WDW for 3 days and want to fit in all 4 parks. No, they do 6 or 7 days to fully experience it.

You do not want to try to fit two theme parks at Universal in one day. If the extra few bucks for park-to-park is the breaking point, then choose to do at least two days and miss out on only the HE. Have Fun!

 

[TommyJK]

Our first time down we did a 1-Day "side trip" to Universal where we only did IOA (Diagon Alley was not open yet on the UO side).

All that did was open our eyes to the wonder and awe of Universal and now all trips are for multiple days to Universal with a possible 1-Day side trip to Magic Kingdom (although our next trip is all Universal).

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Personal opinion here but I would do 2 days out of the options you selected but I personally would also do the park-to-park. Park-to-park and park hoppers are one of the few expenses I'm willing to pay for.

I like to get the park to park myself but I also did 3 days in 2011 and plan to do 3 days in 2017 though both times I go the 3rd day free as a promotion deal.

The reason I would do two days, based on your options you listed, is really because I don't want to feel rushed. Spreading out my touring into multiple days (even just two) allows for flexibility. It gives me time to take more in.

When we went in 2011 we followed people's advice that we needed a full day for Harry Potter (back then it was just Hogsmeade) but honestly we didn't for us. It was more or less because it was packed in there as far as shops go and the dining was packed as well. However, we will need that full day now with the other Harry Potter part opened up. The rest of the rides it's more about flexibility. If one day it's too long of a wait I know I'll have at least another day to get to ride it (though that is with park-to-park being considered).

I would however mention take into consideration parking at Universal if you are driving your own car there. That is an expense that you will want to use for comparison. Me though I would still do two days at least and person opinion I would also get park-to-park..but again that's just me.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks for the responses! I am possibly even more torn now.

DH and I have done the Hogwarts Express both ways. It was cool, yes. To do it, though, we would have to do a one day park-to-park ticket, meaning a mega day. We definitely are not planning to purchase two day park-to-park tickets - that's a no go. My sister doesn't know what she's missing, so that helps me lean towards not doing that and spending more time in each park. However, I think it's a great thing to experience as a HP fan. Sigh.

Both times in the past few years we have gone to Universal have been in August, and I actually got heat sick on both occasions, so I definitely don't feel like I've had time to really explore either park.

I also haven't seen any of the HP shows. We put aside time on our last trip to see The Tale of the Three Brothers, and for some reason, the performers didn't show up, and no one arrived to tell the large audience waiting for the show that it had been cancelled. It was very odd. I was reaching my tolerance level for the heat at that point, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back on that trip! We left right after that. As a huge HP fan, I was definitely disappointed.

More opinions needed! haha

I hear you saying you won't do two day park to park.

And then I hear many reasons for you to absolutely do two days park to park!!! You don't want to rush, you got sick from the heat, you missed things you didn't want to miss, etc.

Id make it work somehow to get two day park to parks, personally. I cannot imagine not hopping and I cannot imagine one day there when you are hp fans etc.

 

[kbmartin]

Here's the thing: My DH and I vacation to Orlando every single year, and currently, we're leaning towards short trips. If we don't get to everything, we don't mind because we'll be back. Please don't think we are selling Universal short! We enjoy it immensely. I've considered staying on Universal property for a future trip and taking a ton of time to just immerse ourselves. My sister is really the only one I'm concerned about here in this situation. She is really go-with-the-flow and only concerned with Harry Potter.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but we will be on the Disney Dining Plan for the first time on our next trip. We'd like to mostly avoid eating at Universal as much as possible (unavoidable - but we'll try to save our appetite for a major meal for when we come back on Disney property).

My current general plan for our stay (may totally change due to flight schedule and park hours):

• Day 1 (Saturday): Arrival in Orlando around 10-11 am (I hope), explore Disney Springs and the hotel (we've never stayed at Coronado Springs)
• Day 2 (Sunday): Rope drop Universal
• Day 3 (Monday): Rope drop HS, visit Epcot, maybe come back to HS for night-time show (Star Wars show if it's playing in December - otherwise Fantasmic since it's an oldie but goodie)
• Day 4 (Tuesday): Sleep in, bum around, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at night
• Day 5 (Wednesday): Sleep in, possibly Universal Day 2(???) or find something else to do
• Day 6 (Thursday): Magic Kingdom until departure via Magical Express (likely 4-5 pm)

I don't know if that changes anyone's opinions. I really don't like to "overdo" it on our trips. Our last one was VERY relaxing and so much better on trips in which we go to every park and do everything. I have flat feet, and typically my feet are absolutely destroyed by the end of a trip when we go crazy and try to do it all. That's why I like to build "break days" into the trip.

I'll look into the 2-day Universal park hoppers, but I don't know that I'm into it. I'll see what the pricing looks like.

 

[macraven]

You have over a year from now for the above discussed park plans

I know most plan Disney that far out but UO portion of your trip you can set up the week before

Or the day before

You could switch the above schedule around and hit the darkside different days from what you have listed

You'll be fine in doing a one or two day at the darkside when you do go