Universal for a Day...Help!!

[Jupiter&Wolfe]

My friend and I are planning a trip to Disney (sorry Universal lovers!) next June. (I know, a long ways away. )

Anyway, my friend just expressed to me that she would like to do Universal one day. While it took me by surprise, I had no problem with it. I've never been to Universal and I'm always up to try new things.

The problem is---I've never been to Universal! I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT! IT'S COMPLETELY NEW TO ME! (Did I say I'm always up to try new things? My bad. )

Honestly, I'm just a little overwhelmed. I was hoping you guys could help me plan a day at Universal!

What all should we (and could we realistically) do that day? I would like to take a look at Toon Lagoon, the environment looks fun...but are there any fun rides we should DEFINITELY try? I think we'll be wanting to get a thrill fix while we're there, but smaller rides aren't out of the question if it's a MUST do.

With Seuss Landing...is that a place with rides we should try out or is that something we should just walk through and enjoy the scenery for?

WHAT is the Lost Continent? And is there anything worth trying out there?

Basically, what should and should we not try? Will we be able to do both the Studios and the Islands in one day? can you ONLY get the Express ticket by staying at a Universal resort? What is the best way to do everything we want? Is the only sure way to go before opening, or is there some other secret to maximizing your time that I don't know about? I'M OVERWHELMED!


Sorry for all the questions, just having trouble familiarizing myself with this place. Help would be appreciated!

 

[macraven]

My friend and I are planning a trip to Disney (sorry Universal lovers!) next June. (I know, a long ways away. )

Anyway, my friend just expressed to me that she would like to do Universal one day. While it took me by surprise, I had no problem with it. I've never been to Universal and I'm always up to try new things.

The problem is---I've never been to Universal! I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT! IT'S COMPLETELY NEW TO ME! (Did I say I'm always up to try new things? My bad. )

Honestly, I'm just a little overwhelmed. I was hoping you guys could help me plan a day at Universal!

What all should we (and could we realistically) do that day? I would like to take a look at Toon Lagoon, the environment looks fun...but are there any fun rides we should DEFINITELY try? I think we'll be wanting to get a thrill fix while we're there, but smaller rides aren't out of the question if it's a MUST do.

With Seuss Landing...is that a place with rides we should try out or is that something we should just walk through and enjoy the scenery for?

WHAT is the Lost Continent? And is there anything worth trying out there?

Basically, what should and should we not try? Will we be able to do both the Studios and the Islands in one day? can you ONLY get the Express ticket by staying at a Universal resort? What is the best way to do everything we want? Is the only sure way to go before opening, or is there some other secret to maximizing your time that I don't know about? I'M OVERWHELMED!


Sorry for all the questions, just having trouble familiarizing myself with this place. Help would be appreciated!

since you are new to the Universal parks, i suggest you read up on the stickies to get a good over view of the parks and surrounding area. (city walk, hotels, etc)

The express pass of FOTL, front of the line, is free to onsite hotel guests.
The stickies will explain how anyone can buy the express pass plus which is valid for one ride/ attraction only in the day.

The UO website has a great interactive map to check out.

since you are planning to go for one day in june 2010, many things might change with the addition of the parry hotter island.
none of us know at this point how that section will change things at UO for touring plans.

 

[Darcy03231]

Since you only have one day I would suggest picking one park and really seeing/doing it all. I think it would be very hard to do both parks in one day without:

1. Being totally exhausted by the end of the day.
2. Not really enjoying the park experience because you're rushing to each thing trying to cross it off your list.

Since it sounds like you enjoy thrill rides I would go to Islands of Adventure. If you're staying off-site you can buy an express pass that allows you to ride each ride once using FOTL. The price varies depending on the time of year/day of week. If staying off-site and you don't want to buy the express pass I would get there really early and be at the turnstiles for park opening. Go to Hulk first. In the first couple of hours you should be able to get a lot done before the lines start to form. I would start with Hulk, Dr. Doom and Spiderman and we found these were the lines that tended to get long first.

 

[goofy4tink]

Ah, you sound like me...a novice when it comes to US/IoA. We're going to do both parks in that one day. But, I'm not a thrill ride person. I have almost agreed to do Dueling Dragons with me eldest dd....how bad can it be!!! No, don't tell me, please. But that will be it for the coasters. Spiderman will be done of course. But, we aren't going to be doing very many shows..just certain attractions, and we'll be heading there on a Wednesday, Aug 19 to be exact. So, I'm hoping it won't be overly crowded. I intend to spend a fair amount of time researching the two parks so I can more efficiently tour them in just that one day.

 

[drenalin'junkie]

Walking to the parks and FOTL make for $30 to $60 per person worth of perks per day for staying onsite.

Just like Disney,SW and BG you'll want to hit any popular attractions as soon as the park opens Unless you have a FOTL pass of some kind.Doing 2 parks anywhere is normally a huge waste of time travelling and you can't see everything in any park anyway.

In Universal that means Rip-Ride-Rockit,Simpsons,Mummy,Shrek,MIB first and then Jaws,ET,Disaster etc.

For IOA it would be whatever there will be in Harry Potter,Hulk,Spiderman,Dueling Dragons then Dr Doom,Dr Suess stuff etc.

Remember the point is to Have Fun,if you don't get everything in you can come back.

 

[Darcy03231]

Ah, you sound like me...a novice when it comes to US/IoA. We're going to do both parks in that one day. But, I'm not a thrill ride person. I have almost agreed to do Dueling Dragons with me eldest dd....how bad can it be!!! No, don't tell me, please. But that will be it for the coasters. Spiderman will be done of course. But, we aren't going to be doing very many shows..just certain attractions, and we'll be heading there on a Wednesday, Aug 19 to be exact. So, I'm hoping it won't be overly crowded. I intend to spend a fair amount of time researching the two parks so I can more efficiently tour them in just that one day.

We were there on August 19th (DD's birthday - it was a Tuesday) and got there for park opening. The first couple of hours weren't bad, then it got packed around 11 am and stayed that way until the park closed!