Universal, IOA, or Sea World

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

On our Orlando arrival day we plan to do one these parks. Since we will not be able to arrive at this park when it opens, which would you suggest we do on that day Universal, IOA, or Sea World? Which of these can be toured quickly? We are going in October and it will be a Sat. TIA

 

[Bill Lumbergh]

Each of the parks you mentioned really requires a day to fully enjoy it. However, if you want, you can do Sea World on your day of arrival. Then you can utilize 2nd day free and come back within seven days for a second day free. You can use 2nd day free on a one-day Sea World ticket.

 

[HappyLawyer]

Sea World does not require an entire day, and since it is saturday i suggest that park. Enjoy your trip

 

[SpideyHulk24]

I would definitely do Universal/IOA. Seaworld is fun, but Universal Orlando is out of this world. You can buy a two park one day pass at the gate for about $74 including tax.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

I would definitely do Universal/IOA. Seaworld is fun, but Universal Orlando is out of this world. You can buy a two park one day pass at the gate for about $74 including tax.

We are definitely doing Universal/IOA and sea World. I was just wondering which one we should do for our short day. I think I will go with Sea World. Then our next 2 full days will be Universal & IOA.

 

[aengus]

We are definitely doing Universal/IOA and sea World. I was just wondering which one we should do for our short day. I think I will go with Sea World. Then our next 2 full days will be Universal & IOA.

I think you have a good plan there. Have a great trip!

 

[robvia]

SWF is the correct choice.
Once you get into the park, you'll be doing shows, and all you need to do is arrive each one about 20 minutes early.
JTA will have about a 40 minute wait, and Kracken will have a 20 minute wait depending on what time of the day it is.
Do not ride the polar bear simulator, do the walk thru instead.
Head to the far back corner of the park to the hospitality center, and get a few beer samples. Then head over to Voyagers for some great pizza.

 

[mousiemom]

During our stay in Disney we always go to Universal and IOA. You can tour both parks in 1 day. This time we are doing that and one day in Bush Gardens. My dd loves Universal because of all the nickelodeon stuff. Don't forget to ride the Mummy ride too. So much Fun!!!
mousiemom

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

During our stay in Disney we always go to Universal and IOA. You can tour both parks in 1 day. This time we are doing that and one day in Bush Gardens. My dd loves Universal because of all the nickelodeon stuff. Don't forget to ride the Mummy ride too. So much Fun!!!
mousiemom

I was thinking of doing that also. I thought we might hit park overload if we do though. Universal & IOA seem like they both have so much to see/do, I didn't want to cheat ourselves out of anything. This will be our first time at Universal Orlando too so maybe on a future trip we can squish them into one day, but for our first visit, I think we better stick with 2 days. Although the thought of a dueling woodie(Gwazi) really tempts me.

 

[D3K]

I would go to I.O.A first.

 

[F-L-A]

Although the thought of a dueling woodie(Gwazi) really tempts me

It won't after you ride it. Hope you have a good chiropractor. They don't duel anymore, btw. BGT's employees are too lazy to make them duel. This downhill trend in operations can be seen all over the park.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

It won't after you ride it. Hope you have a good chiropractor. They don't duel anymore, btw. BGT's employees are too lazy to make them duel. This downhill trend in operations can be seen all over the park.

Thanks for the info. Seriously that would have been my only real reason for going to BG. I'm always looking to top my "favorite coasters Wooden/Steel" list, but I guess Gwazi wouldn't make it. Oh well, Lightning racer at Hershey Park may not duel, but it's a racer that actually races so I guess that's good right?

 

[DOOM1001]

If you want to see all the shows and attractions in Sea World you need a full day or close to it, so I wouldn't suggest doing that park on your first day. Go to IOA on saturday, even though lines might be long you should be able to see most of the attractions. I don't know if you know about Halloween Horror Nights but it will probably be happening on saturday and sunday nights.Both USF and IOA will probably close earlier than normal since HHN starts at 7 pm. Unless you have young kids under 9 or so I suggest going to this event, It's the mother of all Halloween events. Even though crowds get crazy it's a super fun event, I go every year!!

Sunday you should definitely do Sea World since it's mostly shows and just a few rides. Crowds and lines will be heavy at both Universal parks and you will be avoiding this.Also like I said before HHN will probably close the universal Parks early on sunday.You should have a dandy time at Sea World.

On monday you should have the run of the Universal parks crowds probably will be light. Go to USF to start the day and I don't know if you'll have a 2 park pass, if you do go to IOA later if there's anything you missed on saturday.Also somebody mentioned Busch Gardens, I don't think you'll be able to do it on this trip if you're going only 3 days but you should definitely do it on a future trip. It's a beautiful park and yes it sux that they barely ever duel Gwazi , but it's still a great ride along with their other coasters and shows. I don't know if you know about Sheikra the first diving coaster in the US just opened up and I love this ride, Montu is still my favorite coaster in the park , but Sheikra give a great ride!!

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

If you want to see all the shows and attractions in Sea World you need a full day or close to it, so I wouldn't suggest doing that park on your first day. Go to IOA on saturday, even though lines might be long you should be able to see most of the attractions. I don't know if you know about Halloween Horror Nights but it will probably be happening on saturday and sunday nights.Both USF and IOA will probably close earlier than normal since HHN starts at 7 pm. Unless you have young kids under 9 or so I suggest going to this event, It's the mother of all Halloween events. Even though crowds get crazy it's a super fun event, I go every year!!

Sunday you should definitely do Sea World since it's mostly shows and just a few rides. Crowds and lines will be heavy at both Universal parks and you will be avoiding this.Also like I said before HHN will probably close the universal Parks early on sunday.You should have a dandy time at Sea World.

On monday you should have the run of the Universal parks crowds probably will be light. Go to USF to start the day and I don't know if you'll have a 2 park pass, if you do go to IOA later if there's anything you missed on saturday.Also somebody mentioned Busch Gardens, I don't think you'll be able to do it on this trip if you're going only 3 days but you should definitely do it on a future trip. It's a beautiful park and yes it sux that they barely ever duel Gwazi , but it's still a great ride along with their other coasters and shows. I don't know if you know about Sheikra the first diving coaster in the US just opened up and I love this ride, Montu is still my favorite coaster in the park , but Sheikra give a great ride!!

Oh I forgot about Sheikra. I had looked at Oblivion for so long wishing I could ride a dive machine(I don't like flying so I don't think going to Europe is my near future). Like you said though, I think we'll do BG on another trip. With the Sea World thing, I don't think we'll wanna see all the shows and attractions. Mainly Shamu. We should be arriving in Orlando around 10 and we're going straight to the park so hopefully we'll be alright. I had forgotten about HHN. So for Sunday, which do you suggest US or IOA? Do both parks close early for HHN(we will not be going to this, from what I hear it's not really good for small children)? We are getting the 2 day ticket so I figured whatever we do on Sun. If we can't finish it then we'll start the other on Monday and if there's time left try to finish the other park (or get another ride on Dueling Dragons if I love it like I think I will). So which for Sunday US or IOA?

 

[DOOM1001]

Sounds good, if you're going to arrive at Sea World around noon or so you should see a good amount of the attractions of the park on saturday. Sunday you'll definitely want to do Universal since lines can be longer on sundays and USF has more shows and attractions that require less lines.IOA seems to fill up with teenagers on sundays to ride the thrill rides so lines in IOA should be better on monday. I was just there on a sunday and USF had very short waits for a summer day while IOA had lines of like 45 minutes to over an hour.Plus I just checked park hours for october and IOA seems to be closing at 5 pm on sundays and USF at 6pm.

 

[THESCHULTZFIVE]

Sounds good, if you're going to arrive at Sea World around noon or so you should see a good amount of the attractions of the park on saturday. Sunday you'll definitely want to do Universal since lines can be longer on sundays and USF has more shows and attractions that require less lines.IOA seems to fill up with teenagers on sundays to ride the thrill rides so lines in IOA should be better on monday. I was just there on a sunday and USF had very short waits for a summer day while IOA had lines of like 45 minutes to over an hour.Plus I just checked park hours for october and IOA seems to be closing at 5 pm on sundays and USF at 6pm.

Oh ok...thanks alot for the help. Our planning is really coming together now. I can't wait to go!!!