Universal Itinerary for a day and a half - help!

[MDFam]

We are squeezing in a day and a half at Universal this week from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning at the tail end of a Disney trip, and my planning has been woefully non existent! We are four adults - parents and two daughters 18 and 24 We like pretty much all rides, including/especially thrill rides (obviously no longer interested in kiddie rides). We are staying at Portofino Bay so will have the unlimited express pass. We will get to universal around noon on Friday. We aren’t in a rush Sunday morning and have three day park to park tickets so could manage maybe an hour or two Sunday morning if needed. We were last there in summer 2013 when only the first part of Harry Potter was in so definitely want to see all of the HP stuff that went in since then.

Does anyone have a game plan suggestion to do “everything” in a day and a half most efficiently, bearing in mind we aren’t interested in the kiddie areas?? Thank you so much!

 

[skramer100]

Well, will see you there. We are coming up at the same time. Staying in the same place.
How into Harry Potter are your kids? That can be a time waster if they want to do spells and such but doubt 18/24 year olds will.
As for the rides, you will be able to do everything very quickly with the exception of Hagrid's. That will be your only wait. Everything else is pretty much walk on to 5 minute waits.
See the Borne show, really good. We come up from South Florida a few times a year and never have any problem riding everything and doing pool time each day. Enjoy.

 

[Skippyboo]

It’s Mardi Gras season at Studios. So there’s a nightly parade. This week there are concerts Friday and Saturday nights. There are food booths sort like mini Food & Wine open during the day.

Your Express will work on everything but Hagrid’s so you will want to do that at the end of the night or during early entry.

Must do: IoA side - Velicoaster, Hulk, Hagrid’s, Spiderman, Jurassic Park River Journey, HP and Forbidden Journey (aka the Hogwarts Castle). The Hogwarts Express is different each way so ride in both directions.

Studios Side: HP and Escape from Gringotts, Mummy, Men in Black, Minions Villain Con. Rip Ride Rocket ( I normally skip this because it’s makes my head hurt), ET ( Opening Day Attraction super weird).

Non ride stuff- get an ice cream at parlor in Diagon Alley. Borne Stunt and Hollywood Horror Makeup are enjoyable if you want a break. You might want to look at Citywalk dining options and make a reservation for after park close.

Go to your hotel first and get your room keys even if your room isn’t ready they are your express passes. You go through security at the boat dock at the hotel and you take the boat and it brings you to Citywalk in front of NBC Sports Grill.

 

[MDFam]

Thank you both so much! That is lots of useful information and gives me hope we can get a lot done! My two liked Harry Potter but not to the extent that they would still be interested in wands or spells. Good tip about Hagrid - not sure anyone will want to be getting up super early for that so maybe end of the night Friday. I will start studying maps tonight . Thanks again!

 

[reddog21]

Your Express will work on everything but Hagrid’s so you will want to do that at the end of the night or during early entry.

Keep an eye on this one, universal has removed the single rider line which has started rumors that it maybe in preperation on adding it to express.

 

[cptmemo]

We’re going tomorrow and I’ve not planned at all, but that information sounds very helpful. Since I don’t have early entry (staying off site but have express unlimited), should we plan on arriving 30 before gates open and go straight to hagrids? Or will it already be crazy due to early opening?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

No, don't go to Hagrids first if you don't have early entry. That'll be about the longest the line gets all day. Lunchtime, afternoon, or right before closing are better options.

Right after opening can be good for exploring the Wizarding World areas with minimal crowds (particularly Diagon Alley, since all the early entry people will be over in Hogsmeade).

 

[Skippyboo]

We’re going tomorrow and I’ve not planned at all, but that information sounds very helpful. Since I don’t have early entry (staying off site but have express unlimited), should we plan on arriving 30 before gates open and go straight to hagrids? Or will it already be crazy due to early opening?

You can set a wait time alert in the app. Without early entry you are behind everyone with early entry who has lined up before the open and entered during the hour of early entry. Look at the wait around 10am as people rope dropping move to other rides.

 

[cptmemo]

Thank you both for the great advice!

 

[MDFam]

Just wanted to check back in and say we had a great day and a half at Universal - thanks again for the advice! We got most every ride we wanted in with one exception - you guessed it, Hagrid's motorbikes We did everything we wanted between Friday afternoon and all day Saturday (and that was with not getting to the parks until 10am that day and even squeezing in a little hour and a half break at the room early afternoon). So we thought we would hit Hagrid's Sunday morning during early entry to finish off our trip. Well that didn't work! Hagrid's was generally around a two-hour wait during the day, but on the early entry morning, it was around 2.5 hours or a bit more. Granted, we did not get to the park until 8am, which was the start time of early entry. Got through entry pretty quickly, but by the time we walked back toward Hagrid's, the line started in the Lost Continent area!

We waited about 40 minutes, wondering if something would magically improve the wait time (it IS Magical Motorbikes after all!), but at that point, we were finally approaching the entrance to the Harry Potter area, where an employee confirmed that it would definitely be at least another two hours from where we were. We couldn't wait that much longer so gave up and rode the cute little Hippogriff coaster with a five minute wait. So my tip - wait to ride Hagrid's until they implement an Express lane Hopefully, we will get back to Universal for a bit more leisurely trip before another 12 years goes by and catch Hagrid's then.

Oh, we did do both the Bourne stunt show and Hollywood Horror makeup show as suggested - both great! We all really enjoyed the Horror makeup show - very funny! And couldn't skip Animal Actors show - also very fun. Rode ET before it disappears and also the Suess tram ride just because it's so cute

 

[utlegaleagle]

Just wanted to check back in and say we had a great day and a half at Universal - thanks again for the advice! We got most every ride we wanted in with one exception - you guessed it, Hagrid's motorbikes We did everything we wanted between Friday afternoon and all day Saturday (and that was with not getting to the parks until 10am that day and even squeezing in a little hour and a half break at the room early afternoon). So we thought we would hit Hagrid's Sunday morning during early entry to finish off our trip. Well that didn't work! Hagrid's was generally around a two-hour wait during the day, but on the early entry morning, it was around 2.5 hours or a bit more. Granted, we did not get to the park until 8am, which was the start time of early entry. Got through entry pretty quickly, but by the time we walked back toward Hagrid's, the line started in the Lost Continent area!

We waited about 40 minutes, wondering if something would magically improve the wait time (it IS Magical Motorbikes after all!), but at that point, we were finally approaching the entrance to the Harry Potter area, where an employee confirmed that it would definitely be at least another two hours from where we were. We couldn't wait that much longer so gave up and rode the cute little Hippogriff coaster with a five minute wait. So my tip - wait to ride Hagrid's until they implement an Express lane Hopefully, we will get back to Universal for a bit more leisurely trip before another 12 years goes by and catch Hagrid's then.

Oh, we did do both the Bourne stunt show and Hollywood Horror makeup show as suggested - both great! We all really enjoyed the Horror makeup show - very funny! And couldn't skip Animal Actors show - also very fun. Rode ET before it disappears and also the Suess tram ride just because it's so cute

"Granted, we did not get to the park until 8am,"

So, yeah, that's not going to work. LOL. What you are up against are folks (like me) that - if we are going to get up and hit the parks for early entry - would rather sacrifice an hour of sleep for 2 hours in line at Hagrid's.

My normal morning at either HRH or PB has me out the door at 6:30 at the latest, arriving at the security gate to be through the gate when they open at 7:00. While I have never been first when doing that, I am usually in the first 5-10 groups. Once through security, it's a speed walk/jog across to IOA, where I am looking for a ticket entry line with the cover off. Generally, I am either first or second in one of those lines. My wife and kiddos take the boat and arrive around 7:30, having usually hit Starbucks on the way. The gates open between 7:45-7:50. From there it's a speed walk back to Hagrid's. My wife ain't the swiftest, so we usually get passed by quite a few people who sprint back there despite staff telling them to stop. But we arrive at Hagrid's and usually are in the first couple turns of the line in the final room and on one of the first 3-4 trains of motorcycles. Usually off by 8:10, over to Velocicoaster for 2 rides and into the queue for Forbidden Journey before the park opens up at 9:00. Then it's down to Spider-Man by way of Toon Lagoon, followed by Doom, Hulk, and Storm. At this point, we usually switch over to USO or kill some time before an 11:00 reservation at Mythos.

If they do actually open up Express at Hagrid's (and Lord would I love that before next weekend when we go back to Universal), then this becomes a lot easier. But this commando style (and this is nothing compared to the Disney plans that I used to do when my boys were little, when we had paper FastPasses...) does allow for us to wipe out most of one park by 11:00 and hit a few rides and lunch at the other park pretty early in the afternoon, setting up pool time in the afternoon at HRH or PB. Judging by crowd predictions for next weekend, I imagine that we'll be doing something quite like this for a couple of days.

 

[MDFam]

"Granted, we did not get to the park until 8am,"

So, yeah, that's not going to work. LOL. What you are up against are folks (like me) that - if we are going to get up and hit the parks for early entry - would rather sacrifice an hour of sleep for 2 hours in line at Hagrid's.

My normal morning at either HRH or PB has me out the door at 6:30 at the latest, arriving at the security gate to be through the gate when they open at 7:00. While I have never been first when doing that, I am usually in the first 5-10 groups. Once through security, it's a speed walk/jog across to IOA, where I am looking for a ticket entry line with the cover off. Generally, I am either first or second in one of those lines. My wife and kiddos take the boat and arrive around 7:30, having usually hit Starbucks on the way. The gates open between 7:45-7:50. From there it's a speed walk back to Hagrid's. My wife ain't the swiftest, so we usually get passed by quite a few people who sprint back there despite staff telling them to stop. But we arrive at Hagrid's and usually are in the first couple turns of the line in the final room and on one of the first 3-4 trains of motorcycles. Usually off by 8:10, over to Velocicoaster for 2 rides and into the queue for Forbidden Journey before the park opens up at 9:00. Then it's down to Spider-Man by way of Toon Lagoon, followed by Doom, Hulk, and Storm. At this point, we usually switch over to USO or kill some time before an 11:00 reservation at Mythos.

If they do actually open up Express at Hagrid's (and Lord would I love that before next weekend when we go back to Universal), then this becomes a lot easier. But this commando style (and this is nothing compared to the Disney plans that I used to do when my boys were little, when we had paper FastPasses...) does allow for us to wipe out most of one park by 11:00 and hit a few rides and lunch at the other park pretty early in the afternoon, setting up pool time in the afternoon at HRH or PB. Judging by crowd predictions for next weekend, I imagine that we'll be doing something quite like this for a couple of days.

We were thru the ticket entry by 8:05 so what a difference those 15 or 20 minutes make! I think also the parks were extremely busy - prime spring break plus being there on a weekend made for an even tougher time of it. But we'll get it next time

 

[utlegaleagle]

Yeah, we have rarely visited during spring break or the week of Christmas, which tend to be crazy. But we have done both Memorial Day and Labor Day, and those can be pretty hairy, too.

We're heading down next Friday for a few days while my son performs there (choir), and I definitely am managing my expectations (even with Express Pass).