Universal Newbie Needing Some help

[horse11]

We are planning a combined Disney/Universal trip for 2016. Although I have got quite comfortable planning for Disney I find myself needing a lot of help with Universal since I have never been there.
So here it goes: We plan on doing a two day visit to Universal in which we will be traveling from a Disney hotel. The first day at Universal I thought about doing the Harry Potter Theme. We would start at Universal Studios and do Dragon Alley heading first to ride Escape from Gringotts and then ride Flight of the Hippogriff. look in the shops and then ride the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade. Here we would ride Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey, eat lunch at Three Broomsticks, get a snack at Honey Dukes, try to see Spider Man 3D and Posidions Fury or The Eight Voyage of Sinbad, and ride the Popeye and Bluto water ride. I would like to be able to leave by 4:00pm to catch the water taxi to Royal Pacific Hotel to catch the Wantilan Luau. We would make travel arrangements to be picked up at the hotel and brought back to our Disney hotel through Meers.
The second day at Universal I would purchase the extra ticket where you can skip the lines so we could get through things more quickly. We would spend most of our time at Universal Studios. Attractions of intrest would be: Transformers, Despicable me, The Simpsons, Shrek, Men in Black, Terminator, ET, Blues Brother, Beetle Juice, and if we can get the kids brave enough Revenge of the Mummy. This would be our full day at Universal.
With that being said is this possible? Any one have any suggestions for us? We will be traveling around the third week of May. Our first day will be on a Saturday and our second full day would be the next day (Sunday)

 

[macraven]

you would need to buy the park to park tickets if you are doing both parks on the same day.


when in 2016 will you be doing the darkside?

knowing that would make the difference on how to direct you to accomplish your plans.

 

[cruisingkat]

Flight of the Hippogriff is at Islands of Adventure - right across from Forbidden Journey - not by Gringotts which is in Universal Studios. To ride Hogwarts Express you need a 2 park ticket and the ride is different for each direction.
Have you thought of doing a split stay - some at Disney and your Universal days staying at one of the deluxe hotels at Universal for those days? Depending on when you are going and how many in your family, what you would spend on the express pass would pay or nearly pay for a room. With the deluxe hotel stay you get an unlimited express pass for each person checked in for your stay including arrival day and check out day. You also get an hour early admission to Harry Potter.

 

[horse11]

We would be going aroung the third week of May. Our first day would be a Saturday which is when the Luau is. The second day would be a Sunday. Yes would would get the park hopper tickets. As far as split stay our group does not like having to move luggage so this would be the next best thing for us. There are 7 of us so we would need two rooms so not sure if it would cost the same or be more. I do see your point but once again the family does not like picking up and moving. I on the other hand would be fine with it. Opps I see I already made a mistake. Yes we would ride Flight of the Hippogriff after Forbidden Journey. Thanks for catching that.

 

[macraven]

i would suggest to read the threads on the darkside forums later this spring to get an idea of what to expect crowdwise.
since you won't be going for over a year from now, things might change.
crowd levels and touring plans might be different next year when you plan to go in 2016.

don't think Kong will be open next spring but probably summer 2016.
when it does open, that can change the touring plans in the park

 

[horse11]

i would suggest to read the threads on the darkside forums later this spring to get an idea of what to expect crowdwise.
since you won't be going for over a year from now, things might change.
crowd levels and touring plans might be different next year when you plan to go in 2016.

don't think Kong will be open next spring but probably summer 2016.
when it does open, that can change the touring plans in the park

See this is exactly what I mean. I am so new to Universal! I did not even realize they were putting in a new ride or show or what ever Koong will be. Even thought it is a year away I feel I have a lot to learn about Universal. I think reading the threasds as suggested will be a great place to start. I have a feeling I will be asking you a lot of questions LOL!!!!

 

[horse11]

Flight of the Hippogriff is at Islands of Adventure - right across from Forbidden Journey - not by Gringotts which is in Universal Studios. To ride Hogwarts Express you need a 2 park ticket and the ride is different for each direction.
Have you thought of doing a split stay - some at Disney and your Universal days staying at one of the deluxe hotels at Universal for those days? Depending on when you are going and how many in your family, what you would spend on the express pass would pay or nearly pay for a room. With the deluxe hotel stay you get an unlimited express pass for each person checked in for your stay including arrival day and check out day. You also get an hour early admission to Harry Potter.

You were so right!!! I actually though for the heck of it I would price a slpit stay. I added an extra day to compensate for travel for checking out of one hotel into another and believe it or not it was around the same price if not a little cheeper! now the big thing was to convince the family. I taked with My mom and dad ( grandma anf grandpa) as well as my husband and they were all in agreement with me YEAH!!!! So my question is do you really notice a big difference in having the express pass? What is usually the average wait time? No I do know this will very depending on a lot of things but just to get a feel.

 

[macraven]

construction for Kong has been going of for some time now.
should be open sometime in 2016.
it will cover a large area at IOA.

ever see the king kong movies?

 

[macraven]

once the new section in IOA is completed, we all will be finding out more about it.
but, some of us read other sites and have an idea what to expect.

if i can help with your questions, i will.
i'm sure you will have more over the next few months.

i'm not being snarky when i suggest reading some of the present and especially past threads, trip report section is very valuable.
it's just you might see the answer to some of your questions right away.
and in the trip reports that have pictures, some peeps put a lot of details into them.

a picture is worth a 1000 words type of thing.

 

[horse11]

once the new section in IOA is completed, we all will be finding out more about it.
but, some of us read other sites and have an idea what to expect.

if i can help with your questions, i will.
i'm sure you will have more over the next few months.

i'm not being snarky when i suggest reading some of the present and especially past threads, trip report section is very valuable.
it's just you might see the answer to some of your questions right away.
and in the trip reports that have pictures, some peeps put a lot of details into them.

a picture is worth a 1000 words type of thing.

Yes I would have to agree. I actually started reading some TR last night. The Forums is what helped me a bunch during our Trip to Disney in May of 2014. Honestly you guys find out thing before people working at the parks do!!! I owe the the success of our disney trip to people like you guys. Hoping to make our next Vac just as successful. Thanks for your suggestions

 

[Duanerice]

Universal is so much easier to plan for than Disney. I would get a hotel room for 1 night at one of the top 3 onsite hotels - Cabana Bay doesn't grant express pass. That way you'd have express pass and early entry for the entire day you check in, even if you get there at 8am and you'll have it for the next day too. So you can spend 1 night and get 2 days of early entry and express passes.

Think of the express pass as a fast pass for every ride as many times as you want to do them with the exception being the Harry Potter rides. Only you can answer if it is worth it.

I'd recommend the Royal Pacific because it is the cheapest and you can walk to the parks.

 

[schumigirl]

So my question is do you really notice a big difference in having the express pass? What is usually the average wait time? No I do know this will very depending on a lot of things but just to get a feel.

The difference can be massive!!

Last year and previous years we have seen regular queue for the Hulk to be 75 -90 minutes at certain times......we went on 3 times within 15 minutes.

Despicable Me last year sometimes had queues of 90-100 minutes. We never waited more than a few minutes if at all. Several times we just arrived at the right time and walked straight on. It varied by day and by time of day.

A few year back before Jaws closed we went on once....walked around and as we entered the EXpress queue again the same people were still at the back and actually shouted boooooo at us.....in a kind of fun way I have to add........

So yes the difference can be extremely noticeable

 

[glocon]

And just so you know... the ep does work for the two coasters in Hogsmeade- Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge- but you usually do not need ep for those rides anyway.