Universal Orlando sweet spot?

[wholesomejoe]

What amount of days is the "Sweet Spot" for most people in terms of seeing everything and not having to rush and go at a leisurely pace with being able to do stuff multiple times?

I've got 4 days blocked out right now, and was wondering if that was overkill? I know there are other things to do in Orlando that we could do on the last day and only do Orlando 3 days, but the cost of the last day would have to be pretty close to what we would have paid for one more day of UO which I don't think would get us all that much in a days time in Orlando elsewhere.

 

[stormer]

We always go for three days and wish we had a little more time. We do US one day and IoA one day. Our last day we hit both parks again to do our favorites and them head over to Disney. We always say one more day would be perfect because we could relax a little more, spend a little more time at the pool, a little more time at Citi Walk, etc. I think you will enjoy four days.

 

[kohlby]

We did 6 days at IOA/US on our last trip. We have AP's for the next trip so I'm not sure how many days we'll do - though we have 6 days likely planned for it. Two trips ago, we only had one day at IOA planned, as it was supposed to be a Disney only trip but I couldn't stay away since HP had started. Before that, we always did two days since we combined it with Disney. The attractions weren't always the same then, but 2 got it done commando-style. So, I recommend a minimum of 3 days if possible. 4 will be great!

The other thing to consider is the time of year. We usually do Nov/Dec, not during the holiday weeks. The weather is usually nice so it's easy to do more time. However, crowds are lower so technically, we could do less time and repeat rides less - but we like to repeat rides. If you go when it's hot, then you may want more breaks. If you go when it's busy, then it will take you longer to do what you want. How you tour matters too. If you're rope droppers, then it's easier to get by with less days too - though we were there at opening all 6 of the days we went last time. So, there's a lot of things to consider.

 

[wholesomejoe]

We'll be there Nov. 9th-12th just a week or so away!

 

[HM]

I'd say you can do plenty of rerides and have a great time in 3 days.

We've done 3-5 days on our recent trips and spend our entire afternoons out of the park at the resort pool, so really only do rides in the am and evening and it's enough.

 

[angierae]

We're doing three - the first day will be checking out both HP areas in detail, and then whatever else we decide we have time for, and the other two will be to check out the rest of the other parks (and probably re-visit HP, let's be honest. I'm interested in seeing if that seems like too little or too much for us, we've never been.

 

[General Panic]

We usually do 4 complete days but this year it felt a little too long after last years intensive Diagon Alley experience. Next time 3 days but will probably end up with 4 again just in case Kong deserves lot more time than i'm thinking

 

[champagne27]

We'll be there Nov. 9th-12th just a week or so away!

We are going 11/9-11/12 next year @wholesomejoe, please post how the crowds are! Thanks!

 

[Kivara]

We always do 6 days, and wish for more! We enjoy the rides, theming, pool time, etc; so we could be that family that happliy goes for several weeks. It really depends on what you enjoy doing.

 

[RMulieri]

We do a full week onsite with 4 full park days

 

[mellyf]

We went last January for 3 1/2 days and wished we'd had more time. However, I think we probably got more done each day during that time (around the end of January) than we would during the summer or Christmas/Easter break with a couple extra days. I'm a teacher, so somewhat limited on when we can go. At the time we went, IoA had early entry, and we were happy starting out our day in Hogsmeade every day, and then riding the Hogwarts Express to Diagon Alley.

 

[epcotty]

2 days is enough for us

 

[mrsabbott]

When we went, we spent two full days (open to close). We will likely do 4 days next time we get to go. We figure we can give each park one full day and HP one full day (or at least most of a day) and then another day to revisit our favorites and catch anything we may have missed. We got to see almost everything we wanted to and revisited a few things more than once in only two days. But we would like to have a little more freedom and flexibility, I think.

 

[wholesomejoe]

My 4 days are coming up. I decided to go ahead and do the 4 days because the last I went we did 3, and while we didn't feel rushed.. a 4th day would have made it a little more flexible. And in case there are any weather issues etc.

 

[schumigirl]

Good choice........hope you have a wonderful trip.......