Universal Studio's Itinerary

[Spaffy]

So first time visiting both WDW and Universal. I've been all over these boards finding great tips and advise for both parks. I'm a bit of a planner, okay I'm a lot of a planner , and have been working on itineraries for each day we are in Orlando. We are travelling in a large group (4 adults, 5 kids) and we have 1 day per park. We actually have 2 park to park passes for UV/IOA, but our "plan" is to stay in each park for the day. I guess if we have time we can always venture over to the other park.

So here is my plan for our first day in Orlando at Universal Studios. Our plan is to be there before the park opens to make sure we get in at the beginning of the day. Our travel dates are July 31-Aug 6, so we are prepared for the heat and the crowds.

If anyone has any thoughts, suggestions, or if this is unreasonable please share. I'm open to suggestions to make sure we hit our must-do's.

1. Shrek
2. Rip Ride Rocket
3. Twister
4. Mummy
Break for Lunch
5. Men in Black
6. Simpsons
7. Curious George/Fievel's Playland for a break from the sun.
8. Woody Woodpecker
9. ET
10. Terminator 2

The character parade starts at 5:00, but I can't find where the route is. Does anyone know this information? And where is the best spot to watch the new night show?

Thanks in advance!

 

[macraven]

you're not doing despicable me?

 

[anorman]

okay I'm a lot of a planner

1. Shrek
2. Rip Ride Rocket
3. Twister
4. Mummy
Break for Lunch
5. Men in Black
6. Simpsons
7. Curious George/Fievel's Playland for a break from the sun.
8. Woody Woodpecker
9. ET
10. Terminator 2

You might want to consider doing the Mummy and the Simpsons as early as you can. Shrek might be able to wait until later. The earlier in the day you do the most popular rides, the shorter the lineups. Despicable Me, RRR, Mummy, and Simpsons should round out your first 4 rides and do them before lunch. Disaster is worth checking out later in the day.....a much better attraction than Twister. If you can find time for a show, we absolutely loved Beetlejuice; it has some great music!.....it's the only thing my DD9 talks about seeing again. The Horror Makeup show has some good laughs also. It's all good! Have fun!

 

[Spaffy]

I couldn't find Despicable Me on the map, so I wasn't sure if it was going to be open when we were there. But if it is, that is something that we definitely want to hit. My original thought with starting with Shrek was to ease the kids into the rides. This will be there first time at an amusement park, but with DM open we can always start with that one.

In case you didn't notice, along with being a planner I'm a "linear" type person as well. I wanted to go through the park in a more logical manner rather than zig zagging through it. But as much as I hate to admit it, I think we are going to have to go through most parks that way.

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I will be shuffling some rides around. And after doing some more googling the Beatlejuice show does look cute so we try to get that in as well.

Any tips for the parade and night show?

 

[anorman]

Any tips for the parade and night show?

You might want to check out this book....it has a wealth of information!:
Universal Orlando 2012
The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Theme Park Adventure
by Seth Kubersky and Kelly Monaghan

I read this on themeparkinsider.com:
The best viewing area for Universal's new night spectacular is to stand next to the railing in front of the Central Park boulders. The middle screen is real close there, at a perfect angle, plus you can see all of the water fountain shows on the lagoon.

And from wdwinfo.com:
This parade stops in two locations, New York and Hollywood. While the parade is stopped, the music and entertainment will depend on which float is in front of you.

 

[kittyninja]

I, like you, am a huge planner. The book the pp mentioned is great!! I've been using it to plan my trip which actually will be during yours too!! Maybe we'll happen across each other. Zigzagging really isn't that bad. You get tired, obviously, but you can then stop in for a bite to eat or (if staying onsite) go back to the hotel and have some pool time. Then at the end of the day everyone is pooped and ready for bed to recharge for the next day!! What do you think your plan will look like for IOA? Just curious.

 

[DCTooTall]

With your current plan, the BIGGEST possibly issue I see is with Terminator 2. It tends to run like a scheduled show (Just like the recommended Beatlejuice show and Horror Makeup Show), and less like a constant running attraction. Because of the fact it runs like a show, It may make it harder to find an available time to see it when it comes around on your schedule.

Beyond that, while I'd normally say don't worry about planning out every detail with a Universal park like you might at Disney, Your plan for the most part is still following the loop so it's not really that big a deal. The only thing I might say is worth looking at is your lunch break. Rather than planning "I'm going to eat lunch between Ride X and Y", it might be better to plan at eating either at a certain time of day or when you get over to the place you want to eat at.

Obviously, It'll be a lot quicker to either eat at 11:30 or 1pm than it will at noon when the lunch rush really hits. There are also a variety of food options available to choose from, especially since you'll be up in the NY/San Fran area when you were already looking at taking lunch.

 

[Koda]

I agree with anorman; Disaster is much better than Twister.

In Disaster, they actually take volunteers from the audience and make a short "disaster movie", so you get to see how some of the special effects are done. After filming these effects, everyone gets on a subway train and experiences an earthquake and it's aftermaths (flood, fire), while they show clips from the "movie". It is very fun and entertaining.

Twister has a very long pre-show about tornadoes, and then you go into a standing room only area to witness a simulated tornado. Several young children were crying during the show that we saw. I would skip this unless you have extra time to kill.

Despicable Me was open last weekend when we were there. It is a 3-D motion simulator ride. Very cute, and worth seeing.

Do Mummy early in the day. This was my DDs favorite ride, and we wound up riding it several times!

Have fun!

 

[Spaffy]

I, like you, am a huge planner. The book the pp mentioned is great!! I've been using it to plan my trip which actually will be during yours too!! Maybe we'll happen across each other. Zigzagging really isn't that bad. You get tired, obviously, but you can then stop in for a bite to eat or (if staying onsite) go back to the hotel and have some pool time. Then at the end of the day everyone is pooped and ready for bed to recharge for the next day!! What do you think your plan will look like for IOA? Just curious.

I actually haven't done too much work for our IOA day. I started focusing on Magic Kingdom at first, and when I was ready to lose it I thought I'd take a break! I'm getting mixed reveiws on starting with WWOHP at the beginning of the day versus leaving it until the end. What does your day look like?

I'll let ya know when I'm ready to post it!