Universal Studio's or Island of Adventure? Can maybe only do 1.. which one?

[vacation_junkie]

We are cruising out of Miami and have decided to extend our vacation by making the 4 hour drive to Orlando and stay 2 nights there and fly back home from Orlando the 1st weekend in February...

We figure we will arrive in Orlando about noon - 1pm on the Saturday.

If we arrived at Universal about 2pm..knowing it closes at 10pm..would you think that would give us enough time in the park?

Then I figure we'd do IOA the following day because it looks like it usually closes about 6/7pm on the weekend...

OR if we only choose to do 1 on our full day which should we do?

thoughts?

 

[luvsvacations]

If I were you - I would stay on site at Universal. That way as soon as you check in you can use your room key for front of the line access. That way you can see all the park that day. By staying on site the next morning you can get into the park an hour early for Harry Potter and your key is still good until midnight that night.

 

[bcinohio]

We just got back from our first trip to US/IOA and we spent 1 day at each park. We rented a house near Disney so didn't stay onsite.

We felt there was more to do on the US side. The only sections that we did on the IOA side was HP and ther super hero section. It did rain that day so the crowds were down and we only waited 15min for HP ride (kids rode it 3 times).

 

[conniehar90]

We did both last summer and did not need a full day for each one. We got there early am and were done by mid/late afternoon after repeat rides on favorites. I agree that other than HP, US seems to have more to do than IOA.

We stayed near Disney and it worked fine. I don't see the need to spend the ridiculous amount that they ask for at the US hotels. We saw everything we wanted to with minimal wait without the front of the line pass. Simpsons was probably the longest we waited.

 

[nessz79]

Definitely IOA. Although there are some good attractions at Universal (Men in Black, The Mummy, new Despicable Me ride), there are more at IOA, especially if you like roller coasters.

I'm trying to remember what has what from going to Grad Bash as a chaperone for a few years now:

Universal-
Men in Black
The Simpsons
Terminator (is this one still going?)
The Mummy
Rip it Ride it Roller Coaster
Shrek 3D
Despicable Me
there are a few other smaller attractions that aren't really well done (that I can think of)

IOA
The Hulk
Spiderman
Jurassic Park area with ride
Popeye water ride
another water ride (can't remember name)
Harry Potter land w/ 3 rides including the one in the castle, a kid roller coaster, and a major roller coaster
Suess Land w/ 3-4 rides

IOA will get you more value.

That being said, if you can get a park to park access ticket, MIB, The Mummy, Rip it Ride it Coaster, and the new Despicable Me are definitely worth seeing at Universal.