universal touring

[friendoffigment]

haven't been to universal in years. what is the consensus about touring both parks in one day. i know we won't be able to do everything especially since the park closes at 7pm

what is the recommended opinion on starting out. do i go to diagon first then to hogsmeade. or do i go to one of them first and stay in that park and head over later

just confused on how to do both parks. no kids, just adults doing the major attractions.

thanks for any assistance.

 

[johde]

The major school of thought depends on if your staying onsite and get Early Park Admission. If you have EPA hit Diagon Alley/Gringotts first during EPA. If you don't have EPA hit Diagon Alley/Gringotts in the afternoon.

As far as when to hit Hogsmead it depends on what other attractions you want to do. In particular Despicable Me. If you want to ride Despicable Me, even without EPA you want to start in USF, ride it first before heading over to IOA.

If you do some searching touringplans.com has a pair of 1 day/2 park plans on their sight (their site costs $5-$6), or you can find a free touring plan on Orlando Informer. Both of them have worked out the "best" touring plan based on slightly different assumptions.

 

[MinnieGi]

We just were just there the weekend before T-day. We found early entry mobbed Diagon Alley and you couldn't really enjoy it because that is the only part of the park that is open. We found it was better to go to IOA at regular opening and right to FJ and then Dragon's Challenge and Flight of the Hippograph were walk-ons. We toured Hogsmeade and did the wand stuff etc... And then we took the train to Diagon Alley and took it right back too. The lines for it were shorter in the morning. We toured the rest of IOA. We did have FOTL pass so that helped too.

In the later afternoon/evening we toured Diagon Alley and were really able to take our time catch a show, eat dinner at Leaky Cauldron and saved Gringotts for close to closing - 10 minute wait!!!! We were there for three days and at the end of each day was the best time to get in line for Gringotts!

 

[macraven]

sometimes waiting til the end of the night for gringotts doesn't work.

i was at the darkside for 12 days in october, staying on site.

never made it for EE but did try going to gringotts before the park closed.


hit gringotts at 5:30 and the park was closing at 7:00pm.

TM's at the entrance of the ride were not allowing anyone in.
they told the peeps that it was a 90 minute wait inside for the ride.
people that came up not knowing this situation were told the ride is closed, due to capacity wait.

those in the ride line could stay and do the ride.
by the time all completed it, it would be 7 and the park would be closing.


this happened to me 2 different times in october on week days.


if you plan to do this ride near the end of the park day, go and check with the TM's at gringotts if that would work.

this wasn't an issue for me to return another day as i had a long stay.
for those that only have a one or two day period for the parks, going at the last 10 minutes before park closing might miss out on the ride.

closing time for this ride will vary daily.

sometimes you might get lucky with being able to ride at the end of the day.
some have posted it worked for them.

 

[lazer]

sometimes waiting til the end of the night for gringotts doesn't work. i was at the darkside for 12 days in october, staying on site. never made it for EE but did try going to gringotts before the park closed. hit gringotts at 5:30 and the park was closing at 7:00pm. TM's at the entrance of the ride were not allowing anyone in. they told the peeps that it was a 90 minute wait inside for the ride. people that came up not knowing this situation were told the ride is closed, due to capacity wait. those in the ride line could stay and do the ride. by the time all completed it, it would be 7 and the park would be closing. this happened to me 2 different times in october on week days. if you plan to do this ride near the end of the park day, go and check with the TM's at gringotts if that would work. this wasn't an issue for me to return another day as i had a long stay. for those that only have a one or two day period for the parks, going at the last 10 minutes before park closing might miss out on the ride. closing time for this ride will vary daily. sometimes you might get lucky with being able to ride at the end of the day. some have posted it worked for them.

Ditto this. If you really want to ride it and don't have multiple days to visit, don't wait till the end of the day. We stayed a week and a few "strategies" didn't work for us. I hope you get to ride it, but don't rely on a strategy working.

 

[berryinDC]

The major school of thought depends on if your staying onsite and get Early Park Admission. If you have EPA hit Diagon Alley/Gringotts first during EPA. If you don't have EPA hit Diagon Alley/Gringotts in the afternoon. As far as when to hit Hogsmead it depends on what other attractions you want to do. In particular Despicable Me. If you want to ride Despicable Me, even without EPA you want to start in USF, ride it first before heading over to IOA. If you do some searching touringplans.com has a pair of 1 day/2 park plans on their sight (their site costs $5-$6), or you can find a free touring plan on Orlando Informer. Both of them have worked out the "best" touring plan based on slightly different assumptions.

I've really been pondering the same question. We're planning on doing both parks in one day on a slow day next week. But...we're mostly interested in WWoHP, and doing some other rides just to make a day out of it, like Mummy and Transformers. We will be fine if we don't make non-HP but we will be devastated if we don't ride Gringotts or FJ. TP suggests doing non HP rides first, while waits are low. That makes sense in theory, but I'm nervous about banking on short lines later in the day, especially given the regular breakdowns I keep hearing about with Gringotts. I'm wondering if on a slow day it won't be too bad to hit diagon Alley with everyone else first thing in the morning?