Water rides early or late in the day?

[dmanwi]

I have seen some suggestions to do all of the water rides later in the day rather than earlier in the day. It doesnt sound too bad doing them early in the day if it is warm and you dry off. I also can see how doing them all at the end and spending the day nice and dry would be nice. Anyone have experience doing either way? We are going over Thanksgiving.

Also how far is it to walk back to the car for sweatshirts at night? (comparing it to say EPCOT or MGM).

 

[bchbetha]

Earlier gets my vote. be smart with your clothing choices. We go with fabrics that wick and we don't do socks and sneakers (nothing worse than heavy, wet, squishy shoes).
Walk to the car will take about 15-20 minutes. You'll have to do security again and that's hit or miss line wise. A locker with dry clothes might be worth the expense.

 

[bumbershoot]

Also how far is it to walk back to the car for sweatshirts at night?

Too long. Bring them. Get a locker to keep them or bring a waterproof bag for them when going on water rides.

We tend to wear clothes that dry fast rather than changing them, but we are sure to not wear socks, or shoes that don't dry fast.

If it's cold for your Thanksgiving trip, though, it might not just be cold in the evening. I actually haven't experienced a day/night in Orlando where I've needed warm clothes at night but didn't need warm clothes in the day.

 

[gotomu212]

In May I rode the Barge twice and kid you not I have never been that wet in my life. I had a cotton shirt and khaki pants and even though it was a warm day I was still wet in spots 6 hours later. We tried the human dryers and that didn't really work either. I vote for actually ringing a change of clothes.

 

[wookiebeck]

The two Universal water rides in the cartoon section do not just splash you. They are designed to completely soak you. Waterlogged. I would not like to do those in Nov. unless 1) it is earlier in the day, sunny, and warm enough to get dry before 3pm when the sun gets too low in the sky or 2) have a complete set of dry to change over for the rest of the day. For me, the walk back to the car to change to dry clothes and pick up sweatshirt/jacket would work. You can grab dinner in City Walk on way back to the parks.

 

[AmberK24]

I usually plan on the water rides for one morning before heading back to the pool, shower and dinner package at Lombards for Cinematic Spectacular. If you plan on a low key day, do them that morning.

 

[gzmtlock]

We like to do them right before our midday break. Head back to the room and change. Or, during warmer months, right to the pool deck.

 

[momto2js]

My youngest LOVES water rides but last week he rode ONE each day and was so cold he was done. I agree with the above posters that you are not a little wet, you are panties soaked wet!! We carry extra clothes and sandles for the water rides at Universal. If it is cool you will be miserable at anytime of the day.

 

[dmanwi]

We did Jurassic on Nov 24th and didn't get too wet. It was warm and around noon. The other one we did was the Bilge Rat rafts and we were completely SOAKED! Socks and shoes were squishy the rest of the day.

 

[nkereina]

We do the same as PP - we do them right before our mid-day break or before we leave the park for the day so we can head straight back to our hotel and change. We're always soaked on them. If you're not staying onsite, I would bring a change of clothes and get a locker to keep them in. IMO, the water rides are good and worth the hassle of changing.