We're going to US for the 1st time HELP!!!

[nicolepdonnelly]

We are headed back to Orlando for a quick visit and are spending 1 day at IofA to see WWoHP. We are HUGE HP fans and my son especially read all the books, watched all the movies and has many video games!

So, here's our thinking.

We need to rent a car and drive over to US in the early morning. We cant pick up the car until 7 AM so we will try to get there as early as possible after that.

We have our tickets thru undercover tourist and will head directly to IofA after we park the car.

We will then head right to WWoHP and spend the majority of our time there. We will eat an early lunch at 3 broomstix around 10:45 ( as we will have been up early) and probably head out to the other areas of interest after 1PM - 2PM or so.

We are hoping to have dinner at Bubba Gumps around 6PM

If we still have things we'd like to do in IoA after dinner can we get back in from the city walk area?

Do we need a ressie for Bubba Gumps?

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[Planogirl]

You can definitely get back into IOA if you leave. We often have lunch in Citywalk and then just go back into one of the parks when we're done. I don't know about Bubba Gump's since we haven't tried it yet.

I would suggest trying to ride Spiderman fairly early if you can. You don't mention when you're going but if it's crowded you could have a long wait and it's worth riding. I'd keep an eye on the ride times board as best you can and plan accordingly. There are other good rides too but I personally think that Spiderman is one of a kind.

 

[mjohnson96]

Getting in line early for lunch at 3B is a good plan since that line can get pretty crazy. When you get to the park there is a stand where the path splits that you can make priority seating at for the resturants. They can give you a time but if your running late they have never not allowed us in. We went to Margarittaville a few weeks ago and we were an hour behind but still was able to get our priority seat, it was a 45 min wait with the priority reservation but walk ups were told 2 hours.

It is very easy to get from City Walk to IOA and back, just keep your ticket so you can do reentry back into the park You can also always purhcase the express passes once you get there if it looks extremly busy.

 

[Rip]

We are headed back to Orlando for a quick visit and are spending 1 day at IofA to see WWoHP. We are HUGE HP fans and my son especially read all the books, watched all the movies and has many video games!

So, here's our thinking.

We need to rent a car and drive over to US in the early morning. We cant pick up the car until 7 AM so we will try to get there as early as possible after that.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you're being a tad ambitious if you can't even pick up your car before 7. If you get to the gate by 9 (after picking up the car, driving it over, parking, walking, etc. it will probably be close to that), you are probably going to be looking at 1030-1100 before you ever set foot in WWoHP. At least that was typical a couple weeks ago when we were there.

We have our tickets thru undercover tourist and will head directly to IofA after we park the car.

We will then head right to WWoHP and spend the majority of our time there. We will eat an early lunch at 3 broomstix around 10:45 ( as we will have been up early) and probably head out to the other areas of interest after 1PM - 2PM or so.

It's highly unlikely that you will be anywhere near finished by 1pm. If you're lucky and get in even by 10, you probably won't get off FJ before 11, and you'll not have had a chance to look at anything else. You'll also be waiting in line to get a seat in 3 Broomsticks. If you are very lucky you might be able to ride FJ and eat by 1, I seriously doubt you will have done anythig else nor will you have had time to browse any of the shops.

We are hoping to have dinner at Bubba Gumps around 6PM

If we still have things we'd like to do in IoA after dinner can we get back in from the city walk area?

Do we need a ressie for Bubba Gumps?

Thanks in advance for your input!

I've never needed ressies for Bubba Gumps, but you can make them the morning you get there if you're concerned. And yes, you can walk right back into IoA after dinner as long as they are still open.

 

[nicolepdonnelly]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I think you're being a tad ambitious if you can't even pick up your car before 7. If you get to the gate by 9 (after picking up the car, driving it over, parking, walking, etc. it will probably be close to that), you are probably going to be looking at 1030-1100 before you ever set foot in WWoHP. At least that was typical a couple weeks ago when we were there.



It's highly unlikely that you will be anywhere near finished by 1pm. If you're lucky and get in even by 10, you probably won't get off FJ before 11, and you'll not have had a chance to look at anything else. You'll also be waiting in line to get a seat in 3 Broomsticks. If you are very lucky you might be able to ride FJ and eat by 1, I seriously doubt you will have done anythig else nor will you have had time to browse any of the shops.



I've never needed ressies for Bubba Gumps, but you can make them the morning you get there if you're concerned. And yes, you can walk right back into IoA after dinner as long as they are still open.

Thanks for the info Rip- I thought picking up the car the night before would be better but DH dissagrees and he's paying so...
I'll have to have him read this so he's prepared.

I am sure it will be busy- but we are going at the end of Aug/beg of Sept as most of the rest of the country is back to school. Crowds for disney are all under 4 for our stay with the majority being 2-3's according to touringplans.com. I don't know how they compare to US but I am sure it will not be as crowded as it was in June & July.

 

[Rip]

Thanks for the info Rip- I thought picking up the car the night before would be better but DH dissagrees and he's paying so...
I'll have to have him read this so he's prepared.

I am sure it will be busy- but we are going at the end of Aug/beg of Sept as most of the rest of the country is back to school. Crowds for disney are all under 4 for our stay with the majority being 2-3's according to touringplans.com. I don't know how they compare to US but I am sure it will not be as crowded as it was in June & July.

Ah, I didn't see when you were going. I don't think anyone yet knows what to expect in the "off" season for Universal - give us an update when you return!