Which park first

[diegodenzel]

Hi all,

We will be going to Universal Studios for the first time in early December. I am traveling with a group of 8, which includes my 4yo son and my 20 month old twins. We will only have one day in the park. Our main reasons for going to Universal are to see The Simpsons stuff, to see some superheroes and to see Jurassic Park. This means we have to do both parks, unfortunately.

I have been researching to see which park we should start with but most opinions seem to center on the Harry Potter rides. We would like see the WWHP and trying some of the rides would be nice but will not be our priority. We will most likely be back in the next few years when the boys are older so we do not need to see everything.

We plan on separating and letting the twins play in the different play areas after a while so that some of us can try rides. We are also open to purchasing express passes for the few riding if we need.

Are we better off starting in one park over the other? I am thinking that we should start in IoA with the Spiderman stuff and then Camp Jurassic whilst most people would head for the WWHP? Plus that is the stuff my 4yo wants and he will be in a better mood in the morning...any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[keishashadow]

Are you staying onsite? If so, & the kids are early risers, it’s wise to visit that park rope drop

If you don’t have FOTL, nor will be buying EP, suggest you google:

free universal touring plans

Undercover Tourist comes to mind, there are others. Based upon your needs, your thoughts on starting at Spiderman in IoA is a great start. Lots of good info here for those with kids.

https://touringplans.com/universal-orlando/kids#childswap
There is ongoing construction in the JP area. Studios has a large & interesting children’s play area. There are water features, might want to bring a change of clothing for the little ones. Interesting animal show, etc. there too, just around corner from simpsons area.

 

[diegodenzel]

No, we aren’t staying on site. We will have a car and my kids are up early especially with the time change so we will aim to be there before park opening.

I will have a look at that link and some touring plans. Even though the rides are for older kids, there still seems to be a lot to do for the younger crowd.
Does the JP construction impact the play area and the Discovery Centre?

 

[GamingBuck]

I would probably do what you're thinking. I'd hit Spiderman, JP and Seuss Landing and figure out next steps from there. Only reason to maybe not do Suess so early would be that it's never really super busy.

Random thoughts:
Early December I'm guessing you won't need express pass.

If adults peel off, single rider on Hulk and Forbidden Journey are pretty great. With the kids I'd try to either make use of child swap or single rider.

If you head right to Spiderman it will likely be walk on. Dr. Doom will also likely be walk-on at that time. You may want to ride Spiderman first, then have the kids either ride Spiderman again or head to Pteranodon Flyers while some adults ride Hulk and Doom.

I would say to consider not going to the studios, but in the afternoon it might be nice to park the kids in the curious George area. The adults will probably like MIB and Mummy in addition to Simpsons, and lines should be reasonable.

Given you have one day only and you plan on coming back, I'd probably skip the time sink that is Hagrid's.

 

[diegodenzel]

I would probably do what you're thinking. I'd hit Spiderman, JP and Seuss Landing and figure out next steps from there. Only reason to maybe not do Suess so early would be that it's never really super busy.

Random thoughts:
Early December I'm guessing you won't need express pass.

If adults peel off, single rider on Hulk and Forbidden Journey are pretty great. With the kids I'd try to either make use of child swap or single rider.

If you head right to Spiderman it will likely be walk on. Dr. Doom will also likely be walk-on at that time. You may want to ride Spiderman first, then have the kids either ride Spiderman again or head to Pteranodon Flyers while some adults ride Hulk and Doom.

I would say to consider not going to the studios, but in the afternoon it might be nice to park the kids in the curious George area. The adults will probably like MIB and Mummy in addition to Simpsons, and lines should be reasonable.

Given you have one day only and you plan on coming back, I'd probably skip the time sink that is Hagrid's.

Cool, thanks for your thoughts. Hagrid’s will definitely be for another trip. If I get lucky, I’d like to do one of the other HP rides. But again, with kids this young, whatever we do will be a bonus!
I would only do one park if not for the fact that my grandfather is a huge Simpsons fan and my son, a huge Spiderman fan...