Time needed to cover Universal Studios and IOA?

[uday029]

Is it possible to know if a particular weekend is going to be slow/busy? We are a group of 6 adults planning to visit Universal Studios and IOA for 2 days on Feb 15th and 16th (Friday and Saturday). Do we need to buy express pass for both days? How much crowd can we expect on Friday? We don't mind spending the money for a two day express pass but we would rather save that money for something else if we don't need it on Friday.

Also, we are in Orlando only for the weekend and after doing some research we decided that we would need 1.5 to 2 days to cover both Universal Studios and IOA. Are we correct in estimating this time frame? Can we finish both in one day (so that we can hot some other park on the second day)?

Any advice/suggestions are highly appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Disneyhead]

that is about right for a weekend. Do you have your hotel booked, because if you stay in a Universal resort for one night you end up getting 2 days of FREE Express Passes (Check-in Day AND Departure Day).

 

[Ajstriker26]

In the past, mid February hasn't really been a busy time of the season. If you are just looking to do rides, you could probably knock out both parks if you came right at park open, planned out your whole day in advance and left at park close with an Express Pass. Otherwise, it'll prob take you a full day each at both parks.

 

[Roll N Fear]

I would wait to buy the Express Passes until once you get there. Then you should be able to decide if you need them or not. Universal also predicts the crowd levels for a particular day by the price of Express Passes. If they expect larger crowds then the Express will obviously be priced higher for that day.

 

[Felipe]

:welcome:

Hope you guys have an awesome trip! Here are my tips:

- I would recommend you do one park per day. Enjoy yourselves, and don't rush your experience. If you're done before the day ends, re-ride your favorites or enjoy some of what CityWalk has to offer. There's many nice bars and spots around this area of the resort, too.

- I'd recommend you do Islands of Adventure on Friday the 15th. It should be marginally less crowded on Friday than on Saturday, but the main reason being that IoA closes at 8pm on the 15th, whereas Universal closes at 6pm that day.

- Then on Saturday the 16th you can do Universal, which will be less crowded than IoA on any day--thanks Harry Potter!-- and it closes at 8pm that day. Don't forget to watch the nightly lagoon show, regardless on which day you end up going to the Studios. (Theme Park Hours)

- Regardless of which park you chose for each day, I also highly recommend getting there as early as possible. And when you go to IoA, make sure to get to Harry Potter the earliest. Early morning and later in the afternoon are the least crowded times, but I recommend you get there early rather than later. You can always come back later

I'd also like to know, do you have your hotel booked already? And are you coming from Florida, or out of state/county? Staying on-site is a great advantage for many reasons. Proximity, convenience, and most of all the Unlimited Express, as pointed out :thumbs:

 

[Andy]

FYI

Mardi Gras will be going on that Saturday at the Studios your attending so you may want or not want to consider that. Crowds will be much larger than normal depending on who is playing.
Sunset will be at 5:37PM so count on Cinematic playing both nights your their
I would recommend taking two days to experience it all. Adults get the most out of Universal and as Felipe said utilize Citywalk.
All major rides should be open minus possibly either the Simpsons or MIB which are due for a refurb this year.

 

[uday029]

Thank you Felipe. We are all coming from out of state (various parts of USA actually). We already have our reservation booked off-site (got a great deal on a 4 bedroom vacation home). Most of us are not interested in shopping or shows and not to picky/keen about our dining plans.

The only reason we want to rush IOA and Studios is to cover EPCOT. I read a bunch of articles online that say EPCOT has a better mix of thrill and family rides than Universal, along with some great atmosphere (ex: world market). We have whole day Friday, half day Saturday and half day Sunday to cover theme parks. I understand that packing more stuff does not mean more fun but if we can cover 2 theme parks in over Fri, Sat and Sun, it would be great. If we spend Fri and Sat at Universal then we will not have anything to do on Sun.

I read in an other forum that it is possible to cover both in one day if we plan ahead (http://bit.ly/12ZJdyz). What do you guys think?

I appreciate all your help.

 

[Eric]

Thank you Felipe. We are all coming from out of state (various parts of USA actually). We already have our reservation booked off-site (got a great deal on a 4 bedroom vacation home). Most of us are not interested in shopping or shows and not to picky/keen about our dining plans.

The only reason we want to rush IOA and Studios is to cover EPCOT. I read a bunch of articles online that say EPCOT has a better mix of thrill and family rides than Universal, along with some great atmosphere (ex: world market). We have whole day Friday, half day Saturday and half day Sunday to cover theme parks. I understand that packing more stuff does not mean more fun but if we can cover 2 theme parks in over Fri, Sat and Sun, it would be great. If we spend Fri and Sat at Universal then we will not have anything to do on Sun.

I read in an other forum that it is possible to cover both in one day if we plan ahead (http://bit.ly/12ZJdyz). What do you guys think?

I appreciate all your help.

Epcot doesn't have many rides. The primary purpose of Epcot now, is some good eating and shopping. IOA and USF have you're mix of thrill and family rides WAY more than Epcot does. Don't get me wrong, I love Epcot, but the only thing you'll really miss is the newly renovated Test Track.

I strongly suggest you don't try to do both USF and IOA in one day. You're not going to get to appreciate some of the smaller details and rather than enjoy the parks you're going to be consistently hopping from attraction to attraction.

 

[Octobers Fade]

If you have not been... two days is a must, if you just want to ride and leave, it can be done in one day but it will be a long day.
Like Feipe said and I always recommend be in line, with tickets in hand, before the gates open it puts you so far ahead of the crowds iit's not funny and really gets a lot accomplished fast.

 

[Felipe]

You're welcome! I asked because you might have gotten a discount as a FL resident for on-site hotels, but I'm glad to hear you got a great deal on a vacation home! Those are great for a party of 6. BTW, you can still get discounts from AAA, and other ways, even if you're not a FL resident :thumbs:

Sounds like this might be your first time to these parks? Tough, especially in such a big group, to decide on plans... Everyone has opinions about each park, and I love the theming of World Showcase at EPCOT; I think it's one of my favorite things about WDW overall. But, personally, I'd go to IoA or Universal any day over EPCOT. Especially, I consider one of EPCOT's main strengths it's food, but if you're not too interested in a culinary adventure, EPCOT's rides are alright, but I still prefer UOR's rides better. Again, that's just my tastes and what I usually like to get out of a day at the theme parks. This might have to be decided among yourselves, looking online at the maps for each of the parks, and seeing what you're interested in. My advice? Don't rush or cram. For so many reasons, including you might exhaust yourself, or sour your/the group's mood. I had family over last year, and we did all four WDW parks in one day, just doing a few rides of each. It was miserable. Rushing in a theme park, in the FL heat and humidity, with the crowds, and missing all the details... I don't think it's the best way to go.

Like I said, check out the park maps online, check out your options and what you might all be interested in. You might be able to do both UOR parks in a day and be totally happy and satisfied. Who knows? :shrug: Maybe some other people can chime in on pros and cons of squeezing UOR to one day to visit EPCOT, vs UOR on two days. My vote is two days at UOR :thumbs:

 

[Andy]

Mardi Gras, dont under estimate the crowds.

 

[USO92]

I love going from open to close so I never have a problem hitting everything (up until the end of 2014 that is). My recomendation is to watch the weather before you go and see what its going to be like. If theres a chance of rain (almost all the time) get their at opening and do IOA first. I normally go MSHI, TL, JP, WWoHP, and then SL. I normally only ride Hulk, Spidey, Popeye, JPRA, FJ, and Cat in the Hat depending on the day but my suggestion is if you dont want to spend a long time waiting and dont mind being split up use the single riders line on anything over 30 minutes. We normally eat in JP which is about midday for us. If you do this and get their right at opening and lines go smoothly you should be out of IOA at about 2 or 3 depending on how many times you ride each ride. Over at USF hit Rockit first as that is normally the one that gives us most trouble and waiting or hit Despicable Me depending on wait times between the two. Sometimes we will do Twister but most days we will go straight to Mummy and ride about 2 or 3 times (yea its the fav) and then we normally skip disaster as to we have been on it many times so we will go to MIB and normally bc of wait time we will go to Single Riders. After that Hit Simpsons and then that is when we normally head out. I always find a way to make it all day bc these trips come to me about twice a year so I make them count! Hopefully this helps!

Cinematic is worth staying for...no negotiations on that!

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

I love going from open to close so I never have a problem hitting everything (up until the end of 2014 that is). My recomendation is to watch the weather before you go and see what its going to be like. If theres a chance of rain (almost all the time) get their at opening and do IOA first. I normally go MSHI, TL, JP, WWoHP, and then SL. I normally only ride Hulk, Spidey, Popeye, JPRA, FJ, and Cat in the Hat depending on the day but my suggestion is if you dont want to spend a long time waiting and dont mind being split up use the single riders line on anything over 30 minutes. We normally eat in JP which is about midday for us. If you do this and get their right at opening and lines go smoothly you should be out of IOA at about 2 or 3 depending on how many times you ride each ride. Over at USF hit Rockit first as that is normally the one that gives us most trouble and waiting or hit Despicable Me depending on wait times between the two. Sometimes we will do Twister but most days we will go straight to Mummy and ride about 2 or 3 times (yea its the fav) and then we normally skip disaster as to we have been on it many times so we will go to MIB and normally bc of wait time we will go to Single Riders. After that Hit Simpsons and then that is when we normally head out. I always find a way to make it all day bc these trips come to me about twice a year so I make them count! Hopefully this helps!

Cinematic is worth staying for...no negotiations on that!

Couldn't have said it better. For these parks, the entire day.