Park to park for universial?

[KristieLC]

Hi all. It's been a while since I posted here. We are planning another trip to Orlando in the coming weeks. This time we are taking my almost 9 year old son to universial. Are the park to park tickets worth it? We are planning 3 days and are wondering if we should do park to park or save the $60 and just do base one park per day. Opinions? Also, anyone know what is included in the coupon book that you do get if you purchase park to park? Thanks for any advice!

 

[ParentsOf4]

Since you are planning 3 days at Universal, hopping tickets are not needed. Conversely, considering how much you probably are paying for the entire trip, $60 isn't much.

Generally speaking, park hopping is a matter of personal preference. For those who enjoy hopping, it is money well spent. For example, by mid-afternoon will you feel bored or trapped by being in one park, wishing you could escape to the other park?

We like to hop but, for us, 3 half-days spent at both parks would be more fun than 2 full days spent at one park and another full day spent at another park.

IMHO, it all comes down to what will be the most fun for you.

 

[captainkidd]

I think it depends on whether you're staying at a Universal Resort and therefore will have Express. In that case, I'd get the hopper. You can breeze through each park so quickly with those. More bang for your buck.

 

[bsiev1977]

I think it depends on whether you're staying at a Universal Resort and therefore will have Express. In that case, I'd get the hopper. You can breeze through each park so quickly with those. More bang for your buck.

Right. If your are onsite and have the Express, it wouldn't be hard to do most of if not all of both parks in one day.

 

[Timekeeper]

Weather can also be a consideration. If you go to IOA, and then suddenly the weather takes a turn for the worst, you might feel the desire to hop over to USF where more attractions are indoors and unaffected by inclement weather.

 

[BryceM]

I think park-hopping would be something to truly consider. Since the parks are so close, it would seem too hard not to. And as Timekeeper mentioned, the weather is also something to consider. The majority of Islands of Adventure's attractions are outside (except Forbidden Journey, Spider-Man, Poseidon's Fury, The Cat in the Hat) and almost all of the Studio's attractions are inside (except for Hollywood Rip Ride RockIt, Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster). There are some outdoor attractions at Islands of Adventure you can experience in rain, such as the Caro-Seuss-El or Storm Force Acceletron. But overall, Timekeeper is right; Universal Studios is more enjoyable in undesirable weather.

And it would be nice on your last day to park-hop and re-ride your favorites. You could do Universal Studios the first day, Islands of Adventure the second, and then the final day you could park-hop between the two and do all of your favorites. It just truly depends on what you want!

 

[KristieLC]

Thank you all so much! We are not staying on site but will be there for 8 days. We are doing the 3 days there and also doing a day at lego land and the rest of the time will be whatever we feel like I think we will definitely do the hopper. I didn't even think of the weather. Thanks again!