Two parks in one day

[drp4video]

I haven't been to Universal in about 5 years. Was there right after Harry Potter opened in Islands of Adventure. In the past, we have been able to do one park sometimes in 4 or 5 hours. I am planning to go the week of May 12th, thinking of going on Monday and/or Tuesday. My question is, will it be possible at that time of year to do both parks in one day? We are doing Disney as well and only have 4 full days total, and two fly days.

 

[JT3000]

Depends what you mean by "both parks." You're not going to get every single attraction done, and you may or may not need Express, depending on what exactly you want to accomplish.

 

[drp4video]

Depends what you mean by "both parks." You're not going to get every single attraction done, and you may or may not need Express, depending on what exactly you want to accomplish.

Thanks is for the quick response. I have been to both parks probably a dozen tImes or more and we do smip some attractions. Mostly we are interested in the Harry Potter in both parks and taking the train.

 

[JT3000]

Both sections of Wizarding World can be done in a matter of hours, but that will depend heavily on whether you're a "do the attractions and some shopping" type of person or a "spend hours looking at everything" superfan. With Dragons gone, the attractions themselves will probably only take between two to three hours, possibly more if you wait for all of the shows, including Ollivanders. Neither land is very large, but Diagon Alley is more detailed than Hogsmeade, so that may keep you. I don't know if you're interested in doing the interactive wand stuff. They may or may not be using Hogwarts for another projection show by the time you go, but if they are, you'll want to be in IOA when the sun sets.

 

[drp4video]

I would say yes with an express pass and you hit the parks as early as possible.

The thing is you'll have to skip stuff. I don't really want to just run through the rides and if you have never been on something how do you know if you like it? I tend to ride my favorite rides more then once in a day. It can be done but without an express pass you can't do it.

Since you only have one day give it a try. Normally I would say take a couple of days but you're already at Disney and that's your main destination.

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, Disney is my main destination but I love Universal as well. Like I indicated, it has been about 5 years since we went to Universal and we haven't been to Diagon Alley (we have been to Hogsmead), and we also do most other attractions besides Harry Potter. Last time we were there, we just did Islands of Adventure the beginning of September, and even with riding Jurassic Park and Hulk twice, as well as others, we were done in about 5 hours. But, I am thinking we should do the two day pass rather than rush. We tend to get to parks when they open and stay till they close, and we can just slow down and not be so crazy to finish everything in one day. We do look at things, but don't examine everything and there are things we do skip. But if we finish early, we can just go back to our hotel and hit up the pool or visit Disney Springs. This is a short visit so just trying to pack in as much as we can in a day, as we only have two full days at Disney and will have to hit two parks on our arrival and departure day.

 

[JoeCamel]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, Disney is my main destination but I love Universal as well. Like I indicated, it has been about 5 years since we went to Universal and we haven't been to Diagon Alley (we have been to Hogsmead), and we also do most other attractions besides Harry Potter. Last time we were there, we just did Islands of Adventure the beginning of September, and even with riding Jurassic Park and Hulk twice, as well as others, we were done in about 5 hours. But, I am thinking we should do the two day pass rather than rush. We tend to get to parks when they open and stay till they close, and we can just slow down and not be so crazy to finish everything in one day. We do look at things, but don't examine everything and there are things we do skip. But if we finish early, we can just go back to our hotel and hit up the pool or visit Disney Springs. This is a short visit so just trying to pack in as much as we can in a day, as we only have two full days at Disney and will have to hit two parks on our arrival and departure day.

Excellent, now you are talking sense. Probably won't need express but if you get there and think you need it you can purchase it day of. You do need those passes to be park to park so you can hop back and forth.

 

[ChanceH]

Family and I are checking in to resort on Sunday May 13. Plan on Uni Monday and Tuesday then disney Wednesday and Thursday and back towards home Friday. I wouldn’t attempt to do everything at Universal in 1 day unless I had express passes. Even then it might be tough. But we are a family that devours the sights and shops when we go so it takes us longer. We are not doing express passes but also will have 2 full days open to close. I’d go that route if possible. See ya there

 

[drp4video]

Family and I are checking in to resort on Sunday May 13. Plan on Uni Monday and Tuesday then disney Wednesday and Thursday and back towards home Friday. I wouldn’t attempt to do everything at Universal in 1 day unless I had express passes. Even then it might be tough. But we are a family that devours the sights and shops when we go so it takes us longer. We are not doing express passes but also will have 2 full days open to close. I’d go that route if possible. See ya there

Thanks for the advice. I plan to make plane reservations for May 12th early so we can hopefully check in at Disney and be at Epcot by 1:00 p.m. and spend the day at Epcot, the 13th do AK, then Monday and Tuesday do Universal, Wednesday we will do MK, then Thursday do DHS before we leave hopefully on a later flight around 6 pm. On the Universal days I want to eat at Boma after the parks, so late dinner (I stayed at AK lodge 3 years ago and never ate at Boma...crazy), then perhaps Disney Springs on the second Universal night. We will need a vacy from this vacy lol The good part is we don't have to rush around to see everything as we have been so many times before although like you, we do like to look at lots of things. Shopping not so much. I was there three years ago in May as well and weather was so good and crowds were lower than holidays and summer and was able to get in a lot in May.Excited to go back. And maybe we WILL see you there! Have a great time.

 

[ChanceH]

Make sure you plan out those FP's at WDW and book them as early as you can. I have been blocked out of rides at 60 days out. I hate the new Disney FP system and that's why I go to Universal now. LOL> If you don't get those FP's right, attractions in Epcot and DHS become an endless wait. I have heard since Soar opened it's expansion things have been better for that ride at least and Toy Story opened another track to calm that down but half of DHS is gone and under construction at the moment. Of course everyone is gobbling up Avatar FP's since it's new.

The FP can be bad but at 60 days the only issue I have is FOP. We go 3 times a year normally and haven’t had any issues ever getting the fast pass we want minus FOP. I always try at 7 eastern time at our 60 day mark too.

 

[drp4video]

Yeah, not a fan of the FP system either. I hate all the planning. We never used to decide which park to go to until we woke up. Now It's too much like a job. Last time I went it was just me, a solo trip and I didn't decide which park I wanted to go to until I got up that morning. Happily I was able to get FP's that morning for most of the rides I wanted. I too used to have an AP, went two to four times a year, then went to 10 day hoppers that were non-experational when we started going just once a year. Sad that they got rid of that option. I now go between every three and four years, but would have continued once a year if I could get the non-expiration option. I figure Disney lost money on me by cancelling that option as I would have spent money on their resorts and food every year. Reading these boards over the years, I think a lot of people feel the same way and wish that option was still available. Disney's loss (although I am sure they are not suffering from that lost revenue)

 

[UpAllNight]

I think Universal is very easy to do very quickly and it’s the resorts biggest problem. Disney do shows, parades and street entertainment so much better...and keep you hanging around for the much better nighttime offerings.

In May we did Islands Of Adventure before 1 o clock. Counter clockwise, Hulk first. You’ll get on it, Spiderman and Kong before any queues. Waterrides don’t get busy in the morning. Do the 3 water rides, then you’ve done a large part of the park by 11am. Even if you took time to do more and moved over to USF at 4, you’d have a good 5 hours to pack in the highlights. Personally if limited in time I’d go for Gringotts, Mummy, ET and MIB and avoid too many of the same screen simulators/variations of the same concept ie Simpsons, Fallon, Minions, Shrek.

 

[macefamily]

It's very possible to do a park and a few rides in the other park if you hit the right day (bad weather). But it's changed alot in five years. We go every year (from PA) and I can remember when we would do Universal Studios in less than a day. That has changed. Since Harry Potter opened I would bet crowds have increased by 40% with most of those people coming from the UK.