Hi everybody! My family and I are well seasoned Disney fans. However never made the pilgrimage to Universal. We have one free day to do Universal this time. Needing some help putting together a touring plan for one day. Will be mail interested in Universal however will ride Hogwarts over to IOA to do Forbidden Journey along with Spiderman. With that in mind can it all be done in a day? Thanks in advance.
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UniverSal 1 day Help Please!
- Thread starter mickeyfan1
- Start date
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
Start in Diagon Alley with Gringott's. Spend a little time looking around DA. Ride HE to Hogsmeade. Do all of Hogsmeade. Then exit towards Jurassic Park. Hit Jurassic Park River Adventure. Walk through toon lagoon to Marvel Super Hero Island. Hit Spider-man and Hulk. Proceed to Seuss Landing. Hit Cat in the Hat. Continue to Hogsmeade station and take the HE back to USF. Hit Mummy, Transformers, Simpsons, MiB, then back to DA to finish out the day.
The last thing for the day should be Universal's Cinematic Spectacular.
That's far from everything, but a solid greatest hits tour.
The last thing for the day should be Universal's Cinematic Spectacular.
That's far from everything, but a solid greatest hits tour.
Pirate’s Life
New Member
Thank you Disneyhead'71
This is exactly what we need as we have one day at the Universal Resort.
AswaySuller
Well-Known Member
To do this though you will need a multi park ticket so make sure you have that.
Pirate’s Life
New Member
We sure do, thanks
rob0519
Well-Known Member
I agree these are the highlights. If you like water flumes, check out Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls. Other possibilities based on time and interest might be Despicable Me and Shrek 4D.
Pirate’s Life
New Member
Does Universal have "fastpasses" and how many can I use at one time?
Disneydreamer23
Well-Known Member
They have a fast pass but you have to buy it or stay at a higher universal hotel.
Pirate’s Life
New Member
Thanks Disneydreamer23
You should definitely consider buying one. This will cut your waiting time in half on most of the major rides. The only major rides that don't have the express pass are the new HP ones: Escape from Gringotts and HP and the Forbidden Journey. You will have more time to do more things with it.
DisneyDaver
Well-Known Member
What time of year are you going?
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
It's definitely doable.
Do you folks ride coasters?
A couple things to consider:
1. The water rides at Universal are much, much more aggressive at getting guests wet than their Disney counterparts. Assume that riding one is going to get you about as wet as jumping into a swimming pool wearing whatever you have on. Ponchos will not work. If your party isn't capable of dressing in quickly-drying clothing and/or you're not willing or capable of bringing a full change of clothes/socks/shoes for everybody, skip the water rides.
2. Universal is far stricter than Disney in its allowing guests to bring bags with them on rides. Whereas you can pretty much get away with sitting a small backpack at your feet on Rock n' Rollercoaster, Universal's employees will all but pat you down before letting you ride Hulk or Rip Ride Rockit to make sure you don't have a wallet in your pocket. Both the Potter rides require that everything you have with you be stowed in a locker as well, which eats up time. If you don't have someone in your party who is going to stay with the stroller or whatever to watch the bags, it might be easier to just plan on everyone just taking what they can fit in their own pockets.
3. Either Rip Ride Rockit or Escape from Gringotts will break down at some point during your one day at the park. Probably both. Just anticipate this and work around it. They'll re-open again in a few hours. Probably.
4. Like at Disney, not all restaurants at Universal are created equal. Unlike Disney, a lot of restaurants at Universal in the same price range are significantly better than others. Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous, I'm looking at you. You'll probably want to avoid any counter service place not at Springfield, Jurassic Park, or either of the Potter sections. If you had two days to work with I'd recommend Mythos, but you don't.
5. Skip the shows. All of them. They're all lame. If the Blues Brothers or one of the Potter street shows is going, feel free and stop for a minute, but none of the live entertainment offerings at Universal right now is worth, say, another go on Mummy or Men in Black.
Do you folks ride coasters?
A couple things to consider:
1. The water rides at Universal are much, much more aggressive at getting guests wet than their Disney counterparts. Assume that riding one is going to get you about as wet as jumping into a swimming pool wearing whatever you have on. Ponchos will not work. If your party isn't capable of dressing in quickly-drying clothing and/or you're not willing or capable of bringing a full change of clothes/socks/shoes for everybody, skip the water rides.
2. Universal is far stricter than Disney in its allowing guests to bring bags with them on rides. Whereas you can pretty much get away with sitting a small backpack at your feet on Rock n' Rollercoaster, Universal's employees will all but pat you down before letting you ride Hulk or Rip Ride Rockit to make sure you don't have a wallet in your pocket. Both the Potter rides require that everything you have with you be stowed in a locker as well, which eats up time. If you don't have someone in your party who is going to stay with the stroller or whatever to watch the bags, it might be easier to just plan on everyone just taking what they can fit in their own pockets.
3. Either Rip Ride Rockit or Escape from Gringotts will break down at some point during your one day at the park. Probably both. Just anticipate this and work around it. They'll re-open again in a few hours. Probably.
4. Like at Disney, not all restaurants at Universal are created equal. Unlike Disney, a lot of restaurants at Universal in the same price range are significantly better than others. Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous, I'm looking at you. You'll probably want to avoid any counter service place not at Springfield, Jurassic Park, or either of the Potter sections. If you had two days to work with I'd recommend Mythos, but you don't.
5. Skip the shows. All of them. They're all lame. If the Blues Brothers or one of the Potter street shows is going, feel free and stop for a minute, but none of the live entertainment offerings at Universal right now is worth, say, another go on Mummy or Men in Black.
JillC LI
Well-Known Member
They have an Express Pass which is a single ticket that you pay for if you are not staying on site. If you stay on Uni property you get it for free (as well as early entry to the parks). The Express Pass works on most, but not all, of the attractions.
Disneyhead'71
Well-Known Member
And beware the Counter Service restaurants. Like Disney, some are great, others abysmal. If it looks like standard theme park fare (burgers, pizza, chicken strips ), keep walking. There is better stuff near by. Springfield is the exception. A Krusty Burger and a Duffs is a darned fine meal
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rob0519
Well-Known Member
The Unlimited Express Pass is really expensive. As with all things these days it's based on dynamic pricing, so it costs more on weekend and holidays than Monday through Thursday. Also, your park ticket is not included. You would pay about $100 for your base ticket and then about another $100 for the Express pass. We have a disabled son and thought the Express Pass would be a good idea, but for a party of four for two days it was almost $800 over the price of admission. Needless to say, we did not buy it.
AswaySuller
Well-Known Member
Mels drive in is also a great place to eat IMO it is just burgers but damn it was a good burger
JillC LI
Well-Known Member
I agree. I personally would never be willing to pay out of pocket for an EP at Uni. That's why we stayed on property for one night when we visited last time. It cost more than our Value resort at WDW, but it was worth it for the convenience, the early entry, and the free EP.
rob0519
Well-Known Member
I think that's what we're going to do on our next trip as well. Whenever that is. Our surprise came because we had no intention of buying the EP until we saw the crowds, but once we saw the prices........