Hi everbody! Question about touring universal. My family and I are Disney veterans. However never been to Universal. Wanting to know if we have a 1 day park hopper for last week of august. Would we be able to do all the ride attractions at Universal plus Spiderman jurassic river ride and the forbidden journey in islands of adventure. If touring commando style from open to close? Would we really benefit from staying at cabana bay and getting the extra hour?
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Universal touring please help
- Thread starter mickeyfan1
- Start date
jloucks
Well-Known Member
If there were no crowds what-so-ever and you can walk 5+mph all the time, then you could hit most of the stuff. That being said, to do it properly, you need 2 days. We did 4 full days @ Uni last time. It was almost perfect! We had what felt like 6 luxury hours to just do whatever on the last day.
JediMasterMatt
Well-Known Member
The extra hour is a bit subjective in its value as it is limited in terms of what can be accomplished and even more limited by what park or parks are on offer that morning. The extra hour is valuable; but, is even more valuable if Studios is also available as you can get Minions and Gringotts knocked out in a hurry. If it's just IoA for early entry, then you have to get really creative to get the most out of the day. Usually this means Forbidden Journey and maybe one other attraction right after early entry starts, then get in line for the first train on the Hogwarts Express to get into Diagon Alley and in line for Gringotts.
The extra hour is nice; but, it's not the secret to a Universal visit.
Express Pass is.
I would save up to stay at Royal Pacific instead of Cabana Bay and get both early entry and unlimited Express Pass. You can then get what you want accomplished done much, much easier. If you are staying a night on property and going to be power rushing the parks - you just described the perfect reason to stay at the Deluxe resort.
There is no better value in all of Orlando than Unlimited Express Pass that is offered by the Uni Deluxe Resorts.
A hidden bonus is for every night you stay, you can use early entry and the unlimited express on the check in and check out day.
The extra hour is nice; but, it's not the secret to a Universal visit.
Express Pass is.
I would save up to stay at Royal Pacific instead of Cabana Bay and get both early entry and unlimited Express Pass. You can then get what you want accomplished done much, much easier. If you are staying a night on property and going to be power rushing the parks - you just described the perfect reason to stay at the Deluxe resort.
There is no better value in all of Orlando than Unlimited Express Pass that is offered by the Uni Deluxe Resorts.
A hidden bonus is for every night you stay, you can use early entry and the unlimited express on the check in and check out day.
JoeCamel
Well-Known Member
Yeah you can but it is like doing Epcot, MK and AK all in one day. I don't know how much enjoyment you would get out of it but you could .... I guess.
Last week of August will be busy, if you have the extra hour you could do EFG and DM right off then ride HWE over to IOA and catch FJ then on to the other attractions. If you can swing a night at the Royal Pacific rather than CBBR you get express to go along with the early entry. Still too much to do in one day but you can do much more with the EP in the last week of August.
As of now both parks have early entry last of August
Good Luck you will need it.
Last week of August will be busy, if you have the extra hour you could do EFG and DM right off then ride HWE over to IOA and catch FJ then on to the other attractions. If you can swing a night at the Royal Pacific rather than CBBR you get express to go along with the early entry. Still too much to do in one day but you can do much more with the EP in the last week of August.
As of now both parks have early entry last of August
Good Luck you will need it.
HTF
Well-Known Member
I can do any park in one day including any Disney park. Not going to be able to enjoy myself but it can be done. Also if you've never been to Universal why not give it a day for each park. I'm willing to bet a small fortune you'll be singing some praises as will your family upon your return.
Get a 2 day AT LEAST! You'll be glad you did.
Get a 2 day AT LEAST! You'll be glad you did.
Mukta
Well-Known Member
You won't do everything, but this is what I would do.
Start at IOA
Hulk
Spiderman
Dudley Do Right
Jurassic Park
Forbidden Journey HP
Dueling Dragons
Cat in the Hat
Lunch Mythos
Hogwarts Express to Uni
Gringotts
Ice cream from Floreans
Disaster!
Mummy
Twister
Rip Rockit
ET
Horror Make up show
Simpsons
MiB
I disagree to an extent.The Key to Islands of Adventure is to arrive prior to opening (regardless if you have access to early entry) and work your way from front to back clockwise. Wait times should be pretty minimal going from front to back. However, this would mean getting to the Studios by around noon, at which point lines could be outrageous there (if it's a crowded day of course). In this respect then yes, Express Pass is a must. However, Express Pass on crowded days just means the line is shorter than standby, and can still be rather long (upwards of 30 minutes in many cases).
Exactly. If it was a solo trip, then I would say price everything. My last trip it was approximately the same price for me to stay at Cabana Bay and purchasing the Express Pass as it was to stay at the RP (I checked-in after the parks closed, otherwise RP would have been cheaper since I would have needed an extra EP day). But once you get another person it is absolutely cheaper to stay at a deluxe, providing you plan on purchasing the Express Pass (if not then obviously it's not).[/QUOTE]
SAV
Well-Known Member
We just stayed at Cabana Bay last week and we benefited greatly with that extra hour to get on rides. Our first day at Studios we went in, jumped on Minions immediately for basically a walk on. Went back to Diagon Alley and got on Gringots within a 10 minute wait. Then proceeded to do the rest of the park with very short waits. The next day we also took advantage of the extra half hour(couldn't get the family out of the room early enough) and was able to get on FJ quickly, then did Hippogriff and Dragons before heading counter clockwise to Spidey and Hulk.
In a one day scenerio where the extra hour is in both parks, I could see you doing Minions then Diagon Alley then Hogwarts over to FJ. Then working your way around IOA. Then back to Studios where there will be some lines to deal with at that point.
One thing we did later in the day was use the Single Rider lines where possible. We re-rode FJ and Gringots waiting maybe 10 minutes while the single rider line was at minimum 45 minutes. MIB was maybe 5 minutes while standby was at least 30 minutes.
In a one day scenerio where the extra hour is in both parks, I could see you doing Minions then Diagon Alley then Hogwarts over to FJ. Then working your way around IOA. Then back to Studios where there will be some lines to deal with at that point.
One thing we did later in the day was use the Single Rider lines where possible. We re-rode FJ and Gringots waiting maybe 10 minutes while the single rider line was at minimum 45 minutes. MIB was maybe 5 minutes while standby was at least 30 minutes.
Disneydreamer23
Well-Known Member
Just do 2 days, its not very much more in price than 1, then you wont have to rush and take every thing in.
MississippiBelle
Well-Known Member
We actually went to Universal instead of Disney last Christmas and two days was the perfect amount of time for us. The express pass is a must as it allows you to get all of the rides in and still get to explore the parks. There is so much detail in the Harry Potter lands that you won't want to run straight to the ride and straight back out! And if you were anything like us, you'll be so surprised by the Mummy ride that you'll want to express pass your way back on 3 or 4 times!