Universal: What do I need to know?

[redheadk]

We are going to WDW over Thanksgiving week with friends. They are planning on 4 Disney days and 2 universal days.

We don't have to do exactly what they do. Their dd is in HS, ours is in 4th grade so interests are just different.

Our DD absolutely hated roller coaster rides when we went in 1st grade. I'm hopeful she'll do a little more this time but I don't think she's going to be riding anything with loops or anything intense. She's also pretty short for her age at about 4' 4".

She is lukewarm on Harry Potter but I would enjoy seeing all the HP stuff at Universal. She doesn't care one bit about superheroes. 

Will one day at universal be good for us? I do know we'll need to get one of the passes that allows us access to both parks (whatever that means) so we can ride the HP train ride.

[fernweh]

Yes I think one day is enough. H and I were just there and skipping the roller coasters we got just about everything done in 1 day.
They are mostly 4D rides so most of them are similar just with different characters.

[mrsslocombe]

We just did two days at Universal and I wish we had only bought 1 day, 2 park tickets. We got through everyone on the first day, the second day we just re-rode the handful of rides we really liked.

The rides are all so similar, especially in Universal Studios, and there's only so much 3D motion simulator I can take.

Even if she doesn't love Harry Potter, I think she'll be impressed with the Diagon Alley area, it is so well done. If she's not into roller coasters, I would try the Hagrid's Motor Bike coaster with her. there's no loops but there are a lot of "unexpected" fun moments. Don't rope drop the ride-the line is actually longest at opening, and it tends to drop a lot from there. I actually think it's better at night than day time. Definitely skip the Velocicoaster, it's amazing but it is very, very intense.

[SusanBAnthony]

The first time we did universal we did one day and it was fine. We pretty much just did Harry Potter, with maybe 2-3 other rides.

The second time we went two days and we thought that was perfect, but we knew we liked it.

[ksun]

DH and I did one day at Universal last November and we didn't come close to getting through one park, but we are admittedly HP geeks so we spent several hours just at Diagon Alley as well as Hogsmeade.

[Wines Not Whines]

One day at Universal is enough, but get the 2-park tickets so you can see both parts of the HP sections (Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley). Some of the HP rides are pretty intense. My son didn’t want to ride the rides, but he really enjoyed exploring everything and doing magic with his wand.

[dcn]

We are here now, and spent 2 days. My kids love rides though and wanted to go on everything. If you prioritize what you want to do, you can do it in a day. Also get express pass if you can. Lines were insane.

[was5]

Feb 20, 2022 17:21:34 GMT -5 dcn said:

We are here now, and spent 2 days. My kids love rides though and wanted to go on everything. If you prioritize what you want to do, you can do it in a day. Also get express pass if you can. Lines were insane.

My family of 5 is going to Universal for 4 nights end of March/early April. If we spread our time out over 3.5 days, do you think we can do everything without express passes?

[dcn]

was5 Oh I think so yes. The only thing we wanted to do that we didn’t get to was the Hagrid ride. The wait was 2+ hours all day both days and our youngest wasn’t tall enough to ride it, so it didn’t seem worth it.

It was a holiday weekend so I think it was extra busy!

One thing we did was get there around 8 for a 9 am opening (we stayed off site and the shuttle departed at 7:30 or 9:10). They opened the gates at 8:30 and we were able to ride a ride and then get to Diagon Alley before 9am. This was the best time to be there because it wasn’t crowded yet, and the kids got the interactive Wands and were able to do the spells throughout without having to wait a long time. The second day we did the same, but hung out doing spells in diagon alley and then did the hogwarts express right at 9 to go over to Islands of Adventure. Since we didn’t stay on site we didn’t have early admission.

[mrsslocombe]

Feb 22, 2022 12:16:05 GMT -5 was5 said:

Feb 20, 2022 17:21:34 GMT -5 dcn said:

We are here now, and spent 2 days. My kids love rides though and wanted to go on everything. If you prioritize what you want to do, you can do it in a day. Also get express pass if you can. Lines were insane.

My family of 5 is going to Universal for 4 nights end of March/early April. If we spread our time out over 3.5 days, do you think we can do everything without express passes?

It's more than enough time. The crowds are higher now because of the Mardi Gras celebration-are you going to be there during any of the big concert days? That will definitely affect the crowd size. 

If your kids can make it to the end of the night, I would save Hagrid's for last. The wait is so much shorter in the last hour of the day (we rode three times in a row a the end of the night). Also we found that wait times varied throughout the day by a LOT, so just keep your eye on the app throughout the day. 

[was5]

mrsslocombe , dcn , thanks for the feedback. We are staying on sight so we get early access but not a premium so no free express passes. However, my family is not made of early risers. We didn't even try for rope drop when we went to WDW a few years ago. But we will try to do early access at least one of the days to make it easier to do the spells.

Two of the nights we are there close early at 6pm for the graduation celebration (don't know the exact name). I didn't realize it until after we booked our hotel and flight, but we are going during my kids' spring break so we don't have much choice. mrsslocombe , do you know how that impacts crowds during the day? I know at WDW, MK isn't as crowded during the day when they have a ticketed event later in the day, so I'm kind of hoping the 2 days with the graduation even will be slightly less crowded than usual - but they are a Fri and Sat so I'm not holding my breath. I just hope they aren't more crowded than they'd otherwise be. In a way, I'm glad it will force us out of the parks so we can take advantage of the pool and lazy river at Cabana Bay.

We arrive on a Wednesday and leave super early on Sunday morning (7am flight). We had not planned on going to the parks at all on Wednesday, but since the current ticket deal is buy 3 days get 2 free, I figured we might as well use one of those free tickets and fit in a few hours at Islands of Adventure on Wednesday evening. One of my kids loves the Hulk and that roller coaster is what he's looking forward to the most. So, I'm thinking Hulk and Hagrids that night if nothing else. We can get 2 big items off of our to-do list. I'm also hoping to see the light show that night.

redheadk , sorry to take over your post!

[mrsslocombe]

was5, I'm not sure how the grad nights affect the daytime crowds. Are they weekend days (when season pass holders would be more likely to attend?) or weekday? We went on a Monday/Tuesday pre-Mardi Gras so the parks were relatively "empty" other than the HP sections. Is it like WDW where event ticket holders can enter the parks starting at 3 or 4pm? If so I would definitely take advantage of your early access and hit the big stuff as much as you can.

Also keep in mind there are a lot of single rider lines at Universal, though they have varying degrees of usefulness. I wouldn't bother with the Hagrids single rider (they split parties into even and odd numbers, so they don't need as many single riders), but the Gringotts and Hulk single rider lines were fast.

[SusanBAnthony]

The Hagrids ride is soooooo good. It's worth the wait! We did the regular line and it was fine. We went first thing and then kept an eye on the app and tried to run back if the line for short.