Universal Orlando vs Islands of Adventure?

[shaynaatl]

We have 7 couples renting a house in Orlando in a few weeks. We have allocated one full day for theme parks. Would you recommend Universal or Islands of Adventure? Or both in one day?

One park is $88 and both would be $123.

Also, if anyone knows about Orlando nightlife- we want to hit up bars one night. Should we do Universal CityWalk for nightlife, or go to another part of Orlando?

[gracie2762]

You can do both in one day.

[Deleted]

Islands of Adventure has the Harry Potter attractions and more thrilling rides/rollercoasters. Universal has more attractions and simulator rides. I actually prefer Universal but I would try to do both if you can.

[crispnclean]

We went to Universal at a similar time of year last year. There were virtually zero lines at any of the rides (including the big Harry Potter ride) and we pretty much walked onto every ride.

We did a day at each park (IoA and Universal Studios) but we spent a lot of time just walking around, eating food, watching shows and going on rides twice if we liked them. Plus we rode some rides that weren't that great just because we had the time.

I think you could definitely do both parks in a day if you wanted, but you would probably want to decide which rides you wanted to do at each one ahead of time so you don't waste time at one park over another.

IoA is more of a typical theme park, with the bigger, more thrilling rides. It also has the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which is amazing. Universal Studios had more fun shows (the horror makeup show was actually really hilarious) and some cool rides still (I enjoyed the Simpsons, Shrek and MIB) but it's definitely more tame. If I had to choose one, I'd pick IoA just for Harry Potter alone.

[clseale]

Are you staying down by the parks? If yes, I'd stick to City Walk. It's easy with plenty of bars right there to keep you entertained.

[flatlan]

DH and I did both parks in one day last November. It was a pretty long day but we had a blast.