Universal & IOA - Full day in each or Not?

[Barneyblue]

Hi Everyone, trying to plan for our trip in October, lots to do, but was looking at Universal Studios and IOA parks and was wondering if these two parks really need a whole day each? Is there enough in each to keep us there all day? There just doesn't seem to be as much to do looking at the park maps as there is in the Disney Parks? It must be noted that my considerable better half loves Harry Potter, everything about it she likes.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

[sha9]

I would say yes but that does depend on what kind of rides you like. I don't (can't) do coasters any more, if it's wet we don't do water rides (the ones in IoA get you soaked!), Forbidden Journey made us feel awful last year and I hate Seuss Landing so IoA doesn't take us long to get round. If you want to do every ride in each park it'll take two full days though.

[Barneyblue]

Thanks Sha9,

We all do like our rides, well maybe not the dw, but me and dd def do, sounds like we will need to allow a full day for each. DW probably spend all day in HP land while we do the rides .

[Mexy02]

Unless you buy a 1 day ticket then yes. It's expensive to do just one day . There is plenty to do.

[lovestoplan]

Even with the front of the line passes we bought we had a full day in each side in July last year and we hadn't seen / done everything

[lmartin]

We ended up doing most of a day at US (but took the Hogwarts Express to IoA for an hour or so), most of a day at IoA (but took the Hogwarts Express to US for an hour or so), and a third shorter day splitting the two and doing what we loved the most again. :-)

[Animagus]

You can easily fill two days. The coasters are great and the water rides are insane. Even if you are not into Potter, you will be amazed by the level of detail and immersive theming. Your DW, as a Potter fan, will love it! We could spend almost a whole day in Diagon Alley alone.

[cheekydeeky]

We do lots of half days at universal and love it. There for opening and usually leave about 2pm to have a laze by the pool. We don't do Disney though.

[mseagle]

Originally Posted by Barneyblue

Hi Everyone, trying to plan for our trip in October, lots to do, but was looking at Universal Studios and IOA parks and was wondering if these two parks really need a whole day each? Is there enough in each to keep us there all day? There just doesn't seem to be as much to do looking at the park maps as there is in the Disney Parks? It must be noted that my considerable better half loves Harry Potter, everything about it she likes.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

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Most definitely a day in each, particularly IoA. Also you must cross the parks on Hogwarts Express. Plenty of fun to be had !

[scoobydooby]

It really does depend what types of ride you like. My DD likes every coaster (the scarier the better. She did some horrific vertical climb ride at Universal aged 13 multiple times on her own), and she also loves every 3D simulation sick inducer. With FOL access 5 days was barely enough for her. My son likes most of the coasters and all the simulators but with 3 days FOL pass he was done and ready to swim/play the super cool guitars you can hire at the HRH at Universal. I like all the HP stuff and the water rides (the wetter the funnier) and can happily kill 3 half plus days at IOA and US. My husband will just stay with the last family member left standing 🙃 So for us. I could do everything I need to in two part days, DS probably could with a FOL pass and DD definitely couldn't.