Universal studios planning help !

[samanthacj]

Hi

We are a family of six planning two day trips to universal at the end of April we are hoping to cover the three parks I’ve two girls who want to do all the big thrill rides and two younger ones we want to do the family rides with.

What order would you hit the parks in and which rides would you head to first ? They aren’t that bothered about the Harry Potter rides

Thanks
Sam

[123Ellen]

If they aren't bothered with HP definitely leave those as either as the park opens run over or till last they are usually big queues and no fast pass which means it gets clogged up quick!

how young are the two younger ones?

In islands
Personally we normally start with the seus landing and then up to do the dragons rollercoasters (i still think of them as dueling dragons and not part of HP ) and then onto jurassic park for the water ride, the new kong ride is pretty good for everyone but had a long queue when i was there... and then you have the option of the water rides for those that want to get wet and finish in Marvel, normally everyone heads there first so by the time you've done all the others it should be quieter and you have spiderman for the whole family and those that want to do rollercoasters can and there's an arcade for entertainment for those that don't...

In Universal

I would say head to simpsons first and MIB and then work you way back down as everyone tends to congregate around the first rides as you get in, minions and shrek and by the time you have done the others and are back at the front it should be a lot quieter. For those that want the thrill ride definitely don't miss the mummy ride its always brilliant

I've probably given way more detail then you wanted on which way gotten too carried away and not answered your question at all... hope that helps a little...

[D15ney72]

Hi,

I wouldn’t say it matters which park you visit first, just that you get there for opening and head straight to the rides you want to go on that tend to have the longest wait times.

In Universal Studios I would prioritise Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Revenge of the Mummy, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, the Hogwarts Express (if you have park-to-park tickets), Men in Black Alien Attack, Transformers and The Simpsons Ride.

In Islands of Adventure it would be The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff. (If you aren’t bothered about the Harry Potter rides that should save you a decent amount of time!)

You could then hopefully be riding the rides with shorter waits when the parks are at their busiest. 😊

If you wanted to plot a rough route around the park that takes in the rides you want to do but minimises walking time, the Universal Orlando website and the Dibb Menu has all the park maps available to view and print.

[DFussy]

Hi.

Just so you know the duelling dragons ride mentioned has now been closed unfortunately. Since last summer Universal allowed the express pass, that people buy/premium onsite hotel guests get included, to be used on the harry potter rides.

Onsite guests and a few others do get early access to hp areas, so for example on our first day we went early into IOA and started at the superhero area with hulk, and pretty much walked on. in my experience spiderman has some of the longest queues as it is family friendly, but not too boring for ride lovers. Likewise water rides but we go at hot times of year. Kong being new had huge queues when we were there last summer.

In US Despicable Me had some of the longest queues - it is included in the early access when they have US open early, so might be busier early on a day like that.

I love the dibb, but orlando informer has lots of useful info on Universal. Have a great trip.

[samanthacj]

Thank you that’s been a great help : )

[samanthacj]

Thank you : )

We would like to do islands of Adventure, universal and volcano bay we can only spend two days there altogether which Park would you spend a full day on and which would you split with volcano bay ?

Thanks

[DFussy]

I think that's difficult to answer for someone else. we like thrill rides so prefer ioa. I showed my 11 yr old lots of youtubes or rides, so we could work out what we wanted to do most. For Disney we needed to do this for fastpass choices, so ended up looking at universal/seaw and busch videos too. You might find it helpful to work out where best to spend most of your time.

We went to vb early morning as we had a night onsite so went in an hour before normal opening. Spent a couple of hrs before going back to checkout of room and back into park. Recommend the aqua coaster as different to anywhere else.

[RobertWestwood]

how old are the older two... old enough to go their own way and ride the big rides using the single rider queue ? If so it makes sense to split up and you take the younger ones to Suess or other rides more suited to younger children. I know that when mine were teens, they would have killed me if I tried to take them on any 'kiddie rides'

[Guest]

Spiderman is a must do at IOA - smaller and older kids alike love it from what i've seen when riding, same with Jurassic park, Dudley Do right and Popeye (i'd recommend doing all three in a row and having a total change of clothing if you do them. You'll get soaked!).

A ride on the hogwarts express over to the other park (and vice versa) is a nice way to travel especially if the queue isn't huge. Mummy is fab for families, a coaster but not upside down (check heights though depending on how young your youngest are). Again, Men In Black and Simpsons are also fab family rides. Minion mayhem is good fun but the queue is usually horrific!

I've heard that volcano bay can be an all day park, i'm looking forward to trying it out in October. but maybe plan to get there early and then leave mid afternoon and finish off at Seuss landing in IOA with a quick trip around the islands to see anything you've missed. If Harry Potter isn't a must do i'd maybe leave that until that final afternoon and if the queues aren't too long then go for it. The themeing is magnificent so the kids may find themselves drawn in without even realising it!

If your older kids are old enough I also recommend utilising single rider lines and maybe splitting off so they can head off and do favourites whilst you do more kiddie friendly rides with the younger ones. Again, all depends on ages and heights!