Which park should we visit first?
Echoing above answer whichever park is not Early Entry. It should be Universal Studios for your dates, but you will want to double check that.
Which ride to head to right away?
Assuming US either:
Rip Ride Rocket and then Mummy
These are the two coasters in US since you said coasters are your priority.
or
Gringotts / HP area
It really depends on how big of HP fans you guys are and if you are interested in exploring the HP sections thoroughly or only riding the rides. The HP areas get ridiculously crowded quickly, and it becomes hard to simply move around much less look at anything. There are tons of hidden Easter Eggs and the shops are fun to explore. Plus, all the wand locations where you can perform spells. If you really want to explore this area, I recommend checking it out as early as possible. If you just want to ride Gringotts, then I would probably do the other two coasters first since you said you guys prefer coasters over screens. Gringotts is half or more screens and not a traditional coaster at all.
Attraction Overview:
Tier 1: The Coasters:
Universal Studious:
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit – upside down
Revenge of the Mummy - backwards
Island of Adventure:
Jurassic World VelociCoaster – upside down
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure – free-fall
Incredible Hulk Coaster – upside down
These are your coasters and should be your priority. Expect long lines. I’d try to utilize the single rider line where possible if you don’t mind splitting up to help with that. Just be aware sometimes the single rider line can get backed up, so if it’s not moving or you can see the end of it way out at the entrance, you’re probably better off doing standby. I have made the mistake before of not paying enough attention and waited over an hour in single rider.
Tier 2: The Half Screen / Half Ride:
Universal Studious:
Escape from Gringotts in Diagon Alley
Transformers 4D: The Ride
Fast and the Furious Ride
Island of Adventure:
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
Skull Island: Reign of Kong
This group of rides are probably the next best type of ride at Universal, a mostly thrilling mix of screens and real effects. I would prioritize these if the IP appeals, and you are ok with the screens.
Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Transformers, and Spiderman are all similar. They are a combination of screens, animatronics, special effects, and props, with the majority of the story line conveyed by the screen. You sit in ride vehicles that either move on tracks or move around on the end of a robotic arm. Since you said you are not big on screens, assuming you hit US first, I would ride Gringott’s first and see how that goes before deciding on the others. Although, if you are a big HP fan, I don’t think Forbidden Journey is to be missed as that ride gives you an amazing tour of the castle.
Transformers and Spiderman are slightly different from Gringotts mechanically but are the exact same ride as each other just with different theming, so you may want to choose whichever theme appeals the most and skip the other to save time. If Gringotts didn’t impress, I’d skip both unless someone is a huge fan of one of the IP.
Fast and the Furious and Skull Island I’d save for last if not at all. They are mechanically very close to the same ride. You sit in a large open air safari style bus and most of the ride is simply looking at large screens as you roll past. If I did either of these it would be Skull Island. Fast and the Furious is pretty bad. I don’t recommend it. Skull Island is ok if time allows, but not a must do. It’s more like watching a movie than anything, but the life size animatronic Kong at the end is worth seeing.
Skip the 3D / 4D Attractions
I think you are good to skip all of these:
Universal Studios:
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem Ride
Race through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon
The Simpson’s Ride
The Minion show is a 4D theater ride that always has a ridiculous wait time. It's cute for what it is, but not a must see for 4 adults and definitely not worth a wait.
Jimmy Fallon is pretty bad. It’s just sitting in a regular theater style room in front of a giant screen with seats that vibrate and move a little, not worth doing unless you love corny jokes and Jimmy Fallon. The Minions are way more entertaining.
And honestly, the Simpson’s show I think I’ve blocked from memory, but again, it’s just a screen.
None of these are worth doing unless you simply love the IP.
Probably Skip the Water Rides
Island of Adventure:
Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge-rat Barges
*Jurassic Park River Adventure Ride
Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls
Unless you want to walk around soaking wet all day or bring clothes to change into, I’d skip the water rides. The barges especially soak you. Don’t underestimate them. It’s like jumping in a pool with your clothes on. I’ve worn ponchos and still gotten completely drenched before on the barges. The water comes from all directions, even up from below, and it will go right up under your poncho soaking you.
The other two are not as bad. It really depends on the weight in your ride vehicle and your position. You can end up soaked through or you can exit almost dry. Just be ware of that. Jurassic Park River Adventure Ride is an amazing ride if you enjoy JP. You could probably get away with a poncho on that one, but just know Universal likes to soak you, so you may still get wet.
Skip the Children’s Rides
Island of Adventure:
*Flight of the Hippogriff (kiddy coaster)
Pteranodon Flyers (must ride with a child or cannot ride at all)
Cat in the Hat Ride (Winnie the Pooh)
*High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train (People Mover)
Caro-Seuss-El
One fish, Two fish, Red fish, Blue Fish (Dumbo who soaks you)
Universal Studious:
Kang & Kudos Twirl ‘n’ Hurl (Dumbo)
*E.T. Adventure (Peter Pan)
Villain-Con Minion Blast
*Ones to possibly do if there is time, but not priorities.
Flight of the Hippogriff is like a minute long kiddy coaster. It’s cute for the HP themed scenery you can see while riding it, but that’s about it. A huge HP fan will appreciate it. Otherwise, it isn’t worth a long wait.
ET is a more traditional Disney-esque ride where you move through slowly on a track and look at 3-D animatronics around you. Its similar to Peter Pan at Disney. You fly up on a bike through the story of the movie as you take ET home to his planet. I find it quite nostalgic and relaxing, and love that there aren’t any screens. If you were ever a fan of the movie, you may enjoy it.
High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train is one of the best kept secrets at Universal I never hear anyone talking about. You can get some of the best pictures across the lagoon of the park from up on this slow moving ride. If you have a chance to ride it, especially near sunset, take it. There are some beautiful views as you go out near the lake.
Misc. Recommendation
If you manage to ride all the coasters and explore HP and JP and still have time, I recommend checking out Men In Black Alien Attack. It’s a lot of fun. You get to shoot lasers at aliens while you ride, and if the combined score in your ride vehicle is high enough, there's a different ending where you all get to become MIB agents, and as someone else who does not care for screens, the best part about this ride is there are no screen just real 3D animatronic aliens! It also has a single rider line that is usually a walk-on. We love to ride this one over and over. It’s so addicting trying to up your score from the last ride.
My Recommended Priorities Based on Your Comments:
Tier 1
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
Revenge of the Mummy
Jurassic World VelociCoaster
Incredible Hulk Coaster
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Tier 2
Escape from Gringotts in Diagon Alley
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Transformers 4D: The Ride or Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
Men In Black Alien Attack
Tier 3
Jurassic Park River Adventure Ride – depending on weather and how prepared you are to be wet
Skull Island: Reign of Kong - if you have time
Tier 4
Flight of the Hippogriff – if big HP fan and have time
High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train – if have time for photo ops
E.T. Adventure – if fan of ET and have time
Tier 5
There are a few shows, street performers, and a couple of other random common rides like the drop tower that I would simply fit in as they fit in your schedule, but I wouldn’t go out of the way to do them. I think you will be rushed enough just with the coasters and HP area if you plan to spend any time there exploring it.
Obviously, any IP that appeal to you, prioritize accordingly.
Any quick service food recommendations?
Definitely eat in one of the two HP quick service restaurants. The food is great at both. I think I’ve tried most of the menu and loved everything. If you are a HP fan, you won’t want to miss out eating at a themed HP restaurant. It’s always one of the highlights of our trip.
If you like pumpkin pie, I also recommend getting a pumpkin pasty from one of the sweet shops in the HP areas. They are amazing. We usually get a few to go on our way out of the parks and save them for breakfast the next morning.
And of course, you’ll want to try Butterbeer. It comes in regular, similar to root beer or any normal soda, frozen, a slushy version, ice cream, and hot, similar to coffee. My favorite is simply the original which we usually get with our meal, but warning it is sickly sweet like rootbeer, and the slushy version even sweeter, so we usually ask for a free water as well.
I’d plan on lunch in HP, and then make reservations somewhere in Citywalk for dinner after the park closes. Personally, we enjoy Cowfish, but I’d just book whatever appeals to you. Toothsome is fun, and the desserts are amazing, but I’ve never found the actual meals all that great. The Kitchen restaurant at Hard Rock has always been amazing. I feel like it’s another best kept secret people overlook, but we always make sure to eat at least one meal there every trip.
Any other tips to make the most of our day?
Harry Potter
If you are into HP, make sure to take time to explore. Listen at doors, go down alleyways, look around, especially up. Lots of fun things happening up top of buildings and around the ceilings of stores. There are tons of Easter Eggs hidden all over. You may want to look some up before going or simply be surprised. A few not so secret thing you can do, you can exchange money with the goblins. You can send real mail back home from Hogsmeade by owl post. Just be sure to bring a stamp as the ones they are selling are ridiculously high. You can mix potions, buy wizarding candy, get a wizard alcoholic drink, and get ice cream. You can have a wand choose you. You can perform spells with your wand. There are photo opportunities with different minor characters, street shows to catch, and you can ride the Hogwarts Express train between the two parks. It’s slightly different each way, and if you ride going to from Kings Cross, you get to enter through Platform 9 ¾ which is a cool special effect that makes a great video opportunity.
Jurassic Park
If JP is a favorite, there’s a dino meet and greet you’ll want to check out. You may also want to check out the Discovery Center. If you go downstairs, you’ll find a dino-hatchery complete with baby animatronic dinos who hatch from the eggs there every so many minutes. They pick a different person to name each new baby dinosaur when it hatches. It’s pretty cool to see. Another little-known feature of JP are the caves at the back left of the Jurassic Camp area. It’s just an area you can walk through, but if you have a few minutes, the caves are nicely lit up in different colors with water falls and rivers flowing through them. It's a fun place to explore.
Toon Lagoon
This area is filled with tons of great photo spots and hidden easter eggs. If you have a few minutes, it might be worth a stop to take a few pictures.
Single Rider
Single Rider is probably going to be your friend. It is available at most attractions. If you don’t see a sign, don’t hesitate to ask a TM where the line is.
Don’t be afraid to park hop.
It’s super fast to switch between parks, so watch the wait times, and don’t be afraid to jump back and forth hitting all your must do attractions first and then going back for second tier attractions later. We almost never bother park hopping at Disney because it can take a huge chunk of time to switch parks, usually a couple of hours at minimum, but at Universal, it can be as quick as 5 or 10 minutes. A long switch might take 30 to 45 minutes if riding the train and having to wait. Because of how quick and easy it is, we routinely switch back and forth sometimes up to 4 times in one day. Same goes for leaving and going to Citywalk or one of the resorts. Super quick, so if there’s somewhere you are dying to go to, don’t worry about it taking a long time, and you don’t need to be staying at any of the hotels to use the boats. If you want to visit a resort for dinner or some other reason, you can hop on the boats and go. You don’t need to show any ID or anything else.
Lockers
Be aware you can’t take anything on the coasters at all except a lanyard. You will go through metal detectors, and at times, I have even seen them ask people to turn pockets inside out to show they are empty. This means you will have to get a locker for every thrill ride you want to do. They are free, but they can get crowded, and they add time to your wait as you deal with them. Plus, they can turn into a mess if the time is off, and you have to go find a locker attendant to fix them.
Personally, I recommend getting one large locker at the front of the park instead. Put everything in it except your ticket, ID, and credit card. Put those in a lanyard. Then, go ride all the coasters and any other thrill rides where personal items are a no go. Afterwards, you can return to the lockers for phones or anything else you need with you. This will save you so much time on having to get a locker for each individual ride. Plus, I actually really enjoy not having my phone with me for a little while. It’s nice to just be in the moment and not distracted. Alternatively, if you have someone in the group who won’t be riding, they can be your designated bag holder.
Package Pickup
Just like Disney you can send purchases to the front of both parks for pick up on the way out. We use this trick to play with the wands in HP early in the morning when the spell spots are least crowded and not get stuck carrying them around the rest of the day. Once we are done with the wands, we buy something from one of the shops, and then stick our wands in the bag with our purchase to be sent to the front of the park. No need to carry the wand around the rest of the day or get a locker to store it in when we want to ride something.
Water
You can get free water at any kiosk or quick service restaurant in the park as long as they have a soda machine. You just have to ask.
Arrive early
Give yourself time to park, get through security, walk through Citywalk, and through the entrance to the park. It can make a huge difference if you are in the front of the crowd entering the park at opening or the back. Just being a few minutes ahead of everyone else can ensure you stay in front of the lines. I have gone before and walked on a ride only to get off it and see it now has a 30 minute plus wait. Sometimes, I’ve done that multiple times in a row. Ride A which is super popular, than B which is next popular, then C, etc, each ride staying one step ahead of the crowds. I’ve also seen them open the gates 30 minutes before official opening and hold people in the front of the park. It’s great when they do this because it gives you extra time to get a locker, a drink, or a park map, but don’t count on this always happening. They may not let anyone in until right at opening.
Honestly, just remember to have fun.
It’s easy to rush around to all the rides, but some of my favorite memories are of us just exploring, taking in little hidden details, talking to a TM, watching a spontaneous street show while we eat a snack, etc. I remember one trip a TM had me come behind the counter in the gift shop across from Methos to show me that the large map on the wall actually makes ocean sounds. The fountain in that same area is another little-known favorite of mine. It is so much fun to watch it interact with people. It’s a must do “show” for me every trip. Similar to the hidden Mickey’s at Disney, there are so many amazing details if you stop to look around. The queues are really amazing as well, so don’t just rush through them. Take the time to really look at everything.
