If you were trying to see both parks in one day...

[JerseyJanice]

which one (i.e., Studios or IOA) would you go to first?

We aren't planning to go on any roller coasters. We are myself, my husband and one child, a 5 year-old boy who loves monsters.

We are going on a Sunday in June. I'm thinking we should do IOA first because there's less there we're interested in and then the Studios. But I'm a bit worried about long lines there if we don't go until the afternoon.

What do you experts think?

 

[Cindy B]

Both parks are hard to do in one day. We did it but it was commando style, with two adults. Even seeing both parks, we didnt see all of what we wanted, and we used the Express passes as well. We are planning at least 3 to 4 days in August with our two kids. (we have flex tickets they give us 14 days)

What do you really want to do at IOA?

What rides/attractions are must sees at Universal?


I guess when you identify your must dos you can formulate a plan.

Have you read KEllys bok on Universal? Its an amazing start and will help you tour as well.

 

[JerseyJanice]

If I had my park maps with me, I could tell you exactly which attractions we want to see.

At IOA, I know Spiderman is a don't-miss. From there, we'd go counterclockwise through the park to Toon Lagoon, where we'd do the Rip-Saw Falls and Bilge Rat thing. We'd go onto Jurassic Park and take the River ride and wouldn't mind meeting the Triceratops. Then, we'd go toward the Lost Continent where we'd go Posidon (sp?) and Sinbad. We'd finish up in Seuss Landing--the one area I think we'd do all the attractions.

Next up would be lunch and then onto to see Nickelodean and the movie rides at the Studios.

Do you think this is a good plan? Or would you do the Studios first and then IOA?

 

[ksdave]

I have done both parks in one day (see my webpage, Feb. 02 trip), and I had plenty of time to do most rides multiple times. However, this was in February and I used the single rider lines and Express alot.
I would still do IOA first since that is the more popular park right now, especially among the teens who are more apt to be there on a Sunday. Your plan is exactly the way I did it, except I had lunch at Mythos in IOA. Make sure you are at the parking garage at least (45) minutes ahead of opening if staying offsite.
Whatever you wind up doing, I hope you have a great visit!

 

[Cindy B]

We did it reverse order Studios First and then IOA, but we had two day park tickets. (we wanted to cram as much in as we could in the two days)

The single rider line helped a lot in Spiderman and MIB. Again, two adults, so it wasn't that bad.

WE did almost everything in Studios, the few exceptions were a few shows and some of the kiddie stuff. (again two adults) and finished off at IOA.

This was late August, and we didn't use Express pass a lot either.

We did get to the parking garages early, and got in pretty quickly.
They were doing early entry at IOA the second day we were there, so we were able to do most of Marvel Island pretty quickly as well. (although some things were shut down for the public/they were filming a TV show!)

Since early entry is no longer being advertised, they may set you back a bit.

 

[ivanova]

In addition to the wonderful info given so far, I would take into account park hours.

Does one park open earlier (if so, that would be the park to start with) or does one park stay open later (making that the more logical choice for the afternoon stint).

We did full days at each park, and then on our 3rd day we split it between the 2 starting with IOA and finishing with UOS. Park hours for both parks were identical, and on this 3rd day we just did highlights that we wanted to make sure to re-do. And we skipped the water rides at IOA (the weather wasn't cooperating).

The single rider line at MIB was indispensable (walked on 4 times, while the standy-by line was 45 minutes long!!). With a 5 year old the single rider line may or may not work for you. We had a 9 year old, 12 year old and 3 adults. 1 adult was always 1st in the single rider line, then the girls, and then the other 2 adults. That way at the end of the ride an adult was already waiting when the kids got off, and the follow-up adults made sure no one took an unscheduled behind the scenes tour.

 

[LeftyES]

Just chiming in with the rest, my wife and I did both in one day. We're not big water ride people, and without our son we didn't spend much time in Seuss Landing or Toon Lagoon. We did IOA first-I'm a huge Spider-man fan so we rode that at Rope Drop. We hit US by mid day and hit everything we wanted to ride except MIB. That was the only disappointment of a busy day.
It would be much tougher with a kid, tho and each park is worth a day.
Good Luck!!!

 

[MIB999999]

you will need to start early with your plan and move fast. Nick will eat-up a lot of time if you do not keep an eye on your watch. your kid will not want to leave this area. Sunday is usually a low crowd day and the crowd that will show up usually does not start until 11:00 am or so.

 

[JerseyJanice]

Just want to say thanks to you all.

So I think we'll go ahead with my plan. According to the Universal website, park hours are 9:00 to 7:00 that day--I assumed that meant both parks.