How does this Article Read to You as a 1 day US/Islands of America Trip?

[NYCgrrl]

Going with a 14 y/older who is mostly interested in the coasters and any other thrill rides.


Start at this paragraph please:
Your ideal itinerary starts with a Minion-filled morning


https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/amusement-parks/see-universal-studios-in-one-day

TIA and feel fine adding and subtracting as you see fit.

 

[TommyJK]

Main problem is that it's an older article and has some outdated info

The older Harry Potter rides accept express pass now, only the new Hagrid's coaster does not yet though.

Also it mentions Duelling Dragon's coaster. That's no longer there and has been replaced by the Hagrid's coaster I mentioned above.

Also, buying express pass is much more than $65 now. The cheapest you'll see them is $100 per person but price is considerably higher on busier days.

If you are going as a family of 4, it's pretty much always cheaper to stay at one of the deluxe hotels that give express pass for free as opposed to buying it separately

 

[NYCgrrl]

Main problem is that it's an older article and has some outdated info

The older Harry Potter rides accept express pass now, only the new Hagrid's coaster does not yet though.

Also it mentions Duelling Dragon's coaster. That's no longer there and has been replaced by the Hagrid's coaster I mentioned above.

Also, buying express pass is much more than $65 now. The cheapest you'll see them is $100 per person but price is considerably higher on busier days.

If you are going as a family of 4, it's pretty much always cheaper to stay at one of the deluxe hotels that give express pass for free as opposed to buying it separately

This is a recent add on to our WDW trip and although all three of us will stay there only two of us will enter the park grounds. Still doing research on the deluxe hotels to see which will give the best bang for buck and has availability for the late Christmas season.

You're right; the article was written 3 years back so I figured aspects of it would be out of date hence this thread.

So is Hagrid's in the same locale as Dueling Dragons?

 

[TommyJK]

Yup. Hagrid's coaster replaced Dragon Challenge/Duelling Dragons

 

[smiths02]

Orlando Informer has free touring plans
https://orlandoinformer.com/universal/studios-islands-adventure-1-day-touring-plan/

 

[FallsChurchDad]

You mention late Christmas season. A lot will depend on exactly when you plan to be there, and how ambitious you want to be.

Some days are much more crowded than others, but with Express Pass, you can make it work, even on the most crowded days. Are you going to get one-day passes for both IOA and USF? It will be quite pricey for one day, but if you arrive at rope drop for the park with Early Park Admission and stay all day with Express Pass, you can pretty much do everything you'd want in one day (except you'll either need to skip Hagrid or do Hagrid instead of a few other rides). But it will be an exhausting day with a lot of time in lines.

The first question is which park has Early Park Admission. E.g., if USF opens an hour early, you can do Despicable Me and Gringotts then walk all the way back to the IOA entrance for rope drop, then either brave the Hagrid rope drop or walk the other direction back to Pteranodon Flyers (which doesn't have EP), then do the big IOA stuff at the back, circling from Forbidden Journey and Hippogriff, back to Jurassic Park, Skull Island, Ripsaw Falls and Bilge Rat Barges, then through Marvel (Hulk, Dr Doom, and Spider-Man), then either circle over to Seussland or exit IOA and go over to USF.

This all depends on having EP. With EP, the big, exciting roller coasters (Hulk and Rip Ride Rockit) will mostly have less of a wait than the most popular simulators or even Hippogriff, which is a kiddie coaster. Hogwarts Express is great but takes maybe 30 minutes total to experience even with EP on crowded days, so you should think of it as a ride, not transportation.

With a 14-year-old and only one day, I might skip Despicable Me (in my boys' opinion, it's the least exciting of the many simulator rides) and Pteranodon Flyers. I'd still try to work in ET and Seussland, but if the 14yo just wants to cut those and ride Hulk five times instead, that is understandable.

 

[tweak89]

Also, buying express pass is much more than $65 now. The cheapest you'll see them is $100 per person but price is considerably higher on busier days.

Not quite accurate. As low as $69 for the lowest tier (which allows you to skip the lines ONCE per attraction).

 

[Darcy03231]

Looks like during Christmas week the express pass is $159.99 per person (once per attraction) and the unlimited express pass is $189.99 per person for a 2 park one day pass.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Arrival date at US/IOA can be either 12/23 or 01/02. We already have a reservation at WDW so not too hard to modify it.
This is like a crash course in Disney and I'm learning as fast as I can so bear w/me and thanks so much for the lessons!.

 

[FallsChurchDad]

Those will be crowded days but should have long hours, so you can do a lot if you can stand the crowds. It will seem like a lot of space at USF and IOA if you are coming from peak-day WDW though.

Highly recommend one night in a deluxe hotel to get express pass, but if it's only two people entering the park, you could make a fully refundable reservation, continue to keep tabs on the hotel prices, and then price out EP when it is closer. If you can spare 2 days for Universal, a night in the deluxe hotel give you 2 days of EP.