Hi, we are very excited about our first trip in mid-late August. We have booked into the Royal Pacific so we have Express Passes and EE.
I have read many topics now - some which suggest skipping EE and others which suggest using it and hitting the HP rides first.
Can someone advise me on where we should fit Minions into all of this? My kids loved the ride at Universal Hollywood so we want to make sure we do it at least a couple of times (we will be visiting each park twice but only the first visit is at a hotel).
We plan to do IOA on Day 1 and USF on Day 2 and only really crossing over to the other park for Hogsmeade before coming straight back.
Does Minions also open for EE? Should we do Minions then head to WWOHP to do Forbidden Journey? We don’t mind which way round we do Hogsmeade and DA hence choosing IOA first to make the most of EE.
I should let some better experts than me chime in here, but from our first-time experience in January:
Re. Minions. We were at USF on a 7 day. We had Express passes. We did Minions twice, and not first thing in the morning, and it worked fine. However, one of those times, even with Express passes, we probably waited at least 15-20 minutes before getting inside the room pre the pre-show (you’ll understand once you’ve done it), and I’ve heard of others waiting longer even with Express. I’ve seen a lot of people here advice doing Minions first thing. So maybe on your USF day it’s best to do that first – it is near the entrance of USF after all – then figure out a time to come back. And it’s my understanding that Minions does not open for EE, but I could be wrong. (Only IOA had EE when we were there.)
FWIW, our whole family (7-year old twins) LOVED Minions. I loved that it was one of the few funny thrill rides. So many of the best attractions at UO are meant to scare you, but here you’re laughing along as you duck for cover from the oncoming effects.
Not sure what to tell you about EE and WWHOP. We skipped EE at IOA on our Harry Potter day (a whole day of Harry Potter), so we could do Diagon Alley first (like Harry Potter). And it worked fine – a 4 day in the parks. But you’ll need to decide what works best for your overall plan.
Minions does open for EE if it’s at US. We skipped it though. I’d do it first thing if you are there ready for EE before it opens, the line will build quickly.
I’m a bit confused by the rest of your question. Are you planning to do Minions and then immediately hop to IOA? We were there last Aug and both parks had EE.
Thanks both for the advice. I was confusing the parks! We aren’t set on which park we do first but if both potentially have EE that would be fab. If not I guess Minions at RD then the rest of USF. My kids loved the ride at Hollywood so this is a must.
I would DEFINITELY do Minions at RD. The line builds quickly. Personally, I like doing the Harry Potter areas right before close, as it is cooler, more magical and there are less people. We were there the week of July 4th in 2015 and had the lowest HP waits in the hour before park close. It seems not too many people were willing to stay that late. On the flip side, I had a very long wait for Forbidden Journey during EE.
