Hello! We’re a family of 5 (2 adults, kids who are 7,11 14) who will be visiting Universal Orlando for the first time in late October (2025). We will be spending most of our trip in the Disney bubble, where we are fairly fluent. But the first 2 days of our trip will be for Universal. I’m well versed in Disney, but Universal is all new to me.
Our flight to Orlando arrives on Saturday at 12:30 PM. We are staying at the Portofino Bay hotel for 2 nights so we have the express passes. Essentially we have a day and a half ear marked for Universal. We are planning to skip Epic this time around since there’s plenty for us to do in IOA and USF. We will have 2-park tickets.
So what’s the best plan for 1.5 days between those 2 parks? We will have the afternoon of arrival plus one full day (with early admission).
It looks like there are several 2 day/2 park touring plans but I can’t figure out what their main differences are. If it’s helpful, we’re moderate but not die-hard Harry Potter fans. Our youngest is just over 48” and won’t be interested in intense thrill rides but the older 2 are tall and brave enough for everything.
Essentially I’m looking for the highlights tour that makes the most of a day and a half at Universal (sans Epic).
Hi and welcome! That’s so exciting that you all are going and the ages of the kids are pretty perfect for Universal. With express passes you are totally fine and do not need to create a touring plan - especially now that Hagrid’s is on express pass. Just make sure you are checking the schedule for HHN activities since the parks may close early for that. I don’t track HHN so others may be able to let you know how that might influence crowds (which will be high) and hours. Also, we went back and forth between the parks multiple times a day via Hogwarts Express so don’t feel like you need to limit yourself regarding splitting the park either. They sit right next to each other but using the train is easier in some ways and better on the feet. Make sure you go to shows too - they are really fun. Universal does theming really well and the Harry Potter lands are amazing regardless of if you are fan. The rides there are fun too especially Gringotts and Hagrids. You will have a blast and it will be so much easier than anything you’ve done at the Disney parks.
Thanks so much! That makes me feel a bit more relaxed. I feel like with Disney, you really need to have ea well-planned itinerary for the day to make the most of it, but if the express passes really do make things easy enough that a plan is optional, that’s amazing. Also- going back and forth multiple times a day sounds awesome- so not like park hopping between Disney parks at all, huh? Do you have to go through ticketing/security between the parks?
While you don’t really need a set Touring Plan with Express Pass, it’s still good to review the attractions ahead of time so your family is familiar of what to expect/prioritize. Like a checklist.
During Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Studios Florida closes at 5pm. You can either spend a couple hours there on arrival day and then finish at Islands of Adventure. Or go right to IOA for the whole afternoon and evening.
During HHN, USF opens earlier than normal. So even though Early Park Admission is at IOA only, USF also opens at 8am.
I’ll probably share more, but this will help you have a tentative park plan.
If you’re taking the Howarts express, then no security. You just arrive in the other HP land. I don’t think you have to do security when walking but you will have to scan tickets. But it wasn’t a big deal. Mostly it’s a matter of looking at the maps and thinking about distance. For us, we walked it several times because we didn’t have express pass and the train standby time can be long. With express pass that will not be an issue.
Taking the train is not a problem with EP’s and it is good and different in each direction. In our previous trips (pre-Epic) we treated the HP areas as its own park, and we’d take the train merely because the ice cream was on the other side, for example.
You might want to play around with a touring plan with EP checked and Minimize Walking, just to get a feel for what you can likely get done.
The HP areas are least crowded during EA and post-dinner.
Be prepared to plan a Universal-only trip in the future. Says this Universal fan.
In practice, I wonder how smoothly transferring from Epic to US/ IOA will be? I think I read you will walk to Citywalk. I hadn’t looked at the actual distance between the two places. I didn’t realize it was so far.
Definitely, lol. I’ve never walked through Citywalk. Wondering about coming and going to US/IOA. I’m assuming the buses are on the far side of Citywalk from US/ IOA. Wonder how Citywalk will handle the additional foot traffic. Wish the buses were closer.
Honestly, if you get dropped off in a far bus stop at WDW you probably walk farther into a park than you do from the CityWalk bus stop to the park entrances. And they have moving walkways!
I picture walking through Citywalk like walking through Disney Springs for the buses. That can be a long walk depending where you start from. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to US. We stayed at Hard Rock. I vaguely remember walking past the entrance of Citywalk. I did check an Uber from rideshare area to rideshare area from Hyatt Place. It’s about 10 - 12 mins in either direction to the parks. So very similar to Disney times.
We were the farthest bus for Cabana Bay which was #9. Bays were on each side so that was the 5th bay, maybe 50 yards of walking. At DS for AKL we were bus freaking #23! and they went up to like 29. I felt like JUST the bus loop at DS is the entire amount that we walked at CityWalk.
This is all excellent intel. 
Thank you. I may need to do more research, lol