One Day, Two Parks - Help please

Universal Orlando Resort
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Hi! I am going on a Mother/Son trip with my 13 year old to Orlando. It will be his first time at Universal and we have one day at Universal with a Park-to-Park ticket and Express Pass. It’s a Wednesday with average crowds according to thrill data’s website. We are not staying on property so no early entry. IOA has early entry on this day. Below is our top priority list. Any advice of best plan of attack for this and some time to explore the HP sections?

Hagrid’s Motorbike
Olivander’s Wand Ceremony
HP Forbidden Journey
HP Escape from Gringotts
Velocicoaster
Amazing Adventures of Spider Man
Jimmy Fallon
Revenge of the Mummy

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Hey!

Wednesdays are great to visit the parks!

Since you don’t have EPA, arrive to the USF gates 45-60 minutes before opening time. Head straight to Diagon Alley. You will get to see DA with not many people, it is special. I would spend a couple hours at least there. Breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron is very good. Let DS choose what to see and do, especially if he is a big Potter fan. Here is a map with a list of all the experiences.
Diagon Alley Map.pdf (5.9 MB)

Take the Express train to Hogsmeade in IOA. Another option is to ride Mummy first before switching parks. Fallen isn’t great, so maybe experience later in the day if time.

Late morning/Early afternoon is a fine time to ride Hagrid’s. Expect a 60 minute wait. After experiencing IOA, you may want to take the Hogwart’s Express back over to USF just for the experience.

With Express, you don’t really have to worry about a certain order for the rides.

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As long as it’s not July you’ll be fine doing a one day trip if you have Express Pass (UXP)

The wait time in queues using UXP will, typically, only be about 33% - 50% of the posted standby wait time! Often even less!

It really looks like most everything you want to do is at IOA. However, if your son is a big HP fan then I’m going to recommend starting at USF. This is because Diagon Alley is stunning!! It is, IME, the best theme park “Land” anywhere!

You can do Gringotts, Olivander’s, get Butterbeer and etc… I’d try to see the 10am Tales of Beedle the Bard show. It’s the story of the Deathly Hallows origins and a great show.

Personally, Jimmy Fallon is my most hated attraction at all of Universal. You really need to be a BIG fan of the Tonight Show to enjoy it.

Also, there the BEST theme park stunt show anywhere is at USF - The Bourne Stuntacular. It’s a perfect all action show that a 13 year old boy should love. However, it won’t start until around 11am.

I’d enter and do Mummy, head to Diagon Alley for rides and exploring, then I’d check out Men In Black before catching the first Bourne show. Then I’d take the Hogwarts Express to IOA.

Do Hagrid’s anytime you see it posted under 70 minutes. You can explore Hogsmeade (which is smaller and sadly a little underwhelming) while doing Forbidden Journey.

Then I’d just walk counter-clockwise back to Jurassic Park for VC. I’d see if the Raptor Encounter is going on as you pass. If you don’t mind getting a little wet (not soaked) you should ride Jurassic Park River Adventure!

Then catch Spider-Man as you get closer to the park exit. (I’m a fan of Dr. Doom’s FearFall, but I understand it’s not for the feint of heart!)

There are a lot of great places to find snacks and meals in both parks as well!

Depending on when you arrive and when you plan to depart for the day you should be able to do all of this with no time concerns.

If you think you’ll be there near close, I’d recommend a second ride on Hagrid’s. Many of us love to hop in that queue 10 minutes before close. Since at that point it doesn’t matter how long you wait because the park will be closed when you are done. Plus, Hagrid’s at night is AWESOME! It’s like a totally different ride!!

Feel free to ask as many questions as you like about UOR!! There’s a few of us that are die-hard fans of the place and love helping people plan their first trips

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Surely Fallon isn’t more hated than Fast and the Furious. (I actually like both rides)

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I don’t hate F&F… Is it a great ride… NO! Is it fun if you can get on in 15 mins or less? Yes!!

(I’ll do it’s clone, Kong: Skull Island, more often though)

I, personally, think Jimmy Fallon is a horrible person based on reports of how he treats his staff. Plus, he seems like such a phony person. That combined with the “ride” barely being a motion simulator with jokes that are only good if you already know his skits and inside jokes from the show make it the worst ride in all of UOR - maybe anywhere for me.

I’m really hoping it goes away when they tear down Rip Ride Rock’it this year and replace it with a new coaster in that area.

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On F & F, I actually enjoyed the preshow (which i get can feel so cringy).

I don’t know much about bad Fallon actions and don’t really know the skits but thought the line had tons of content and the ride was kinda fun.

Will be darn curious what they do with the rip rocket. We loved doing the coaster with the secret songs. Sure it was a brain buster, but we didn’t care. Yolo

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Thanks for the tips!! We will definitely check out the Bourne Stuntacular!

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