Anyone care to take a look at my plans for spring break 2020 & weigh in on how feasible this looks?
Starting to worry I’ve got us on a bit of a death march with the long, packed day but it’s our only day there and parks close at 6 (Grad Bash so i’m assuming we only have to 5:30-ish in practice). TP has the day rated as a 4 but I’m figuring that may be optimistic. We have EE & Express.
Plans look fine - there is definitely no room for error in the late afternoon. However, with Express you really can get all this done. The only thing I see is a lack of afternoon breaks on day 1. You’re probably gonna need to pee at some point or see a character / distraction IMHO - Springfield itself is worth a bit of “explore” time - but I’m a long time Simpson fan
If you really don’t care about seeing any other “themed areas” than the WWHOP then you’ll be fine.
Who’s going? If it’s just adults or if you have older kids it will probably be fine. Young, distractable kids will be more distracted by stuff and might slow you down. We had 1.5 days there, and were first timers, with express and early entry and 8 pm closures, also at a holiday time b/c it was the start of Thanksgiving week. We saw a relatively small amount of the parks, but our goals were mostly centered around HP and Simpsons (husband is a big fan). I spent a lot of time photographing my kids who were wearing HP stuff so I can appreciate how that slowed us down . One thing I will say is that even with express it seemed like we always waited a long time for the hogwarts express. I really didn’t expect that. For us it was longer wait from US to IOA, but that could have been the time of day. I also skipped the bumblebee man’s tacos b/c every time I passed by there was a huge line, then later on it was closed before other stuff.
My kiddos are 8 and 12 (and DH51! ). HP is the main priority - I am really not sure if I have enough time allotted for that but am hoping so. Kids are not really that into most of the universal characters/IP outside of HP, but DD is a thrill seeker and DS LOVES the raft rides that drench you.
Thanks! I trimmed the afternoon a bit by knocking out Mummy and MiB to add in a rest time down at the grassy waterfront area. I think my family would love those rides but probably will appreciate the day overall more with a break.
The mummy is one of my DD11’s favorite ride… she did it six times over two days in our last trip (with Express). It’s a good break from all the screen-based rides, more of an indoor roller coaster. I would not skip it…
I went there with kids ages almost 8 to almost 13, so we were very close in age (but for me also throw in an 11 yr old). You will definitely get drenched on almost any of the water rides at Universal! Also, you might just want to spend some time walking around HP taking it all in. It’s really impressive. My kids all loved doing spells with the interactive wands we got. If you want to save time you can buy one or more online in advance. I was going to do that but ran out of time, but still entered the parks with them b/c we got them at our hotel, the Portofino, at a Universal Store there. I did the Ollivander’s experience later when there wasn’t time pressure. I have to second whomever said Mummy was a great ride. I didn’t do it but my husband and older kids did it twice. We all loved MIB.
Thanks!! Yes we got the Wands already to save time. We are planning to save the first hour of EE for spells and (to the extent they can’t wait until after spells) shopping, plus another half hour in the morning too at DA. It will be a bit later when we get to Hogsmeade so not so sure how available the spell spots will be but aiming for a half hour on that there.
One thing that popped out to me right away was your time for the taco truck. I was there on a CL 1 day and waited almost 10 minutes for my tacos. If you are there during a busier time AND want to be able to sit and eat, you will definitely need more time.
And, as I read through some of the comments, Mummy is amazing. If possible, I wouldn’t skip it.
Thanks! The taco cart is actually there just as a geographic locator. I hate that the system does not calculate walk time around breaks so it is just there since it is the closest restaurant locator to where we plan to sit down for a bit to relax.
IMHO - Springfield itself is worth a bit of “explore” time - but I’m a long time Simpson fan
. One thing I will say is that even with express it seemed like we always waited a long time for the hogwarts express. I really didn’t expect that. For us it was longer wait from US to IOA, but that could have been the time of day. I also skipped the bumblebee man’s tacos b/c every time I passed by there was a huge line, then later on it was closed before other stuff.
). HP is the main priority - I am really not sure if I have enough time allotted for that but am hoping so. Kids are not really that into most of the universal characters/IP outside of HP, but DD is a thrill seeker and DS LOVES the raft rides that drench you.