just planning our first visit to Orlando and struggeling with these plans.
We are going to visit USF&IOF and do have “2 Day/Park-to-Park Tickets” (with Unlimited Express avaible) and selected online the “2 day/2 park” plan.
My Question is why this online plan never guide us to the Harry Potter main attractions (e.g. Escape from Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Hippogriff) directly in the morning (like the plan in the book does)?
Does anybody have a tip regarding a 2 day visit in Universal on 12th&13th june this year, exspecially because the new Harry Potter attraction „Hagrid´s magical creatures motorbike Adventure“ will open on 13th june.
Should we still use the 2 day-park-to-park plan or would it be better to use a 1 day park-to-park plan for 12th june (for everything else than Harry Potter attractions) and a 1 day park-to-park plan for 13th june (only for Harry Potter attractions) ?
With express pass, the need to hit certain attractions right at rope drop is greatly reduced - in fact, many people do UOR without a plan because of this. However, I still like to have a plan, and my advice is to take the pre-made plans, copy them so that they become personalized plans, and then Optimize them for the actual days you will be there. This way you can see how good the plans will work for you and you can choose the options that best fit how you want to tour the parks.
With the express pass you will be able to do everything you want! I have not read if the new Hagrid’s coaster will allow express pass, I am assuming that would be a long wait to plan if they do not. The wonderful thing about the express pass is that it allows you to do your favorite attractions again if you want. Enjoy!
Universal is much smaller than WDW. I took my first Universal trip a few weeks ago. Crowd levels were at 5 & 6. (This is very similar to your trip dates.) I was still able to do EVERYTHING in both parks in two days just in standby and single rider lines – no Express Pass. This included hours of walking around both Wizarding World sections playing with an interactive wand and multiple dinning / snack / drinking experiences plus photos with characters and a couple shows.
With you having the Universal Express Pass you’ll be able to do everything with time to spare. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is the only ride I’d be concerned with having a long wait. With one of your dates being the day the ride premiers I’d talk to Guest Services to see if Universal Express is included for that attraction. I’m inclined to think it won’t be. If it isn’t and you really want to do it, I’d head straight there that day.
I prefer to make personalized plans based on efficient walking around the park than using the TP premade plans. I don’t like bouncing back and forth all over just to save a few minutes in queues. I’d suggest doing that and see a few shows too! The Hollywood Horror Make-Up show is super funny and cool.
FYI – The biggest reason that TP doesn’t send you straight to the Wizarding World parks is because that are major attractions at both USF and IOA right at the front of the park where queues are never get shorter as the day progresses. (USF - Despicable Me, Shrek 4-D, HRRR / IOA- Hulk)
There are a few times when Forbidden Journey and Gringotts can be only 20 - 30 minute waits even in the middle of the day.
If this was me, I’d do HP on the 12 and do everything you want to do in that area before Hagrids opening. That way you can rope drop Hagrids on day 2 and get out of the madness after that and enjoy the rest of the parks.
First of all, thank you all for your replies and answers.
I was pretty concerned about long waits and crowded parks but in reading all of your answers I´m more and more concerned that we are well prepared in having Unlimited Express Hagrid´s new attrcation was just an Option (because it will open same day we visit by chance) but all the other HP attractions are “must haves” (they are the main reason we spend 2 days in Universal for the Kids) and after that we like to visit the other “non HP” attractions…
To be honest, I was struggeling in preparing that trip cause of the “info Overkill” : I read the book, i checked WWW, i customized the plans with TP after all I didn´t know what to do best to achieve our Targets (Prio 1: HO including ollivander, Prio 2 all other main attractions) and how to “design” our 2 days
When I know summarize all of your anwers it doesn´t really matter what we do first because of Unlimted Express, right ?
I’m making a TP for a friend going next week who also has the Express Pass. It’s so crazy how quickly you can do everything the park has to offer when you have this! I would suggest, if possible, that if you want to ride something a second time to get in the “single rider” line. It’s almost like having Express Pass. Oddly, the ride attendant will often ask “How many?” to the people in this line and seat them together. I went solo for a couple days and found it frustrating that couples & groups would use this “single rider” line. Enjoy! If you have time after you get home, let us know how it went!
If wands and spell casting are a priority for you, I would suggest that the first day, you head to Diagon Alley first thing so that you can explore and cast spells with less crowds and little wait. It is truly a magical time! Sounds like that second day, you will want to rope drop Hagrid’s. Good luck! You will have a fantastic trip!
So we decided to do all the HP stuff (except Hagrid´s new ride) on 12th june
What´s the best and easiest way to realize this with the App?
Just using the TP “one day/2 park wizarding plan WITH early park admission”?
(I hope we WILL have early Admission ! I couldn´t confirm this on official Orlando Website because there are only the early admissions for May …)
In Addition we would use the “one day/2 park Highlights plan” for june 13th for everything else except HP, right?
By the way: It´s a pity (and makes me upset) that it´s impossible to just use ONE plan for BOTH parks (instead of having “parts”)
Truth be told, I create personalized plans all the time. You could certainly use the pre-prepared Harry Potter plans, and that would ensure that you don’t miss anything, or you could just create a personalized plan, omitting anything that you might not want to do. It is somewhat frustrating having to create two plans for the two parks, but it’s really not all that difficult. If you have any problems or questions regarding how to do it, let us know! I believe you will have to create the plan through the website, not through the app, but you can then access it through the app.
I have one more Question and hope some of you can help me:
I created personalized plans for our upcoming visits in WDW and USF/IOF.
We also kicked out some attractions we don´t want to see.
When we are in the park, we will use the App´s, of Course.
What is the meaning of the “select plan” feature within the app?
And moreover, should we “optimize” our plan constantly during our stay or should we “evaluate” our plan? I understand the meaning of “optimize” and “evaluate” of TP but what´s the best solution in real? For example, sometimes some of our prio 1 attractions we definitely want to see are - after “optimize” - in the late evening…
I re-optimize my plans the night before going to a park - that way I have it based on the latest possible TP data. Once in a park, I do not re-optimize unless the plan has started to go significantly off track, either time-wise of by having dome something out of order. If you do re-optimize, make sure that you have marked everything you have completed as “done” before clicking the ‘Optimize’ button, and also mark the attraction you have just completed last so that the app knows where you are.
However, remember that for UOR with Express Passes you really do not have to have a great plan like WDW - you can pretty much tour however you want with relative ease. When we last went we did Hogsmeade first (as it was a priority), then did HRRR and Minions (as they were the next most popular attractions at the time), and then walked around the parks doing the rest in order with no problems.
Hi brklink, thanks alot for your answer.
I will do it the same way (finalize our personal plans and optimize them the day before our visit) and hope Unlimited express will do the rest
Sorry, one more Question regarding the “done” feature.
You said it is important to mark all attractions and exspecially the last attraction with “done” (when done ) but: is it important in which order I mark it and the last “done” is automatically my actual Position or locate the TP app my Position via GPS ?
What do I have to do when I want to ride attractions again / what happens with “done” marked attractions ?
Can I deselect “done” or do I have to add this attraction again ?
Hey! Sorry for tardy Got a bit busy the last couple of days. When you Optimize your plan TP puts everything in order for you based on your criteria of “walking vs. waiting” & etc…
This may, and probably will, totally rearrange your custom plan.
When you Evaluate TP updates the wait times for that day without moving any steps around.
Personally, I only use Optimize, as the very first step, when I start making a plan to see what are the most popular attractions. I make personalized custom plans that I don’t want rearranged. I evaluate them when in the park to see if an attraction’s wait time has unexpectedly jumped up.
Also, there is no way to deselect “Done” with an attraction. The app is fine with tracking your already made plan, but IMHO it doesn’t do a good job with adding in steps or making new plans. It can be done, but it has issues.
Hagrid´s new attrcation was just an Option (because it will open same day we visit by chance) but all the other HP attractions are “must haves” (they are the main reason we spend 2 days in Universal for the Kids) and after that we like to visit the other “non HP” attractions…
! I couldn´t confirm this on official Orlando Website because there are only the early admissions for May 
…)
) but: is it important in which order I mark it and the last “done” is automatically my actual Position or locate the TP app my Position via GPS ?