Which park do you spend most time at?

[IamgoingtoDisney]

Hi Everyone,

We are a family of 2 adults 2 kids aged 12 & 10 & we are headed to Universal Orlando for 2 nights in early January 2019.

We are staying a Loews Royal Pacific so we will have the unlimited express passes which we are looking forward to. We have purchased 2 day park to park tickets.

We are arriving mid-late afternoon on a Wednesday. We will settle in & probably spend time at City Walk. We will then visit the parks Thursday & Friday & head to Disney Friday night after a day at the park. Which park would you do on which day?

Thanking you in advance. This forum has been so helpful to my planning.

 

[damo]

We park hop all the time. I wouldn't worry about which one to do on which day because, most likely, you'll do both each day. The parks lie adjacent to each other and basically are like one big park.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi agree with damo, we park hop back and forth and like that...However, if I added up the time spent, we spend more time in the studios. We really enjoy the rides there and prefer DA a little more than Hogsmeade (but love them both). Also IOA has three water rides that we don't do so there is less for us to ride. I find that IOA has a good younger kid section and my teens aren't interested in that.

You will enjoy being on-site at RPR it's a nice resort and ep is great! We usually spend our first evening at city walk also. We enjoy Toothsome, and Bubba Gump. I know many people like Cowfish and Bread Box. Lots of choices and things to do.

You will probably have only one park for EE at that time. That could play a part where you start! My family always start at the studios. We love going to DA first thing on our trip!

Have a great trip!

 

[HM]

We hop back and forth a lot too. Universal Studios gets more of our time though.

 

[bchbetha]

Treat it as one big park and travel freely between them.

FYI- it's usually not very much $ at all to add a 3rd day. Might consider it and pop in on Wed. since you are cutting out early on Friday.

 

[schumigirl]

Like others we go between both parks........

If someone asks my automatic response used to be IOA but when I think about it, I believe it’s the Studios side.......although it’s a tough choice as we love both parks!

So convenient to bop between the two.........

 

[IamgoingtoDisney]

Thank you so much. Good to know they are so close together. There is so much to do on this trip it is going to be exhausting- but I can’t wait! Thanks again

 

[nighttowll]

We also hop back and forth. We almost never hop at Disney, but at Universal, it’s so quick and easy that we do it multiple times a day. At the front of the parks, easy to walk. Only takes about 10 minutes. At the back of the parks, easy to take the train.

As far as which park to start with, there’s a couple of options.

1) Go with whichever park is open for early entry if you have early entry privileges or pick the opposite park to avoid those crowds if you don’t.

2) Harry Potter fans wishing to experience the parks through Harry’s eyes should start at Universal Studios with Diagon Alley first and then move to IAO to do Hogsmeade and then Hogwarts last.

3) Personally, we really enjoy the ambience of IOA. Nothing beats walking into Port of Entry with its amazing theming and then walking under the The Adventure Begins arch to really put you in the right mood for starting off your trip. I find I don’t get that same sense of wonder and excitement when I walk into Universal Studios which to me isn’t as visually pleasing or interesting. IOA reminds me more of Disney theming and gives me more the entering Main Street excitement feeling.

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

We also hop back and forth. We almost never hop at Disney, but at Universal, it’s so quick and easy that we do it multiple times a day. At the front of the parks, easy to walk. Only takes about 10 minutes. At the back of the parks, easy to take the train.

This is exactly is too. On the last day of our last uni trip I think we hopped 4 times. We never even buy hoppers at Disney.

OP we spend more time in IOA. The kids and I love the Jurassic Park area in addition to Hogsmead and the boy loves the superheroes. But for a first day, I would go to DA first.

 

[macraven]

Questions like this for me falls into the category of which of my 4 sons I like the best

I do both parks everyday I am at uo

 

[Disneylover99]

I go back and forth between parks but I prefer and spend the most time in Universal Studios.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thank you so much. Good to know they are so close together. There is so much to do on this trip it is going to be exhausting- but I can’t wait! Thanks again

You will love RP and Universal! RP is so easy and relaxing to get back and forth, and the express pass is great. Very easy to take mid day break too!

 

[klo1335]

We also hop between both park. We also prefer Studios and DA. My daughter's favorite ride is Mummy so we are there a lot.