Early Entry plan for Universal Studios

[Kate'sDad]

I will be at Universal Fri and Sat 12/2 and 12/3 staying at RPR (so I will also have EP). I have never stayed onsite before and am wondering what is a good plan for Early Entry (knowing that Forbidden Journey is down). It looks like Gringott's and Despicable Me are the early entry rides. Here are my questions?
1. Is it worth trying to to Despicable Me upon entry or since I have EP is that better done later and head directly to Diagon Alley instead?
2. Once done in Diagon Alley is it better to try and ride Hogwarts Express over to IOA at park opening or better to stay at USF and start touring there?
3. Any other suggestions on touring preferences? We will have full days Fri and Sat and then Sun will be play it by ear for how long to spend at Universal before moving over to Disney.

Thanks

 

[TommyJK]

Seeing as FJ will be down I don't necessarily see a reason to hop over to IOA right away as everything else has Express Pass.

So it's really up to you if you want to start touring US or IOA once you're done with Diagon Alley.

With Express Pass you don't really need to make a Touring plan other than becoming familiar with the park layouts and deciding what you want to do from there.

 

[bchbetha]

I'd hit Minions first then chill in Diagon Alley until it felt crowded. . I wouldn't rush over to IOA.

 

[Kate'sDad]

Thanks. Just wasn't sure if it was worth riding HE while crowds were low versus touring US and then doing HE later.

 

[bchbetha]

The wait time for the HE ebbs and flows throughout the day. Get the wait time app.

 

[PantherPete]

I don't see any reason to make Despicable Me an early entry priority. I was there last week and enjoyed it about 7 times all using the express pass lane. Waits were anywhere from 30 minutes to walk right in to the first preshow room. I'd expect you to not have to wait very long regardless of what time you try to do it.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We just visited Universal using Early entry and had express pass as we were staying at Royal Pacific. We had two children with us who love Harry Potter so we first walked to Diagon Alley and rode Gringots, then after spending time in Diagon Alley and the kids choosing their wands to buy we took the Hogwarts Express (which didn't open until 9 AM) which we rode over to do the rest of the Harry Potter attractions.

Be aware that Universal is a lot of walking, and with express pass you really don't need a touring plan other than to conserve energy I would do attractions that are close to each other if you can.

 

[scrapbookjulie]

This is going to be my plan for Thursday. Did you have time to ride Gringotts more than once? Did you watch the show at Ollivanders? Did the kids have time to use their wands in Diagon Alley before you took HE to the other side? Thanks for any info! Trying to figure out how much we'll get done in that first hour.

 

[bchbetha]

This is going to be my plan for Thursday. Did you have time to ride Gringotts more than once? Did you watch the show at Ollivanders? Did the kids have time to use their wands in Diagon Alley before you took HE to the other side? Thanks for any info! Trying to figure out how much we'll get done in that first hour.

Early entry was so early for my crew that we barely made it for it any of our days. Crowds don't tend to start to build until 10:30-11. So, don't stress about what you can do in a single hour. You have longer.
Get the wands in Diagon Alley. Ollivanders there can handle a crowd better.

 

[cleopenn]

We just returned from 4 days at Universal/IOA and I agree with everything already said.

We rode HE at least 6 times in both directions and at worst, we waited 15 minutes. However, it is worth knowing, as someone already mentioned, that it doesn't start running until 9am. They let us in about 8:45 and we were on the first train to IOA/Hogsmead.

We did Ollivander's in Diagon Alley for my son's wand. We went at night (around 7pm) and he was the only child in the session. Even when DA and Hogsmead were busy, he enjoyed using his wand and rarely waited more than a minute or two at each stop.

I'll close by saying the Express Pass was awesome, it made our Universal vacation!

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

This is going to be my plan for Thursday. Did you have time to ride Gringotts more than once? Did you watch the show at Ollivanders? Did the kids have time to use their wands in Diagon Alley before you took HE to the other side? Thanks for any info! Trying to figure out how much we'll get done in that first hour.

We didn't do Gringotts twice, but that would probably have been a good plan. After Gringotts We went over to Ollivanders and walked around and the girls bought wands, the line for the wand show was a bit long and it doesn't move very fast so we just walked around until going over to HE.

If your kids really want to be chosen to be part of the show at Ollivanders, then by all means wait until later in the day, as prior poster suggested around 7 PM there was absolutely no line and stepdaughter took both girls a few times and each ended up being chosen once which they loved. Something to keep in mind is that you can buy the magic wand early in the day for the kids to use, and if the kids change their mind about which wand they want (if they are in the show another wand "chooses them") the wand can be exchanged if you have your receipt and original packaging. Our granddaughters both did this after the wand ceremony.

We loved RPR, hope you do too! Have a wonderful trip!