I think I need to scrap Volcano Bay from the itinerary

[jbrinkm]

I'm trying to keep things from getting too rushed & busy during a 6-day WDW/Universal trip at the end of August. We're currently planning on 3 days at Disney - really to only do new exhibits/rides plus a few favorites or things we missed from last time and taking mid-day pool/nap breaks because of the heat. We're not planning to do the Magic Kingdom at all and keeping the Disney portion on a budget. I'd probably do 2 days with park hopping, but not sure if park hopping or FastPass will return by August, hence the three days allotted for Disney...

Then we're heading to Universal, which was the main point of the trip since I have a 12 and 14 year old and we've never been there before. I really want to do the full experience of Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. I've heard that you can do it easily in two days - but would that be with midday breaks? I'm very nervous that 2 days won't be enough time and we'll miss something by using a day for Volcano Bay instead of reserving our 6th day for more theme park time. Crowd calendars are indicating levels 4 & 5 for the days we'll be there, and we'll have the early admission and line skip due to staying at Hard Rock but I could use advice! I'm not super sold on the water park anyway - but should I be? Is it really "all that"? We have some great water parks near where we live, plus my kids went the Lost Mayan Kingdom a few years ago, so I'm not sure the time and cost are worth it to spend a day at Volcano Bay instead of more time at the theme parks, especially because they'll have pool time every day. Do you agree that I should scrap it, and if not, why should I keep it in the agenda?

 

[theFoof]

We're not planning to do the Magic Kingdom at all and keeping the Disney portion on a budget. I'd probably do 2 days with park hopping, but not sure if park hopping or FastPass will return by August

First thing, park hopping has been back since Jan 1st. Right now hopper hours have been after 2pm you can go to any park but that is subject to change, especially by August. Fast Pass being gone is not as huge of a deal as some would have you believe with how the average crowds have been.

I think 2 days for Universal is fine depending on when you go, Saturdays have been pretty nuts for awhile now even in the slower season. Considering you're staying at hard rock and have unlimited express, even more so. I'd definitely recommend a park-to-park ticket, so you can hit the big stuff in a day and just kind of do repeats/other things the second day.

I wouldn't stress about "missing" something using that 3rd day for Volcano Bay, but whether the cost is worth it just depends how much you like water parks or if you just want a chill-out day. For a chill-out day I'd rather just hang out at that nice hotel and do some resort hopping/maybe Disney Springs than be trapped in a water park I bought a ticket for but that's just me.

 

[bchbetha]

I think now is when you loop in your kids to help plan. At that age my kids wanted more Universal days. I’d work out their “must dos” at Disney and see if you really could consolidate down to 2 days.
I don’t think 2 days, even with Express Passes, is enough for the 2 main Universal parks. I’d do 2 Disney and 4 Universal. Or no Disney and just make it a relaxing Universal trip!
But, your kids are old enough to start puzzling out these details.
Oh, and yes, you can certainly hit all the rides in the Universal parks in 2 days but you’ll miss out on the shows and general sightseeing but I might be biased because my family could take almost a whole day just doing Harry Potter stuff so someone not into HP might need less time.

 

[martikus]

We only do volcano bay on a week trip. 3 days is just enough to see everything in universal and re ride a few favorites. And then with hotel pool for breaks. While volcano bay is fun I wouldn’t do it on 3 days. We like doing parks in morning, pool mid afternoon, back to parks for evening.

Though if it were me I’d skip Disney and do 5 days at universal . Once you’ve used the express pass it’s really hard to go back so make sure to visit Disney at start of trip before you have used express pass.

 

[hhoope01]

I agree with bchbetha and martikus. If Universal is your "primary" goal this trip, it might be better to focus just on it rather than trying to rush and split your time between both Disney and Universal. This would give you more time to really have that full experience at Universal that you and your kids might be looking for. And it may also reduce your costs or possibly allow you to get a Premier hotel (for those awesome unlimited EPs.)

Part of the issue is what do you mean by "full experience"? If you mean could you hit all the rides? That might be doable in 2 half-days (assuming the crowds aren't too bad and/or you have EPs.) But if you also what to see and do everything (i.e. walk through all the stores in both HP areas and maybe get/use an interactive wand to cast spells and see their effects, etc.), that might not be doable. Plus don't forget all the live shows you probably won't be able to make: https://www.themouseforless.com/universal-orlando-resort/live-shows/ And even though we've seen most of the shows a number of times, my daughter is always asking when are we going to hit the Horror Make-up show or my son asking about Fear Factor.

And I will tell you, my kids, even today, love to take a few hours (i.e. almost a half-day) just running back and forth riding the Ripsaw Falls and Popeye and Bluto's Barge Rat Barge with a few Jurassic Park River Adventure thrown in too. You will get soaked doing that. So you might want to either bring a set of dry clothes to change into or head back out to your hotel rooms to dry-off and change.

Unfortunately a lot of things are on hiatus during this Pandemic times, some of the normal activities/shows might not be available. But there are also a number of smaller, behind the scenes things that are really neat to do. For example, you can ask for a tour of the Men-in-Black show room (well worth the time if they are allowing these.) And your family might like to hit the Men-in-Black ride a bunch of times, back-to-back, in hopes of beating each other's scores. Also, while there is always debates on the best Universal restaurants and food, most people think it is worth experiencing the 2 HP restaurants, not to mention Mythos (as it is one of the best inside-a-theme-park restaurant anywhere.) And if they reopen the Seusslanding's Cotton Candy store (right where the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train lets you out), your kids may love those monster sized (and I'm not kidding they are at least 3 times larger than anything I've ever seen elsewhere) cotton candy sticks they sell.

All I can say is that we tend to go for at least 7 or 8 days on our trips and every time I wish we had a few more days.

 

[martikus]

nd I will tell you, my kids, even today, love to take a few hours (i.e. almost a half-day) just running back and forth riding the Ripsaw Falls and Popeye and Bluto's Barge Rat Barge with a few Jurassic Park River Adventure thrown in too. You will get soaked doing that.

I forgot about this. Yes my son loved this too so we spend a couple hours and then go back and change. He could ride Popeye ALL day

 

[Patches Lee]

Definitely get kids input. Do you expect to ride Hagrids Motorbike and the Velocicoaster if it's open by then too? Those are highest hopes for my 12yo, and finally tall enough for Hulk, so planning rerides there. For the cost of Hard Rock we'd definitely enjoy the pool vs going to Volcano Bay, but mine is more into the swimming than wet rides.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

VB is fun, but not a must-do. Personally I would not devote a whole day to VB. If you want to spend the extra and have park-to-park tickets, it makes for a very fun morning.

 

[AJA]

At their ages I would ask them how important the water park really is to them.
Would they like a slower pace after the packed Disney days?

Is anyone a big Harry Potter fan?
You can easily fill half a day getting a wand and trying all the interactive wand stops. That turns into a full day if you repeat your favorite HP rides and take extra time in the shops.

If HP is not a priority, you could get through the two parks, hitting all the highlights and must do’s with 2 days of EP.

 

[jbrinkm]

Thanks for all the GREAT feedback. I should have also mentioned that we have 6 FULL days, 7 nights with an additional half day on either end of the trip. So even though the Park days will be quite busy, at least we have some breathing room upon arrival and before departure! Do you have to reserve which day you'll be in which park at Universal, like you do at Disney right now?

So I asked my kids about Volcano Bay, and votes were (strongly) split. But a certain discount partner ticket site had buy 2 days, get 2 days free at Universal, so I now feel like I have a lot more flexibility with my plans. I took what I would have spend on the third day of Universal and added Park Hopping to my 3 days of Disney (thanks for info on that, theFoof!). Those extra days and park hop at both UO and WDW give me a lot of wiggle room and, CAPSLOCK, I love the idea of just popping into Volcano Bay for a half day, IF we want to and IF we have the time.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

You might look into AP rates at the Universal hotels. Unfortunately, the rates won't be available to book until closer to your trip, but in the meantime you can use current AP rates to get a rough idea. Since you have 4 day tickets, the price to bump up to a Seasonal AP is pretty minimal. This is especially true if you don't do VB. But either way, the AP rate on hotels can be enough of a discount that it more than pays for the upgrade to the AP.

Of course, this then opens the door to everyone getting an AP and more trips in the future, so longer term it may not be a cost savings per se...

 

[shawthorne44]

Scrap Disney and include VB. A week is a perfect amount of time to do Universal.

Get everyone at least a seasonal 3-park annual pass.

VB has two things that my local water park doesn't have. 1) a fast river, which is like a lazy river but fast. Think rapids without the rocks. 2) a water coaster. You walk up short stairs, the family gets in an inflatable raft and the ride uses magnetic thingies to tow you and the raft up hills. So it is exciting without the huge stair climb. VB also has a lazy river and the normal stuff.

One thing with VB is that they will stop issuing virtual line passes at some point to the popular rides. Even on a low crowd day that coaster I mentioned was done by 3pm. So, particularly in busy August, it would be good to plan on a morning or few over there. You will also want to do Hagrid's during early entry at IOA.