IOA touring plan without express passes

[aug17girl]

TDLR: how should we plan our 2 days at IOA with no express passes and no big coasters?

The whole long post: Planning our first trip to Universal for the first week of March with buy 2 days get 2 free, one park per day. We are stayings off site so we don't have express passes. We are a party of 5: Mom, Dad, kids 12, 9, 5. Kids don't like big coasters and anything too too scary (we'll be skipping The Mummy, but we'll try Kong and Jurassic Park.

I realize that unlike Disney, we don't need an elaborate plan, but I'd like some kind of a plan. Here are my preliminary thoughts. I'd love any feedback on the plan. plan do you think?

Day 1 Theme is try a little of everything:

• arrive before opening, ride Spiderman, then maybe Kong,
• Ride Harry Potter rides with child swap for Forbidden Journey.
• Have lunch at Three Broomsticks or Mythos.
• Explore Hogsmeade and get a wand
• Ride all the water rides as many times as kids want. We'll be renting a locker a the front for change of clothes
• Get snack/light dinner
• Explore Seuss Landing.
• Park close at 7.

Day 2 Theme linger and favourites:

• Head to Hogsmeade first
• Spend time in Jurassic park discovery center
• Ride favorites and things we missed on day 1.

I'll likely be back for feedback on our Universal Studios days.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Ideally hit Kong early in the day - it tends to build long lines. Note that the queue is scary, actually scarier than the ride itself.

Unless you need a break, consider doing just a snack in the evening, then eat real dinner after the park closes.

 

[aug17girl]

Note that the queue is scary, actually scarier than the ride itself.

That is good to know about Kong. I'll see if I can find a video to run by them so they can decide before we go.

 

[CyndiLooWho]

Disclaimer: Kong was not open on our last visit - though the construction looked totally cool. We have never had Express Pass and didn't feel like we needed it, but we do always get the park to park ticket (even before the HE). Your party likes pretty well mesh with ours, even as our kids have gotten older, they don't do the biggest rides.

We never plan, we just show up a little after rope drop and start going. At IOA, Spiderman was probably the longest ride wait we've done. Once we got on in about 25 min, once it took almost an hour. Wait, they waited an hour for BBRB water ride, so that was the longest in IOA. We found that FJ was easy to get on if we arrived after 6pm on our first night, esp if it had been raining. It was a literal walk-on at that time on our first visit, and that was before Diagon Alley opened to help thin the crowds. That might work for Kong, if that ride is important to you. YMMV on that advice, but it works for us.

Based on your party makeup, I highly recommend eating the family feast at Three Broomsticks. My family thought it was the best tasting meal we ate in the park, and it was definitely the best value from a parent pov. We rarely eat dinner at the parks. Depending on where you are staying, there are plenty of places to eat that aren't that far if you have a car (we stay in a timeshare offsite, so we always have that flexibility). There is a plaza just off I4, not far from Disney Springs, with Moe's (available at CityWalk, too), Noodles and Co, Fuddruckers, and a Mexican restaurant. It also has a small, somewhat pricey, but convenient grocery store. Every place that we have tried in CityWalk has been good, too., just be aware that if you try to eat one of those places after a 7pm close, they will all be full.

 

[aug17girl]

Our party likes pretty well mesh with ours, even as our kids have gotten older, they don't do the biggest rides.

We never plan

It is. Reassuring to hear from a family with similar preferences that we don't need to plan.
We'll try the family feast and riding FJ in the evening.
I think we will be skipping Kong. It looks too scary.