Universal Orlando - What Should I Expect?

[erwinalber4]

I'm driving up from Tampa tomorrow to see Universal for the first time in several years. I know there's a lot of new attractions that I'm absolutely pumped up to see. I just have a few questions as I'm used to being at WDW and Busch Gardens and Universal is a foreign land to me haha.

I'm guessing that Potter is going to be more crowded than the rest of the attractions and am torn on heading into Hogsmede first thing in the morning or Diagon Alley? Anybody have a good game plan for that?

Also I noticed on their website that the Meal Deal has changed quite a bit and is no longer unlimited. It looks like the one for around $20 includes a quick service meal (entrée, side, beverage), a beverage, and a snack. My question here is can you use the snack credit for a beverage like WDW's plan? And if it is worth the price? How much would a typical meal cost at UNI out of pocket?

Last but not least, are crowds going to be down to very short waits for most attractions with the exception of the most popular ones of course?

I really would appreciate any insider advice.
Cheers

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Welcome to OU! A lot has changed in the past few years.

1. Go to Despicable Me first, about an hour after the park opens that ride's wait never lets down. Gringotts is high capacity enough to where it won't get crowded for a couple of hours, but it should be your second stop.

2. No answer

3. Now that we've reached the off-season waits should be 30 minutes or less for pretty much everything except Despicable Me.

 

[erwinalber4]

Welcome to OU! A lot has changed in the past few years.

1. Go to Despicable Me first, about an hour after the park opens that ride's wait never lets down. Gringotts is high capacity enough to where it won't get crowded for a couple of hours, but it should be your second stop.

2. No answer

3. Now that we've reached the off-season waits should be 30 minutes or less for pretty much everything except Despicable Me.

Thanks! So it sounds like I should be able to get a lot done then. Would you recommend starting at Universal Studios, taking the Hogwartz Express to IOA and then returning to US to finish? Or is Potter over there settled down enough to just do it later in the day?

 

[Mad Dog]

As TP4 said, except for Despicable Me, the lines aren't bad anywhere. Universal has added a lot of capacity in the past few years so they don't have the long lines like many of the better WDW attractions. But yes, start at DM and then do Diagon & Gringotts, Transformers, Mummy, MIB, Simpsons. Take the HE over to IOA and you can do FJ, Hogsmeade and the headline attractions at IOA. Then you can get on HE and return to Diagon (That way you get to experience both HE scenarios). It's essential you spend the evening at Diagon since it really shines in the dark. But you'll still miss a lot since IOA and the Studios are really a two to three day experience at the least. Though you should be able to do a decent number of the headliners. And Diagon has so much to explore and investigate that you can easily spend a day just there.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Thanks! So it sounds like I should be able to get a lot done then. Would you recommend starting at Universal Studios, taking the Hogwartz Express to IOA and then returning to US to finish? Or is Potter over there settled down enough to just do it later in the day?

What Mad Dog said is pretty solid.

 

[erwinalber4]

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll go with that plan. I just heard from my cousin who was going with me that he can't tomorrow but next week now. I'm pretty excited to go it's been so long. Also it's great to hear that there's more capacity that's my biggest gripe against WDW, it seems that major attractions are always insane wait times.