hopper worth the cost for one day?

[Dicentras]

Hey friends

We are going to Universal for the first time over the summer as part of a larger vacation, one day only at Universal. I’m most excited for the Harry Potter stuff, but the rest of my family has their sights set elsewhere, so my entire day won’t just be HP, for reference. With our limited time, is it still recommend to get the park to park? The train ride sounds amazing, but beyond that, I’m not sure we will have the time to make the extra cost of a hopper worth it... thoughts? I’m wondering if it might be better to put that money towards express passes...

Thanks!

 

[damo]

If you are only going for one day and want to see both Harry Potter sections (new coaster should be open by next summer), I think the parkhopper is the best way to go.

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

You need it for the train

 

[Dicentras]

You need it for the train

I know I need it for that and other HP things. I’m asking if I’ll even have the time to expirence all of that in one day to even justify the cost. We can only ever handle one Disney park per day, so I’m thinking two for universal might burn us out...?

 

[damo]

I don't feel that you are going to be able to do all the rides in both parks in one day. You have to choose which rides you absolutely want to ride and then choose from there. Do you have a list of not to miss rides?

 

[wookiebeck]

Adding the where Damo's comments are heading, I think it would be great for you to cherry pick the absolute best of the headliners that Uni has to offer. Since the parks are so close together, I think of them as all one theme park anyway (not like WDW where hopping takes an hour or more). So yes, with your limited amount of time, spend a little more to get the best experience possible. And yes, there is enough time in the day to get a huge chunk of awesome rides completed.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I’d definitely recommend a park hopper and an express pass if you are only going for a day. Express doesn’t work for Harry Potter rides but well worth it for all the others.

 

[bchbetha]

I’d definitely recommend a park hopper and an express pass if you are only going for a day. Express doesn’t work for Harry Potter rides but well worth it for all the others.

The EPs do now (changed summer 2017). Works for all but Hogwarts Express of the HP rides.

 

[mjhtvchick]

The EPs do now (changed summer 2017). Works for all but Hogwarts Express of the HP rides.

Also works on Hogwarts Express!!!

Pterodan Flyers is the only ride that does not accept EP.

 

[bchbetha]

Also works on Hogwarts Express!!!

Pterodan Flyers is the only ride that does not accept EP.

Sweet! I missed that!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'd think you'd want to weigh out your options for time and financial aspects especially when looking at park hours.

IF you'd get the park-to-park I'd honestly say only you would get it because you have the higher interest in HP. BUT on that note you'd want to compare the costs for wanting the ability to explore both parts of HP.

It could be done where you go exploring HP both sides for a while and the rest of your traveling party goes exploring elsewhere in the one park they've chosen and you meet back up.

Have you looked into HP and found you'd really like to do both sides?

 

[schumigirl]

I don't feel that you are going to be able to do all the rides in both parks in one day. You have to choose which rides you absolutely want to ride and then choose from there. Do you have a list of not to miss rides?

Adding the where Damo's comments are heading, I think it would be great for you to cherry pick the absolute best of the headliners that Uni has to offer. Since the parks are so close together, I think of them as all one theme park anyway (not like WDW where hopping takes an hour or more). So yes, with your limited amount of time, spend a little more to get the best experience possible. And yes, there is enough time in the day to get a huge chunk of awesome rides completed.

This a million times!!!

Potter fans need to see both parts......they are fabulous.....and if you carefully work out exactly what you want to conquer in a day and be realistic, you`ll be glad you did.

As wookie says, the parks are so close together....they do feel like one big park at times......

 

[damo]

.......

As wookie says, the parks are so close together....they do feel like one big park at times......

And if you take the train between parks, you don't realize that they are two parks. I swear my niece never realized there were two parks since we always took the train between.

 

[gotomu212]

Am I misunderstanding your question? You are only at Universal for 1 day so if you aren’t getting a hopper you have to pick one of the two parks. Without the hopper you’re only doing half of UO so I’d vote for the hopper. You won’t be able to do everything in both parks but there’s enough to do in each park to justify squeezing both in.

 

[skylock]

Although UO is split into two parks, in all honesty it could be considered one. They are so close to each other. Think epcot. future world/world showcase kind of close.

If you only have one day and you want to do both parks, you will need the express pass to have the best experience.

If you are only going to do one park, you can probably do it without express. The train is a 3-4 min ride. Not that exciting to me at all. One day one park, I would choose the studios side. Diagon alley is a huge improvement over Hogsmead.

If you have more than 2 people, getting a room at one of the three deluxe hotels for one night will be a great savings on express pass cost. You do not actually have to stay there, just run in and get your room key which acts as your express pass. Up to 5 people per room. You get express pass for checkin and check out day, so two days of express pass for one nights stay.

The hotels are really close to the parks.

With express pass, If reg standby wait is 60 min, express pass will be around 20 min or less, and those extra minutes really add to what you will be able to do in your 1 day.

Download the universal app.

Me personally, if I only had one day, although it will cost you a little more, would do the two parks with a hotel express pass.

I like to keep my cost low, but I also consider the value I am getting for what I spend. Two park with express will most likely have you seeing everything there is to offer. There will not be a lot of down time doing one day, but you should get to do everything.

If you can't swing the express pass, for the best value for your money I would stick with one park.

The Potter rides are included in your express pass, with possibly the exception of the new coaster, but if you have a universal hotel room, you will also get one hour early entry at one of the parks so I would plan to ride the coaster then. Even if that is not the early entry park for the day, you will still be among the first people there in the early morning. The coaster will be on the IOA side.

 

[georgina]

I think it is also somewhat dependent on the size and ages of your group, and which other attractions they are interested in. Shylock makes some good points above.

Our first time to Universal we drove over 1 day from Disney. This was back in 2002, our kids were 7, 10, and 12. No Harry Potter stuff yet. We just did IOA, which was enough for us at the time. (Next year we stayed 3 nights at Hard Rock and did much more.) There are so many new rides since then and great rides at both parks so I would have a really hard time just going to one now.

 

[imprint]

I agree with the tips here, and I'll try to compile the info. To help simply it for you (and yes I understand it is easy to spend other people's money, but everyone's situation is different):

1. Individual express passes are expensive. Do you have 5 or fewer people in your group? If so, check the price for 1 night (either day before or day of your Universal visit) at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, and Portofino Bay. Even if you don't actually stay in the room (although staying there might make your overall logistics better), you will get up to 5 keys which will also be 5 unlimited express passes for day of check in and day of check out. Express works for all rides except Pteranodon Flyers ( you must have a child under a certain height to ride this) and possibly the new Harry Potter ride (we do not know if express will work on it yet). Compare the cost of 1 night in one of those resorts vs. the cost of 1-use express (for each member of your group) and unlimited-use express passes (for each member of your group).

2. You mention Harry Potter is important. There are 2 HP areas, and 1 is in each park. You'll need hopper tickets to see it all. Both areas are great and will be great memories for big HP fans. Having hopper tickets allows you to ride Hogwarts Express to travel between the parks (and it provides another HP experience (actually the "ride" is different each way of the trip)).

3. You mention some in the group are more interested in other parts of the parks. Are these contained in a single park? If not, you'll need a hopper to visit everyone's priorities. If you can post what is most important for the group, we can give you help to make your decision.

Please ask more questions and if you can provide some more info (number of people in your group and specifically what are priorities), we can help you make the best decision for your day at USO. We can also help you make a touring plan to maximize your day.

 

[maverik85]

As others have said it all really depends on what you want to do. I'd look at both parks and decide what rides are not miss for your family. There is great stuff not to miss on both sides.
Also, depending on how you operate your day at the parks you can do both parks and hit most of the rides. However you will likely need to do the single riders lines for a lot of attractions. I went the year HP first opened in July and was able to hit up both parks and ride just about everything by 1:00 so it is very doable to do both parks but you will be rushed as well. This was also only possible via the single rider queue. Most of the rides had 90-120 minute waits and the single riders averaged around 5-10, though some were a little longer.