Need help planning two day park to park plan for this weekend!

[SarahD112]

I’ve never been to Universal - my teenage daughter and I are going Sunday and Monday. We’re staying at Cabana Bay, so we have early admission, but not express passes. What should we ride first? What are the must do attractions that will have long lines later? Advice for best chance of riding Hagrid ride without a two hour wait? And can someone tell me the best way to get from hotel to parks? I read somewhere to take water taxi, but another site said only deluxe hotels have water taxis. Still a third site said transportation not available for early entry hour. Thinking some of that might be old information???

 

[Disxuni]

I do not know if you plan on doing SR lines, but if that is the case, the ones that have a tendency to open and close, or be incredibly long are RRR and Gringotts. I wouldn't put Hagrid's into that category since it's so rare for it to have SR open. I'd say if you plan on getting on those rides do those early (although RRR is not accessible during EE).

Generally, the most popular rides are WWoHP ones, also I believe Kong still can have decent wait times, as well as Hulk since it's a thrill ride.

As for Hagrid's advice, all I can do is recommend keeping an eye on the main Hagrid Coaster post and keep track of what is happening until your trip and keep an eye on the wait times via Universal app. It's been reported a lot of times (but not all the time) that wait times are less than what is shown on the app and that wait times are dramatically increased in case there are delays.

Someone will have to confirm best transportation as I'm not an expert. I will say them not having transportation available for EE doesn't sound accurate, as that is one of the huge perks of staying on property. I know people at Cabana Bay like to walk to Sapphire Falls (which isn't a deluxe hotel, but only the deluxe hotels originally had boats) and take the boat just in general. However, since a lot of hotels do not have boats I would imagine a lot of guests take buses. Someone else will have to confirm when the buses start.

 

[SarahD112]

I do not know if you plan on doing SR lines, but if that is the case, the ones that have a tendency to open and close, or be incredibly long are RRR and Gringotts. I wouldn't put Hagrid's into that category since it's so rare for it to have SR open. I'd say if you plan on getting on those rides do those early (although RRR is not accessible during EE).

Generally, the most popular rides are WWoHP ones, also I believe Kong still can have decent wait times, as well as Hulk since it's a thrill ride.

As for Hagrid's advice, all I can do is recommend keeping an eye on the main Hagrid Coaster post and keep track of what is happening until your trip and keep an eye on the wait times via Universal app. It's been reported a lot of times (but not all the time) that wait times are less than what is shown on the app and that wait times are dramatically increased in case there are delays.

Someone will have to confirm best transportation as I'm not an expert. I will say them not having transportation available for EE doesn't sound accurate, as that is one of the huge perks of staying on property. I know people at Cabana Bay like to walk to Sapphire Falls (which isn't a deluxe hotel, but only the deluxe hotels originally had boats) and take the boat just in general. However, since a lot of hotels do not have boats I would imagine a lot of guests take buses. Someone else will have to confirm when the buses start.

Thank you! Since it’s just my daughter and I, if there’s a long wait she’ll be all for single rider. And I’m not planning to ride any coasters unless they’re HP - or maybe Hagrid. I don’t even know which ones are coasters - I’ll be doing my research this week so I’m prepared by Sunday. So she can single rider those, if it’s an option.
Does universal have virtual queues? How do those work?

 

[bchbetha]

The buses at Cabana Bay run for early entry. They will take you to the main guest drop off then you walk through CityWalk to get into the park. Otherwise you can walk to Sapphire Falls and take the water taxi which will drop you off at CityWalk. During early entry, it's no biggie to do the shuttle because you aren't having to get through security with the offsite people plus onsite ones (that can obviously raise wait times though they are really well staffed and efficient). The buses are much better than Disney as there are always buses ready to go.

Here's a nice overview map https://www.universalorlando.com/webdata/k2/en/us/files/Documents/uor-park-map-english.pdf

Orlando Informer has some nice sample itineraries https://orlandoinformer.com/universal

Download the app so you can keep track of wait times. Put it in airplane mode when not using it though because it's a battery killer.

 

[SarahD112]

The buses at Cabana Bay run for early entry. They will take you to the main guest drop off then you walk through CityWalk to get into the park. Otherwise you can walk to Sapphire Falls and take the water taxi which will drop you off at CityWalk. During early entry, it's no biggie to do the shuttle because you aren't having to get through security with the offsite people plus onsite ones (that can obviously raise wait times though they are really well staffed and efficient). The buses are much better than Disney as there are always buses ready to go.

Here's a nice overview map https://www.universalorlando.com/webdata/k2/en/us/files/Documents/uor-park-map-english.pdf

Orlando Informer has some nice sample itineraries https://orlandoinformer.com/universal

Download the app so you can keep track of wait times. Put it in airplane mode when not using it though because it's a battery killer.

Thanks for all this info! We do have park to park.

 

[SarahD112]

The buses at Cabana Bay run for early entry. They will take you to the main guest drop off then you walk through CityWalk to get into the park. Otherwise you can walk to Sapphire Falls and take the water taxi which will drop you off at CityWalk. During early entry, it's no biggie to do the shuttle because you aren't having to get through security with the offsite people plus onsite ones (that can obviously raise wait times though they are really well staffed and efficient). The buses are much better than Disney as there are always buses ready to go.

Here's a nice overview map https://www.universalorlando.com/webdata/k2/en/us/files/Documents/uor-park-map-english.pdf

Orlando Informer has some nice sample itineraries https://orlandoinformer.com/universal

Download the app so you can keep track of wait times. Put it in airplane mode when not using it though because it's a battery killer.

That is a good map! So would you say it’s faster to take a bus or walk to get a boat?

 

[bchbetha]

Bus there and then try the water taxi back and see. Universal just isn’t that big that it isn’t a real time difference either way.