One full Day in USF and IOA

DisneySam3775

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jan 30, 2019
Universal 1 day with park hopper and Express Pass


I posted a few weeks ago asking for advice to do both parks with a 1 day park hopper with Express Pass. Thought I would report about it.

Prior to spending 2 nights at Royal Pacific we had spent 6 nights at All Star Movies. My daughter was at Music though due to her traveling with her school chorus. The whole reason for this trip was to see her performance. She had hurt her knee while in Disney so we decided to rent a wheelchair for her at USF. We were a party of 4 (hubby, son (18) daughter (16) and I). I also wanted to add that due to having the wheelchair we were able to skip the lockers on the rides that had them as they allow you to leave your stuff with the wheelchair.


We arrived at USF right at 8am for Early Entry. We quickly rented a wheelchair and off we went to HP world and went on HP and the escape from Gringotts. Wait time was posted at 25 minutes but we were on in 15 minutes. This ride was new to us and we really enjoyed it! We now started using Express Pass as the parks were officially opened. I will post the wait times if I remember them and then how long we waited with Express Pass.

We then went on the Hogwarts Express to IOA, wait time was posted as 20 minutes and we were on in 10 minutes. We then did Forbidden Journey, if I remember correctly the wait was posted at 25 minutes and we were on in 10 minutes. While on FJ we did get stuck and the lights turned on, I was just happy we didn’t get stuck upside down. We then made a stop for butter beer. I’m not a huge fan of it but I was thirsty and hubby enjoys it. We then bought a Coke refillable mug. (Really wish Disney would follow suit).

We made our way over to Jurassic Park and the wait time was posted as 10 minutes and we were on it in less then 5 minutes. Then over to Kong which was a walk on for the regular line and Express. We then walked past Toon Lagoon as everyone didn’t feel like getting completely wet, but we did stop to play with the water cannons. We then continued on to Super Hero Island and the only thing the kids wanted to do there was Spider Man. I don’t recall the posted wait time but we got right on with Express Pass.

It was now around 12 and we decided to have lunch. We ordered a whole pizza from Cafe 4. I was shocked at the price of $37 for the exact same size pizza that we had ordered at All Star Movies a few days prior for about $17. I also ordered bread sticks and a chicken parmigiana sandwich as I knew the pizza wouldn’t feed all 4 of us.

After lunch we headed over to Seuss Landing and rode The Cat in The Hat, both lines were a walk on. We then headed back to HP to ride the Hogwarts Express back to USF. The posted wait time was 20 minutes and we were on in less than 10. Once at USF we did Men in Black and both lines were a walk on. We then did the Simpsons ride and the wait was posted at 15 and we were on in about 10. We wanted a big donut so I got in line at the little stand that also sold ice cream. We waited a good 10 minutes and the line barely moved. So my son went over to the Kwik e Mart and texts me he has one in his hand and to get out of line. After enjoying our donut we headed towards Woody Woody Pecker’s Kid Zone and went on ET. Posted wait time was 10 min and we got on in 10. We skipped past the rest of Woody Zone and also past Hollywood as we had no interest in the Horror Show but did make a stop at Mel’s Diner for a refill and a break. We then went on Transformers and I don’t remember the wait time posted but we did get on fairly quickly. After Transformers the kids went on Rip Ride Rockit and hubby and I took a break nearby on the grass (sod). We then went on Race Through New York and both lines were a walk on. We then went on Shrek and both lines had about a 5 min wait as they let a whole audience in at the same time. We then made our way over to Revenge of the Mummy but before we got on we noticed the skies started to get dark. I don’t recall the wait time but we got right on. After the ride we noticed the store was pretty busy and the reason being was due to the down pour. So we decided to run from the store and back on to Mummy in the rain. Again we got right on. After we got off the second time the downpour had turned to lite rain so we put on our ponchos and walked to the other side of the lake to eat dinner in Springfield at Moe’s. We had went to US in Hollywood in August of 2017 and I had gotten the chicken and waffle sandwich and wanted that again. I ordered 1 and so did my son but with the mayo syrup on the side as he hates mayo but wanted to try it as I told him he might like it as it tasted more like syrup. He did also ask them if they had plain syrup and they do not. So he got a side of buffalo sauce also. He didn’t like the mayo syrup (I took it and added more to my sandwich) but he did enjoy his sandwich with the buffalo sauce. I enjoyed my sandwich with the mayo syrup but I could tell that the chicken and waffles weren’t as fresh tasting as when I had them in USH. Hubby and daughter each got an order of chicken thumbs and enjoyed them. At this point it was now 8pm and we were exhausted so we took a look at the map to see if we wanted to fit in one more ride before they closed. My daughter wanted to do Minions but my son didn’t so he went on Rip Ride Rockit again while we did Minions. My son did end up on Minions after Rockit. The time by now was 8:40 so we returned the wheelchair and headed back to Royal Pacific.


Overall thoughts of Express Pass:


Due to the parks being empty/not busy the EP was not really needed but helpful in our goal of doing everything we wanted in both parks in one day. We had not been to USF since 2009 or 2010. We stayed at RP then also so we had EP and 4 day tickets. At that time it was the kids first time at USF but not ours but the last time we had gone there was no IOA. We went in the middle of the summer that trip and the EP was very useful to have. I don’t remember if the EP was for multiple times on a ride or just once then? Anyone remember? My hubby works for Comcast and gets 4 (1) day park hoppers complimentary a year so we figured since we were already in FL we might as well extend our stay. We also got a discount on the room and food was 15% off and merchandise was 20% off.


Any questions please feel free to ask.
 
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Don’t know how I missed this report until now

Your timing was perfect for th line waits!

Thrilling to be able to do the rides with low line waits that you had

I need to follow you in the park as you have the touch of being in the right line at the perfect time !

I do Moes for the waffle chicken frequently

If they grab the waffle from the container I ask them to make a new one for me
Never a problem to do this

I discovered fresh made waffles make this sandwich outstanding
The pre cooked ones are too hard

Nice perk for Comcast employees
Glad you were able to score on the tickets through them
 

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