Can you do Universal Studios and IOA in one day?

[Aurora]

We will be at the Boardwalk for seven days second week in June and want to take a side trip to Universal. Is it possible to do both parks in one day? We have three kids -- thrill-seeking DD12, into-the-movies DS9, and not-ready-for-big-rides DS3.

[jwildflower1981]

We were able to do everything we wanted to do at both parks in one day with the help of the express pass. Good luck. Have a great trip!

[ISLE39]

you can do both parks in one day with good planning but the summer makes it harder express passes makie it a definite no matter what time of year good investment

[Rockstar Boyfriends]

You might be able to do IOA in 1/2 - 3/4 a day, but USF really takes a full day to see and do most everything. I would not recommend doing both parks in 1 day, particularly if you are visiting for the first time. If you have visited Universal before, then perhaps you can do both parks in 1 day.

For the first time visitor, the bare minimum is 2 days. My recommendation for the first-timer is 3 days, split as such:

1 day for IOA
1 day for USF
1 day to re-do your favorites and see the stuff that you missed

BTW, during my first visit to Universal, I spent 5 days there and I did not feel bored at all. I spent 5 days at the Disneyland Resort too (stayed from open to close for 4 days), but that's another story.

[4277]

I agree with the previous poster that if this is your first visit, I wouldn't try to do both parks in 1 day especially with kids. We took 2 days the first couple of times we went. Last time we bought Express Plus Passes and we were able to do everything in 1 day, but our kids are now adults so we skipped a lot of the smaller attractions & rides.

[Aurora]

Thanks. I'm not a coaster person but my hubby and two older kids are, so I'll probably be splitting off with the 3-year-old. We do have one night at the beginning of our trip that we need to find a room, so I'm thinking of staying at one of the Universal resorts to get that express perk.

[murphy1]

We just went last month and had a blast. We did use Express Plus passes and that was great! Well worth the money. I checked into staying at one of the resorts or across the street and ended up at the Holiday Inn Express on Major Blvd across the street. They had a free cont. breakfast that was good, so we had to pay for parking, but it still worked out (for an extra $5 they let you have upfront parking). My three girls are 8, 6 and 3. I also looked at the meal plan and it wasn't cost effective for us, dh agreed. My girls loved the Seuss Landing part so much. Your 3 yo will also love the area by ET where they have a playland and water squirters and characters like Curious George. You could even go there in the morning and then go back later with the 3 yo while everyone else does the big rides. There is also a really nice and good Carrabba's restaurant near the hotel for dinner, we enjoyed it. And there was a Wendy's next to our hotel. The Simpsons will be open when you go, too. Look at the maps to get a feel for things. My 3 yo did not like Jimmy Neutron or Shrek, she screamed and cried, so we didn't really take her on too much at Universal. We bought the two parks two day passes, $85 each. I am really glad we didn't do both parks in one day. It would have been way too much. However the day we did IOA, we went later to MK for the Pirate and Princess Party, but first went back to the hotel.

[NJGIRL]

IMO NO. It would be like doing two of Disney's parks in one day. We spend one day in each park on every visit and we have been there each time we go to FL. If you just want to hit some of the attractions and not see most of the parks you can do it in one day.

[IrishFamily]

We did both in a day in February. You have to buy the extra express (like fast pass but only for once per ride per day) We also split up some of the day. I took our teenage nephew on thrill rides and hubby spent 2 hours in the Dr. Suess area with our 6 year old. In universal studios we just hit the big attractions for our group: Jimmy Neutron ride, Shrek Movie, Blues Brothers show and ET ride. We did not see everything but it was still a great day and worth it. IOA has several great soaking water rides but we didn't need to do those because it was cold outside.

[NJ Camper]

I think it depends on how many rides you ride if you try everything then probably not plus it also depends on when you go we went back in dec 01 there was no crowds and DW doesn't do coasters and we went to both parks and with me as a single rider and short lines we did everything we wanted to do but as i said it was when it was slow so i would allow 2 days to play it safe if you want to do both parks