1-Day Universal Studios Florida & Islands of Adventure 2-Park Hopper Itinerary
Our 1-day Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure 2-park itinerary offers a step by step plan for an ideal visit to both Universal Orlando theme parks in a single day. This hopper strategy covers how to spend less time waiting in lines and avoiding crowds at headliner thrill rides & roller coasters. Plus, advice for restaurants, shows, entertainment, and more.
A few things before we get started. First, Central Florida theme parks are utilizing health safety protocol, and this itinerary has been created following the reopening of Universal Orlando to take into account those operational tweaks. With that said, Universal Orlando has not changed as much as Walt Disney World. There’s reduced capacity, physical distancing, and Universal’s face mask rules, but pretty much everything is pretty close to normal.
Second, this itinerary assumes that you do not have Express Pass, which is Universal’s skip-the-line option. If you’re staying in an on-site hotel that includes Express Pass Unlimited, that takes away a lot of pressure. Frankly, Express Pass is about the only way you’ll accomplish most headliners in both parks, so that’s definitely good to have.
Third, this itinerary also ignores Early Park Admission (click here for current schedule), which is usually available daily at Islands of Adventure and many days at Universal Studios Florida for on-site hotel guests and select others. Early Park Admission allows access one hour prior before scheduled park opening time to all of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions in both parks, as well as the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.
Not only does this park-to-park itinerary ignore early entry, but it assumes you’re visiting on a day when Universal Studios Florida is not offering it. (Hence the touring plan beginning in USF.) If both parks are offering Early Park Admission and you’re not eligible for it, the deck is really stacked against you. Not only will you be entering after on-site guests, but you’ve visiting on a more crowded day.
Finally, please do not use this itinerary. Seriously. If you’re not eligible for Express Pass and Early Park Admission, you have absolutely no chance at accomplishing everything in both parks. On most days, you’ll be lucky to accomplish half of what Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure have to offer. We strongly recommend you do at least 2 days.
If you are eligible for Express Pass and/or Early Park Admission, that probably means you’re staying in an on-site Universal Orlando. Even if you’re only staying one night, you have access to these perks on arrival and checkout day. Take advantage of that and spread out your visit to 2 days.
If it’s a matter of money, there’s not much better use of your theme park dollars than doing a single-night stay at a qualifying on-site Universal hotel and getting Express Pass and Early Park Admission for “free” (included with your stay). If it’s a matter of time, our view is that Universal Orlando is well worth two days of your limited vacation. In either scenario, you’re better off following our 1-Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary and 1-Day Islands of Adventure Itinerary.
With all of that said, we know many of you–in particular those staying on-site at Walt Disney World or concerned about the more intense nature of many Universal rides–may not want to allocate that much time to Universal. Can’t argue with that; this itinerary is for you. We simply don’t want to sugarcoat it–this itinerary requires compromises and skipping a lot. It is impossible to accomplish everything at Universal Orlando in a single day. Anyone who claims otherwise is selling you a bill of goods.
That’s enough with the caveats and long-winded preface, let’s get to the brass tacks of our 2-park, 1-day Universal Orlando itinerary…
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts — There are a total of 5 rides in the collective Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando. All are varying degrees of very popular. Obviously, it’s impossible to rope drop all of them, across two parks, and devote sufficient time to Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. That’s arguably the biggest downfall of doing both parks in a single day.
Setting all of that aside, Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts is a great way to start your day of riding the movies at Universal Studios Florida. From exterior to bank queue to pre-show to the 3D track-based motion ride itself, this is an immersive and incredible experience.
Revenge of the Mummy — Spent a few minutes exploring Diagon Alley while it’s quiet and uncrowded, but not too long. Next up you’ll cross through San Francisco en route to New York and Revenge of the Mummy.
While it’s a fun themed roller coaster with great special effects and mild thrills there’s more to it than exhilaration and impressive technical effects. It’s clever, silly, and surprisingly story-driven. Don’t miss it.
Transformers: The Ride 3D — Only a couple of “blocks” away is Transformers: The Ride 3D. This attraction is top notch. Arguably, all Michael Bay creations should be frenetic theme park attractions instead of multi-hour movies.
Loud, fast-paced, and mindless action translate to a theme park attraction better than they do a movie. Transformers: The Ride 3D distills the best parts of the franchise into a 5-minute ride that’s better than the films.
The Simpsons Ride — This “theme park within a theme park” takes you and the Simpsons to Krustyland in a fun motion simulator attraction. It can get long lines by midday, so hopefully you beat the crowd here and encounter a 45 minute or shorter posted wait time.
The Simpsons Ride is fun for everyone, but more so for longtime fans of the Simpsons who will appreciate the many characters, in-jokes, referential humor and gags, and just the general trappings of the Simpsons humor.
Ride the Wave Until Lunch – Even though it’s only 4 rides, knocking out those headliners with short waits is a big deal. At this point, continue riding the wave of short wait times to the extent possible. Skip anything with a longer wait than you’re willing to bear.
Realistically, you should be able to hit E.T. Adventure and Men in Black: Alien Attack with minimal waits. Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is another option, albeit a bit of a long shot. If its wait time is under 45 minutes, consider doing it prior to lunch.
The Simpsons’ Fast Food Blvd — There’s something for everyone here in this multi-stop eatery. This fun food court is an exercise in excess that leans into stereotypes about fast food pulled from the Simpsons. But it works and is delicious.
My view here is go big or go home. I genuinely enjoy the Clogger Burger, and the Chicken and Waffle Sandwich is another winner. You’ll also find a few healthy options, and other iconic dishes and drinks from the Simpsons. Plus details and design that are on point.
Slow Down with a Show – Both Bourne Stuntacular and Universal Orlando’s Horror Make-up Show are exceptional shows that are in the neighborhood. Trying to do both might be pushing it during the course of a single day (or not if you skip other stuff), but they’re both highly recommended. Other excellent entertainment includes the Blues Brothers Show and Marilyn & the Diamond Bellas.
Check out showtimes and see what you can easily slot into your schedule. It might even be most advantageous to do one, then lunch, then the other. Two of the important “rules” of an itinerary like this one are that you have to be flexible with scheduling and willing to backtrack. Shuffling things around and doing extra walking will save you time.
Upfront Options – Mid afternoon often has some of the shortest wait times for two headliner attractions at the front of Universal Studios Florida: Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.
We aren’t huge fans of either. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is a short, fairly middling roller coaster that is inferior to the Incredible Hulk Coaster over at Islands of Adventure. Despicable Me Minion Mayhem is solid, but it can be a hassle. Whether to skip them is up to you; check wait times and decide accordingly.
Park Hopping Time – There are two options for this: the Hogwarts Express from King’s Cross Train Station at the back of the park or the front entrance. The latter will take you about 10 minutes park to park. The former will take about that much time, plus its posted wait time.
Which is the right option for you depends upon a mix of whether you’re a Potterhead and the length of the Hogwarts Express wait time. If it’s 30 minutes or less, no question, do that. Wait times of 45 minutes or longer present more of a dilemma. We think Hogwarts Express is a novel attraction and really clever way of park hopping while remaining immersed in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. However, it’s also not as revolutionary of an experience as some diehard Potterheads and theme park fans make it out to be.
Afternoon Entertainment – We’re going to assume you enter Islands of Adventure via the Hogwarts Express, but it really doesn’t matter. The priority now is entertainment, and that’s all over Islands of Adventure.
In particular, we’d recommend starting by checking out the Frog Choir in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade and the Mystic Fountain in Lost Continent before moving on to Seuss Landing. Or, you can simply start up there if entering through the front of the park.
High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride – This elevated peoplemover ride offers great aerial views above Seuss Landing. It’s often dismissed out of hand as a kiddie ride, but this is an underrated leisure-seeker’s delight—a great way to relax during a long day at Universal Orlando.
There are a lot of other things to do in Seuss Landing, especially for families with small children. Do those if your schedule and wait times allow. However, there’s nothing you’ll really regret skipping.
The Incredible Hulk Coaster – In our single day Islands of Adventure touring plan, this is the first stop. That’s objectively better advice; beating the crowds to this roller coaster will save you a lot of time. Unfortunately, you cannot “beat the crowds” to everything in both parks, so it becomes a matter of waiting them out. (Hence slowing down mid-afternoon with shows and entertainment.)
Due to Marvel Super Hero Island’s location at the front of the park, it can work well to hit the Incredible Hulk Coaster in late afternoon as few guests are entering the park. You’ll still likely encounter a long wait, just not as bad as mid-morning or early afternoon.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man – It’s a similar story here. You very well might encounter a wait time of an hour or more at the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.
Unfortunately, long wait times for some attractions is the cost of doing both Universal Orlando parks in a single day and why we recommended two days instead of one. With that said, whatever the wait time for the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, it’s worth it for one of the best theme park attractions in the world.
Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges – Wait times for water rides vary wildly based upon season and crowd levels. Assuming the weather and waits are conducive, we recommend heading to Toon Lagoon next for the underrated Bilge-Rat Barges. If time allows, also do nearby Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls. It’s like a cut-rate Splash Mountain, right down to the IP most guests won’t recognize.
Welcome… to Jurassic Park – Since you’re already wet, bypass the King Kong area for now and head to Jurassic Park for its water ride. Beyond Jurassic Park River Adventure, there’s actually a lot to see and do in this land. That’ll be doubly true when VelociCoaster debuts. Check out Pteranodon Flyers if you have kids and Raptor Encounter if you have time.
Skull Island: Reign of Kong – This itinerary requires a lot of compromising and backtracking, but this is actually our ideal time to do Skull Island: Reign of Kong. Its wait times typically drop by late afternoon; plus the long and dark queue is a nice reprieve from the afternoon heat.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure – On busier days, this roller coaster uses the Virtual Line Pass, which is in high demand. It is thus imperative that you download the official Universal Orlando app before your visit and check for Virtual Line availability for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure starting just prior to park opening.
If you’re unable to score a spot right away, diligently refresh the app throughout the day—slots often are released later. Regardless of whether the Virtual Line or physical standby queue is in use, we’d recommend not waiting until the very end of the evening to do Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. While the ride is now more reliable than when it debuted, breakdowns still happen, and you don’t want to put all your eggs in the ‘end of night’ basket on this exceptional attraction.
Dinner at the Three Broomsticks – After knocking out Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, head across the walkway in Hogsmeade to Three Broomsticks. This rustic tavern serving British pub fare is far and away the best counter service food in Islands of Adventure.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – Shortly before park closing is the best time to do the OG Harry Potter ride. You might also consider Flight of the Hippogriff if you skipped it earlier or the line is short. Another ride on Hagrid’s might be a long-shot option, as well.
After you get exit Hogwarts Castle, you should have the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade largely to yourself. This is a great time to savor the atmosphere and details, while grabbing some night photos of this beautifully designed land as the park closes. In a perfect world, we’d prefer to have this time to explore the Diagon Alley side of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, so if you’re somehow in a position to take the Hogwarts Express back to Universal Studios Florida to end the night, we’d recommend doing that.
Ultimately, that should make for an exhilarating and exhausting day at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Lots of thrills and excitement, but also lots of steps. While this certainly would not be our ideal way to experience Universal Orlando, if you only have one day and want to do the highlights, this is the best approach. All told, over 20 very good things in a day is entirely realistic and feasible if you follow this itinerary!
Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more. For regular updates, news & rumors, a heads up when discounts are released, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!
YOUR THOUGHTS
What would you include in your perfect day at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure? Do you prefer spreading out your visit to Universal Orlando over multiple days, or packing as much into a single day as possible? Any favorite rides, shows, restaurants, or snacks you recommend? Anything we skipped that you view as a must-do? Do you agree or disagree with our strategy? If you haven’t visited Universal Orlando, what do you plan on doing? Any other highlights for you? Thoughts on anything else covered here? Will you be attempting to visit Central Florida this year, or are you waiting until 2022 or beyond? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom is there an updated version of this? Is there an itinerary post for a two day with express pass park to park? Hoping! 🙂
Hi !
Why don’t you have a 2 days Guide ? I’ve been reading a lot of your post for my vacation in mid-November. I will be going at Disney for 3 parks and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and 2 days at Universal Studio. I do have the park hopper option to make sure to go make the Hogwarts Express (Potterhead here !) and trying to plan everything is hard. I really love your blog but I would love a 2 days option for Universal Studio.
Hi Tom, this post needs to be updated to incorporate Velocicoaster 🙂 thanks
Alex- maybe it has changed but for Hagrid Virtual Line I thought you only had to be on Universal property. We were there in April and got passes at our hotel (Royal Pacific) around 4pm.
Agree about Royal Pacific and express pass for 2 days staying there one night but you pay for parking there so it’s not free parking.
Tom the one thing I would change on this plan or at least put a warning – Simpsons ride. It is the worst motion sickness I have ever had on any ride, they stopped it and let us off because I was turning green. My whole family also felt sick and they never get motion sick. We never road it again!
We followed this itinerary pretty closely and were able to accomplish our entire hit list in both parks! However, a few caveats:
– Express Pass is non-negotiable if you want to do both parks in one day. We wouldn’t have even managed our hit list for one park in a day without it. We stayed at Portofino Bay to get it and it was well worth the money.
– This post underplays how important securing a Virtual Line slot for Hagrid’s is. It’s the best ride in Orlando, better than Rise of the Resistance IMO, and the slots go just as quickly as ROTR’s do, though the drops are better spaced out. And unlike the morning drop for ROTR, you can’t get a spot in the virtual queue unless you are inside the gates of Islands of Adventure, so you should be really on the ball about planning your day around it. If you follow Tom’s plan and stay in Universal all morning, you’ll miss most of the virtual line drops.
– If you’re a Potterhead, be advised that the Express Pass queue for Hogwarts Express does not have the fun photo-op at Platform 9 3/4. Really disappointing given the cost of those passes
– The food situation at Universal, especially IoA, is dire right now. Everywhere is understaffed and oversubscribed. We held out until 3pm for lunch, thinking we’d beat the worst of the crowds, and instead found ourselves hot, starving and miserable in an hour-long wait in the sun for chicken fingers. We didn’t get to try Butterbeer because the lines were easily 30-45 minutes long all day and we ultimately had to just skip it. Three Broomsticks/Leaky Cauldron were not even remotely an option. Be sure to bring snacks.
Are you going to do 3 day universal and islands of adventure itinerary?
I love Universal Themes, can’t be beat. But when there was only 1 park we could do it in a day. My husband and 3 sons were only moderate roller coaster riders. By 2:00 they were bored and asked to go back to Disney. My husband who was not a real fan of Disney remarked that Universal has no magic. Lol. Since the arrival of the second park we have still managed to do both in one day. We like food and the scenery most!
Only visited Universal once, and stayed one night at Royal Pacific with a 2-day park pass. Yes, the hotel was expensive, but less-so when you factor in free parking for nearly 2 days, 2 days of Express Passes and Early Park Admission, plus the boat ride to/from the Parks was almost an attraction by itself. Of course this was before Universal completed the newer value hotels.
That said, frankly by the middle of the afternoon on the second day we were killing time. If you’re not into the mega-coasters that reduces the time to see everything even if you do all the shows. And we definitely lingered in the Potter sections, especially Diagon Alley, for a lot longer than we needed to, just soaking up the atmosphere. While I certainly appreciate the Pandora area the Diagon Alley is more attractive to me. I think both do an excellent job of theming, it’s just that in my imagination I’d rather spend a day in Diagon than in Pandora. Hogsmeade, OTOH, was less immersive IMO.
Having been to USH a few times, I was able to hit nearly every major attraction across both parks while skipping the cloned rides (most notably Minion Mayhem, Simpsons, and Transformers). Even then, it was a packed day trying to see two parks in one day!
Where would you suggest starting the day if you have only one day to see both parks AND it’s a day with Early Park Admission at both parks?
Not sure if it was intentionally left out, but if your goal is to do as close to everything at both parks in one day without an express pass, use single rider. It’s super doable to ride every ride once in both parks in a single day without an express pass and if you don’t have early morning entry if you use the single rider lines well.
Pros:
– Much shorter *usually* than the standby line
Cons:
– Can be super inconsistent – you only move if groups of 3 get on the ride and you get to fill the spot left empty.
– Miss the whole detailed standby queue. (This is mainly a sad thing on the HP rides and maybe Kong)
– Won’t ride next to the others in your group.
If you are the type of person who is thinking about riding every ride in a day in both parks and you don’t want an express pass, the huge time saver is probably worth it. I’m sure you already know about this Tom, not sure if it was left out due to the current covid situation or just because you wanted to keep this standby only.
Brandon, I agree with you about the single rider option. You can get everything accomplished if single rider lines are available. However, due to COVID pandemic, Universal currently doesn’t have any single rider lines. For this reason, I don’t think it is possible to experience every attraction at both Universal Parks in one day without express pass.
It was intentionally left out due to being currently unavailable. (It’s also been removed from our Walt Disney World itineraries for the same reason.) I’m a huge fan and advocate of single rider lines.
I’ll have to update/overhaul this once VelociCoaster opens anyway, so I figure I can add more if single rider lines return by then (hopefully) and make accomplishing more in a single day feasible.
@Eric Actually this guy managed it during covid!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-9iF1jsb7g
Same as normal it won’t happen if the park is packed to overflowing but still the point is with an efficient itinerary it’s totally possible.
As a related side note I’ve generally found that people underestimate the amount of rides you can get done in a day at Disney resorts. The folks over at Parkeology (https://www.parkeology.com/parkeology-challenge-all-disney-world-disneyland-rides-one-day) have been riding every ride at Disney World (yes – EVERY RIDE) in one day for several years. Same thing at Disneyland. Nobody has done it since Rise of the Resistance opened and covid started, but smart tourists can ride a crazy amount of rides in one day. This misses lots of the great ambiance, shows, and food, but still sometimes you just want to sprint from ride to ride all day. Just a fun tidbit I enjoy following.
Good stuff…thanks Tom!
I just returned from Universal Studios. I was at the parks from March 14th to March 17th. This time of the year is getting into the spring break crowd. The parks were as full as I have ever seen them. Wait times for the headliner attractions were all over 100 minutes. Universal studios is still quasi implementing some social distancing precautions such as not having single rider lines, and in some cases separating guest on their attractions.
The truth is that in the minds of many American’s the pandemic is over and people aren’t hesitating to travel to the theme parks. I’m not so sure that the Theme parks are staffing and operating at a level to accommodate the large crowds that they are getting. It was clear to me that this past week of spring break Universal Studios wasn’t ready for that large of a crowd, and if you are thinking about going to Tampa’s Bush Gardens forget it. We went there for a day and left at noon because they were so understaffed for the crowd that they received.
Until Universal Studios removes their Social Distancing rules, and allows single rider lines on their attractions again, I don’t think that Universal Studios is a viable option for me and my family without the Express Pass.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
All of these itineraries assume (and were field tested with) moderate crowd levels. You definitely wouldn’t be able to accomplish everything during spring break attendance. However, I have zero desire to subject myself to the current crowds to come up with itineraries specifically for really busy days.
So true. Broward County spring break was this past week. Friends of mine did the “buy a day, get 3 free” Florida resident deal. They only went 2 days. They said it was really crowded and seemed understaffed. My family did Sea World and Aquatica and didn’t really have too many complaints. It was a little scary near the lockers at Aquatica to see everyone crowded in without masks (not required). That is going to take some getting used to!
I’m tired reading this intinarary LOL. You are spot on with two days for the two parks. I always tell people of you can’t do two days you need to get the express pass at least to help with the lines.
For people with a budget and only one day I would point then to your article here!