We are planning a holiday in and around Hollywood and were wondering how much time is needed to FULLY cover Universal studios and also the citywalk ? We are planning on visiting from the UK next February(hopefully it will be quiet ?) and will be over 2 weeks so will have plenty of time to go weekdays or weekend (any preference ?).For example when we came to Anaheim the other week we spent 4 days in the parks and would gladly have had 1 or 2 more to repeat favorite rides, also we only managed af ew hours at downtown Disney and would have liked more. I'm sure we'll want to do the studio tour more than once and repeat ride The Mummy and Jurassic Park.
:D :rolleyes: :cool: :)

i think u should get everything in within 2 days

first day go around see everything, then second day go see everything u missed and then see everything you really liked again...

there are two hotels on the property so ull be really close

My girlfriend and I went on a USH trip last summer and were able to see everything in 2 days, one for the park and the other day for citywalk. As long as you arrive for park opening, you'll do the park in one day with shopping time to spare. We went on a weekday and all the rides had 15 min wait time the most. Although we didn't do any of the kid activities... ie. Nickelodeon Blast Zone etc.

The only drawback was that the park closed early at around 6pm. Just plan your day in advance and ride those first that will seem the most crowded: Mummy, Jurassic Park, Tram Tour, and Back to the Future.
Plan your show schedule and don't ride the escalators b/w the lower and upper level more than twice (once to go down and once to come back up).

The best plan would be to ride/see first in the following order: (based on my trip and other mouse planet readers)
- studio tour
- back to the future
- Mummy
- Jurassic Park
- everything else in lower level
- everything else in upper level

I would think 2 days for the park (2nd day for repeating rides/shows) and a partial day for the citywalk; its a mall with movie theaters, no more than how long it takes for you to do a normal mall.

Have fun on your trip!!! :)

can see youre planning far in advance. thats good. depending on how many are in your party and if you have kids or not will affect how much time u need to do things. everyone else who posted prior is right on with what you need to do first and so on. u can technically do everything in one day if you come on a weekend. citywalk is open late (midnight) and at the time of year the park hours are usually 10am - 6 pm. just check the web before you go to see.

as far as attractions, universal doesnt refurb at the rate disney does, however, when they do, it tends to be in the slow months. which february is one. Jurrasic Park may be down for a yearly refurb due to the cool weather that time of year and slow attendance, like i said though, check web for updates before. make sure you plan your shows accordingly, i cant stress this enough. MOST shows only perform a max of 2 or 3 times a day during this time of year, not like in peak, when almost all shows have 10 shows a day. so you will have LOTS of time between shows to hit rides, just make sure you plan to arrive early at the show because of the lack of performances, they will be close to 100% capacity.

also a side note> the waterworld show is the best show in the park. if they have a night showing of it, or the closest one to when its dark out, i advise catching that one, the fireworks and effects look brilliant at night. another tip, check the weather before you go, if it is going to be a rainy or windy day, u may not want to go to the park, the waterworld show does not use all of its effects in high wind. which greatly diminshes the enjoyment of the show.

if your planning on seeing "hollywood" type things, id advise to go on a weekday, you have a better chance at seeing filmming on the backlot during the week as opposed to the weekend when the backlot is typically a ghost town. if u come for more than one day, do the studio tour a few times, sit in a different seat each time, youll get different persepctives and see different things. also, check out the TV Ticket booth in the park, you can get free tickets to television shows taping that day or later in the week. seeing a live taping of a tv show can also be a great experience.

as far as food, typical theme park food. burgers, fries, pizza. there is mexican and chineese food in the park. if you have time for a lunch break, you can go to citywalk for lunch and come back in the park later. b/c of the short hours the park is open, i advise eating a small lunch in the park and having a nice sit down dinner at citywalk that night. like i said, on weekends, citywalk is open til midnight as opposed to 9 or 10 pm on weeknights. there are plenty of shops and clubs to check out as well.

as far as tickets, if you plan on going for more than one day, they will probably still be running the buy a day get a year free program. even though you are from out of town, it would be worth it just to buy the pass to come back the next day for free. universal does offer a special ticket called a "Gate A Pass" its a more expesinve ticket, about $25 more than a regular 1 day ticket, but it provides you with front of the line access and behind the scenes viewing at the stunt shows. if you are only going one day, id advise to get that ticket, if you plan on two days, dont shell out the extra money b/c youll have a whole nother day to come back and play. u just wont get the behind the scenes showing. which is nothing special you wouldnt miss. they also offer a VIP Tour package, this is pretty expensive, over $100 a person, but you get a VIP Tour guide for the whole day, a private back lot tour where you will actually get off and walk onto a working set (the regular tour does not offer this) you also get priority seating at all shows and all rides. thats the most expensive ticket, but the best experience if you want it.

i know ive said alot, but being a former CM i know the ins and outs and just want to make your experience well worth it. hope all works out well.

Just a quick note - during Peak seasons, the Front of the Line pass does NOT offer the behind the scenes benefit.

Nice tips DisneyDustin!!! :)

If you're 21 and over, and are at CityWalk on a Saturday night; head to Howl At The Moon for a REALLY fun time. There's more info at http://www.howlatthemoon.com/ (Check out "The Show")

Have fun :D