I appreciated the earlier thread about doing USF and IOA in one day, but I have a question that sort of elaborates on that:

We (party of 3) are interested in a few things at USF. I personally think the ambience there is not special and would like to do Mummy and MIB, then maybe one or more of the following: Shrek, Terminator, BTF, Jimmy Neutron.

If we arrive at USF when it opens, then get it out of the way and head to IOA, will we have enough time to do most things? We would ideally like to do:

Cat in the Hat
Poseidon's Fury
Dueling Dragons (fire and ice)
Jurassic Park River Adventure
Triceratops Encounter
Dudley Do-Right
Popeye and Bluto
Dr. Doom
Hulk Coaster
Spider-Man
Storm Force (maybe)

Thanks in advance for any responses...

You can do it that way if you want. A 2-day park hopper pass is a better deal than a one-day, but whatever works for you...

It really depends on the crowds and weather. It is better to do the dry rides at IOA in the afternoon and evening. However, if it is stormy, then most rides at IOA shut down. If the forecast is for afternoon thunderstorms, then definitely do IOA in the morning.

If you rush through, you miss some cool dining and shopping experiences. But everyone has their priorities!

I agree it really depends onwhen you go. USF has seen double digit growth this year, so if you are not there in the off season it will be pretty hard. two days would be a good idea. in lou of that you may wish to reverse the order. some of the rides at IOA have very long lines. so it might be better to go there first thing in the morning the hop over to US for the evening. also as teri pointed out much of IOA closes during thunderstorms. and since they most likely will happen in the afternoon I would suggest this.

if you get the chance, and you haven't seen the hollywood horror make up show I would add this to your US list of to do's

Actually, I have seen the Hollywood Horror Make-Up show and was underwhelmed. I don't much care for the Beetlejuice show either.

Anyway. We are leaving in a week (on August 7th) and originally did not plan to visit USF at all--just IOA. BUT the Mummy would be new for both my brother and myself, and my friend has never even been to USF at all. So I wanted to get a feel for whether a few attractions there would be doable, given the fact that IOA is our main focus.

We *could* devote a full day to USF, but I'm just having a hard time convincing myself that it would be worthwhile.

I still think you should probably do it the other way. that way if it does rain your day will be more then just a few rides at US.

BTW I looked at your IOA list. Tric encounter is permanently closed so you won't be doing that. I noticed you didn't mention sinbad have you seen it? it's one of my fav shows. but then I like the HHMS.

Well, that stinks (that Triceratops Encounter is gone). I always thought it sounded really neat, but I never got the chance/time to check it out...

Thanks for the Sinbad tip, but I never cared for it that much. This USF thing is really fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants; we made a near last minute decision to drive down one day early and are still in the process of locating a hotel for that first night. We *may* do USF that first day, then check in at the Polynesian, and visit IOA later in the week.

Shrek needs to be done first at USF as the wait time is much longer there than at any other ride. I'd hit Shrek then Mummy and then MIB. Those are the rides that get the longest lines during the day at USF but aren't very busy at opening. Terminator and BTTF do not usually have long lines. I'd skip Jimmy Neutron. It is over-rated in my opinion. Then leave USF at the exit by Nickelodeon. It will take you out by the Hard Rock cafe. Head to IoA from there. It's shorter.

I would attack the rides at IoA this way:

Get an express pass for Hulk and ride Spiderman as single rider or ride Hulk as single rider and get express for Spider. Then ride Cat in the Hat, Dueling Dragon, and Poseidon. Next in your circle around the park would be Jurassic park. It should be time to get another express pass now so I would get one for Dudley as the lines are long. Hopefully by this time, it will be time to use you first express pass for Hulk. Ride it and then hit Popeye and then all you need to do is wait for the express pass time for Dudley. Skip Storm force as it is only a glorified bumper car ride.

With this plan, you won't be backtracking a lot at IoA. You'll go in a circle from Hulk (Marvel Superhero) to Suess to Lost Continent to Jurassic Park to Toon Lagoon to Marvel Superhero and then back to Toon Lagoon.

Bev

If you can live without riding together, the single rider lines can save you a ton of time. Spiderman is worth riding as a single at least once so you can see the different stuff in the single queue.

If you stay at one of Universal's hotels, you can use your room key as a front of the line pass for all the rides at both parks... with this, you could probably do just about everything at both parks in one day.

I've done Spider-Man and MIB as a single rider... Is there a list somewhere of all the Universal attractions with this feature?

I'm sure there is a list somewhere, but I'll give it a go...

IOA: Spiderman, Hulk, Doom

USF: MIB, ET (maybe, I'm not sure...)

I think that is it... but those are some of the lognest lines at the parks. With some creative use of single lines and express passes, you should be able to knock out a large portion of both parks in one day.

Men in Black and the Mummy are the only rides at Universal Studios that have single rider lines.

At Islands of Adventure, you can find single rider lines at the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk Coaster, Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls, and Dr. Doom's Fearfall.

Single lines open and close depending on the queue time. Generally, they will not open until the queue is 30 minutes or greater. However, Men in Black single rider line stays open all the time.