Two Parks/One Day?

[JDAV]

If we are getting Express Pass tickets, can we do two parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure) in one day, or do we need to go two days?

 

[macraven]

If crowds are light you could get a lot done in a full day but you would have to pick and choose which rides to eliminate

 

[Nox]

I think two parks in one day with Expresses Passes is doable. I'm not sure about fun.

It depends greatly on what you hope to see and do. If you're just going hard all day trying to hit every ride, it's probably feasible but it probably won't be very enjoyable (unless you like that sort of thing, maybe).

If you know off the bat there are things you don't care if you miss, you'll probably have a better time.

I know I, personally, could do two parks in one day, as there are many things in each park that I don't care about and could bypass. I would recommend going through the rides and attractions carefully to make sure you have a reasonable list for each park. When I've done both in the past, I only did about 4-5 attractions in each park.

 

[Disxuni]

I'd recommend two days.

One day you would be in a constant rush to try to fulfill everything. If the crowds are light, or average, you can probably do just about everything. However, that is just about everything, as everyone has a different version of "everything". If you wanted to legit do everything in both parks it wouldn't happen at all.

With two days, you would definitely be able to achieve everything you wish to do, or if you legit wanted to do everything in both parks and not have to rush, rush, rush and have more of a relaxing experience.

Also, I do not know when you plan on going so hours are a determining factor as well. If you went during non-peak seasons you have less crowds, but less hours. If you go during peak season, you have higher crowds, but more hours. For example, non-peak hours average 9am-7pm (not including EE) and peak seasons average 9am-10pm.

I want to say that EP isn't like FP. FP has a certain format where you'd be get onto the ride by a more guaranteed specific time, where as EP just guarantees you have a lower wait time. That being said, if it's low, or average crowds you'll get onto attractions much sooner with EP, at most 1/4 of the posted wait time, but most cases are typically much sooner than that. However, it's been reported that during peak seasons when crowds are incredibly high that EP is a sooner wait time, but isn't as quick as it normally is, can be up to half the posted wait time.

 

[KMc Charlotte]

If you're getting the Express Pass by staying in a deluxe hotel, you get EP for day you check in and day you check out. So, you might consider adding an extra day if you can squeeze it in.

 

[JDAV]

To confirm, Express Pass gets us to the front of the line, correct? When we went to Universal Hollywood, that's what we did, and we literally walked right on to each ride (and this was during Spring Break), with a few exceptions where we had to wait 15 minutes or so.

 

[KMc Charlotte]

To confirm, Express Pass gets us to the front of the line, correct? When we went to Universal Hollywood, that's what we did, and we literally walked right on to each ride (and this was during Spring Break), with a few exceptions where we had to wait 15 minutes or so.

Express Pass isn't actually front of line- it's a separate line that's typically much, much faster than the regular line. Express Passes are included with stays at only Portofino Bay, Hard Rock Hotel, and Royal Pacific Resort

 

[ChanaC]

When I worked at Universal in 2012, they told us that Express Pass cuts the line in half. So a 20 minute posted line will be 10 with the Express, and a 30 minute line will be 15. That was a while ago so I'm not sure if it changed. I will say that from experience, the Express Pass seemed similar to Disney's FastPass, which isn't exactly front of the line either. It definitely cuts down on the wait time, but rarely have I ever entered the FP line and immediately got in a ride vehicle.

As for the original question, I think it depends on what you want to do. For example, if you're just there to hit the major rollercoasters, it will be fine with one day. But if it's your first time and you really want to enjoy everything and get on as much as you can, I think 2 days is a good amount of time. While there isn't as much atmosphere and characters as Disney, there are still places you'll want to look around at. Also, while Islands is laid out really well (one giant circle) it can take a while to walk all the way around. There is also a bit of a walk between the two parks. They are much, much closer than the WDW parks, but not as close as Disneyland and DCA, for example.