Will one day do for USH?

[Canadian Harmony]

We're planning on two days at USH, but I'm wondering if we need both days? We want to do everything except for Walking Dead stuff, and we're not planning on rushing from point a to point b, so would we have time to enjoy the whole park including HPW, or should we bite the bullet, get tickets for two days, and just split our visit into two?

We'd do a full day at USH, then the next morning would just be HPW, before we head off for the Autry Museum and Griffith Observatory.

 

[ashley0139]

We're planning on two days at USH, but I'm wondering if we need both days? We want to do everything except for Walking Dead stuff, and we're not planning on rushing from point a to point b, so would we have time to enjoy the whole park including HPW, or should we bite the bullet, get tickets for two days, and just split our visit into two?

We'd do a full day at USH, then the next morning would just be HPW, before we head off for the Autry Museum and Griffith Observatory.

I really don't think you need two days at USH, unless you want to take it really slowly, see all the shows, and don't want to go rope drop to closing. It's really a fairly small park with only about 8 major attractions (not including shows, which I honestly think are meh). If you are willing to get there when the park opens, you shouldn't need two days at all.

 

[YukonMommy]

Agree with the above poster. We went last March, got there when it opened (we got the extra hour early entry for HP, it was so slow we didn't even have to get off the rollercoaster and rode it 5 times in a row before getting off! We rode the other one 2x and that was taking our time wandering through the pathways. As for the rest of the park we rode every ride, some of them twice. We sat down for meals, the older ones and their dad did the walking Dead, we went to Shrek 4D, but other than that no shows (waterworld was down). So yes I believe you can do it all in one day!

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Thanks everyone. I'll try to get us through in one day.

We won't make it for park open probably (gotta get the rental car that morning and drive up), but I'm sure we'll have enough time to do everything we want.

 

[oakleycat]

I agree that you can usually do the park in one day. The only exceptions would be if you are going at an unusually busy time or looking to ride/see everything in the park. We are passholders and in my experience most days you would be able to ride every ride in one day if you're willing to get there at opening. But when we went for my son's birthday in August, it was so packed we only went on a few rides (with FOTL passes) - all the good rides were an hour+ wait. If you're going at a slow time, you'll be fine. If you're going at a busy time and want to ride everything, they sell express passes on site as well.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

We're going on Boxing Day (26th December), so it will probably be packed. We can get discount tickets through the military link we use, but only one-day or SoCal passes. The passes would be blacked out the second day, so that's why I was thinking a single day. We're not interested in Walking Dead, but I think we'd be able to do the whole thing, including the tram, in one day if we get there by 9am and stay til close if needed.

 

[Ryan120420]

December 26th is one of the busiest times of the year for USH. Last year they hit capacity and started restricting entry into the park.


If your willing to stay in the park the ENTIRE day, yes, it is possible to do everything. Towards the last 1-2 hours of operation the rides should have minimal waits, but during the day every ride will have at least an 90+ min wait.

If possible, I strongly suggest you calling Universal and see if you can add Universal Express to your ticket.

 

[oakleycat]

Agree with Ryan, that day will be miserable and you will have to stay from open to close to hit all the rides. If you don't mind the long waits, still possible. Looks like Universal Express tickets are $269 for that day, which is their highest price (price is based on expected crowds), UE Unlimited is $30 more.

 

[oakleycat]

Also, last time I was there on an absolutely packed day, they were selling Express for $50 after 4:00 pm, so that's an option too if its still crazy by afternoon.

 

[bumbershoot]

We’ve now done two 1-day visits and still haven’t hit everything we wanted to hit (I think we’re atill missing one or two shows). We don’t rush and we love looking around and experiencing. And our second time there? We got the express pass. But the timing of the shows is just off enough that we couldn’t quite do it.

I personally would do two days because it’s fun. Neat place.

And do not discount the time it takes to get yourself parked, situated, to and through citywalk, and to security. Each of those things takes TIME. Getting to the place at 9 doesn’t mean entering the park at 9:10.

 

[bumbershoot]

Double post. Sigh.

 

[Frozen2014]

We visited Universal Hollywood back in August and did pretty much did everything with a couple rides twice. One day seems enough.
P.S. - Just noticed that you are going Dec 26th so not sure if that changes things because of crowds.

 

[sheetz]

If everyone in your group is old enough you should definitely utilize the single rider lines.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

How were the crowds yesterday? Our family is talking about going tomorrow or Friday. I haven’t been in about 30 years! Any tips based on your recent experience?

 

[Ryan120420]

How were the crowds yesterday? Our family is talking about going tomorrow or Friday. I haven’t been in about 30 years! Any tips based on your recent experience?

Extremely busy, and will remain that way until second week of January.

Here is the official in real time wait times for the park.

www.ushwaittimes.com


Shortest wait currently is 40min for the Walking Dead walk through attraction and the longest is 220mins for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

How were the crowds yesterday? Our family is talking about going tomorrow or Friday. I haven’t been in about 30 years! Any tips based on your recent experience?

Sorry, just saw this now. Crowds were big on the 26th. If you can get a Front of the Line pass, I would suggest doing so. We waited in a lot of lines for the tram, Flight of the Hippogriff, to see the Grinch, and to get a wand.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

Thanks for the responses.

We ended up going yesterday, Thursday, 12/28. The tips I have for making the most of a crowded day are pretty similar to Disneyland. We did not do the Express Line tickets because we were a group of 12 and that would have brought the total cost up to a ridiculous amount. (My kids complained several times that a Universal was price gouging and were pretty indignant that Disneyland offers a free option for Fastpasses. I was amused.)

• Buy tickets ahead of time online. This allowed us to access the early entry option into Harry Potter land an hour prior to park opening. And save time in the ticket line.
• Go early. We arrived at 6:00. Park opening was 8:00 with early entry at 7:00. We parked and we were at the gates by 6:20. We were second in line. We probably could have arrived at 6:30 and been just fine. But no later.
• Take advantage of early entry. We were some of the first in the gate. We were a group of 12 with younger and older members in the group so we didn’t move quickly. But we were still easily able to get on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey twice and Flight of the Hippogriff before 8:00.
• Decide on your priorities ahead of time. Our multi-aged group’s priorities were the shows and studio tour. Others had some strong preferences including eating at the Three Broomsticks, riding Jurassic Park and Transformers, and shopping for Harry Potter souvenirs. We did all this and more. Basically the only things we “missed” were Walking Dead and the Mummy. Despite a busy day, we could easily have fit these in at the end if we had wanted to do so (we left st 7:00 and the Park didn’t close until 10:00).
• There are three rides in the lower level: Transformers, Jurassic Park, and the Mummy. Consolidate these rides because the trip up and down the escalators takes about ten minutes. Unless you’re my 12 year old nephew who takes the stairs. He did it in about 5-6 minutes. Or so he says.
• Don’t be scared by the line at the Three Broomsticks. It moves really quickly.
• Don’t discount the shows. For any Disney lovers who appreciate details, I think most will find the shows to be one of the better parts of the visit. I was “meh” on going to the animal show and it ended up being my favorite. The rides were mediocre compared to Disney. Harry Potter was truly fantastic (though much smaller than Florida’s version due to logistics). I was surprisingly entertained by the Simpson ride.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

Those are great tips and we’ll keep them in mind for when we try again.