By: Jen Schiller, a Marvelous Mouse Travels agent
I was recently able to visit Universal Orlando for the first time. I consider myself somewhat of a pro at planning trips to other theme parks so I felt a little less prepared this time but one thing that I did know was that I wanted their park-to-park tickets.
As a super fan of Harry Potter, I knew that I had to be able to go from Hogsmeade (Islands of Adventure) to Diagon Alley (Universal Studios) via the Hogwarts Express. The only way to ride Hogwarts Express is to have a park to park ticket. Each of the areas are amazing on their own but to get the full effect, you really have to experience them both. I don’t see how you could choose just one of them. Do you skip Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure? Do you skip Escape from Gringotts? Do you miss out on riding The Hogwarts Express? As a first timer, I simply didn’t know what to choose nor did I want to.
We were staying at Universals Cabana Bay Beach Resort so we started our day with Early Park Admission to Universal Studios. We were able to ride Gringotts several times and line up for Hogwarts Express to get to Islands of Adventure right when it opened. We took that time to hop on Hagrid's, grab some butter beer and eat some amazing fish and chips at the Leaky Cauldron.
Since we kept a close eye on ride items via the Universal app, we were able to hit the rides when the wait times were short even if it meant crossing over to the neighboring park. At one point we left Islands of Adventure, walked out to City Walk for a quick bite to eat, checked the app and decided to go back into Universal Studios.
Having the park to park tickets allowed us to go in and out of each park as many times as we wanted and since they are so close together, we didn’t lose a lot of time by going back and forth.
Yes, each park alone is amazing and has plenty to keep you busy for a full day so if that’s your only option, by all means do it. However, if you have the choice, do yourself a favor and get the park to park ticket so that you can get the full effect.
Please reach out to Jen, an agent with Marvelous Mouse Travels to plan your next vacation or you may contact Marvelous Mouse Travels.
