How Many Days For Universal Orlando in 2025?

How Many Days For Universal Orlando in 2025?

How Many Days For Universal Orlando in 2025?

In this article, we will break down exactly how many days for Universal Orlando in 2025! Based on the last 12 months’ worth of wait time data, we recommend 2-days for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, and 3-days if you plan to spend a day at each park, including Volcano Bay or the new park EPIC Universe, which opens on May 22nd, 2025. Lastly, we would recommend 4-5 days if you plan to visit all four parks, relax, and spend time at your hotel as well.

SPECIAL NOTE: If you need help picking the best time to visit Universal Orlando for your next vacation, check out our Universal Crowd calendar!

 Universal Orlando Crowd Calendar

How Many Days Do You Need at Universal Studios Orlando in 2025?

From our experience visiting the parks and based on the past 12 months’ worth of wait time data we would recommend 2-days for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, even with the upgraded park-to-park ticket, and 3-days if you plan to spend a day at each park, including Volcano Bay or the new park EPIC Universe, which opens on May 22nd, 2025.

The reason that we suggested one day at each park is the wait times over the past 12 months have been around 29 minutes on average. Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida have a combined total of 32 rides, which means it would take almost 16 hours to see and do everything. This does not include breaks for food or to relax. So we believe that giving each park its own day allows for a much more enjoyable experience. And, of course, as you’ll see below, guests could speed up the process by upgrading their ticket to the Universal Orlando Express Pass and taking advantage of early park admission!

Important information when deciding how many days to spend at Universal Orlando

• As of May 22nd, 2025, Universal Orlando will be comprised of four parks: Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe, and Volcano Bay.
• Guests can purchase 1-5 day tickets, which range from base tickets with access to one park per day to park-to-park tickets.
• Universal will be selling multi-day tickets, which only include one day to Epic Universe to start
• Park-to-park tickets allow admission to multiple parks on the same day except for Epic Universe and is needed to ride the Hogwarts Express

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How many days for Universal Orlando short trips:

• Just Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure: 2-days  (One day for each park)
• Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay: 3-days (One day for each park)
• Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe: 3-days (One day for each park)
• How many days just to see the thrill rides: 2-days with the Universal Park-to-Park ticket  (Epic Universe will need the three day ticket!)
• How many days when visiting with the Universal Express Pass: 2-days without Epic Universe 

How many days for Universal Orlando longer trips:

• Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay and Epic Universe: 4-5 Days (One day in EACH of the four parks plus one rest)
• Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe, and Halloween Horror Nights: 4-5 Days
• How many days for the ideal Universal Orlando vacation: 6-days – Enough time for each of the parks a few times, a resort day, and plenty of time to explore! 

Breaking it Down By Day

One day at Universal Orlando Resort

Most Popular Parks to visit: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Ticket type: 1-day 2-park park-to-park ticket

Expected hours in the park to see everything: 16 Hours

The most common one-day itinerary at Universal Orlando resort would include visiting both Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure on the same day with the park-to-park ticket. This isn’t ideal, as we have found that one day may not be nearly enough time to experience everything Universal Orlando has to offer. We almost always suggest upgrading and taking advantage of the Universal Express Pass. For guests looking for a more laid-back experience, your one-day itinerary could be one full day at Universal Studios Florida or one full day at Islands of Adventure, or one day at Volcano Bay. However, it’s important to note that guests without park-to-park tickets can only visit one land of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and cannot ride the Hogwarts Express within one day. We are still waiting to hear more information on if Universal plans to sell 1-day tickets for Epic Universe, which might change these options as well.

Two days at Universal Orlando Resort

Most Popular Parks to visit: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Popular ticket types:

2-day 2-park base tickets

2-day 2-park park-to-park ticket

2-day 3-park park-to-park

Expected hours in the park each day to see everything: 8-10 Hours

The most common two-day Universal Orlando Resort itinerary includes one day at each of the main two parks, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. With this option, guests can do what we almost always suggest for families visiting Universal, which is having one full day in each theme park. With this strategy, you will have to forgo Volcano Bay and Epic Universe, but we believe two days can be enough for those looking to stick to the main two original theme parks. Giving yourself two days can also be a great way to avoid having to upgrade to the Universal Express pass or taking full advantage of the free 2-park express passes, which are included with some Universal hotels.

If you’re only looking for one of the theme parks, you could pick between either Universal Studios Florida or Islands of Adventure and then pick Volcano Bay for your second day. Volcano Bay typically closes early enough that if you want to head to CityWalk for dinner! Or you can upgrade to a park-to-park-to-ticket and experience all three of the original Universal Orlando parks within two days.

One of the most important tips we can give when trying to visit Universal within two days is to take advantage of Early Park Admission in the morning which is included with our multi-day tickets. This will allow you into one of the Universal Orlando theme parks an hour early to ride some of the most popular attractions within the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This will save you a ton of time later in the day and allow you to revisit any of your favorite attractions more than once.

Three days at Universal Orlando Resort

Most Popular Parks to visit: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe and Volcano Bay

Popular ticket types:

2-Day 2-Park park-to-park plus one day at Epic Universe

3-day 2-park base tickets

3-day 2-park park-to-park ticket

3-day 3-park Base tickets

Expected hours in the park each day to see everything: 8-10 Hours

In our opinion, three days will be the most popular amount of time to spend at Universal Orlando Resort in 2025, with the opening of Epic Universe on May 22nd. The reason is Universal is not selling 1-day Epic Universe tickets at this time, so the starting ticket is for 3 days or more. However, this will allow families to take advantage of one day at each of the main Universal Orlando parks, including Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe. Of course families can also always upgrade to the park-to-park ticket to take advantage of Volcano Bay as well.

Four days at Universal Orlando Resort

Most Popular Parks to visit: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe and Volcano Bay

Popular ticket types:

3-Day 2-Park park-to-park plus one day at Epic Universe

3-Day 3-Park park-to-park plus one day at Epic Universe

4-day 2-park base tickets

4-day 2-park park-to-park ticket

4-day 3-park Base tickets

Expected hours in the park each day to see everything: 8-10 Hours

We find four or five days to be the perfect amount of time for families visiting Universal Orlando who would like to visit all four theme parks (Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, Epic Universe, and Volcano Bay!) with some time to rest in between back at their hotel. Families who want a more laid-back Universal vacation can skip Volcano Bay and take an entire day break between the parks back at their hotel.

Five+ days at Universal Orlando Resort

In our opinion, 5 to 6 days is ideal for those visiting Universal Orlando in 2025. In prior years, Universal worked better with 3-4 days, but with the addition of Epic Universe families will need much more time to do all three parks, the one water park and have time to relax. Don’t forget the certain Signature hotels have free Express Pass for all guests registered to the room if you’re wanting to splurge on a more expensive hotel to relax at.

We also see this to be a very popular option for families who plan their vacation to Universal during Halloween Horror nights, as many guests enjoy visiting that event at least two nights during their trip as well.

Related Page: How to Plan a Disney World and Universal Orlando Split Stay

Tips and Tricks for Figuring Out Number of Days Your Family Needs at Universal Orlando

• Be familiar with all of the Universal Orlando rides, and come up with a list of all of your must-do rides and attractions. You will see that the number of days you need to spend at Universal will be different if you’re only trying to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter compared to trying to get onto every single ride.
• Be sure to always take advantage of Early Park Admission when possible! Luckily, our Discounted Universal Orlando Multi Day Tickets or Universal hotel stays include early park admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
• If you have older kids or teens in your group, you might be able to achieve more in a shorter amount of time with the Universal Orlando park-to-park ticket.
• The Universal Express Pass will significantly reduce the amount of time you wait in lines, and we find the Universal Express Pass to be worth it for families only visiting Universal Orlando for one day or for those who get it for FREE by staying at one of the Universal Orlando Premier resorts.
• Always keep an eye out for deals, as Universal Orlando will run theme park ticket deals throughout the year with an additional day or two in the parks for FREE. Be sure to ask us if there are specials when purchasing your Universal Orlando tickets. This will allow extra time in the parks and might impact how many days your family decides to stay at Universal Orlando.  
• Don’t forget about Universal Citywalk and factoring in time for wait times if you end up going during the busy season!

Relates Page: Universal Orlando Early Park Admission Tickets

How Many Days for Universal Orlando FAQ

Q: Is two days enough to visit Universal Orlando?

A: A very popular question we receive is, is two days enough to visit Universal Orlando? And we would say yes, as long as you only plan to visit Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Sticking with this guide’s main focus, we find it best to spend one day at each Universal Orlando park.

Q: Are four days at Universal too much?

A: As discussed above, we don’t believe spending four days at Universal Orlando is too much, especially if you are trying to get onto every single one of the Universal Orlando rides or you would like a day to spend relaxing at your hotel. The main reason is we typically recommend spending at least one day at each Universal Orlando park, including Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay. It’s also easy to spread those four days out as you have an eight-day window, and you don’t need a reservation for Universal Orlando.  So, as you can see, four days is the perfect amount of time to visit Universal Orlando without feeling overwhelmed or rushed.

Q: How many days should I spend at Universal Orlando with a park-to-park pass?

A: As a general rule of thumb, three days is ideal when exploring all of the Universal Orlando theme parks with the park-to-park pass. The main reason is we find that it allows guests who are only visiting the two main theme parks to visit their favorite rides and attractions twice. We also find that it allows guests who are visiting all three of the Universal Orlando theme parks to spend time at Islands of Adventure or Universal Studios Florida after Volcano Bay closes.

Q:How many days should I visit for Halloween Horror Nights?

A: For Halloween Horror Nights, guests should plan on staying 5 days if you’re wanting to do theme parks. HHN itself can take up one day because you’ll be getting into the theme parks later for the event and most likely sleeping in if you stay the whole time until 1 am. If you do 5 days, you can do all of the theme parks and have some resting time around Halloween Horror Nights.

If you’re looking to do Universal’s Volcano Bay and Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe, you might want to splurge for 6 days to make sure you don’t overdo it and have a stress-free time!

When Is The Best Time To Visit Universal Orlando?

Our Universal Orlando Crowd Calendar is the best tool to help you get the most out of your time in the parks. We break down the park crowds, park hours of operation, ticket prices by day, and average temperature.

Are You Ready to Plan Your Next Universal Orlando Trip?

If you are planning a trip to Universal Orlando, be sure to check out our discounted multi-day Universal Orlando tickets and Universal Orlando vacation package deals, which include EARLY PARK ADMISSION to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

And to stay up to date on everything going on inside the theme parks, be sure to check out our partners at Themeparktoday.com!