How to Do Universal Orlando in One Day

How to Do Universal Orlando in One Day

How to Do Universal Orlando in One Day

If you’re short on time in Orlando, you may be asking yourself the question: Can you do Universal Studios Orlando in one day? You can definitely do the two main parks, Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, in one day with the proper planning, but if you want to visit Universal EPIC Universe when it opens in May 2025, you’ll need extra time. During the advance ticket sales, you can only purchase multi-day tickets for 3 days or more to visit Epic Universe. This means you could spend one day at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, one day at Universal EPIC Universe, and/or one day soaking up the sun at the water park, Universal Volcano Bay. One-day and two-day tickets with entry to Universal EPIC Universe will be available closer to opening if you don’t mind waiting. But, if you only have one day to spare for Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, this article will help you figure out how to do Universal Studios in one day, focusing on what to see and do in the parks so you can create a personalized park plan and maximize your time.

We hope you find this post helpful! Our goal at The Park Prodigy has always been to help you save time and money on your next Universal Orlando vacation!  If you are planning a trip to Universal Orlando be sure to check out the latest deals on Universal Orlando vacation packages and our discounted Universal Orlando tickets which include EARLY PARK ADMISSION to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

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

Universal Orlando Crowd Calendar

Can You Do Universal Orlando in One Day?

Yes, it’s possible to visit Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure in one day if you have a park plan, take full advantage of early admission, and upgrade to the Universal Express Pass ticket. However, if you want to explore the new park, Universal EPIC Universe, when it opens in May, you’ll need more than one day. Before the park opens, you can only purchase a multi-day ticket of 3 days or more to enter EPIC Universe. Closer to the opening date, 1- and 2-day tickets, including entry to EPIC Universe, will be available. This means you can just spend a day at EPIC Universe, but a visit to Orlando isn’t complete without at least a quick stop at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, so we recommend spending at least a day at both parks. You won’t be able to do everything, but if you read on, you’ll learn how to spend one day at Universal Studios Orlando’s two main parks.

Do You Need the Universal Express Pass When Planning One Day at Universal Studios?

Yes, we do believe that the Universal Express pass ticket is crucial when trying to get on everything at Universal Orlando in one day. The only downside is they are very expensive and can be more expensive than the actual Universal admission tickets in most situations. However, one of the main reasons that they are so expensive is because they do work and will eliminate the need to spend a significant amount of time waiting on rides. On average, we have seen the express pass line save families 25-40 minutes per ride during some of the busier times of the year!

Related Post: Shop Discount Universal Early Park Admission Tickets 

Game Plans for Visiting Universal Orlando in One Day

There are so many different things to consider when planning a trip to Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure for one day. With so many rides to ride and shows to watch, you won’t be able to do it all. But, we can help you develop a tailor-made strategy that allows you to maximize your time and prioritize what you want to do.

One-Day Game Plan for Families

If you’re travelling with children, you’ll likely want to skip the roller coasters and stick to the family-friendly sections of Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. Thankfully, this will make visiting both parks in one day much easier.

You could start in either park as Universal Studios Florida has Illumination’s Minion Land and DreamWorks Land, while Islands of Adventure has Seuss Landing and Toon Lagoon. There are also plenty of rides, playgrounds, and shows outside of these sections that are child-friendly, like E.T. Adventure, Animal Actors on Location, and Camp Jurassic.

But, before going on any rides, be sure to measure your children’s height to check if they meet the minimum requirement for each ride. There’s a board at the front of the park where you can measure your children and every ride also has its own measuring pole in front of the queue’s entrance. You don’t want to waste time lining up for a ride only to find out your children can’t get on once you’re at the front.

Our best advice for visiting with children is to check the Universal Resort Mobile App for show times and plan your day around the shows you want to see. This will help you decide which park to start in and allow you to create a rough schedule for the day. Watching the different shows is also a great way for your children to take a break from walking or standing in line so they don’t become too tired when hopping between parks.

Here is a list of shows for you to consider:

• Animal Actors on Location (Animal tricks and comedy show)
• The Bourne Spectacular (Indoor stunt show)
• DreamWorks Imagination Celebration (Live stage show with characters)
• Po Live! (Interactive Kung-Fu Panda digital show)
• The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Harry Potter puppet show)
• Frog Choir (Live music accompanied by giant throaty frogs)
• Hogwarts Always (Light show)
• Oh! The Stories You’ll Hear (Dr. Seuss storytelling)

One-Day Game Plan for Harry Potter Fans

Harry Potter fans often flock to Universal Studios to see life-sized recreations of beloved settings like Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and Diagon Alley. And the good news is, when EPIC Universe opens in May, the first Ministry of Magic park will open with it. Until then, you can easily spend an entire day in the Harry Potter sections spread across Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

To do this, you’ll need a park-to-park ticket, which is the only way you can ride the Hogwarts Express. It will take you from park to park, allowing you to go back and forth as many times as you want.

You can start in either park, but we recommend starting in Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Florida. This way, you can exchange muggle money for wizarding currency at Gringotts that you can then spend on food, a wand, a uniform, or even a ‘pet’ to fully immerse yourself in the experience. Once you’ve ridden Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, listened to the Tales of Beedle the Bard, and eaten at the Leaky Cauldron, hop on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure!

Here, you can ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Flight of the Hippogriff, and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. You can also buy candy at Honeydukes, sip on hot, cold, or frozen Butterbeer, and listen to the enchanting voices of the Hogwarts Frog Choir. End your magical day in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with a light show projected on the majestic castle. Unfortunately, the show doesn’t run every night, so be sure to check the Universal Orlando Resort App for the schedule.

Related: Planning a Trip to Harry Potter World Universal Orlando

One-Day Game Plan for Thrill-Seekers

Those seeking a little adrenaline can stick to the epic roller coasters in Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure and there are plenty to choose from.

One of our favorites is Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, but it’s, unfortunately, closing in September 2025, so get on it while you can!

Here’s a list of all the roller coasters in each park to help you plan out your day:

Universal Studios Florida roller coasters

• Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (permanently closing in September 2025)
• Revenge of the Mummy
• Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
• Trolls Trollercoaster

Universal’s Islands of Adventure roller coasters

• Flight of the Hippogriff
• Incredible Hulk Coaster
• Jurassic World VelociCoaster
• Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

When EPIC Universe opens in May 2025, you’ll have to dedicate a whole separate day to conquering these roller coasters:

• Stardust Racers
• Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
• Donkey Kong Mine Cart Madness
• Curse of the Werewolf

These are some of the most popular rides in the park, so to save time, you might want to consider using the single-rider line. This allows you to fill in any empty spaces in the ride vehicle, but you will be split up from your party. If you don’t mind conquering the roller coasters on your own, the single-rider line can often cut your wait time in half, especially on rides with four seats, like The Incredible Hulk Coaster and Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts.

Getting a Universal Express Pass can also help you save time and allow you to get on all the coasters you want. It’s a bit pricy, but we offer great discounts that can help you spend more time on the rides rather than in the queues.

How to Do Universal Orlando in One Day

Take advantage of early park admission

Here at The Park Prodigy, we are huge fans of early park admission (EPA). Early park admission can make a world of difference if you’re trying to build a Universal Studios 1 day plan. From our experience, it’s one of the quickest ways to get on popular rides like Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure or Harry Potter Escape from Gringotts. Your Park Prodigy multi-day ticket or vacation package will let you enter either Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade Village one hour before the park opens. If you happen to have EPA on an Islands of Adventure day, you can enter Hogsmeade Village and potentially ride two to three of the main attractions before regular guests even get let into the parks.

Always use the Universal Express Pass

The Universal Express pass allows you to skip the line of certain attractions either once or an unlimited amount of times, depending on the pass. As we all know, the largest time drain for any theme park vacation is the wait in line. Therefore, the Express Pass could be a game changer for those wanting to do Universal Studios Orlando in one day.

Pick one of the slowest days to visit

We also find that picking the slowest time of year or days of the week to visit Universal Orlando can help you get a lot more done in just one day. As a general rule of thumb we do find September, January, February, and the end of August to be the slowest months and Tuesday and Thursday to be the best days based on our Universal crowd calendar. Guests will want to try to avoid holidays and spring break!

Make a must-do attraction list and gameplan

One of the most important things you can do when thinking of your one day at the parks is to plan what to do! There are many different attractions at both Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. If you’re an adrenaline seeker, you might want to make sure you get on rides like Velocicoaster, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, and Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure. If you’re more of a dark ride lover, check out The Cat in the Hat, E.T. Adventure, or Forbidden Journey at Hogwarts Castle. If you’re not sure where to start, just be sure to speak with a Park Prodigy vacation planner, as any family who booked their vacation package through us will receive free park plans!

Take advantage of single-rider lines

This is one of our favorite tips for guests who do not upgrade to the Universal Express Pass. If you don’t mind having your party split up, the single-riderlines at Universal Orlando can be your best tool for experiencing attractions. This line is specifically made to fill every single ride vehicle. That means parties in the stand-by line that have odd numbers will have an empty seat in their car. A single rider is used to fill that empty seat.

Always purchase your park tickets in advance

If you’re trying to do Universal Studios in one day, we highly recommend purchasing your tickets in advance. When purchasing your Universal Orlando tickets through the Park Prodigy, you can skip the ticketing line and go straight to Will-Call kiosks. This takes less than 5 minutes, and as long as you have the credit card you used to purchase your ticket, you don’t even have to talk to anyone! Not only will you save time, but you will save money, as well.

Don’t have lunch at Citywalk

We always suggest grabbing a quick service lunch; however, more specifically, don’t eat at Universal CityWalk during the middle of the day. There’s no doubt that Universal CityWalk is located perfectly between Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for easy access. However, we do feel like it simply takes way too long to leave the parks and then enter back numerous times when you are trying to get everything done at Universal in one day. Quick service is the way to go when trying to visit Universal Orlando in one day. We know Universal CityWalk has some amazing restaurants, so we always suggest trying to plan a reservation for after your day in the parks later at night if possible!

Use mobile ordering

Universal Orlando Resort is known for its quick-service restaurants, which take a long time to prepare food. It is probably one of our biggest complaints about both theme parks. Waiting in line for quick service meals eats up a huge portion of the day and can cost you an attraction or two if you don’t plan well. Pack small snacks and be prepared to eat super early or super late. Guests can also take advantage of mobile ordering on the Universal Orlando App. This can be a huge time saver when visiting Universal in just one day! 

Stay at an official Universal Orlando hotel

Universal Orlando Resort has 8 hotels to choose from if you’re considering staying on the property. We highly recommend it for families only visiting for one day as the only way to get early park admission for a one-day ticket is by staying at an official Universal Orlando hotels. We also love the convenience of walking, taking a bus or a boat from your resort to the parks. And guests who stay at a Universal Orlando premier resort, will also receive free Universal Express Unlimited Passes. The Express Unlimited passes start at $109 per person, so that’s over $400 of savings if you were debating buying one anyway.

Use the Universal Orlando Resort App

When visiting, the Universal Orlando Resort app has all there is to know about the theme parks. You can view wait times, reserve Virtual Queue spots, and even order your food. This tool can come in handy when you’re looking for the lowest waits or next showtimes. Just know that if you’re having a long day inside of the park, you might need a portable charger to keep your phone charged throughout the day.

Related Post: Which Harry Potter Park is Better? 

Is One Day at Universal Worth it?

We believe that one day at Universal Orlando will be worth it for a lot of families! This is especially true if you are visiting Universal Orlando specifically to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and experiencing all of the Universal Orlando roller coasters or the Jurassic Park rides. From our experience helping our clients, even if you are trying to get absolutely everything at Universal Orlando done within one day, as long as you have a park plan going into your day, you will absolutely get your money’s worth! However, once EPIC Universe is open in May, one day won’t be enough to conquer all three parks.

Related Post: Complete Guide to Universal Orlando Harry Potter Rides

Visiting Universal Orlando in One Day FAQ

Can You Do Universal Harry Potter in a Day?

Yes, you can do everything Harry Potter within one day at Universal Orlando. It is important to note that you will need the park-to-park ticket to do this. One of the main benefits of purchasing the park-to-park ticket would be that you will also be able to ride the Hogwarts Express. One tip we have when trying to see everything Harry Potter at Universal in one day would be to make sure that you ride the Hogwarts Express back and forth as it will be a different experience both ways.

What to do when visiting Harry Potter in one day?

• Always use Early Park Admission
• Decide if you will be buying an interactive wand before you go
• Take pictures early in the morning before the park gets crowded
• Make sure you ride the Hogwarts Express both ways

Can you do Islands of Adventure in one day?

Yes, you can see and do everything at Islands of Adventure in one day. Ideally, we recommend giving each Universal Orlando park its own day as this will allow you to relax as you go through your day. And as we have been mentioning it is extremely important to take advantage of early park admission at Islands of Adventure when available.

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.

Ready to Plan Your Next Universal Orlando Trip?

Beat the crowds with our discount Universal Orlando tickets! All guests who purchase their tickets from The Park Prodigy will get EARLY PARK ADMISSION to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter absolutely FREE! This could save you a ton of time in the parks and avoid buying express passes!