2 Universal Parks in One Day

Alright, I'm visiting Universal Orlando tomorrow in a small group of friends. We are doing both parks in one day and are wondering if Express Passes are going to be necessary. If they are, we will buy them for only one of the parks, so my questions basically are:

Which park would you suggest we hit first?

Will we need Express Passes?

Which park would you suggest the EP's for?

For some background, the following attractions in the Studios side are "necessary" to hit: Rockit, Transformers, Simpsons, Despicable Me, MIB, and Mummy.

For IOA: Forbidden Journey, Dragons, A few potter shops, Spider-Man, Hulk, Ripsaw, and Jurassic Park.

Thanks in advance!

That's a lot of "must do" rides for two parks in one day that are open less than 12 hours.

Crowds have been very unpredictable lately and this time of year there are a lot of spring breaks happening.

I always err on the side of getting express passes, even if it only saves you 10-15 minutes each ride, as those small pockets of time do add up.

But if it's a budget issue, then try to do your best and play it by ear. There are single rider lines on some of the attractions you listed, however others, like Despicable Me I've seen at 90+ plus during this time of year.

When I was there in October, we bypassed Despicable Me in favor Transformers (which we rode multiple times without express passes). Turned out to be a bit of a mistake, as Despicable Me had a line of no less that 75 minutes that day, so we ended up skipping it entirely. I recommend getting the Express Passes, and riding Despicable Me first thing, if it's a priority.

I could probably nix Despicable Me, Simpsons, and Men in Black if necessary. We are all college kids so it would not be much of a loss if we skipped them.

Don't nix Simpsons. As a college kid myself I actually think it's one of their best attractions. It has great theming, funny moments, nice storyline and it's actually a great simulator. For me it'll be a must do every time I go back to the park.

We went to Universal earlier this year for the first time. Besides Mummy, Simpsons ended up being my favorite ride at the Studios park (I liked it even better than Transformers which may have to do with the fact that as cool as Transformers is, I know nothing about the franchise). Don't skip it... it has some very funny moments and it's a really great ride.

Despicable Me was a lot of fun as was Shrek (which I know you didn't mention), but they're not must-rides in my opinion if you're in a rush.

PS: I'm not sure if you've ridden Ripsaw before but don't make the same mistake on this ride and think you'll just get mildly wet since it's a "log flume" style ride. You might drown on Ripsaw Falls but it's awesome and worth it.

I could probably nix Despicable Me, Simpsons, and Men in Black if necessary. We are all college kids so it would not be much of a loss if we skipped them.

Don't skip Men in Black. It's the best shooting dark ride ever.

Now Disaster . . . that you can skip.

Ended up getting on every ride I listed without express passes plus Disaster ! Crowds were wonderful last Thursday!

^Excellent. I think Disaster should be subtitled "Christopher Walken Pulls a Paycheck."