Best time to arrive at universal studios

February 18, 2022

Early Park Admission is a perk available to Universal hotel guests (and certain other guests) that gets them access to a limited selection of rides at at least one of Universal Orlando’s parks—Universal Studios Florida or Universal’s Islands of Adventure—every day. In this post, we discuss who gets access to Early Park Admission, what is included in the extra hour, and how it can impact your day whether you have it or not.

Early Park Admission is usually available daily at Volcano Bay, most days at Universal Studios Florida, and limited days at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, presumably because that park has the resort’s two newest rides—Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster.

This post will not cover Early Park Admission at Volcano Bay, the water park at Universal Orlando Resort.

What time is Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando?

The most common schedule for Early Park Admission is for it to be a single hour from 8AM to 9AM, with the park opening to other guests at 9AM.

When the parks open earlier in peak seasons, Early Park Admission will be earlier (e.g. 7AM to 8AM for an 8AM regular open). I’ve never seen multi-hour Early Park Admissions.

Who gets Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando?

The majority of the guests of Early Park Admission are the guests of Universal Orlando’s hotels. These eight hotels are: Endless Summer — Surfside Inn, Endless Summer — Dockside Inn, Aventura, Cabana Bay, Loews Sapphire Falls, Loews Royal Pacific, Hard Rock Hotel, and Loews Portofino Bay.

The next biggest group are higher-level passholders. Premier Passholders (the highest tier) get Early Park Admission daily, but not always at Volcano Bay. Preferred passholders also get Early Park Admission select days.

Finally, most tickets bought through a travel agent or advisor include Early Admission. You should confirm at the time of purchase that this is the case.

Universal occasionally offers Early Park Admission to other groups. For example, during some “Passholder Appreciation” days, lower-tier passholder also have Early Park Admission.

How Do I Use Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando?

The gates to the park will open an hour or more early for all guests at the park that has Early Admission. However, within the park there will be checkpoints before any open rides that allow only guests with Early Admission to pass. Once you’re through this checkpoint, you’ll be able to ride the included rides.

What rides are included in Early Park Admission?

These lists are always subject to change, we so recommend you confirm on the official website.

At Universal Studios Florida, the available rides are typically Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. We’ve also seen Ollivander’s wand experience open early, and it’s not uncommon for other rides so start running 15-30 minutes before the park technically opens to other guests.

At Universal’s Islands of Adventure, the available rides are typically a selection from (upcoming dates here):

• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

• Flight of the Hippogriff

• VelociCoaster

Ollivander’s wand experience is also sometimes open. Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure has been included some dates.

At Volcano Bay, check the website for the latest, but a typical list is: Kala & Tai Nui Serpentine Body Slides, Ohyah of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides, Ohno of Ohyah & Ohno Drop Slides, Honu of the Honu Ika Moana, ika Moana of the Honu ika Moana, Krakatau Aqua Coaster, and Ko’okiri Body Plunge.

Park Strategy With Early Park Admission

In this section we’re going to talk about how having Early Park Admission impacts your strategy. In the next section, we’ll talk about working around Early Park Admission if you don’t have it.

Early Park Admission at Universal Studios Florida

At Universal Studios Florida, Early Park Admission includes two rides—Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem. Ollivander’s wand experience is also sometimes open, but won’t impact our strategy.

Here’s an example timeline, with commentary following (times are for an 8AM to 9AM early hour—always check the schedule because times cary):

• 7:38AM Arrive at Universal Studios Florida

• 7:50AM Gates Open

• 7:57AM Enter Gringotts Queue

• 8AM Gringotts Begins Operations

• 8:14AM Exit Gringotts

• 8:22AM Enter Despicable Me Queue (posted 5 minute wait)

• 8:48AM Exit Despicable Me

• 8:50AM Enter Rip Ride Rockit Queue

As you can see, arriving 30 minutes before the start of Early Park Admission should be fine.

On days with a 7AM start to Early Park Admission, even 6:45AM should have you in a good position. You’ll need your park admission ticket and your hotel key (or whatever entitles you to Early Park Admission).

Your general goal for Early Park Admission is to visit both Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, finishing right around park opening and starting the regular day with Rip Ride Rockit.

If Rip Ride Rockit is opening late, TRANSFORMERS and Revenge of the Mummy are also fine places to continue your day. If any rides are running early, it’s also a good idea to hop on those, particularly if you can get on the 15 minutes or more before the park opens to other guests.

Here’s a look at the walk to Gringotts during Early Park Admission. Wide walkways and numerous routes allow you to easily pass people en route to the ride:

Most days, there should be little difficulty finishing both rides, but if you’re at all concerned, there are a few reasons to start with Despicable Me and consider saving Gringotts for the afternoon.

First, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem generally has longer waits that Escape from Gringotts. It can be close, but even on days when Escape from Gingrotts has longer waits…

Escape from Gringotts is a much better ride to wait in line for midday. Even though it’s only the last 20 to 30 minutes of the queue that is fully inside, that section of the queue is a fantastic treat.

What’s more, if you walk over to Escape from Gringotts midday and see it has a wait that’s way too long for you—just spend an hour in Diagon Alley (which you need to anyways) hoping for a drop in wait time during your visit.

Finally, Despicable Me has lengthy pre-shows that can mess up your morning if you try and squeeze it into your Early Park Admission too late. For example, when I visited and got in line at 8:22AM (posted 5 minute wait), I wasn’t off the attraction until 8:48AM.

If things do go wrong in your morning, you’ll likely still want to go to Rip Ride Rockit first and push Transformers or Revenge of the Mummy into the afternoon.

Hagrid’s and Early Park Admission at Universal Studios Florida

People often use Early Park Admission at Universal Studios Florida to try and get a leg up on the folks over at Islands of Adventure. (Note: This obviously isn’t helpful at all if Hagrid’s is operating for Early or regular guests before you can get to the other park.)

The strategy here is to ride the Hogwarts Express right at its open, then hopping in the Hagrid’s queue once you’re in Hogsmeade. As estimated in part 6 of my August 2019 Universal Orlando trip report, the first train of guests will be on Hagrid’s at about one hour after Island’s of Adventure opens.

I don’t like this strategy because I think it puts a lot of risk on the Hogwarts Express starting on time and efficiently, and once you’re in Hogsmeade your wait rests on the whims of the Team Members deciding to let you into the Hagrid’s line. That said, I’m envious of anyone who cleanly executes this trick.

Early Park Admission at Islands of Adventure

The key question for Early Park Admission at Islands of Adventure is whether or not Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure is operating during the early time. You can see the upcoming list here.

If Hagrid’s is included, then you’ll want to start there. The strategy here is simple enough—arrive early, start with Hagrid’s, continue with Velocicoaster and then Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Here’s an example from a morning with relatively light crowds:

• 7:20AM — Arrive

• 7:50AM — Gates Open

• 8AM — Hagrid’s

• 8:15AM — VelociCoaster

If Hagrid’s isn’t included in Early Admission, you’ll want to do a few rides before getting in line for Hagrid’s, which will open with regular park hours. A good goal is to get on VelociCoaster and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, but on busier days you might have to save the latter for later.

The standard protocol is for guests who wish to line up early for Hagrid’s to do so in the neighboring Lost Continent land, near the Mystic Fountain. Follow the “Attraction Entrance” signage in the park to find the exact holding area, or at a Team Member.

Here’s an example of Early Admission without Hagrid’s on a light crowd day:

• 7:42AM - Arrive

• 7:45AM - Guests Enter Park

• 8AM - Start of Early Admission

• 8:06 - VelociCoaster

• 8:25 - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

• 8:32 - Queued for Hagrid’s

• 9AM - Hagrid’s

After Early Admission, we recommend simply continuing counter-clockwise around the park with Skull Island Reign of Kong, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, and then Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall, before heading back the other direction for the three water rides.

As for recommended arrival times, here are some quick tips (but remember, earlier is always better!):

• Arrive 15-30 minutes early if you’re planning to ride rides other than Hagrid’s or Hagrid’s isn’t included

• Arrive 30-45 minutes early if you’re planning to start with Hargid’s

If early admission is at 7AM, arrive no earlier than 6:30AM. On busier days, you might want to add 15 minutes to the above windows.

Park Strategy Without Early Park Admission

In this section we quickly discuss how to cope with not having Early Park Admission at a park. If possible, you want to avoid a park with Early Park Admission if you don’t have it, but that won’t always be an option.

Working Around Universal Studios Florida Early Park Admission

There are three quick tips for handling a morning when you’re working around early guests at Universal Studios Florida.

First, ignore Escape from Gringotts until the afternoon. Between early guests and guests who have to start there, the waits for Gringotts are worth skipping until the afternoon. Crowds will level out then and you can spend some time in the gorgeous indoor queue.

Second, probably ignore Despicable Me. If the Despicable Me wait is five minutes when the park opens to all guests, then it probably won’t get too long midday and it’s worth waiting until then.

If it’s a day when the wait is going to sit at 90 minutes all afternoon, then it will already be 30 to 45 by the time the park opens. With the lengthy total experience time, it rarely will make sense to start there.

Third, start with Rip Ride Rockit. Rip Ride Rockit is a short, outdoor experience that carries decent waits midday. It’s the prototypical ride to get out of the way to start your day, if possible.

Working Around Islands of Adventure Early Park Admission

There are several options for Islands of Adventure on days when it has Early Admission but you don’t. The best option is going to depend on crowd levels and personal preference.

The way to avoid crowds is to just start with Incredible Hulk Coaster, then Spider-Man, Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall, and so on in that direction. The problem with this is it leaves VelociCoaster, Hagrid’s, and Forbidden Journey for later in the day.

If Hagrid’s is included in Early Admission it’s probably a bad place to start because it’ll have a substantial wait by the time the park opens to you.

If Hagrid’s isn’t included in Early Admission you’ll still have guests with Early Admission lining up early for it, but it can still make sense for you to get in line behind them once the park opens to you. After that ride you’ll head to Skull Island Reign of Kong, hitting the major rides in that direction.

Finally, if VelociCoaster has a short wait, you can also start there even with the Early Admission crowds ahead of you before heading in the direction of Skull Island Reign of Kong.