Are you planning a 1-Day Islands of Adventure itinerary and not sure where to start? This Islands of Adventure touring plan will help you plan your day at the Universal Orlando theme park.
Spending one day at Islands of Adventure is so much fun. We love including the water rides and intense thrill attractions into our day as well as spending time in Seuss Landing and Hogsmeade.
Islands of Adventure is one of the 4 theme parks at the Universal Orlando Resort.
I have spent many days at Islands of Adventure and I love helping families plan their day. This one day itinerary for Islands of Adventure is flexible and helps you see and do all the best of the park.
Things to do before you arrive at islands of adventure
- Be familiar with the rides and attractions that you want to experience. Make a list of priorities.
- Download the Universal Orlando app to check wait times and learn more about the park.
- Always purchase Universal tickets before you arrive at the park.
Arriving at Islands of Adventure
When you arrive at Islands of Adventure you will park in the Universal Orlando resort parking lot. This parking lot is huge and serves Universal CityWalk, Universal Studios, Volcano Bay, and Universal Islands of Adventure.
After you leave the parking lot you will go through security and bag check before entering CityWalk. Once you enter CityWalk you will walk straight through CityWalk, over the bridge and to the Islands of Adventure gates.
If you are a resort guest you will arrive by bus, boat, and some resorts are within walking distance of the park. Before arriving at Islands of Adventure all guests will go through security and bag check.
I suggest arriving to Islands of Adventure 30-40 minutes before park opening time. Being one of the first guests at the park will allow you to experience more attractions.
Guests staying on property at Universal can take advantage of early park admission that is offered at the theme parks. Learn more here.
Islands of Adventure Itinerary: Where to Start
Islands of Adventure is set-up in a large loop. If you prefer to start at one side of the loop and work your way around you will minimize the amount of walking for your day.
If you want to ride all the most popular attractions you should be prepared to do a lot of walking. We often take this approach and try to ride the most popular attractions before lunch.
This means you will walk a lot early in the day and take a more leisure approach after lunch. If you have Express Pass you do not need to do this because you can use it at any time and on any ride, with the exception of Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure(as of 3/2025).
Hagrid’s is the most popular ride at Universal and the lines usually have a 120 minute wait time. We have done this every visit by arriving at the gate during early admission and walking directly to it as soon as the park opens.
After riding Hagrid’s we head to Velocicoaster. If you have two days you can switch which attraction you ride first but if you want to ride Hagrid’s it is always best to do it first.
The other most popular attractions are the Amazing Adventure of Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and Skull Island: Reign of Kong.
The Hogwarts Express is also a popular attraction and guests use it to visit Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida. You must have a park-to-park ticket to ride this attraction. Guests can also use single rider line. Read this: Maximize Your Day with Universal Orlando Single Rider Lines
Basically for one day at Islands of Adventure you want to do most popular rides first, shows/low wait time attractions mid-day, and ride your favorites after dinner.
1-Day Islands of Adventure Touring Plan (sample)
7:30am-7:45am: Leave our resort for Islands of Adventure.
8:00am-9:00am: Park or arrive by bus. Go through security and bag check. Walk through CityWalk to Islands of Adventure gate. We usually eat breakfast at our resort before we leave or in line as we wait for park opening.
9:00am: Park Opening!! Walk straight to Hagrid’s to ride first. Then walk over to Velocicoaster.
Morning Attractions at Islands of Adventure
These are attractions you should ride first at Islands of Adventure.
- Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure
- Velocicoaster
- Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
- Flight of the Hippogriff
- The Incredible Hulk Coaster
- Spider-Man
- Cat in the Hat
- High in the Sky Trolley
Lunch: Seuss Landing
Afternoon Attractions at Islands of Adventure
- Jurassic Park River Adventure
- Skull Island: Reign of Kong
- Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls
- Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges
- Any shows we want to see.
- Meet Characters
- Any rides we missed.
By this point in the day you may want to take a mid-day break at your resort. We like to do this, especially during the summer.
One thing to note-Jurassic Park, Dudley, and Popeye are water rides that will get you soaked. It may be best to ride those in order and then head back to your hotel for a break and to dry off.
The layout of Islands of Adventure makes it difficult to back track through the park. If it is too much walking for your family I suggest starting at the land that is your biggest priority and then work around the loop from there.
As the day goes on the crowd level usually goes up. Try using the single rider line to avoid long wait times.
There is no wrong way to tour the park and you should be able to see most rides and attractions in one day.
Evening at Islands of Adventure
At dinner we usually eat at CityWalk on our way back to the park or a quick service inside the park that we didn’t do for lunch.
After dinner we ride our favorite rides, spend time exploring The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Hogsmeade, and explore the play areas in Jurassic Park and Seuss Landing.
There is a nightly projection(check app for updated times/days) on Hogwarts castle that starts at dusk and runs continuously until park close. It is really good and we always try to stop to watch during our visit.
Islands of Adventure Itinerary with Small Children
If you are traveling with small children you will want to spend more time in Seuss Landing. There is a play area called If I Ran the Zoo to explore as well as a Carrousel and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish attractions.
There is also a Jurassic Park playground that is fantastic and an indoor Jurassic theme area.
In the Toon Lagoon area there is a spray area as well as the Me Ship, The Olive to explore. This is located near the Popeye & Bluto attraction. It has climbing structures and slides.
Islands of Adventure Itinerary with Older Children
If you are traveling with older children you will want to spend more time on the thrill ride attractions like Velocicoaster, The Incredible Hulk coaster, Doctor Dooms Fear Fall, and the Harry Potter attractions.
This Islands of Adventure itinerary should help you plan an awesome one day at Islands of Adventure that is perfect for your Universal Orlando vacation.
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Leah has been planning and writing about Universal trips since 2016. She loves finding the best places to eat and stay during her visits to the park. Leah enjoys the little details that make visiting the parks so immersive and special, and sharing that with her readers.
