Universal Studios Advice
 

We have a family of two adults and one nine year old looking to go to Universal for one day. They are only interested in Islands of Adventure. We are looking for any advice, tips, or tricks you might have.

Thanks!

Read some recent reviews to learn what the wait times might be. The opening of Epic Universe may be attracting the crowds to that park and leaving a more pleasant experience at Islands.

If the wait times are still long, consider the Express Pass. It will be a bit expensive but if you will only be going once then it might be worth the price to be able to avoid some long lines.

We were surprised at how wet we got on the flume and barge rides. We normally go to Disney and get splashed on some of those rides but the Universal is different! On those two rides we got soaked! Not bad if you are expecting it, especially on a hot day, but was a surprise for us.

Several good/fun restaurants at CityWalk just outside the park. Theme-park expensive, but we like them.

Went there last year. Ten hours and only had time for six "adventures."
So yes, I won't go again without Express.

Only ride I remember from several decades ago that I wanted to repeat: Twilight Zone.
At 9 in the morning the wait was 2 hours. Nope.
At 10 in the morning the wait was almost 3. ferget it

Download a map from universalorlando.com and decide what rides you want to do in each of the sections in the park. It's been a while since I last had an annual pass there, so my reviews below may be dated. Going clockwise from the entrance:

Marvel Super Hero Island

The Incredible Hulk Coaster This is a fast, tough coaster that really throws your head about towards the end. I always come off from it with my ears sore from being slammed side-to-side against the restraints. Still, it's a fun, exciting ride.
Storm Force Accelatron This is a "spinning cup" ride, kind of aimed at kids. Some folks can't handle rides like this as they get too dizzy. I never bothered with it as it looked boring.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man This is a "4D" ride or what my wife and I call a "shake & bake" ride. You ride around in a cart that tosses you about a bit while seeing scenes in 3D on various screens. This ride is one of the earliest of its kind and is still pretty fun.
Doctor Doom's Fearfall You ride up a tall pole and then are dropped. Repeat once or twice. If you hate having your heart in your throat, this isn't for you. I think it's kind of fun.
Toon Lagoon
Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges You ride around in a circular floating boat and get drenched. I don't like getting wet, then walking around all day in a theme park. Your feelings may be different.
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls A water plume ride (think "basic roller coaster only on water instead of wheels"). See above.
Skull Island: Reign of Kong
Skull Island: Reign of Kong A "shake and bake" ride in a bus touring King Kong's Skull Island. I read that they stopped doing it in 3D as not everyone likes wearing the dorky glasses. I think they do a good job on this, the only ride in this section.
Jurassic Park
Pteranodon Flyers This slow aerial ride is for kids only as you have to be under 4 1/2 feet tall to ride. For adults, it's boring even to watch.
Jurassic Park River Adventure A combination river raft/water plume ride. Count on getting wet.
Jurassic World VelociCoaster A new coaster since I've been there but I hear it's pretty good.
The Wizardiing World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade
Warning: Your kids WILL want a vastly overpriced Butterbeer (a caramel-flavored soda with a fake head added to it) and/or Pumpkin Juice (apple juice with some spices in a bottle with a small plastic pumpkin hiding the cap).
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey The original Harry Potter ride here and it was showing it's age when we last took it. I heard they were closing it to re-do it but don't know for sure. A "shake & bake" ride for Harry Potter fans. If it's open, do it. Also, note the "living paintings" towards the end of the wait line. They are surprisingly well done.
Flight of the Hippogriff A kid-friendly coaster that isn't that exciting for hard-core coaster fans like me.
Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure A completely awesome roller coaster with some very surprising moves. Try to ride on the bike side, not the cart side if you can. Lines get VERY long for this one but it is SO good.
Hogwarts Express – Hogsmeade Station A train ride with TV sets instead of windows that fool you into thinking you are riding from Hogsmeade to London. Only available if you have a two-park pass as it takes you over to the other main theme park there.
Ollivanders Not a ride but an "experience" as in "experience watching somebody else's kid choose a wand/have the wand choose him or her and get whisked off to the back room where the parents get to buy him or her that wand. And matching gown. And maybe a necktie. And whatever else.
The Lost Continent
They used to have a weird live action show here but that has closed. There are no real rides here but the Mythos restaurant has probably the best food inside the park. The Moe's Southwest Grill has probably the cheapest (but still decent) just outside the theme parks and in that "downtown" area closer to the parking structures.
Seuss Landing
Every ride here is super kid-friendly (and I'm talking young kids here). The only one we ever bothered actually doing was The Cat in the Hat, which is riding a cart through some mildly animated, ultraviolet-lit gewgaws on the wall. Boring, but the air conditioning was nice for hot days and the lines are usually minimal.

That's pretty much it for the park, based on the map currently available on the website. Depending on wait times, you will probably NOT be able to do all of them in a single day.

Go to Orlando Crowd Calendar and select "Crowd Calendar" and "Universal Orlando Resort" to see which days are projected to be the least busy (1-3), average busy (4-6) or most busy (7-10). Right now, every day in June and July are at least 7 though weekdays are generally a little less busy than weekends (true of any theme park, I imagine).

I imagine Universal has an app that shows you wait times. Download it and look at it BEFORE you go to get an idea of what lines get long and what lines get INSANELY long. If there's a really, really popular ride you really, really want to do, go to the park well before it opens, get through security and the shopping area out front to the entrance to the park itself and get in line. When they open, walk QUICKLY (running is frowned on) to get in line for that ride. For me, it's the Hagrid's coaster. Your mileage may vary.

As others point out, in addition to the absurdly high entrance fees, you CAN pay a bunch extra to be able to bypass the normal lines and get into shorter lines (and have everyone in the normal lines look at you with scorn). I am just too cheap to do that.

Enjoy!