Universal Studios / Island Of Adventure

[RESEARCH]

We are on the DISNEY DREAM MAKER ( STAY 7 NITES / PAY FOR 5)
PACKAGE the 1st week of Nov 2004 but will have to visit UNIVERSAL / ISLAND OF ADVENTURE with sister-in-laws family.
Can we squeeze both parks in one day or should we take time to
see both. Also, what & were are the best discount ticket options?
THANKS.

[hockey mom]

To squeeze both parks into one day makes for an exhausting day-I know because we have tried it. We buy our tickets at CAA(AAA). and get 3 days for $120

[KLAIT]

Our primary reason for heading to Florida is always Disney, but we always make a point of a couple of days at Universal/IOA.

Not sure how many people or what ages your family is, but my advice would be to not sell Universal short. There is so much to do and see and while it is a lot different than Disney, it is just as much fun.

There is a special on www.Universalorlando.com.....you gat a 5 day ticket for about $96.00....granted, you won't use all 5 days, but it is still cheap for the 2 days.

[macraven]

same here.
we always do disney for about 8 days then move to an on site hotel at universal.
since we discovered hhn at universal we make our trip to include the october hhn.

this works out well, disney end of sept/early oct, hit the mnsshp and food and wine festival, and might i add decent weather, then change hotels do universal and enjoy the halloween horror nights......

i wouldn't think of not doing both hotels. some years we stay a week at universal and a week at disney. always do disney first though.

[poohkinandpiglet]

Depending on the ages in your group, IOA/US takes at least 2 days. To me, three days is perfect because you can go back and do your favorites again.

I was so pumped up for Disney that I wasn't looking forward to the US/IOA portion of our vacation. I was WRONG! IOA is now my favorite "thrill-ride" park. We didn't get to do as much as we wanted at US because we had young kids with us and we had to go home early because of Hurricane Charley.

DH and I will be going back (without the kids) soon to enjoy all of US, including Citiwalk.

[macraven]

i totally agree............universal/ioa is kewl.........we just love it there.

for the last four visits, we have stayed on site using the entertainment card discount. we don't have to rush and get up at 7 now.......leave the hotel around 8:45 and use the fotl key.......we are so spoiled.

we used to stay off site and get to the park early to catch all the rides and shows. we would need three days to see it all. now by staying on site, its at a slower pace and more relaxing. always did commando style touring when we stayed off site..........

adoring us/ioa more and more each trip.::yes::

[buzz2400]

definitely two days and get there as soon as park opens. lines tend to get very, very long there and the express passes aren't as good as fast pass at wdw. the express passes run out in very early afternoon and in the morning when you get one it might be for a few hours later. also if you plan on seeing the shrek attraction that should be your first thing to do at universal. there is no fast pass and the lines get very long very early on.

[Mainebound]

Originally posted by poohkinandpiglet
Depending on the ages in your group, IOA/US takes at least 2 days. To me, three days is perfect because you can go back and do your favorites again.


I totally agree with this 2-3 day suggestion! We bought the 5 day bonus pass using a link for Mousesavers.com for our March 04 trip, and I just bought our March 05 tix using a similar link with a "buy 4 get one free" Mastercard promotion. We found that the 5 day 2 park bonus pass is cheaper than the two day passes (although the bonus pass expires 5 days after first use).

We loved Universal (even with small kids) and like poohkinandpiglet, were surprised by how much! we can't wait to go back!