Seven days at IOA? Universal--how do you find enough at two parks to do for 7 days?

[Belle5]

I am assuming the best way to do this is just to go to the parks in the morning and not go back the rest of the day? I am just concerned that if I purchase the $86 tickets for 7 days my teens will be bored after 3 days.

 

[robvia]

Need more info about your plans.

Are you staying onsite?
Renting a car?

If you need more parks, there's Sea World of Florida (SWF) and Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT) you can visit. Plus there's Wet N' Wild (WnW) you can do one morning. You could also visit Discovery Cove which is an all day event like going to the keys.

For night time, you'll have CityWalk restaurants, but there's also dinner shows like Dixie Stampede and Arabian Nights.

 

[Belle5]

If you need more parks, there's Sea World of Florida (SWF) and Busch Gardens Tampa (BGT) you can visit.

I want to know "if" I need more parks--that's the question. Is there enough to do in those two parks to fill seven days?

 

[jmpellet]

If you are staying onsite and will have front of the line access then I say no. And even off site, that's a long time for those two parks. Maybe you would want to purchase the 4 or 5 park Orlando flexticket which will give you access to Seaworld, Wet 'n Wild, and Busch Gardens.

 

[G8RFAN]

As mentioned, if you are staying onsite, you will be able to get through the rides much faster. If you pace yourself, you can do each park in a couple of days even if there are probably some things may not interest your teens such as Seuss Landings. SW would also be a two day park if you take your time. Then again WnW is probably a great suggestion. I haven't been there, but I can definitely spend a week at Blizzard Beach soaking in the sun and cooling off with the slides and stuff.

 

[Spidey7]

I can take a full 7 days at universal but I'm a full fledged fanatic freak. You could also venture over to Cocoa Beach for a day and get some quality beach time in, its only about a 45 minute drive from universal property.

 

[yourgoingagain?]

I think the price of $86 is a great bargin but it doesn't mean you have to go to the parks for 7 consecutive days. You can go for 2 or 3 days then take a break and visit Seaworld, Disney, the beach (free), or depending on where you are staying just hang by the pool and relax for a day.

You cannot occupy 7 consecutive days at Universal. I don't think you could keep from getting bored or die from exhaustion with 7 straight days at any theme park.

 

[AlexandNessa]

We are going for 8 nights in October, staying at HRH. We are also doing a day at Disney (MGM/EPCOT) and a day at Busch Gardens Tampa during that trip. If you are staying on-site, you won't need 7 days at the park, unless you want to.

 

[robvia]

Agree, the 7 day ticket is just a gimmick to make people stay longer. You really only need 3 full days to see USF/IOA.
A few people have visited taking their time, hanging out at the pool, going super slow. That can be done, but I'd say you'll want to visit SWF, BGT, and WnW.

The other thing is you don't have to spend one day at each park. You can visit one in the morning, then visit another at night. Having the 7 day ticket gives you the option to visit when you want. For example, you could drive down to SWF in the morning, stay until noon, come back to the hotel to rest, then visit IOA for the evening.

The onsite hotels have a shuttle to SWF and WnW. The only negative is they don't leave early, so you'd arrive SWF around 10am, and your early morning advantage would be gone. But if you're taking your time, it will still work out. A few people have taken the free shuttle to SWF and reported the crowds for Kracken and JTA were light.

 

[micksterlee]

We just got back from a seven day trip to Universal. I think it is very true that you can do both parks in a lot less than seven days, but if your kids are like most there will be several things they want to do over and over again.We stayed at the HRH so we did take our time and enjoyed breakfast each morning and went back most every day for some pool time.We had so much time that we dedicated two days just to water rides at IOA, I rode Rip Saw Falls so much i almost know the script by heart.

If you have 7 days to spend I would do it . It gives you time to relax , shop, and enjoy some great restaurants.

 

[damo]

We did 7 days in February and it was wonderfull. We just did the parks for a few hours each day. We wandered around the shops. We hung out at the pool. We visited all the hotels. We went shopping off site and we went to the Pirates and Princess party at Disney. My son would do 7 days of MIB and Mummy with a little bit of coasters from IOA thrown in.

7 days actually makes it a lovely VACATION instead of something you come home and need to rest up from.

 

[riu girl]

Haven't done 7 days yet but hope to sometime in the future.

I can totally see how you could use as least 4 of the 7 days. Our plan will be to be stay off-site and will probably include within the 7 days, 4 days at US/IOA/Citywalk ( 2 days at each park) , one day at Siesta Key Beach, one resort day so the kids can watch cable (we don't have tv at home) and one day at a disney water park. Sounds like a nice relaxing holiday.

Also included in the four Universal days I would love to take hubby to Portofino resort just to show it to him. We will never be able to stay at a resort of this caliber but love taking the boat over from Citywalk (thanks for the suggestion Phamton last year ) and sitting at a cafe table overlooking the water drinking a cold glass of pop. It is an experience like no other.

 

[DOOM1001]

I suggest you go to the parks around 4 or 5 days,but space them out, for example do the parks days 1,3,5,6 and 7 on a non-park day you could try other things like a waterpark,Busch Gardens or Sea World.Do a half-day at the parks and go to the Mall at Millenia or the Orlando Premium Outlets.Go to Downtown Disney and go resort hopping at Disney to check out all the hotels you might want to stay on a future Disney trip.Go to a Dinner show,the beach,stroll down International Drive and check out some of the attractions there like Wonderworks or Skyventure.So if your question is can you stay at the Universal parks 7 days without getting bored,I'll say most people would get bored to spend 7 days only on Universal property,4 days or even 5 spaced out with other activities sounds more reasonable.Like 1 or 2 days spend the morning at the park and around 2pm heading back to do other activities.

 

[Planogirl]

You can spend 3 days at the parks, then one day pool hopping to the three pools and another day shopping and seeing a movie. At least I could do that.

Then go offsite to play mini-golf, visit the outlets, go to Cypress or drive a ways to the beach or McD's. I never have trouble finding things to do in and around Universal and I haven't even included Disney or Seaworld yet!

 

[Darcy03231]

A lot depends on the time of year you're going too. If you're going in the summer you might want to plan to only spend a few hours in the park each day and the rest at the pool. We're going in August when I know its going to be hot, hot, hot! Since we're there for 16 days I opted for the 5 park flex pass tickets. We're planning to get up early every day and go to a park for 3-4 hours and then go back to our vacation house and spend most of the rest of the day at the pool. Depending on how everyone is doing we may go back a night for another couple of hours, or not, again depending on the heat. We also plan to go to the beach for a day or two and would like to get to the Kennedy Space Center.

 

[mslclark]

We usually stay around 5 days, and we never get bored. We visit the parks in the morning and spend the afternoons at the pool. If you stay in one of Universal's resorts you can pool hop at the others, so visiting all 3 resorts would take up several afternoons!

 

[goofy!]

We regularly do 7-10 night trips. We always say we are going to do Disney for a couple of days or Sea World or KSC, but we never find the time.

We love the easy, relaxed pace of Universal. No wake up calls, you walk to the parks when you are ready, use your FOTL, swim at the pools, have great meals, back to the parks in the evenings. We still spend a good amount of the day in the parks, but it is nice to not have to plan all the time and if you want a pool day, you know you will still be able to ride your favorite ride later in the day because you have FOTL and don't have to worry about the fast passes being out.

Now that we have gone so many times, it is not so much about the rides. I love to wander USF and look in the windows in New York and Hollywood and really stop and appreciate the detail they put into everything.

So, it really depends on what kind of family you are. If you are the go-go-go type family that thrives on commando type park going (and many do), then no, there is probably not enough to do in 7 days. If you are like us and prefer to do the parks leisurely and unplanned - then 7 days is just perfect.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I am so glad to read this thread! We have 6 days planned at Universal after 4 days at Disney in August. My rationale was that since we are onsite at RPR, we will be able to sleep in and go at our own pace. We also plan for a day at SW and a day at WnW, as well as an afternoon of poolhopping. I think we are going to be more relaxed when we return from this trip than we have been from any previous vacation....

 

[Jaaron2]

I dont belive there is enough in those two parks alone for that duration. I would use 2-3 days at those two parks and look for other places to fill some of the remaining days.

We go to Disney every year for 10 days and will usually stop by and hit both parks in one day and feel that is sufficient to get on the rides or see the shows we want.

 

[Annah99]

Can you go do Downtown Disney if we are only doing Universal this trip? We will be staying at The PEabody. What would be our choices of travel to get to Downtown Disney?