Tips for First Timers?

[ChristaDeVil]

Hi, all! I am new to the UOR/IOA side of life, even though we have been doing Disney for years. We have decided this year would be our first trip to Universal as a family. (I was there in 1993...husband was there in 2001...13 year old son has never been.)

So, I am wondering what tips you Universal pros would give a first-timer? What's the one thing you wish you knew when you went your first time?

Thanks in advance!

 

[RMulieri]

That Universal does not require the advanced ,crazy planning Disney does
and STAY ONSITE..It may not be cheap, but it is SOOOO worth it.Close to the parks, beautiful deluxe resorts ( that encourage pool hopping) and the express pass for resort guests beats the daylights out of FP or FP+

 

[schumigirl]

That Universal does not require the advanced ,crazy planning Disney does
and STAY ONSITE..It may not be cheap, but it is SOOOO worth it.Close to the parks, beautiful deluxe resorts ( that encourage pool hopping) and the express pass for resort guests beats the daylights out of FP or FP+

+1

Take your time and enjoy everything the resorts have to offer, it is a much more relaxing pace at the darkside.

The parks and hotels are beautifully themed. And so much fun

 

[ChristaDeVil]

That Universal does not require the advanced ,crazy planning Disney does
and STAY ONSITE..It may not be cheap, but it is SOOOO worth it.Close to the parks, beautiful deluxe resorts ( that encourage pool hopping) and the express pass for resort guests beats the daylights out of FP or FP+

Of course, coming from the Wild Wild World of Disney Planning, I am overthinking everything!!!!! We are staying onsite (Royal Pacific). I LOVE the fact that you are encouraged to pool hop and that everything is so close together.

 

[RMulieri]

Of course, coming from the Wild Wild World of Disney Planning, I am overthinking everything!!!!! We are staying onsite (Royal Pacific). I LOVE the fact that you are encouraged to pool hop and that everything is so close together.

The only thing we plan out is being there for early entry and we have an idea of where we want to eat( I make some ressies at opentable.com) but they arent really neccessary

 

[Lisa0806]

We just got back from our disney/universal trip. We did split stay disney resort then Universal's Royal Pacific. We found the universal portion of the trip to be much more relaxing. At disney with fastpass+ we found our selves running around to try and make it to our fastpasses, etc. There is also lots of wasted time waiting for buses to the parks, etc. However at Universal, at Royal Pacific, they have a boat every 15 minutes to take u to parks and if boat not there when you show up there is a walking trail that will get you there even faster. We always would look and if boat not there we just walked and it took less then 10 minutes to walk. That was really nice. We spent three days at universal and did early opening two of the days for Harry Potter. We were able to see all of harry potter and even did somethings multiple times by getting there for early hour. Express passes were nice in that you just could go on rides as you got to them and didnt have to worry about a time. However I didn't get to just walk on anything. WHen we were at disney and used our fastpass we had virtually no wait. Universal we still waited 10-15 min for almost everything. But for example when we were there spiderman ride had posted 60 min. wait and with express pass we waited 15 tops. So it was still really nice and I have to say that even with the waits it was better then the running around to be somewhere at a specific time like at disney. I personally like Disney better except that its just too hectic. Universal was more relaxing, we would even leave park by 4 and go relax at the pool, at disney we felt like there was no time to hang at the pool or shop or we would "miss" out on rides. we did feel like you only needed two-three days at universal but I guess if busier season maybe id say 3-4.

I highly reccomend making reservations to eat at mythos! It was great. we had reservations and enjoyed so much we went back again the next day and enjoyed it again. We didnt have reservations the second time and had about a 30 minute wait, so I suggest just making reservations on open table.

Also, i had read on these boards that the frozen butter beer was better then the regular. We tried both while there and I personally like both but liked the NON Frozen one better. So if possible to share and try both maybe do that.

in Springfield, Simpsons area, the wait to eat at those quick service was quite long, maybe just because still fairly new??? food was fine but not amazing so not sure worth waiting long for. My husband enjoyed his duff beer. I cant comment as I am not a beer drinker. I had the tacos in Springfield from the taco truck and while not amazing, they were better then most of the other quick service options.

Also if traveling with kids who dont meet height requirements, rides offer child swap so you can take turns watching kid and skip the line the second time. That was really nice.

 

[glocon]

Most of us here on the Universal threads go to both WDW and UO, and love them both. My advice to you is to not expect UO to be WDW. It is not, it has a different feel but is "magical" in a different way. Go in with no expectations, and don't compare apples to oranges.

Second bit of advice- stay onsite. It makes more of a difference at UO when you stay onsite at UO than it does at WDW. Staying onsite at WDW immerses you in the Disney experience. Staying onsite at UO not only immerses you in the UO experience, but gets you unlimited express passes and you never have to step foot in your car or on a bus (or even a boat if you don't want to). Everything is so close and convenient.

And early entry for resort guests is kind of like an exclusive "rope drop".

 

[JoeCathyAngelina]

we're going to be there for 3 days in April during school vacation week. We're staying off site at vacation Village at parkway. Is it worthwhile getting the park to park pass?

 

[mrsabbott]

There are some who will disagree, but we are not park hoppers. I prefer to dedicate one day to each park. That's just me. However, when they open up the WWoHP expansion, you'll need a park hopper ticket in order to go between the two parks. One day, when we make it back there to see it, we will probably get the park to park option. But in general, I prefer to focus on one park at a time.

 

[Krista in MA]

I've been to Uni a few times and here are my suggestions (which may or may not make sense depending on what you like!):

1. On one of your days - get to WWoHP as early as possible as it's less crowded and shorter lines.

2. Plan to go to WWoHP at some point in the evening / at night if you want to see it in different light (it's really pretty at sunset!).

3. This one is if you like water rides - Dudley Do-right (compare to Splash Mountain), Popeye and Bluto's...Barges (compare to Kali River Rapids), Jurassic Park River Adventure (?) and One Fish Two Fish (compare to Dumbo).... You will get wet on all of those rides! You will get absolutely soaked on at least the first two (which is part of the fun!). If you like water rides and like getting wet, I would set aside a block of time to go to IoA to ONLY ride those rides (multiple times because once you're wet, you're wet, and I love those rides!) and go back to the hotel to change / shower, continue with your day. My sister and I did this on our last visit when we stayed at RPR and loved it! We rode Dudley 5-6 x's, Popeye 5-6 x's, I rode JP just once, and we rode One Fish just once. I don't know if anyone else does that too, but it works well if you stay on property and don't mind being wet, but don't want to walk around the park for hours going on other rides / eating / shopping / etc. It was a bit squishy walking back to the resort but the riding was a blast

 

[Metro West]

There are some who will disagree, but we are not park hoppers. I prefer to dedicate one day to each park. That's just me. However, when they open up the WWoHP expansion, you'll need a park hopper ticket in order to go between the two parks. One day, when we make it back there to see it, we will probably get the park to park option. But in general, I prefer to focus on one park at a time.

That's a good plan...doesn't work for everyone but I certainly understand where you're coming from. There is so much to do and see at each park you shouldn't rush.

Most of us here on the Universal threads go to both WDW and UO, and love them both.

Speak for yourself.

 

[momofboyz3]

I've been to Uni a few times and here are my suggestions (which may or may not make sense depending on what you like!): 1. On one of your days - get to WWoHP as early as possible as it's less crowded and shorter lines. 2. Plan to go to WWoHP at some point in the evening / at night if you want to see it in different light (it's really pretty at sunset!). 3. This one is if you like water rides - Dudley Do-right (compare to Splash Mountain), Popeye and Bluto's...Barges (compare to Kali River Rapids), Jurassic Park River Adventure (?) and One Fish Two Fish (compare to Dumbo).... You will get wet on all of those rides! You will get absolutely soaked on at least the first two (which is part of the fun!). If you like water rides and like getting wet, I would set aside a block of time to go to IoA to ONLY ride those rides (multiple times because once you're wet, you're wet, and I love those rides!) and go back to the hotel to change / shower, continue with your day. My sister and I did this on our last visit when we stayed at RPR and loved it! We rode Dudley 5-6 x's, Popeye 5-6 x's, I rode JP just once, and we rode One Fish just once. I don't know if anyone else does that too, but it works well if you stay on property and don't mind being wet, but don't want to walk around the park for hours going on other rides / eating / shopping / etc. It was a bit squishy walking back to the resort but the riding was a blast

Great Advice - I'm stealing!!! Greetings from Boston!

 

[ChristaDeVil]

I love the idea about doing all of the water rides together! We love water rides and I'm excited about how many there are!

 

[Seeker615]

Make time to do City walk as well. There are a lot of cool shops and great places to eat. The mini golf is a lot of fun as well.

Universal can really be a more relaxed vacation. We never felt rushed during our 5 night stay.We often went early to the parks and then went back to our room for a bit and then went out to dinner on City Walk. Other times we slept in and then went to parks. Staying onsite was the best decision I ever made.

 

[Krista in MA]

Great Advice - I'm stealing!!! Greetings from Boston!

Hello from just south of you in Q...

 

[Krista in MA]

I love the idea about doing all of the water rides together! We love water rides and I'm excited about how many there are!

There are really three that are true water rides. The One Fish..... is one where you're just riding along, minding your business, etc., and then YIKES! you'll probably get squirted with water as you're going up up up in your fishy :-D

 

[ChristaDeVil]

Additional question? Any suggestions of places to eat outside of the parks & City Walk that would be a short drive from there? We have some ideas of where we want to dine in parks and at CW, but also looking for outside options?

 

[cocooncd]

First timer here too...wondering if the meal plan is worth it? We found the one at disney to be well worth it as the food is so expensive there but what about at universal?

 

[macraven]

if you buy an entree that is $15, yes, the dining plan counter service is worth it.

for $20, you have paid for the ordered meal, which includes a beverage and get the dining card that allows a free beverage and one snack for anytime up to 14 days from purchase.

dining plan counter service is $19.99 + tax.


the disney quick service dining plan is not worth it when you break down the costs unless you are ordering entrees at the higher end.

 

[cocooncd]

Thanks for the info!