1st trip - What do I need to know?

[decker96]

We are making our first trip to Universal next week. We are staying at the Royal Pacific on Monday the 12th and going to the parks on Tues. the 13th. We have tickets for both parks, but will just be there the one day (this trip is combined with a visit to my IL's in Ft. Myers). Last I checked the hours for US were 9-6 and IOA 9-9. We'll be checking out of our hotel in the morning, as we are staying near the airport Tues. night for our flight home on Wed.

We'll have the front of the line pass and I saw that for resort guests, the Harry Potter section of IOA opens an hour early. This is the main reason for our trip, my son loves HP, as do I.

My kids are 14, 11 and 8. My girls are not big roller coaster fans, they like Big Thunder at MK, but that's about as crazy as they get. My son did EE at AK and loved it, but is hesitant to go on anything that goes upside down. I may be able to talk him into it once we are there, but I'm not counting on it. So we will not be doing any of the huge coasters.

I'm looking for general touring tips. I'm not sure how the front of the line pass works, I'm assuming it's similar to the FP at Disney. Should we take advantage of the early hour at HP? It would take some doing to haul them all out of bed for that, but if it's really worth it I will. Any simulation rides/shows that are particularly scary that I should keep the 8 year-old away from?

Any particular places to eat that are really good? We'll be doing lunch and dinner there.

Any advice or tips anyone has are appreciated!!

 

[RMulieri]

I would ABSOLUTELY take advantage of the early entry.It is only for Harry Potter.It is amazing how empty it is at that hour.We managed to ride Forbidden journey multiple times in that hour and do all the other rides in that area as well as visit the shops..I would be there for that hour, get to OLLIVANDERS first ( if the wand shop show interests you) then do Forbidden Journey.Once you are done with that, Flight of the Hippogrif is cute ( kind of like goofys barnstormer).By then the rest of the park should be open, you can go about it as you feel compelled..Express pass is a better version of FP.You are not limited to a set time window.It is good on ALL rides/Shows EXCEPT- Pteranodon Flyers, Forbidden Journey and Ollivaders wand shop at IOA and at the studios it is not good at Rip ride Rocket.
We just got back with our 8 yr old.She did not ride Forbidden journey or the big coasters.She loved Flight of the Hippogrif, Spiderman ,Storm Force Acceletron( like the teacups)Seussland at IOA..At Universal she loved all the shows and rides except Revenge of the Mummy( coaster in the dark) and was too short for rip ride rocket.
For Counter service meals...Louies at the studios is good and Thunder Falls terrace at IOA( in Jurassic park area) is good
Table service- Mythos in IOA was the BEST, good food, great value..We didn't care for the TS meal we ate at the Studios which was Lombards Landing.It was ok, nothing special for what you pay

 

[decker96]

Thanks so much! I will try and rouse them out of bed early then.

And thanks for the meal suggestions, I will check those out as well.

 

[macraven]

if you are only going to both parks for one day, use the Early Entry provision for hotel guests.

also, repeat that parry hotter section at the end of the evening before the park closes.

usually crowds are quite low at that time.


if one of your kids balks and won't do a ride, don't skip it.
tell the TM you need to use the child swap program.

have the other adult with the one that won't do the ride while you do your turn.
you should be able to have another one of the kids do a repeat of the ride when it is your turn.

 

[decker96]

Thanks! I was wondering if there was a swap like they do at Disney. Good to know!

 

[RMulieri]

Thanks! I was wondering if there was a swap like they do at Disney. Good to know!

I like it BETTER than Disneys..Universal has a child swap ROOM .One parent sits with the child in the room( there are movies on etc.AT Harry Potter they play HP movies) and when the other parent finishes riding they switch.

 

[LoveToDisney]

Do the early entry!! Allow time for the boat ride (plus get there early so you can get on the boat and not have to wait for the next one to come). If walking on the path to IOA, allow time for that. Plus you will have time walking from the boat or the end of the RPH walking trail to get to the entry gates of IOA. The extra hour with HP goes fast and you want to make sure it is not eaten up by travel time from the hotel.

By the way, go thru Seusseland to get to WWOHP....much faster than the other direction. Have FUN!!!

 

[decker96]

Great tips, thanks! Do you know how long it takes to get from RPH to IOA approximately?

 

[LoveToDisney]

Great tips, thanks! Do you know how long it takes to get from RPH to IOA approximately?

I'm roughly guessing 15 min but there are a lot of variables....such as where your room is located at RPH compared to where the boat dock or the walkway is located. Since your family is going to be there on the 12th, travel from RPH over to City Walk via the boat and walk over to the entrance to IOA to familiarize yourself with the trip. As you ride in the boat, you will see the walkway curving by the canal. The walkway comes out next to Margaritaville at City Walk. The more you understand on the 12th, the better you will be prepared for the 13th.

 

[macraven]

i've walked it in 6 minutes.
others post similar times.

basically, the time to walk from rph to ioa is between 5-8 minutes.
it depends on your walking pace.

if you miss the boat, do the walk.
you end at the side of margarittaville which is near ioa.

if you take the boat, you get off at the dock, lower lever and walk up to city walk for the parks entrances.