cruising dis
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2011
- Messages
- 21
First - 100 thank you's to the people on this board who gave such excellent advice! 
On this trip it was myself and my 17 year old daughter. After much internal debate, I got the 2 day park hopper pass. We went to Universal on Saturday, 3/19 before our Disney Dream cruise and then on Friday, 3/25 after the cruise.
I was so sure that my daughter would like to check out HP, and that we would have had enough Disney since we were going to be on the cruise and also going to Downtown Disney that I never really specifically asked her if she wanted to go to Universal of Disney.
Interestingly, when I told her we weren't going to Disney she was disappointed. Hmmm - I kind of told her to suck it up
Poor baby has to go to Universal instead of Disney. Have no fear - Universal was a blast and there were no complaints from her at the end of our visit!
DAY 1 VISIT:
It was a Saturday, and I didn't call ahead. We arrived at 8:30am, paid $15 for the regular parking, not the upgraded one (which was great - not sure why you would need the upgraded parking? There were escalators and people mover walkways - piece of cake!) The man taking the $ said the park had been open for a couple hours. BUMMER! We went right to HP, got in line for the HP ride which said it was a 30 minute wait. I had brought a fanny pack and no one said anything. I'm larger, so right before the ride I gave the fanny pack to my daughter to put on since she's tiny and that worked well. NOTE: Castle was ok - a few really interesting things and then not much else
Ride was very fun, but did make me dizzy at the parts where it's a movie. We did get stuck in line for about 1 hour right by the talking hat because the ride had technical problems. Oh well - it was bonding time for me and my daughter.
After that, we hopped on the Dragon Challenge. That went quickly and I was pretty dizzy after the ride. Not too bad, but not anything I would want to ride again. After that, it was JAMMED at HP, so we went to the Hulk and waited about 30 minutes. OK - no more roller coasters for me after that. Oh boy!
After that, walked around, shopped, ate at Mythos (don't get the risotto, that was not very good, but the restaurant was very nice and reasonably-priced. I would definitely go back, just wouldn't get the risotto!).
We went on the Poseidon tour/show which I was pleasantly surprised with. We then got frozen butter beer (I thought it was yummy - did taste like butterscotch) and pumpkin juice (tasted like very thick wassail - lots of spices in it - I liked it but wouldn't call it thurst-quenching - I had to sip just a little at a time) and we drank our drinks while watching the Sinbad stunt show, which I thought was entertaining.
DAY 2 VISIT (After the cruise)
Arrived at 8am to find that the gates don't open until 9am. OK - here's a hint - call ahead to find out when the actual gate opens.
We were at the front of the line to get in and around 8:30 they opened the gates, but we had to go the LONG way around to HP this time. Wow - what a power walk that was
Through cartoon-land, through Jurassic part, over the bridge, and into HP. This time I didn't even bring the fanny pack and that was the BEST way to go. I had taken pictures during our first day, so I figured this time I didn't need to bring any extra stuff. It is SO COOL to have lots of people in front of you HAVE to go to the lockers while you get to walk right on. After the HP ride, waited in line with my daughter 2 times for dueling dragons which only had a 5 minute wait each time. THEN - out of IofA and into Universal Studios.
At US, got a yummy iced coffee at the first bakery when you enter (really tasty! The nice lady gave us samples of the different flavors). Then Shrek which was a 10 minute wait, then the Mummy which was no wait (2 times!), and then Jaws which was maybe a 10 minute wait, then ET which maybe was a 10 minute wait, then I Love Lucy tribute which you just walk into, then the Horror Makeup show which was maybe a 10 minute wait.
SUMMARY - US was NOT crowded. Everyone was at HP. Both times, we went back to HP around 5:30pm and everyone was streaming out. Perfect suggestion to go back later in the day from this board. Thank you! The wait for Olivanders Wand Shop was maybe 15 minutes at the end of the day + we could look around the shops without being overwhelmed. The 2 day park-hopper was wonderful, the rides were really fun.
OVERALL - fun, fun, fun time at Universal Studios!!!
On this trip it was myself and my 17 year old daughter. After much internal debate, I got the 2 day park hopper pass. We went to Universal on Saturday, 3/19 before our Disney Dream cruise and then on Friday, 3/25 after the cruise.
I was so sure that my daughter would like to check out HP, and that we would have had enough Disney since we were going to be on the cruise and also going to Downtown Disney that I never really specifically asked her if she wanted to go to Universal of Disney.
Interestingly, when I told her we weren't going to Disney she was disappointed. Hmmm - I kind of told her to suck it up
Poor baby has to go to Universal instead of Disney. Have no fear - Universal was a blast and there were no complaints from her at the end of our visit!DAY 1 VISIT:
It was a Saturday, and I didn't call ahead. We arrived at 8:30am, paid $15 for the regular parking, not the upgraded one (which was great - not sure why you would need the upgraded parking? There were escalators and people mover walkways - piece of cake!) The man taking the $ said the park had been open for a couple hours. BUMMER! We went right to HP, got in line for the HP ride which said it was a 30 minute wait. I had brought a fanny pack and no one said anything. I'm larger, so right before the ride I gave the fanny pack to my daughter to put on since she's tiny and that worked well. NOTE: Castle was ok - a few really interesting things and then not much else
Ride was very fun, but did make me dizzy at the parts where it's a movie. We did get stuck in line for about 1 hour right by the talking hat because the ride had technical problems. Oh well - it was bonding time for me and my daughter.After that, we hopped on the Dragon Challenge. That went quickly and I was pretty dizzy after the ride. Not too bad, but not anything I would want to ride again. After that, it was JAMMED at HP, so we went to the Hulk and waited about 30 minutes. OK - no more roller coasters for me after that. Oh boy!
After that, walked around, shopped, ate at Mythos (don't get the risotto, that was not very good, but the restaurant was very nice and reasonably-priced. I would definitely go back, just wouldn't get the risotto!).
We went on the Poseidon tour/show which I was pleasantly surprised with. We then got frozen butter beer (I thought it was yummy - did taste like butterscotch) and pumpkin juice (tasted like very thick wassail - lots of spices in it - I liked it but wouldn't call it thurst-quenching - I had to sip just a little at a time) and we drank our drinks while watching the Sinbad stunt show, which I thought was entertaining.
DAY 2 VISIT (After the cruise)
Arrived at 8am to find that the gates don't open until 9am. OK - here's a hint - call ahead to find out when the actual gate opens.
We were at the front of the line to get in and around 8:30 they opened the gates, but we had to go the LONG way around to HP this time. Wow - what a power walk that was
Through cartoon-land, through Jurassic part, over the bridge, and into HP. This time I didn't even bring the fanny pack and that was the BEST way to go. I had taken pictures during our first day, so I figured this time I didn't need to bring any extra stuff. It is SO COOL to have lots of people in front of you HAVE to go to the lockers while you get to walk right on. After the HP ride, waited in line with my daughter 2 times for dueling dragons which only had a 5 minute wait each time. THEN - out of IofA and into Universal Studios.At US, got a yummy iced coffee at the first bakery when you enter (really tasty! The nice lady gave us samples of the different flavors). Then Shrek which was a 10 minute wait, then the Mummy which was no wait (2 times!), and then Jaws which was maybe a 10 minute wait, then ET which maybe was a 10 minute wait, then I Love Lucy tribute which you just walk into, then the Horror Makeup show which was maybe a 10 minute wait.
SUMMARY - US was NOT crowded. Everyone was at HP. Both times, we went back to HP around 5:30pm and everyone was streaming out. Perfect suggestion to go back later in the day from this board. Thank you! The wait for Olivanders Wand Shop was maybe 15 minutes at the end of the day + we could look around the shops without being overwhelmed. The 2 day park-hopper was wonderful, the rides were really fun.
OVERALL - fun, fun, fun time at Universal Studios!!!
