2 days at universal/IOA

[ilovemymac]

I loved our trip to the 2 parks my only complaint is that when you get into the back of the parks you get bothered with high presure sales and they wont take no for an answer for the orlando resorts. i feel like if we were interested in this we would call them. We are on vacation and there to enjoy ourselves not be bombarded with sales pitches.
On monday 5/1 we were at the gate to universal at 830 after doing valet parking it was quite nice to walk right in to citywalk. I could not begin to imagine parking way out in the wings of the parking garage when at the end of the day you are so tired and your feet hurt having to walk all that way and trying to find your car. Valet was great and since we had annual passes it was only $8.
As soon as the gates opened we headed to shrek waited 5 minutes and were hustled into the waiting area and once into the show it was awesome the 3D effects combined with the motion and other effects was just awesome.
We then headed to back to the future again we didnt have to wait. Then after back to the future we headed to earthquake and walked on and then over to terminator we waited in the inside area for maybe 5 minutes before the preshow started.
We then started over to jaws since it didnt open till 11 but when we got there about 11:20 there was allready a 45 min wait so we decided no on this and went back around the park taking pictures and collecting souveniers. We left the park about 1 over to hard rock cafe and ate lunch. I have been to the hard rock in san diego before so this was really cool to come to another one and the worlds largest one.

today tuesday 5/2 it seemed the parks were both much much busier and we noticed lots of kids and teens in the parks which we were not expecting but still was not real crowded. We headed into spiderman as soon as we got in and walked right on. then back to Universal to do shrek again then twister and jaws and then ET. Then we ate lunch at mels diner. Then back to IOA and we rode cat in the hat and cara sues el and were thinking of riding one fish two fish but decided not to. Then we headed started making our way around IOA through the different islands. i noticed the theming over at Universal was not less then IOA but because of the movie theming that it was not as big and over the top as IOA was. My wife and i both loved the teming at IOA and growing up with beatle baily and blondie comics and the x-men and spiderman it was awesome to see them brought to life as well as seuss landing it was really cool as well to see the books i had read as a kid brought to life. We saw dragons was being repaird and in seuess landing there looks like a coaster or something that runs on tracks being put in. not sure what it was but looks like it will be neat once done.
overall we really enjoyed our visit to both parks and hope to go back in december. Hopefully the rides we like are up then so we can reride them.

 

[Motherfletcher]

We have been to the parks on countless occasions and never have been approached by any high pressure sales people. Where were they at?
We went to the parking garage Saturday and ended up parking in ET 563 and the walk to the hub was incredible. I wish we would have valet parked.
Glad to hear you had fun anyway.

 

[bethzfl]

Towards the back of US between MIB and Fear Factor we get bothered by sales people sometimes.. even after we explain we're local, but we just learned to ignore them completely..

Sounds like a fun trip all in all, though.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

I don't remember any sales people either. What are they trying to sell?

 

[phamton]

I don't remember any sales people either. What are they trying to sell?

They are timeshare representatives.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

If they're inside the parks & trying to promote anything but Universal hotels, they probably need to go. Doesn't sound like a wise decision to me. That is, if they're anything like the timeshare reps. you encounter in other areas of Orlando.

 

[lindalinda]

Does Universal have timeshares? I have never seen this either. Of course the timeshare ppl usually ignore me when I say I am single. Apparently single means destitute is "timeshare lingo" Yet another perk of the unencumbered life!

 

[ilovemymac]

They are in the jarrasic park in IOA and towards MIB in Studios. We tried to keep on walking and ignore them and they just followed us and kept talking. We even tried the excuse that we were to young. we heard them tell someone else you have to be 23 and make 40000 a year.
But they said well let me call over to the office and see if we cant get that changed just for you. They claim they will give you a free breakfast and $70 cash just for showing up. They even said we dont have to sit through a presentation just a tour of the resort. Its orange county resorts i believe.
I just feel like why are we being bothered at a universal park? If we wanted a timeshare considering they are at about every gift shop on 192 and about everywhere else you go around here in exchange for 2 free tickets or more in some places we kind of feel like we should not be bothered at the parks we should be able to enjoy our time there without being bothered.
Does anyone know if disney allows this or no?
I know we did not see anything like this when we were at seaworld today.

 

[F-L-A]

Weird. I've never seen those people. Ever. They certainly don't belong in the park.

Are we sure Universal knows they're there?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Does Universal have timeshares? I have never seen this either. Of course the timeshare ppl usually ignore me when I say I am single. Apparently single means destitute is "timeshare lingo" Yet another perk of the unencumbered life!

I may be wrong, but I don't think they do. That's why I'm surprised there's someone in the parks trying to sell them.

Thanks for the tip. The next time we see anyone trying to sell timeshares, DH & I will be sure to quickly dispense of each other & revert to being single.

 

[phamton]

They have a booth set up between MIB and Fear Factor. You've probably seen it. They have juice and fresh fruit in ice. The one in IOA is Westgate Resorts but I'm not sure what the one near MIB is.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

They have a booth set up between MIB and Fear Factor. You've probably seen it. They have juice and fresh fruit in ice. The one in IOA is Westgate Resorts but I'm not sure what the one near MIB is.

Not Westgate!!! They're the worse. I've got to wonder what Universal's thinking on this one. I can easily see that deterring people from returning to the parks, which would really be a shame. I have images in my mind of being chased around the parks like when we're in the Caribbean or Mexico. Instead of braiding my had, they want to sell me a timeshare. Hopefully, it won't be anything like that. I deal with that enough on those types of vacations. I don't want to have to say, "No, Thank You" even once, when I'm on vacation iin a theme park.

ilovemymac,
WDW has their own timeshare reps. stationed at different locations throughout their property. There's no soliciting though. You have to approach them. WDW's timeshare reps. are very low key, & nothing like those you encounter from other timeshare companies. Things may have recently changed though. Obviously, I didn't realize they were allowing this at Universal either. My time this past year has been spent in the Caribbean & Mexico saying, "No, Thank You".

 

[phamton]

They have had the timeshare people there as long as I've been going to universal which is 4 years. Who knows how long they have been there. They've never bothered me. The few times I have been approached I've just told them I'm not interested and kept walking.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

They have had the timeshare people there as long as I've been going to universal which is 4 years. Who knows how long they have been there. They've never bothered me. The few times I have been approached I've just told them I'm not interested and kept walking.

That's interesting! We've been quite a few times in the last 4 yrs., & I've never noticed them. They obviously didn't interfere with my visits. Maybe, we look poor.

 

[tpayne]

The quickest way to get rid of the time share people? Tell them right from the start you only make 4000 dollars a year. They quickly lose interest and go to someone else. You dont even have to slow down...

 

[Foladar]

That's interesting! We've been quite a few times in the last 4 yrs., & I've never noticed them. They obviously didn't interfere with my visits. Maybe, we look poor.

Same here

 

[ines248]

"I am not working right now",...........

I get rid of them and they dissapear before I told them the complete sentence.

It is true, I am not lying about saying not working right now.

Here is the complete sentence!

"I am not working right now, because I am on vacation."

 

[PlutoLuvr]

I saw them, too, at the end of February at US on the walkway between MIB and Fear Factor. They had small tables set up, bright yellow Westgate shirts on. I can't believe USO wouldn't know about this. I mean, bright uniforms and tables set up with table cloths and paperwork everywhere?

They were hounding everyone on that walkway. Very unprofessional, IMO. But I also get hounded to answer surveys and apply for credit cards to get a free bag, too, when I'm there. The Westgate guys were out of line, tho. I wish USO would have someone moniter them for a while to see how they talk to and pressure guests at the park.

FWIW, the one guy finally stopped walking after us on the walkway when we hollered over our shoulders, "We already own timeshares that we can't afford."