5 nights at US/IOA...what are the things to besides park rides???

[Badge]

As far as teachers go, there is only one discount I can find and its only valid for FL. teachers (pre-K to 12th). This deal has been going on for awhile as well, but it currently says it is ending on June 26th! I do not know if they will extend this offer or not.

Here is the link:

https://app1.fldoe.org/foundationcoupon/ (Florida Department of Education website)

Also, Military personnel can get $49 Blue Man Group tickets for performances through 12/31/11. You must purchase through your local ITT/ITR office

 

[macraven]

OH WOW....I'm in envy 8 nights just at universal....wow I bet you could ride spidey like 60 times

So what do you do for 8 days besides parks?

how about food?? any best/must do spots

it varies each year.
have been doing this since 1993 going to the darkside and going solo since 2005.

1. explore all the hotels.
2. do all the pools.
3. do the parks til closing.
4. do 4 nights of HHN
5. meet up with tm friends and visit.
6. eat at the 3 different hotel main resturaunts in the evening.
7. do character breakfast.
8. do city walk browsing/shopping
9. rising son for entertainment. (no, i do not get up there and sing)
10. one afternoon do all the wet rides in the parks, then return to the hotel to change.
11. spend one day doing the meal deal and grazing, people watching and picture taking. this is my no ride day but will hit a few shows as i park hop.
12. do the day tour of hhn if available.
13. do a late night at the cinema in city walk. (meal and a movie deal sometimes.)
14. try to do as many surveys in the park as i can.
rewarded with either cash, universal bucks, food.
this takes maybe up to an hour each.
15. spend lots of time at Mystic Fountain and laugh my head off listening to the interactions of the kids, teens and adults with 'Mr. Rock'.
16. last year started spending time with parry hotter.
17. do all the shows, Horror Make Up at least twice every other day.
18. spend time in the Lucy tribute.
19. watch the street characters (celebrity look alikes) and do pics with them
20. some mornings sleep in and start the day around 10:30
21. make new friends and talk, talk, talk ......including with the TM's.
22. always do Dr Doom 7 times in a row before i move on to another ride.
23. watch the entrance of the fab 4 into marvel land and interact with them.
24. a few nights do late night tv watching to early hours and order room service.
25. walk over to walgreens which is right near PBH.
26. do the regular line for spider, dr doom, mummy, mib, hulk in early morning to see all the story lines you miss when you use the express line.
27. especially love the mummy regular line for the button to push and the table effects. surprises most of the others in line..
time goes quickly when i am at the park.
28. some trips, not all, have done blue man group.
29. depending on the artist, hard rock live
30. pin trade
31 spend hours at HRC and the small hard rock store at hrh for new hr pins and shirts.
32. take the UO bus at night to see the front of the three hotels all lite up in the evening.
sometimes i get off and go into the lobby to see it at night time.
also get off the bus to hear the singers at PBH in the evening time.
the universal bus circles around to all 3 hotels as a mode of transportation.
you can get off and then get back on the next bus if you want to check out the hotel or their gift shops.

universal has different transportations available.

water taxi, internal bus, rickshaws (for a tip) or walking.
the grounds for all 3 hotels are beautiful.

i do the walk at least once per trip for the hotel grounds.

i don't have much of a wait in line for the shows or rides.
use the express lines. i can do repeats of rides and not get bored.
love doing mib and trying to beat my score each visit.
it gets addictive.

i have ventured off before on a saturday night to hit the tourist area nearby.
did ripleys believe it or not (cute), dinner shows off site, old town, tourist shops cause they are a hoot and cheap.......

if you stay onsite, you can take the free transportation from your hotel to seaworld, aquatica or wet and wild.
or for a small fee to busch gardens in tampa.

i always say i am going to do Busch but haven't had enough time yet.
and have not gone to the 3rd thursday night at the hrh lounge for live music entertainment.

the above might not seem like much but some visits, i run out of time.

 

[hpfan100]

As far as teachers go, there is only one discount I can find and its only valid for FL. teachers (pre-K to 12th). This deal has been going on for awhile as well, but it currently says it is ending on June 26th! I do not know if they will extend this offer or not.

Here is the link:

https://app1.fldoe.org/foundationcoupon/ (Florida Department of Education website)

Also, Military personnel can get $49 Blue Man Group tickets for performances through 12/31/11. You must purchase through your local ITT/ITR office

hmmmm...I think I'll just call them and ask about it. I don't have a college ID at least I don't think so. Even if I did it would be from back in the day. Rumor is Seaworld is letting florida teachers in for free too. I might call about that one. For free...I may wonder over there.

 

[hpfan100]

WOW macraven that's a great list! I agree about going through the regular lines at least once. The mummy one is pretty darn good.

I can't wait people...wish July would hurry up and get here

 

[macraven]

WOW macraven that's a great list! I agree about going through the regular lines at least once. The mummy one is pretty darn good.

I can't wait people...wish July would hurry up and get here

I learned more about the rides and story theme by using the regular line on some of the rides.

the movie MIB i loved.
the regular line includes so much of highlights of that ride.
i used the express line for two years before I did the regular line on that ride.

Dr Doom has a great story line, pictures and voice.
it adds to why the ride zooms as it does.

spiderman, ahh, the ride is fantastic and you can get the jest of it but by doing the regular line, you learn so much more about the ride.

same with ET, which i forgot to mention before.

Mummy has the interactive table in the middle of the regular line and the two buttons to push. it's quite entertaining.
the artwork in that line is so detailed.

Hulk.....the storyline is so good

since i stay for a decent time, i don't mind standing in the regular line at least once per ride on my vacations.

i do the studios when it opens and can take my time in seeing everything in that line.

later in the day, no way would i use it.
i go express during that time.

 

[tinydancer09]

They don't tend to look at them to closely. I got mine when I started College back in 09 so it had Fall 2009 on it. When I went last summer, they didn't even ask any questions about it. I think if you were to show them one from 2000 or something, there might be an issue, but I don't think everybody gets a new ID for each term.

Also, you can not buy these tickets ahead of time! You have to go to the ticket window the day you want to see the show and hope they have tickets left. You also do not really get to pick where you sit, but your only paying $30, so its not that big of deal.

This promo has been going on for awhile, and I can find no information about it ever ending. Here is a link to the little information they give on it.

http://www.blueman.com/popups/87

Being a "poor" college student I dont tend to care where I sit anyways. We get opportunities to go to UGA games every once in and a while and we usually sit in "nose bleed" section and actually don't mind it at all. People are happy to just be there in the section and you can see the whole field...

And I ramble

 

[Latel]

I love to sit and relax at the bar in Finnegans in Universal Studios in the afternoon. It's a great place to chill out and meet new people. Have made lots of friends in there

 

[Metro West]

I love to sit and relax at the bar in Finnegans in Universal Studios in the afternoon. It's a great place to chill out and meet new people. Have made lots of friends in there

Indeed...its also a great place during Stay & Scream at HHN. I usually hang outside but the place as always jammed.

 

[jarrdisney]

Go to Velvet Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel. It's an amazing bar with great severs/cocktails. If you're lucky enough to be in town the last Thurs of the month they have Velvet Sessions in the lobby with great live music. This month is Psychedelic Furs.

Head over to Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific, specifically for Happy Hour at the Tiki Bar outside. You won't regret it.

Emeril's on City Walk has a lunch crunch 3 course menu for $20 that's a steal. They also offer a happy hour as well.

 

[hpfan100]

I learned more about the rides and story theme by using the regular line on some of the rides.

the movie MIB i loved.
the regular line includes so much of highlights of that ride.
i used the express line for two years before I did the regular line on that ride.

Dr Doom has a great story line, pictures and voice.
it adds to why the ride zooms as it does.

spiderman, ahh, the ride is fantastic and you can get the jest of it but by doing the regular line, you learn so much more about the ride.

same with ET, which i forgot to mention before.

Mummy has the interactive table in the middle of the regular line and the two buttons to push. it's quite entertaining.
the artwork in that line is so detailed.

Hulk.....the storyline is so good

since i stay for a decent time, i don't mind standing in the regular line at least once per ride on my vacations.

i do the studios when it opens and can take my time in seeing everything in that line.

later in the day, no way would i use it.
i go express during that time.

I've never seen the regular of most of these either. Darn express pass spoiled me better check them out. I could pick one or two each day to try.

I love to sit and relax at the bar in Finnegans in Universal Studios in the afternoon. It's a great place to chill out and meet new people. Have made lots of friends in there

that's sounds nice. If they Guinness on Tap...I would be a happy clam

Go to Velvet Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel. It's an amazing bar with great severs/cocktails. If you're lucky enough to be in town the last Thurs of the month they have Velvet Sessions in the lobby with great live music. This month is Psychedelic Furs.

Head over to Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific, specifically for Happy Hour at the Tiki Bar outside. You won't regret it.

Emeril's on City Walk has a lunch crunch 3 course menu for $20 that's a steal. They also offer a happy hour as well.

won't be there for the furs. But I check it out anyway. That happy hour sounds like a good plan too. That will make for a relaxing retreat. Emeril's for 20 dollars WOW


Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and tips.....I freaking out right now This is soooooo exciting. Who needs Disney??

 

[the Dark Marauder]

There is also a night life on City Walk. I have never been to any of the clubs as I am not 21 yet but others could answer that.

Rising Star is 18+ on Thursday nights.

that's sounds nice. If they Guinness on Tap...I would be a happy clam

They sure do. Irish Car Bombs are possible as well.

 

[tinydancer09]

Rising Star is 18+ on Thursday nights.

As most local clubs are... I'm just not a club person. Sad to say but I probably will only do the whole "club" thing for my first 21st visit and thats it... just not my scene.

 

[Latel]

Indeed...its also a great place during Stay & Scream at HHN. I usually hang outside but the place as always jammed.

Ha ha, I know what you mean. If I manage to get over to Orlando for HHN I always make sure I get into Finnegans extra early, get a seat at the bar and dont move until 'release' time!!!

 

[Latel]

I've never seen the regular of most of these either. Darn express pass spoiled me better check them out. I could pick one or two each day to try.


that's sounds nice. If they Guinness on Tap...I would be a happy clam
won't be there for the furs. But I check it out anyway. That happy hour sounds like a good plan too. That will make for a relaxing retreat. Emeril's for 20 dollars WOW


Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and tips.....I freaking out right now This is soooooo exciting. Who needs Disney??

They certainly do Guinness on tap!!