Backpacks, fanny packs & lockers

[nkereina]

Sorry if this is redundant, but just to clarify which rides we can bring backpacks on: is it only Hulk and RRR that have restrictions?

Can we carry a backpack onto all of the other rides?

I don't think we can get by with just a fanny pack, but I don't want to have to walk all the way to the front of the park to get something out of the backpack. Thanks!

No backpack on any ride that offers free lockers. The *only* bag permitted on free locker rides are three prong clasp fanny packs, and even fanny packs are not allowed on Hulk or RRR. If you’re bringing a full size backpack, someone will need to either wait and hold it or you’ll need a larger locker at the front of the park for when you ride the free locker rides.

 

[wmmoorejr]

Y'all got me thinking about sizes and lockers so I found this on Universals website

All-Day Locker Rentals
Guests have unlimited access to these lockers during the course of the day. Lockers are available on a firstcome, first-served basis. Please see a park attendant or concierge for assistance.
Universal Studios Florida™ and Universal’s Islands of Adventure™
Large lockers measuring 12” x 13” x 16.9” are available to rent near the park entrances of Universal Studios Florida™ and Universal’s Islands of Adventure™ starting at $10 per day. Family-size lockers measuring 12” x 16.25” x 16.9” are available at Universal Studios only, starting at $15 per day.
Universal’s Volcano Bay™
Lockers can be found in the Rainforest Village, River Village and Wave Village of Universal’s Volcano Bay™. There are three different locker sizes available: mini, regular, and family ($9, $13 and $16 respectively).
Single-Time Use Lockers at Attractions
Single-time use lockers are available at the attractions listed below. The standard-sized lockers (14 in x 5.5 in x 16.9 in) for small loose articles are free while you ride. Larger lockers (12 in x 13 in x 16.9 in) for oversized items can be rented for $2 during the posted wait time and an additional $3 per 30 minutes, with a $20 per day maximum. These lockers are available at the entrance of the following attractions:
Universal Studios Florida™
✔ Revenge of the Mummy™
✔ MEN IN BLACK™ Alien Attack™
✔ Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit™
✔ Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts™
Universal’s Islands of Adventure™
✔ The Incredible Hulk Coaster®
✔ Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™
The following water-based attractions offer single-time use lockers starting at $4 during the posted wait time and an additional $3 per 30 minutes to a maximum of $20 per day.
✔ Jurassic Park River Adventure™
✔ Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges®
✔ Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls®

 

[puffkin]

I wear a small cross body purse typically in the parks (ThirtyOne if you are familiar with that). Mileage varies on if I can take it on the rides. Sometimes they wave me into a locker, other times they don't. We also have a full size cooler back pack that we carry water in and my husband keeps his diabetic devices in. Its a bit of a pain, but we can jam it into the lockers if needed. Usually we get two lockers, one for the backpack and the other for my cross body and the hats and stuff that my son and husband usually wear.

 

[abnihon]

Yes but the lockers are "flat" so the mug will be on it's side (i.e. make sure it's empty). This is what they look like:

View attachment 559804

Does anyone know if a mini Loungefly backpack can fit in the free ones?

 

[abnihon]

I wear a small cross body purse typically in the parks (ThirtyOne if you are familiar with that). Mileage varies on if I can take it on the rides. Sometimes they wave me into a locker, other times they don't. We also have a full size cooler back pack that we carry water in and my husband keeps his diabetic devices in. Its a bit of a pain, but we can jam it into the lockers if needed. Usually we get two lockers, one for the backpack and the other for my cross body and the hats and stuff that my son and husband usually wear.

interesting. I may try and take this on rides if I can for my phone and room key. But I’ll have to get a locker for my backpack anyway and will bring a lanyard in case they don’t let me take my crossbody on. They’ll tell me at the lockers?

 

[AJA]

You will have to put the small crossbody bag in the locker with the backpack.

interesting. I may try and take this on rides if I can for my phone and room key. But I’ll have to get a locker for my backpack anyway and will bring a lanyard in case they don’t let me take my crossbody on. They’ll tell me at the lockers?
View attachment 562877

 

[nkereina]

interesting. I may try and take this on rides if I can for my phone and room key. But I’ll have to get a locker for my backpack anyway and will bring a lanyard in case they don’t let me take my crossbody on. They’ll tell me at the lockers?
View attachment 562877

They would tell you at the entry to the queue for the ride and send you to the locker bank if they feel it needs to go in the locker. Generally there aren't TMs stationed at locker banks, except for maybe to man a queue at the lockers if/when one is needed. I suspect you'd have to put this purse in a locker, so its best to do it proactively. Its hard for me to gauge the size of it, but you may also be able to put it under your shirt if it isn't real bulky.

 

[puffkin]

They would tell you at the entry to the queue for the ride and send you to the locker bank if they feel it needs to go in the locker. Generally there aren't TMs stationed at locker banks, except for maybe to man a queue at the lockers if/when one is needed. I suspect you'd have to put this purse in a locker, so its best to do it proactively. Its hard for me to gauge the size of it, but you may also be able to put it under your shirt if it isn't real bulky.

With COVID, they have employees at most of the locker banks now, telling you which section to go to. They typically direct 1 person to each section of lockers. Its hit or miss for my crossbody, sometimes I go up and they wave me into the ride, other times they send me to the locker. We were there in July and November and it was similar both times. Pre-COVID, agree there was usually no one working the lockers so then you would either get passed through or stopped at the ride entrance.

 

[CheriePenguin]

Does this count as a 3-prong? It has 3 parts that snap in.

 

[nkereina]

Does this count as a 3-prong? It has 3 parts that snap in.View attachment 566160View attachment 566160

That's different looking than the traditional 3 prong clasp, but looks like it functions the same and I would really doubt any TM would notice the difference. But, its impossible for anyone to say with certainty if it would be permitted - all bags are subject to TM discretion, even with traditional 3 prong clasps.

 

[ruthies12]

Thank you everyone - appreciate all the feedback and comments. I did also watch Craig & Ryno's older vid and the orlando informer page was also helpful.

To summarize - you are using lockers on Hulk, RRR (& assuming VelociCoaster) no matter what. Lockers are there and optional if you want them on the three wet rides. Then there are five more locker rides where a small backpack that is not filled to the brim should fit no problem OR you could do the three prong fanny pack and skip the locker lines on these five rides (Mummy, MIB, Forbidden, Gingotts & Hagrid).

I think we're just going to stick with the small backpack that we already own instead of trying to skip those five locker lines. I think it's a 20L bag.

That pretty much sums it up. I'm a passholder and have been for a few years now. Here is my 2 cents- it depends on when you are going. The lockers themselves are not a big deal and easy to use. However, the other people can make it a huge pain.

So if you are going at a slow time when it won't be crowded then carrying a backpack and using the lockers won't be a problem.

But if you are going when it will be crowded, and especially if COVID restrictions are still in place, then that is a different story. They are limiting how many people are allowed in the locker rooms at a time and have TM's stationed out front of each area. You have to wait in line to get into the locker area, then go wait in line for the ride, then wait in line again to get your stuff back out of the locker. Doing this over and over again throughout each day can get very annoying depending on your tolerance for lines.

In my opinion, if you are going at a busier time when COVID restrictions are still in place- definitely worthwhile to get a fanny pack and buy smaller tubes of sunscreen so you'll be able to avoid all but 2 of the lockers.

 

[HashberryOTG]

I've occasionally been told I am required to even locker a fanny pack on more than Hulk & RRR. I have no idea why. I'm not the type to pitch a fit and hold up lines over something like that tho, so it really wasn't a big deal. Just weird.

Even on busier days I haven't found the locker situation to be all that terrible. It goes pretty fast. The worst part are those giant refillable mugs. They fit sideways, but are not sealed, so it has to be emptied.

 

[nkereina]

I've occasionally been told I am required to even locker a fanny pack on more than Hulk & RRR. I have no idea why. I'm not the type to pitch a fit and hold up lines over something like that tho, so it really wasn't a big deal. Just weird.

Even on busier days I haven't found the locker situation to be all that terrible. It goes pretty fast. The worst part are those giant refillable mugs. They fit sideways, but are not sealed, so it has to be emptied.

Same, that's why I mentioned up-thread its up to TM discretion. I think the general rule of thumb is that three prong clasps are permitted, but if a TM feels the bag may interfere with safety harnesses, they can use their discretion to require a locker for it. I'm sure the TM must take the size of the bag and the size of the person into consideration, and I'm sure there's some that are more cautious than others.

I agree that typically the lockers aren't a hassle and I'd rather just carry the bag I want and deal with them. But in the current environment when its busy, I believe they are forming queues for the locker area which makes it a little more time consuming than pre-pandemic. Something to consider.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Are all the locker areas before you enter the queues for the rides?

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Are all the locker areas before you enter the queues for the rides?

Hagrids is not (due to the extended socially distanced queue).
MiB, RRR, Hulk, Mummy, & Gringotts are.
Forbidden Journey depends on how long the line is.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Hagrids is not (due to the extended socially distanced queue).
MiB, RRR, Hulk, Mummy, & Gringotts are.
Forbidden Journey depends on how long the line is.

Thank you. I saw a post upthread that mentions only one person per party goes to the lockers. If the lockers are mid-queue and you're traveling solo, do you just have to hope you can get your spot back?

 

[CBug70]

We're planning to go to Universal for the first time in early June and I'm a little confused. I'd like to avoid the lockers as much as possible but we will plan to be carrying a little bit with us. Suntan lotion, ponchos, etc. I'm half Russian and half Scottish = was not made to tan. At Disney we usually carry a small backpack and that would be the plan for Universal too. I've read that there are several rides where a backpack has to go in a locker first. Then I read that if you have a fanny pack you don't need to put those in a locker. But then again, I also read that there are some rides that anything in your pockets, inclusive of cellphones, need to go in a locker.

Is it that a fanny pack lets you skip the lockers for just a few of the rides that won't let a backpack on? Trying to decide if there is any convenience in carrying a fanny pack instead of a backpack. I'm willing to look like a fool if we can skip 'most' of the locker lines. THANKS!

I’ve been at the parks for the past 2 days and I’m sooooooo glad I bought these Kipling multipurpose bags. We wore them on all rides except for those that mandate you check in everything, even your cellphone. It was the best bag ever.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Thank you. I saw a post upthread that mentions only one person per party goes to the lockers. If the lockers are mid-queue and you're traveling solo, do you just have to hope you can get your spot back?

For Hagrids, you all go in the locker area and come back out into a new line - there are 2 locker areas and a bagless queue that bypasses the actual lockers. However, you have to wait in the extended queue to get up to the locker areas, where they split different groups into the different areas. On the way out of the locker rooms you are then in one of three lines (2 locker area lines and a bagless line) and the CMs alternate sending a party from each line into the main queue (so it really isn't a benefit to not use the lockers). In the event that the Hagrids line isn't all the way to the beginning of the official queue (the archway beyond the lockers, where the queue would normally start), you just walk past or out of the lockers and straight into the line, no additional lines and alternating.

For FJ when the line is extended past the lockers, I really don't remember as well. It holds up the single rider line on really busy days (pre-Covid), since you have to wait to get to the lockers before you can split off into the single rider queue which has basically no wait. If you have Express, you can bypass the extended line and go into the lockers immediately - after the lockers you enter the standby line or the Express line, or the single rider line (pre-Covid). There is kinda an area to stand aside, but not really - the locker area is pretty large. I didn't specifically pay attention on this trip; we're usually bagless. There would really be no way to catch back up to your party if they continued on in the line while you went to the lockers, so everyone would have to wait or go to the lockers. There is no "getting your spot back" after the lockers, everyone takes a slightly different amount of time, but really if you "lose" a few positions the difference is maybe a 40sec wait once you actually make it all the way up to the ride, so it's pretty irrelevant.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Thank you for the detailed explanation of how it works. It helps. I'm not concerned about losing a few spots in line. I just wasn't sure if one person per party stepped out then rejoined them. It sounds more like a detour, then re-forming the line.

 

[Dano the Pirate]

We just got back yesterday and anything over the shoulder will need to go in a locker, Fanny or belt packs are OK.