Backstage Magic Questions

[RedM94]

We have the Backstage Magic adventure summer of 2018. We have booked the Lowes Hollywood hotel for two pre adventure nights. We are thinking about doing the Universal Hollywood VIP tour on Saturday and would like to spend some time at a beach Sunday before the welcome dinner.

Other thoughts were to skip Universal and maybe drive the coastline. We are from the northeast part of the country and this will most likely be our only trip to Hollywood.

Please share your thoughts on Universal vs coastline.

Thank you

 

[OKW Lover]

Good plan to get to the Loews a couple of days early for this Adventure! As to Universal/beach vs driving up the coast goes it kind of depends on what you like. Keep in mind that you'll get a lot of theme park time on this trip anyway so I'd probably lean toward the coastline drive. Fortunately this is a question with no wrong answer.

 

[msteddom]

I would go with the coastline drive. Visit the Getty Villa too, if you can fit it in.

http://www.getty.edu/visit/villa/

 

[atlmgm]

I am also going next summer (July 15) - but after reading some of the trip reports here decided to stop in Vegas and see the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.

 

[danv3]

I would go with the coastline drive. Visit the Getty Villa too, if you can fit it in.

http://www.getty.edu/visit/villa/

I'm going there on my pre-ABD day...exactly five weeks from today!

 

[tgeorge]

We are doing the VIP experience at Universal before our BSM in December. I'd be happy to report back how it was,but I know Hilarys wrote a report a year or so ago and they did the VIP experience, if you want to search for that. It would give you some information now. I'm very excited about the tour!

 

[RedM94]

Thank you for your thoughts, all great. I need to call ABE, and ask what time the welcome dinner will be. Might be able to do VIP on Saturday, and then the coast on Sunday.

 

[OKW Lover]

what time the welcome dinner will be

They are typically at 5:00 pm

 

[Rapunzellover]

Do Universal. No butterbeer at the beach!

 

[Mousequake]

I've done the Universal VIP twice. I absolutely love it. You EASILY get to do everything in the park all in one day, get a very good buffet lunch, and get some cool parts of the studio tour that the regular tours don't stop at. You also get unlimited front-of-the-line access both before and after your tour.

 

[RedM94]

I've done the Universal VIP twice. I absolutely love it. You EASILY get to do everything in the park all in one day, get a very good buffet lunch, and get some cool parts of the studio tour that the regular tours don't stop at. You also get unlimited front-of-the-line access both before and after your tour.

@Mousequake I noticed that when purchasing the VIP tour online, you select a time. Is one time more advantageous than another?

 

[Mousequake]

@RedM94 , not really. I'd say it just depends on personal preference. I like to start mine as early as possible, leaving me time at the end of the day to use the front-of-the-line pass to revisit things I really enjoyed. You'll get to see and do all the same stuff regardless of which time you pick.

 

[hilarys]

We are doing the VIP experience at Universal before our BSM in December. I'd be happy to report back how it was,but I know Hilarys wrote a report a year or so ago and they did the VIP experience, if you want to search for that. It would give you some information now. I'm very excited about the tour!

Yes, we did the Universal VIP tour last summer on the Saturday before our BSM tour. Here is a link to my report.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/b...rip-report-finally-back-to-finish-up.3518757/

This was our first visit to Universal with the kids (even though we are California natives) and I would highly recommend it. We were completely done by 6pm or so and that included multiple rides on a few things. You also get to do more on the tram tour with the VIP tour than on the regular tour.

Our welcome dinner was at about 5 or 5:30. Unless you wanted to go really far up the coast, you could very easily get some coast/beach time on Sunday. Get an early start and drive up PCH through Malibu to Oxnard and then on to Santa Barbara. Many beautiful beaches to spend a few hours and have lunch and then head back to the Loew's. Use the Waze app on the way back to determine whether 101 or 1 would be the better traffic route.
http://www.disboards.com/threads/ba...rip-report-finally-back-to-finish-up.3518757/

 

[RedM94]

Yes, we did the Universal VIP tour last summer on the Saturday before our BSM tour. Here is a link to my report.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/b...rip-report-finally-back-to-finish-up.3518757/

This was our first visit to Universal with the kids (even though we are California natives) and I would highly recommend it. We were completely done by 6pm or so and that included multiple rides on a few things. You also get to do more on the tram tour with the VIP tour than on the regular tour.

Our welcome dinner was at about 5 or 5:30. Unless you wanted to go really far up the coast, you could very easily get some coast/beach time on Sunday. Get an early start and drive up PCH through Malibu to Oxnard and then on to Santa Barbara. Many beautiful beaches to spend a few hours and have lunch and then head back to the Loew's. Use the Waze app on the way back to determine whether 101 or 1 would be the better traffic route.

@hilarys Thank you for the link to your trip ABD trip report. I believe Universal owes you a commission as you have solidified our decision to do the VIP tour.

 

[tgeorge]

@hilarys Thank you for the link to your trip ABD trip report. I believe Universal owes you a commission as you have solidified our decision to do the VIP tour.

Her review is what led us to book it as well

 

[hilarys]

@hilarys Thank you for the link to your trip ABD trip report. I believe Universal owes you a commission as you have solidified our decision to do the VIP tour.

Her review is what led us to book it as well

Thank you both. We found it well worth it when trying to maximize our time. I wish they had a similar tour in Florida (planning for spring break next year).

 

[White Rose]

Thank you both. We found it well worth it when trying to maximize our time. I wish they had a similar tour in Florida (planning for spring break next year).

Universal does have a VIP tour in Orlando! We did both. The Orlando one does not include lunch.