Best way to buy tickets?

[MerryJ]

We are heading to Island of Adventure for one day only on our trip to Orlando next week.

I was thinking of buying our tickets on the website, which seems to offer vouchers I can print at home and redeem for tickets when I get there. I saw someone mention that it was a nightmare to redeem their vouchers into tickets - will this be true if we arrive before the gates open on a Sunday?

I assume if we go without purchasing in advance, we would still have to wait in that same line, right?

Would it be worth going over the night before to get our tickets? Unfortunately, Google Maps says it is a 30 minute drive from where we are staying to Universal, so I would rather not make the drive the day before if I don't need to... but I don't want to wait in line for hours.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Metro West]

If you print at home, those would be your actual tickets...the sheets of paper. You would not exchange anything but you'd go directly to the gate.

It's better to have tickets in hand or you're waiting in the ticket line and then the turnstile line...wastes a lot of time...no need to stay overnight.

If you'd rather have "real" tickets instead of sheets of paper, do the Will Call option and pick up your tickets at the kiosks. There's rarely a line and its easy to do. You would have to have the credit card and confirmation number for the transaction. Once you have the tickets, go directly to the gates.

 

[MerryJ]

If the tickets I buy on the Universal website and print at home are my ticket I take to the gate, that will be just fine. We are only going for one day, so they don't have to last for an entire week or anything.

Thanks!

 

[kimmyann]

Or you could buy them online from Undercover Tourist. They are cheaper & you get real tickets.

 

[Metro West]

Or you could buy them online from Undercover Tourist. They are cheaper & you get real tickets.

Discounts for one day tickets are minimum...in this case the savings from UT is $4.07 per ticket for the single day admission which could add up but generally one day admissions are not discounted anywhere.

 

[kimmyann]

Just was giving another method of getting tickets.

 

[Metro West]

Just was giving another method of getting tickets.

That's fine...I just don't want people to think one day tickets are greatly reduced through UT or any other source...they aren't.

 

[the5reeds]

I just priced out (3) 1-day tickets through Universal's site and UT, and the difference was $17.04 (5.68/ticket) including taxes and surcharges. A 5% discount. Not a huge amount, but worth it to me.

 

[bumbershoot]

I just priced out (3) 1-day tickets through Universal's site and UT, and the difference was $17.04 (5.68/ticket) including taxes and surcharges. A 5% discount. Not a huge amount, but worth it to me.

That's a few Butterbeers!

 

[Gamegrl1]

Or you could buy them online from Undercover Tourist. They are cheaper & you get real tickets.

I'm lovin' this advice. We're only planning to spend one day at USIOA and the rest is WDW. I'm looking to save any amount of $ so even the little things add up (I'll put it towards the transportation from ASMu to USIOA!). Plus I got our WDW tix from UT and I was very pleased with the service, promptness and that the tickets arrived safely and well-packaged. So I'd be willing to buy the UT tix from them also.

The thing I'm trying to figure out is what the expiration date is on those because our trip is nearly 7 months away (1/14). Will research.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[macraven]

I'm lovin' this advice. We're only planning to spend one day at USIOA and the rest is WDW. I'm looking to save any amount of $ so even the little things add up (I'll put it towards the transportation from ASMu to USIOA!). Plus I got our WDW tix from UT and I was very pleased with the service, promptness and that the tickets arrived safely and well-packaged. So I'd be willing to buy the UT tix from them also.

The thing I'm trying to figure out is what the expiration date is on those because our trip is nearly 7 months away (1/14). Will research.

Thanks for the tip!

UO one day tickets won't have an expiration date on them.
they will be valid when you use them.

 

[housemouse]

If you'd rather have "real" tickets instead of sheets of paper, do the Will Call option and pick up your tickets at the kiosks. There's rarely a line and its easy to do. You would have to have the credit card and confirmation number for the transaction. Once you have the tickets, go directly to the gates.

I just went on and paid the money to ship them to me because I didn't understand the will call option would give me "real" tickets. I wanted those since we'll use them again next year, and just because that's the way I wanted them.

However,my lack of understanding might have worked out to my advantage and saved me a massive headache. The card I used to buy the tickets with ended up getting hacked a couple of months later and I had to cancel that card get a new card. Since I wouldn't have the original card to put in the kiosk anymore, it would have probably been a hassle. I'm sure it could have been sorted out, but it would have taken standing in line to talk to a real person to do it.

 

[rowan555]

We will be checking into the Royal Pacific Resort the first morning we go to the parks. I plan to purchase my tickets through Universal's site - which option would be best for me? Since I'm checking in to the hotel anyway, should I just choose the will call option? We'll be going to the parks for 4 days, so a ticket I print at home might be a bit iffy to last that long...

 

[macraven]

We will be checking into the Royal Pacific Resort the first morning we go to the parks. I plan to purchase my tickets through Universal's site - which option would be best for me? Since I'm checking in to the hotel anyway, should I just choose the will call option? We'll be going to the parks for 4 days, so a ticket I print at home might be a bit iffy to last that long...

if you chose the print at home tickets, make many copies of them.
if you go on a water ride, it could destroy your paper ticket, thus the need to have copies.

i would chose will call option.
i use that on my tour tickets.