Disney Veteran needs help with Universal and IOA

[tx2tn]

Hello Universal Experts:

My DW and I are Disney veterans. We are just starting to plan our vacation for 2014. We have never been to Universal but we are wanting to add it to our trip. We were thinking about spending 2 days there. The rest of the time we will spend at Disney.

We were hoping some of you guys would give us some advice on what to do and what not to do. Here is some more info.

We want to stay onsite at Universal
Is 2 days enough?
Which Resort?
What about Tickets?
Which Restaurants?
Which Rides are must do?
Any other advice or tips?

Thanks

 

[macraven]

what are your planned dates?

summer, off season, weekends?

 

[tx2tn]

what are your planned dates?

summer, off season, weekends?

We were thinking about Mid September 2014. We usually travel Friday to Friday and would probably want the Universal part of our trip to come first.

 

[macraven]

We were thinking about Mid September 2014. We usually travel Friday to Friday and would probably want the Universal part of our trip to come first.

mid september will be a great time for a newbie at the darkside.
the crowds don't really exist at that period.

the onsite hotels have decent rates too then as no crowds in the parks.

weekend hotel rates are higher than weekdays.
if you stay onsite, you can use the express lines unlimited times.

don't have to shy away from weekends because of that.
if the weekends have great weather, it will bring more locals to the parks.

(same theory here as in the disney parks)

early entry is a hotel perk.
you enter one hour prior to the official park opening.

for IOA, hit parry hotter ville first.
limited lines during early entry.

for the studios, hit Transformers first.

www.universalorlando.com is the website where you can find both park maps and city walk map and info.

check the parks out online to see what rides/shows will appeal to you.

you probably won't have any height restrictions for the rides as you don't have littles in your group.

i always feel that rph and pbh are great.
don't pick a hotel due to the pool.
pool hopping is encouraged at all 3 onsite hotels.

i forgot your other questions, need to look back to your first post.
bbl.

 

[macraven]

Hello Universal Experts:


We were hoping some of you guys would give us some advice on what to do and what not to do. Here is some more info.

We want to stay onsite at Universal
Is 2 days enough?

parks will probably close at 7:00.
do the early entry and cover each park for the highlight rides and minor ones. take some time for Mystic Fountain. it's a rock that talks.......

Which Resort?
you can get the room layout and size on the uo website.
compare the size to what you are comfortable with at the motherland resorts.
i stay in a king suite but not all do that.
i prefer rph as my home away from home.
the lobby is awesome !!
4 places to eat at this hotel including room service.

What about Tickets?
if no special sales on the UO site, use Undercover Tourist.
Which Restaurants?
Which Rides are must do?

do you do coasters?
does spinning upset you?

Thanks

check out the food/menus sticky that damo created.
lots of pictures in that thread.

 

[Planogirl]

I would pick a resort based on your tastes. All three have their pluses.

Two days is good and three days is even better. You have two parks to tour and Citywalk plus the previously mentioned pool hopping is nice. If you drive be prepared to include parking fees as part of the hotel cost.

 

[tx2tn]

Thanks for all of the excellent information so far.

Are all three resorts within walking distance to UO and IOA?
Is one better situated than the others?

I read somewhere that UO has something called front of the line access. Is this like Fastpass?

Yes we love Roller Coasters!

What are your favorite restaurants?

Thanks again!

 

[RMulieri]

Thanks for all of the excellent information so far.

Are all three resorts within walking distance to UO and IOA?
Is one better situated than the others?

I read somewhere that UO has something called front of the line access. Is this like Fastpass?

Yes we love Roller Coasters!

What are your favorite restaurants?

Thanks again!

All 3 are within walking distance, though Portofino Bay is the furthest ( it is our favorite though and has the biggest rooms of the 3.None of the hotels have balconies except a few at Portofino)
Royal Pacific is closest to Islands of adventure and HRH is closest to Universal.But really they are all a close walk or dedicated boat ride .

As a Universal resort guest ( onsite) you get Express Pass. It is similar to fastpass, but the difference is...NO pieces of paper,No waiting for windows to open, no crisscrossing the park to make return times and no time slots and you can use it as often as you want.You simply go to the express line of the ride, show the attendant the pass ( they scan it usualy) and off you go onto a much shorter( and often little to zero wait) line.
The only rides that don't have it are Pteranodon Flyers and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Ollivanders wand show.All other rides and shows do

We love Mythos and Confiscos grill at Islands of adventure ( table service)
.For CS meals at IOA we love Thunder Falls Terrace

At the Studios we don't care for the one TS meal we had ( Lombards Landing)
We like louies for Cs

At Portofino Bay we LOVE Mama Dellas

 

[macraven]

op, since your trip is not going to happen until over a year from now, keep an eye out in this forum for any changes.


when you plan that far out, what we tell you now, may be different 15-16 months from now.

crowd patterns could change when new rides/shows go up.

 

[Metro West]

I read somewhere that UO has something called front of the line access. Is this like Fastpass?

Its not called FOTL like it is on the DIS...its unlimited Express access but you will go to the front of the line. There is a separate queue for EP holders...just like FP. Fastpass allows only one time through and the access onsite guests receive is unlimited for all participating attractions.

We have a food sticky you should read through so you can see the menus and pictures of the different restaurants.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2681315

 

[tx2tn]

What about City Walk? It's an adult only area? What is there? Is it within walking distance to the three resorts?

 

[Metro West]

What about City Walk? It's an adult only area? What is there? Is it within walking distance to the three resorts?

No...its not an adult only area. There are restaurants, games, shopping and clubs. Also there are two great mini golf courses and a wonderful theater. Its within in walking distance from the resorts although it might be a hike.

 

[RMulieri]

Citywalk connects the 2 themeparks and it is where the boats from the resort dock.It is walkable, Portofino bay is the furthest, but again it is not horrible, it is a nice stroll along a pretty garden path along the water canal that takes the boats.
Citywalk is restaurants/clubs , stores and a movie theater and mini golf course.Mini golf wasn't open when we last went ( it was being built ).We spent the nights hanging out just people watching and relaxing