Few last minute questions before first Universal trip!

[Aowens]

Thanks to everyone for your advice to help me plan my families first trip to universal. I do have a few last minute questions. We will be at RPR 12/24-30.

First, someone had advised bringing 2 copies of my Universal tickets (purchased through UT), so I could cut one for our lanyards so they fit. Do I just need the barcode showing on the lanyards and that's all? There are 2 barcodes, so I want to make sure I do it correctly.

Secondly, there seems to be a lot of opinions regarding whether people bring bags or not. But I imagine if we will have a wand and cell phones, we will have to use lockers anyway. If that's correct, I figure I might as well bring a small backpack with snacks and a water bottle. Any differing opinions?

TIA for your help!

 

[TommyJK]

For #1, I was the one who suggested cutting down the ticket. Both Barcodes are the same I believe. What I do is just fold my whole paper up so the one nearer the top is showing and it has always worked for me.

For #2, I would bring a "smaller" bag, not necessarily a full sized backpack. The free lockers next to the rides are not terribly large (approx. 9.5” wide x 11.5” high x 17” deep) so it would for sure be difficult to hit a full sized backpack into them for the rides you would need to use it. See the dimensions I posted and pick a bag that you would know you could squish into those dimensions.

 

[TheConsciousness]

As to question 2, when we went I carried a smaller bag that easily fit the free lockers for one of the days, and then on the other days rented a locker at the gate.
Taking on and off the bag felt so restrictive compared to just roaming free. Plus you can make as many trips to open your locker as you want with no need to re-rent one.
The bag was really just for holding sunscreen, so this time of year I probably wouldn't bring it.

 

[wookiebeck]

My teens had one of those drawstring backpacks and that worked great for having water/snacks and being convenient for the locker size.

 

[kohlby]

My backpack had no issues fitting - but it is smaller than most. (I'm petite and was so excited to find a backpack that finally fit me that wasn't made for kids!) We've only once not brought a bag with us. (Or cell phone or anything other than ticket/credit card). It was freeing, but it really wasn't a big issue to use the lockers either. I missed not having water to drink whenever I wanted. (Yes, I'm aware you can get water around the park but I drink a lot so it's a lot easier to have a water bottle than looking for a place to get water all the time. I still have to do that some). We also use a bag for hats when it's sunny and ponchos when it's not. I missed having the water bottle the most by far though.

 

[gotomu212]

I'm one who doesn't carry a bag. There are several rides where a pocket cell phone is okay but a bag isn't so I skip the bag to limit the number of lockers I need to use. We also don't take our wands every single park day (we try to pick a HP day and do all our "wand work" that day).

 

[agavegirl1]

At Universal, I usually wear a waist pack with a three prong clip. Some rides like Forbidden Journey allow you to wear it. It fits easily in lockers where I am required to stow it and fits quite a bit of stuff. I wear a lanyard for my ticket. I don't print my own ticket however. I am seriously considering a full locker for the day since last trip, we didn't do any water rides due to the hassle of taking the boat back for a change of clothes, carrying around a larger bag or walking around the park waiting to dry off.

 

[AJ1983]

We also stay at RPR when we go to Universal, and I find a fanny pack (super stylish I know! Lol) worked fine to hild money, phone, sunglasses. We would walk in with a water bottle and refill if necessary. We found we were never in the parks for more than a few hours at a time (thanks Express Pass!) so no need to bring extra drinks or snacks. And as for the water rides, we were normally just a little damp by the time we got back to rhe hotel. They also have people dryers (like a photobooth) so you can pay for hot air to dry off. So, my personal opinion is no large bag required if staying onsite.

 

[klmall]

A bit OT but here's my experience with fanny packs etc. Don't know if you plan on bringing a real camera or not but I am one of the diehards who often carries either a compact camera in a small shoulder bag or a full-size DSLR with me using a fanny pack. Or if DH is with us he keeps my big camera with his ECV. I absolutely hate the lockers at US; once lost 1 hour getting my bag out of a locker in a crowd!

Last trip I tried using only my compact camera and it did well because it fit into my extremely small thin strap shoulder bag. It was chilly weather so I just wore it under my light jacket unseen by CMs except at Gringott's where the CMs made me empty the bag and put everything in my pockets. Don't know why everything stuffed into my small pockets was safer than being zipped into a bag carefully secured under my jacket.

Not sure what I will use this May when it's warmer; probably my small shoulder bag again with my compact camera and phone but I am also considering just keeping everything in cargo pants pockets and plastic bags. I actually carry very little into US parks other than my tickets; camera/phone; a few headache pills and chapstick and a little cash.