first time at Universal - I need your help

[sam_eu]

Hello!

I am going to Universal Orlando with my DDs (and my mum...) this July, and I really need you help/advice.

Since our trip is disney focused (6days), we have only one day for universal.
I already purchased a 1 day park to park ticket, since our top priority is Harry Potter.
We want to visit both HP lands, as well as ride the Hogwarts express.
W'd also love to be able to do the simpsons ride and the minions ride.

My older DD is disabled, she can stand alone and walk short distances, but we will use a stroller as a wheelchair for her.
(This worked absoluteley amazing at Disney, all the times we've been there)

How does this work at Universal?
Will they accept the "stroller as a wheelchair" badge we weill get at Disney, or will we need another one?
Are the attractions at universal accessible or do they have a wheelchair entrance? Do they give out return times as at Disney?

How does parking work? Is the disbaled parking the same price as regular parking? (regular parking seems to be $25 acording to the universal webpage)
I read something about prefered parkeing, which is closer, but way more expensive.

We're definitly not going to do all the rides (or trying to do) at Universal.
Should we still consider an express pass?
Would we need two, since we're going to visit both parks on one day?

Sorry for asking all those questions, but I couldn't find answers to that on the universal website, and, since English is not my first language, sometimes the descriptions are cuonfusing me.

I hope you can help me to figure out how to make this a great trip for my DDs
(They really deserve it, since their father just recently, out of the blue, moved out..)

Thank you in advance
Sam

 

[TommyJK]

Unfortunately I can't help answer any questions about accessibility options.

When it comes to express passes, July is one of the busiest months of the year at Universal so it would definitely be beneficial and hugely help in terms of doing as much as possible with only a one day visit for both parks. For the different attractions you want to do (HP area attractions, Minions and Simpsons) you're probably looking at at least an hour wait time per attraction in July on average.

You can buy an express pass that covers both parks, but they're generally quite expensive. Looking at July, Regular Express Pass (where you can express once per ride) it's $130 per person. Unlimited Express (were you can do express as many times as you want per ride) is $160 per person. So for 4 of you, you'd be paying anywhere between $520 - $640

You other option here is to book a one night stay at one of the Universal Deluxe resorts. They come with free unlimited express passes (that's good for day of check-in and day of check-out). Looking at universal's site you could book a one night at Royal Pacific resort for well below that price. You wouldn't even have to stay in/use the room if you didn't want to. Just pick up your room keys in the morning and those act as your express pass. Not to mention that this also allows you early entry to the parks.

 

[sam_eu]

Thank you for that tip, that sounds amazing.

We've already booked a motel in Kissimmee, for 7 days, and our univeral day will be in the middle of that.
Are you sure, that we do not realy have to stay at the Universal resort?
We could, stay there and just not show up at the motel, that night, but we would have to pack a lot of things, and I am sure my mum would not want to do that.

I just checked the website, and there would be a room available for under $200.
Would this really work as Express pass for the 4 of us?
This sounds to good to be true ;-)

Edit: Oh, just swa, it is to good to be true.
Express tickets don't come with every Universal hitel, only with the premium 3.
Well, I will have to calculate...

 

[skylock]

Hello!

I am going to Universal Orlando with my DDs (and my mum...) this July, and I really need you help/advice.

Since our trip is disney focused (6days), we have only one day for universal.
I already purchased a 1 day park to park ticket, since our top priority is Harry Potter.
We want to visit both HP lands, as well as ride the Hogwarts express.
W'd also love to be able to do the simpsons ride and the minions ride.

My older DD is disabled, she can stand alone and walk short distances, but we will use a stroller as a wheelchair for her.
(This worked absoluteley amazing at Disney, all the times we've been there)

How does this work at Universal?
Will they accept the "stroller as a wheelchair" badge we weill get at Disney, or will we need another one?
Are the attractions at universal accessible or do they have a wheelchair entrance? Do they give out return times as at Disney?

Universal will not accept a badge from Disney. Actually I think universal works great with handicaps. I always have express pass, but I just approach the team member outside the ride and ask what I need to do. They will give return times if the line is more than 30 minutes long, but with express pass, I am usually shown straight to the ride. Occassionally they make everyone else in my party except for one person who stays with me, do the express line. Never more than about ten minutes before they join me.

How does parking work? Is the disbaled parking the same price as regular parking? (regular parking seems to be $25 acording to the universal webpage)
I read something about prefered parkeing, which is closer, but way more expensive.

Parking cost the same thing. You will be directed to the handicapped parking area. It is on the ground floor and close to where you need to be. I would not do preferred.

We're definitly not going to do all the rides (or trying to do) at Universal.
Should we still consider an express pass?
Would we need two, since we're going to visit both parks on one day?

Considering you only have one day, I think express pass is an absolute must have. You can buy a 2 park version, but for 4 people, that is going to be expensive. I would look into booking a room at one of the universal hotels that gives the express pass as a perk. That is almost always a better deal than buying a stand alone pass if you have 3 people or more. You do not actually have to stay in the room, you would just need to swing by when you get there in the morning and check in. Or since it seems it will be at the end of your trip, you could just stay there. The hotels are very close to the parks. Like just out of sight.

Sorry for asking all those questions, but I couldn't find answers to that on the universal website, and, since English is not my first language, sometimes the descriptions are cuonfusing me.

I hope you can help me to figure out how to make this a great trip for my DDs
(They really deserve it, since their father just recently, out of the blue, moved out..)

Thank you in advance
Sam

See my answers above. If something is not clear to you, just let me know.

 

[TommyJK]

Thank you for that tip, that sounds amazing.

We've already booked a motel in Kissimmee, for 7 days, and our univeral day will be in the middle of that.
Are you sure, that we do not realy have to stay at the Universal resort?
We could, stay there and just not show up at the motel, that night, but we would have to pack a lot of things, and I am sure my mum would not want to do that.

I just checked the website, and there would be a room available for under $200.
Would this really work as Express pass for the 4 of us?
This sounds to good to be true ;-)

Firstly, yes, people book "throwaway" rooms all the time. They book a room, go early in their morning to pick up their keys, and never actually use the room.

Price-wise though you might not be looking at the right resorts. The resorts that offer free unlimited express pass are Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific. Cabana Bay, Sapphire Falls, Aventura and the new Endless Summer resort do NOT include free express pass (only early entry).

 

[damo]

You might want to see if you can get an attractions assistance pass. Will you be getting one at WDW?

https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/universals-attraction-assistance-pass/

 

[skylock]

The hotels that give express pass as a perk are Portofino Bay, Hard Rock, and Royal Pacific. Royal Pacific will probably be the lowest cost.

I think to get the most benefit from your trip you need to rework it.

I think you should do disney, cancel one night at the first hotel, and replace it with one night at the universal hotel as your final night. That would bring the cost of you trip down even more.

After you have dealt with the hell that is disney, (not bashing disney just speaking the truth), the universal ending, staying just out of sight of the parks, hitting the parks with park to park tickets and having express pass from the hotel is going to be amazing.

Be sure to come back and let us know how it works out for you.

 

[skylock]

You might want to see if you can get an attractions assistance pass. Will you be getting one at WDW?

https://www.undercovertourist.com/blog/universals-attraction-assistance-pass/

Honestly, I have never had the "assistance pass". Like I said, I just go to the team member outside the ride, and ask what I need to do.

Sometimes I have to transfer to one of their wheel chairs, sometimes not, even on the same ride. I am always shown straight to the front of the line with at least one other person, but usually whoever is with me.

We all have express pass and occassionally the others will have to actually walk thru the express pass line, but they were short even Thanksgiving week.

The first time I reported this I was told, no that is not how it is done. Well I just came back from my third trip since I became a wheelchair user in April and that is the way it has been for me every time.

The fact we all have express could certainly make a difference.

 

[sam_eu]

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Since I have already booked all our Fast Passes at Disney, and even managed to get the Mine Train on two of three MK days, I don't want to reschedule our trip.
(We're going to WDW on our first day, Universal on the second, and WDW the rest of the days.)
Aso my mum would most certainly not want change hotels.
She isn't very fond of this vacation anyway.
She did it, because she was afraid of letting me do this alone with the kids, after my husband decided to leave us.
(I am almost 40, but she can't stop seeing me as a child...)

Well anyway (sorry that I bothered you with my personal problems), I will think about the Express Pass, or maybe a hotel room.

I am not afraid of WDW, we've been there so many times, and it always worked perfect.
We had the GAC, back at the times it existed, the later years we just got the stoller as a wheelchair ticket, and it worked perfectly for us.
DD is able to transfer to every ride, so this works fine. She just can't walklang distances or stand for too long.

since we've been to WDW that often, we know all the rides and where we can use the regular line with the stroller, and where we get return times, a.s.o.

Not knowing how this will work at Universal makes me a little nervous, though.
One thing I found out is, since DD is fine with a wheelchair, she doesn't qualify for Universal's Assistence Card.
But I couldn't figure out about the stroller yet.

Sorry for writing that much, I just want to make this vacation as great as possible for my DDs

 

[imprint]

The only rides I have experience with a wheelchair are Forbidden Journey and Hogwarts Express (our wheelchair bound member did not want to ride EfG). For FJ, we were told to take a different route with elevators. It skipped most of the castle, but the logistics were easy and very fast, and loaded from a separate spot. Everyone go to ride from that spot though, so nobody had to go back through the regular line. As for HE, we just took the elevator instead of the stairs. No problem there either.

 

[only hope]

There shouldn’t be an extra charge for handicap parking. In the main garage, it’s the section on the same floor as security very near to the end of the garage, just after the preferred parking. The handicap section is the closest to security. I don’t know if there is handicap in the other garage.

Make sure to ride the train both ways. Minions gets busiest first and tends to have one of the longest wait times out of all the attractions, all day. Of course, the new Hagrid coaster opening soon could change that. I suggest downloading the app a few weeks before you leave and checking wait times throughout the day on multiple days to get an idea of what to expect and what order to do things in.