First time at Universal parks, few ?'s and any tips...

[DisneyBliss7]

We always stay on Disney property and just go to the Disney parks. Next trip we are going to add Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I plan on one day at each park. Do they have fast passes? We have never been to these parks, so any info and tips would be wonderful. We also don't rent a car. Is there a bus or shuttle that will bring us to the Universal Parks from Disney? Thanks

 

[bobbie68]

We always stay on Disney property and just go to the Disney parks. Next trip we are going to add Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I plan on one day at each park. Do they have fast passes? We have never been to these parks, so any info and tips would be wonderful. We also don't rent a car. Is there a bus or shuttle that will bring us to the Universal Parks from Disney? Thanks

Hi we love Universal and also enjoy going to Disney. It will be a different kind of trip but so much fun. Universal has 5 hotels right now. 3 of them if you stay there offer Express Pass for the day you check in and the day you check out. This is good for most rides except the Harry Potter rides. You do not make a reservation you just go to the express pass line and start from there. The stand-by line is right next to it. If you stay at any of the 5 on-site hotels you will get early entry one hour before the public. This is usually a great time to get the Harry Potter worlds done. These two areas get very busy during the day. The three that offer Express Pass are Portofino Bay, Hard Rock and Royal Pacific. All three hotels are great my personal favorite is Hard Rock. These are on par with Disney Deluxe hotels and they do have promotions you can look at on the web site. There is either bus or boat transportation from the on-site hotels to the parks. The one thing is if you want to ride the Hogwarts Express from park to park you will need a park to park ticket.

There is no shuttle between the two but you can taxi, uber or there are other car services that will bring you. If you are going to leave Disney for two days and go there it is really worth getting one night hotel room for the Express Pass. Once you use that it is so hard to go to a park without it.

The food is standard food however, there are some good sit down restaurants in the parks. You also have city walk right outside the park with a lot more choice of sit down.

If you have any specific questions please ask. There are a lot of good threads and stickies to check. The Universal side of the dissers love to help with your trip.

 

[scoopmorgan]

We're a Disney family getting ready to embark on Universal Orlando. I understand the parks, although similar in size to Disney are much more manageable and not so spread out. The only disadvantage I see with one park per day is that you will not be able to ride the Hogwart's Express that connects the two parks. Also Disney has wonderful water parks, but we thought we would give Volcano Bay a try this time around. We don't go until September, so I am hoping they have worked out some of the opening kinks, and all the rides are functioning.

I used to believe only Disney could do immersive theming, but I think I am going to be proven wron. US and IOA both look pretty awesome to me.

 

[damo]

If you can stay at Universal while going to Universal it is a big help. As outlined above, three of the hotels will give you unlimited express passes.

 

[macraven]

To get more personal details of the parks and hotels , read the trip report forum

Many have details of how newbies toured the parks
Quite a few include pics

 

[MarBee]

These are on par with Disney Deluxe hotels and they do have promotions you can look at on the web site.

Hello! Can you tell me when they typically run promotions? I've been looking on and off for a few weeks and haven't seen anything. Also, what are the promotions? Just discounted prices, free dining, etc?
Thank you!

 

[DisBuckMan]

Hello! Can you tell me when they typically run promotions? I've been looking on and off for a few weeks and haven't seen anything. Also, what are the promotions? Just discounted prices, free dining, etc?
Thank you!

In general, just discounted prices. Keep in mind that if you have a car, parking is not free at the resorts, even for resort guests. Add an additional $23.43/night to your room rate to cover parking for your vehicle.

 

[bobbie68]

Hello! Can you tell me when they typically run promotions? I've been looking on and off for a few weeks and haven't seen anything. Also, what are the promotions? Just discounted prices, free dining, etc?
Thank you!

Hi if you go to the Universal Orlando website and go to places to stay when it drops down go to the right hand side where it says in small print "more information". You will see on-site hotel offers and it lists a couple of different ones.

 

[mjhtvchick]

While I agree with pps that staying onsite in a deluxe resort with unlimited express passes is the best bang for the buck, it doesn't suit everyone's plans and I have also gone to Universal several times while staying offsite.

If you do not want to leave your Disney resort and just make the two days at Universal day trips, here are a few tips:
- If you are interested in riding the Hogwarts Express, make sure you have park-to-park tickets. Otherwise, you cannot ride. This is due to the fact that it also serves as transportation between IOA and USF. It is also a nice to be able to mill between the two parks during the day rather than strictly being at one park one day and the other park on the second day.
- You can purchase Express Passes onsite (both at the front gate and at kiosks throughout the parks) - there are two types: Regular and Unlimited - regular gets you "front-of-the-line" ONCE per ride while unlimited is just that, you can re-ride as many times as you want. My DD has ridden Flight of the Hippogriff 5 times in a row!
- There are a few transportation options for getting back and forth but it seems like Uber is the most common go-to these days. If you would prefer a more formal/traditional service, I believe that you can book transportation through Mears and The DIS does offer a Universal ticket/transportation package through their agency, Dreams Unlimited Travel - https://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/universal/#rt

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to ask here or pm me!

Either way, you will have a great time!

 

[danielocha30]

keep in mind NONE of the main rides at Harry Potter land offer a Express Pass line, do take advantage of single riders on Transformers, Spider-man, and the big coaster, the queue aren't that great so you wont me missing anything special.
Harry Potter land don't sell any soda products keep that in mind
Have a great trip!!!

 

[mike0035]

Also a Disney fanatic making 1st trip to US\IOA (well 1st since 1994). Staying at Sheraton Vistana in March. Planning on get Front of Line passes. Do all parks open early everyday for on site guests, or is it similar to Disney where 1 park per day opens early?

 

[bobbie68]

Also a Disney fanatic making 1st trip to US\IOA (well 1st since 1994). Staying at Sheraton Vistana in March. Planning on get Front of Line passes. Do all parks open early everyday for on site guests, or is it similar to Disney where 1 park per day opens early?

Hi in March it is one park at a time. From what I understand it is IOA most of the time. However, VB should be on that EE for resort guest also.

 

[mike0035]

Thank you. Not planning on doing VB. So this would mean to goto park that is NOT opening early and go to HP right away. Would this be correct?

 

[bobbie68]

Thank you. Not planning on doing VB. So this would mean to goto park that is NOT opening early and go to HP right away. Would this be correct?

Hi I think that could work I would be at that park gate as early as possible so you will be towards the front. You might see some guests in that park while you are entering and getting close to the HP worlds. EE guests will use the Hogwarts Express to go to the other park around opening and it drops them right at the entrance to HP. I would go to the HP world first then if you have an opportunity go back in the evening if you can it is pretty at night and gets less crowded closer to closing.

 

[DisBuckMan]

Also a Disney fanatic making 1st trip to US\IOA (well 1st since 1994). Staying at Sheraton Vistana in March. Planning on get Front of Line passes. Do all parks open early everyday for on site guests, or is it similar to Disney where 1 park per day opens early?

Keep in mind that whichever park has EE for that day, it's not the entire park. It's just the Harry Potter world in that park that opens early, which IMO, makes it more crowded than it normally is, with longer ride lines for the main rides than you'll find during normal park hours.

 

[Robo56]

The food is standard food however, there are some good sit down restaurants in the parks. You also have city walk right outside the park with a lot more choice of sit down.

Just returned from a lovely 10 day stay with my grandchildren at Universal. I take them every year. I will be very honest with you. There is nothing standard about the food at Universal. It is absolutely in a class by itself in offering quality delicious food for the price. We enjoyed meals at the Resorts, Parks and CityWalk. All was very good.

We had meals at Cowfish, Vivo, Toothesome Chocolate Emporium in CityWalk. All delicious and worth every penny.

The best steak dinner I have ever had at the Palm (at HardRock).

Delicious Italian food at Moma Della's (while being serenaded That's Amore). Great pizza at Sal's wile being serenaded in the Piazza by fantastic Italian opera. Both of these at Portofino Bay Resort.

Great meal at Mytho's in IOA on a couple of occasions.

Lombard's at Universal Studios.

Great poolside food at Portofino that included sandwiches, nachos and fruit.

All the above food was served with a smile and impeccable service by kind attentive waiters and waitresses.

Look forward to being back in October.

In general, just discounted prices. Keep in mind that if you have a car, parking is not free at the resorts, even for resort guests. Add an additional $23.43/night to your room rate to cover parking for your vehicle.

I have no problem paying the parking fee at Portofino or any of the Resorts at Universal. You are getting fantastic Resorts with amenities such as pools, transportation to parks (quick and easy), early entry, Unlimited Express for those staying at HRH, PBH, RPR. Great restaurants on site. To me the parking fee is inconsequential in the big picture.

 

[bumbershoot]

keep in mind NONE of the main rides at Harry Potter land offer a Express Pass lin

You don't consider Dragon Challenge to be a main ride? Heck, we consider Hippogriff to be a main ride. And both of those have express pass lines.

When there are only 4 "rides", 1 show (in both parks), and one transportation method in the Wizarding Worlds, I think they all count as main attractions..

 

[GoldmanTrust]

You are in for a treat, going for the first time to universal and IOA.

First tip is just to enjoy.

About the express passes- it depends on what time of year and what day of the week you are going. For a day at each park, it is probably worth it.

Beware of the water rides - you will get SOAKED! Least on Jurassic Park though.

But first and foremost, just relax and enjoy this wonderful experience I recommend eating at places that you like. For instance we love the Simpsons and Harry Potter, so we eat there. It is fun sitting at Moe's. Really enhances the experience.