First time at Universal?

[bethwc101]

My DH and I are planning or first trip to Universal ever! We will be going Sept. 8-11th. The 8th we will arrive in the afternoon (3ish), and leave the 11th around 5pm.
We have never done Universal but have done Disneyland 100+ times and I have some probably dumb questions.
Do they have a fastpass type system?
What is a close hotel that either offers a free shuttle or within walking distance and has a free breakfast?
I am confused. Do they have 2 or 3 parks? I thought they have 2, but looking at their ticket options they offer a 3 park?
Is the 2 park worth it is the 4 day weekend or will we just have time for Universal Orlando park?
Is the parkhopper worth the extra bucks?

Thanks in advance for the opinions.

 

[gotomu212]

I'll take a shot at some of these. There are 5 onsite hotels. All offer a boat or bus shuttle that takes approx 10-15 minutes or you can walk in about 10-20 depending on your which hotel you're at. 3 hotels-Royal Pacific, Portofino Bay, and Hard Rock offer complimentary unlimited express passes for the duration of your stay. These are somewhat like fast passes (only crazy better!). They work on all but a few rides and will get you in a line that goes basically front of the line (you can run into waits but our max wait was 10 min ever-some people have had longer waits). None offer free breakfast unless you upgrade to club level.

There are 2 parks now, but the waterpark Volcano Bay is getting ready to open. For our family park-to-park is worth it. It's the only way to ride the Hogwarts Express and switching parks is really easy. We switch back and forth a couple times a day. You should have plenty of time to visit both parks.

 

[wagman67]

For the dates you mention, they are historically not busy, so you don't really have to worry about Express Passes.

Depending on how nice you want your room to be, the onsite hotels offer a range of accommodations...but they are all nice. You can stay at the Hard Rock Hotel and be a 5 minute walk to the gates of Universal Studios and another 5 minutes to Islands of Adventure. If you stay at Cabana Bay, it is more of a hike and boat ride to get to the two main parks, but right next to Valcano Bay.

So, read through some of the stickies and you can get a better idea of what you guys might want to do.

There aren't any dumb questions here...sometimes the answers are so swift. The more specific you are with the questions, the more specific the answers will be. People tend to speak from their own experiences, which may or may not line up with the answer for which you are looking.

Keep asking and we will keep trying to help.

 

[Kivara]

Just in case, because it sounds like you are thinking of how far apart Disney's parks are, in terms of using park-to-park; Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are only about a 5 min walk apart. Just a quick stroll through City Walk. It's all right there together. The hotels on property (like wagman said) are just on the outsides of the parks.
If you have park-to-park, you also get to ride the Hogwarts Express ride between the two parks.

When we go, we stay onsite at Royal Pacific (you get Express Passes free for staying at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock, or Portifino) We get dropped off by a car service at the hotel and never leave the property our whole stay. AND, it is very easy to walk to everything (if you have issues with walking or are just tired, the boats are quick and relaxing.)