First Time Visitors - Suggestions

[Rich M]

We are normally a DL family that goes to WDW once a year but decided to do a 4 day cruise and check out the Kennedy Space Center and Universal for the first time. We are a family of 5 with 4 adults and 1 child (7 Years Old). We are staying at The Loews Royal Hotel in Club Level. My son might need a ECV for the parks as he is recovering from a gun shot wound in his hip and can not stand for long periods of time. Would you recommend getting one outside the park or just in the park? What are the benefits of the express pass and early entry to make sure we don't miss? Any good strategy to make the most out of our trip?

Recommended places to eat?


Thank you so much for any and all help. It's much appreciated. I feel like I am cheating on the mouse lol

 

[CynBeth]

We stayed on Universal property for the first time for 2 nights before Disney around Thanksgiving 2021 and loved it but were at Portofino. We don’t go on roller coasters or anything with a drop but I believe there are a few rides like Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster or whatever it is called that the express pass does not cover and that is the benefit of early entry. We were so glad we had the express pass for most rides you go on in the special line and it is usually a short wait. We had our meals at mostly CS places like Today Cafe, Mel’s, and Richter’s plus a TS at Finnegan’s. We had an early dinner there walked right in without a reservation and got a table for 3 right away. It was great to not have to make any ADRs and plan our day we could just go with the flow. We love the motion simulators rides at Disney but heard Forbidden Journey and Simpson’s is more intense and did not know if we would have an issue so got the prescription motion sickness patches we wore behind the ears. Also, I recommend having lanyards. Your room key is your express pass so you put the bar code facing out one side of the clear holder and the bar code of your ticket facing out the other side and makes it so convenient the times you have to scan them. Unfortunately can’t answer your ECV question. Hope this helps.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Some rides at Universal are more intense than Disney. That being said, I am a total ride coward who has had fantastic trips at Universal. I would think about any issues (drops, how into roller coasters, tolerance for motion simulators) that may impact which rides you go on and which rides you skip. How into Harry Potter are the people in your group?

ExpressPass is fantastic. The lines were always significantly shorter for what we wanted to ride. I don't think we used early entry. Lanyards are incredibly useful. You will be using your hotel card/key as the ExpressPass and the team members can scan the pass through the lanyard.

Club level is wonderful. It is great to have breakfast right there and snacks during the day in case you want to take a break in the afternoon or at night.

How many days are you spending at Universal? Will you have park hopper tickets?

 

[maverik85]

You should have a great trip with the express pass perks. This will cut your wait times down greatly.
For early entry, I would use it to prioritize rides that do not have Express Pass yet, like Velocicoaster and Hagrid's. Some other options as well for it would be Ollivander's, it is a shop but has a small show experience of finding the right wand like the movie that can get a line. There are also a few rides that have immersive queues that the express line misses a lot of. The main ones I can think of are Forbidden Journey (highly recommend for any Harry Potter fans as it goes through the castle) and Mummy. Opting for these might depend though on how your son might feel going through it as it's not really ECV accessible.

For restaurants, if you want to do a nicer sit down meal I definitely recommend Mythos in Islands of Adventure. The food is great and the restaurant and atmosphere are very unique.

If you have the time and want to relax at your resort, it's a good way to decompress, and unlike Disney, pool hopping is allowed. Royal Pacific is a great resort but it is the only one without a water slide if you all enjoy those. Fortunately the next door resort, Sapphire Falls, has arguably the best slide of the resorts. And in that same area is Cabana Bay which has a sandy beach area and a lazy river.

 

[Rich M]

Some rides at Universal are more intense than Disney. That being said, I am a total ride coward who has had fantastic trips at Universal. I would think about any issues (drops, how into roller coasters, tolerance for motion simulators) that may impact which rides you go on and which rides you skip. How into Harry Potter are the people in your group?

ExpressPass is fantastic. The lines were always significantly shorter for what we wanted to ride. I don't think we used early entry. Lanyards are incredibly useful. You will be using your hotel card/key as the ExpressPass and the team members can scan the pass through the lanyard.

Club level is wonderful. It is great to have breakfast right there and snacks during the day in case you want to take a break in the afternoon or at night.

How many days are you spending at Universal? Will you have park hopper tickets?

Thank you for that. My sister is big into Harry Potter so we will need to check all that out for sure but she would not be able to ride most of the rides.

We will be staying 2 nights but have 4 day tickets. We are going to Kennedy Space Center on one day so figure we would go to the park when we got back. So we figure we will be two half days and 1 full day.

 

[Kit Jackson]

Thank you for that. My sister is big into Harry Potter so we will need to check all that out for sure but she would not be able to ride most of the rides.

In that case, you will want to do the regular line for Forbidden Journey. You get to see parts of the Castle that the ExpressLine skips. Also, for the Harry Potter rides and I think other rides as well, she can go through the line, and then before you board she can tell a team member she doesn't want to ride and they will send her through a different exit.

Also, if you want to ride the Hogwarts express in both directions, you will need Park Hoppers.

 

[eacatwork]

We are going to Kennedy Space Center on one day so figure we would go to the park when we got back.

I wouldn't count on going after your day at KSC. My husband and I were just at KSC last week and it was an entire day for us and we still didn't do everything we could have done. We got there at 8:25 (gates to the PL open at 8:30) and were in the Gateway Building by 8:45 (despite advertised hours being 9 AM - 7 PM). Go early and, honestly, plan for it to be a full day...especially if you have to drive over and back. (We were staying right in Titusville, so it was only 10 minutes for us.)

We found this page of suggested itineraries very helpful: https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/info/itineraries

 

[Rich M]

I wouldn't count on going after your day at KSC. My husband and I were just at KSC last week and it was an entire day for us and we still didn't do everything we could have done. We got there at 8:25 (gates to the PL open at 8:30) and were in the Gateway Building by 8:45 (despite advertised hours being 9 AM - 7 PM). Go early and, honestly, plan for it to be a full day...especially if you have to drive over and back. (We were staying right in Titusville, so it was only 10 minutes for us.)

We found this page of suggested itineraries very helpful: https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/info/itineraries

Thank you so much. Did you guys enjoy it? How do you think a just turned 7 year old will do there? Is the tour really 2 hours with no breaks or getting off the bus?

 

[eacatwork]

Thank you so much. Did you guys enjoy it? How do you think a just turned 7 year old will do there? Is the tour really 2 hours with no breaks or getting off the bus?

We LOVED it! The bus tour portion includes the ride out to the Apollo/Saturn complex, touring that space, including the various video presentations, exhibits, and outdoor viewing areas, and then the ride back. Do that first thing. The line for the buses gets LONG quickly.

As for your 7 YO, if he or she has an interest in rockets, the moon, and the stars, then I'd say yes! And there are simulators (included in admission) and IMAX movies (also included) they'll enjoy.

 

[barb969]

I use an ECV. I suggest getting it out side the park. There is a lot of walking. The Evc can go on the boats. I‘ve always used Bueuna Vista scooters. They will deliver it to your hotel bell services. You don’t have be there when it is delivered. It is less expensive than the park ones. About $38 a day including insurance.